Lucy swallowed a screw!

_emf

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Hello everyone!
I need as much advise and information everyone is willing to provide.
This past Saturday, 2/5. I was soaking Lucy and I noticed her breathing was odd. Later that day, i noticed she had watery eyes and mucus running down her nose. I made an appointment with the vet immediately! We took her in on Tuesday because she is still eating and moving around as normal.
The vet did an xray and found Lucy ate a screw! Immediately i started freaking out. The vet said it seems small and it doesn’t seem to have a pointy end. She also said she doesn’t see that the screw punctured any parts. She asked me to soak her daily for 2 weeks and go through her feces as she hopes Lucy will simply pass the screw. Its day 3 and no screw as of yet. We have another appointment in 2 weeks for another xray and blood work.

Does anyone have any recommendations? Has anyone seen this before?
 

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Yvonne G

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It sometimes takes a couple weeks from the time the object was swallowed to the time it comes out the other end. You can help it along by feeding wet foods - watermelon, cactus, aloe, canteloupe, cucumber, etc.
 

Markw84

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the good news is that is a bolt, not a screw. So much less probability of puncturing anything. How did she get access to a bolt? Any chance of others around?

I takes up to 10 days for food normally to pass through a tortoise. With both ends rounded, I would bet it will pass. Feed some good fiber to help create a good bolus to catch it and move it along. Also provide good hydration.

Please keep us posted as things progress
 

_emf

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It sometimes takes a couple weeks from the time the object was swallowed to the time it comes out the other end. You can help it along by feeding wet foods - watermelon, cactus, aloe, canteloupe, cucumber, etc.

Thank you Yvonne!
 

_emf

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the good news is that is a bolt, not a screw. So much less probability of puncturing anything. How did she get access to a bolt? Any chance of others around?

I takes up to 10 days for food normally to pass through a tortoise. With both ends rounded, I would bet it will pass. Feed some good fiber to help create a good bolus to catch it and move it along. Also provide good hydration.

Please keep us posted as things progress

We’re not sure where she found it. We’ve cleaned and swept the yard to make sure there are no others. Tomorrow we have plans to use a magnet and go around the yard.
 

Markw84

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It sometimes takes a couple weeks from the time the object was swallowed to the time it comes out the other end. You can help it along by feeding wet foods - watermelon, cactus, aloe, canteloupe, cucumber, etc.
I would really suggest high fiber. Food that creates loose stools and even diarrhea is not going to push something like that along. Watery stool will pass right by! Higher fiber to create a nice well formed stool is what is needed to Trap it or catch it and push it along.
 

wellington

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I would really suggest high fiber. Food that creates loose stools and even diarrhea is not going to push something like that along. Watery stool will pass right by! Higher fiber to create a nice well formed stool is what is needed to Trap it or catch it and push it along.
Would it be beneficial to feed both? Fiber to catch it and watery to help it pass through easily without any straining?
Maybe mixing fibrous with the watery foods?
 
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