Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a 13 year old Egyptian. He is very constipated, been 3 days now. He was just at the vet for worms and treated but the vet didnt have any advice for the constipation.

Any ideas on how I can help my guy??

Also I always use bird seed subtrate.. I see they now have 'Lizard Litter' Ground English Walnut shells. Is this safe to use?
I ask because the bird seed has so many bugs.
Thanks, Kelley

Kelley-

You can try a soak in very shallow very warm water for 10 minutes or so - sometimes that will trigger a bowel movement.

Ground walnut shells are a big no. Disregard whatever the packaging says - it's not safe for them to ingest. There can be dangerously sharp edges on the particles.

If you want to get away from the millet, you can do fine natural sand (washed playsand). Make sure it isn't crushed gravel sand as those have rough edges and can possibly interlock, forming clumps in the digestive tract. Other people use soil mixtures, but I've never done that, so don't have advice one way or the other - a search of past posts can tell you a lot.
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Torey
Eugene, Oregon, USA
1.1 Saharan Uros (Joe and Arthur)
3.1 Mali Uros (Spike, Turtle, Tank, and Lilly)
1.1 Ornate Uros (Scuttlebutt and Shazzbot)
2.1 Green Anoles (Bowser, Sprocket, Leeloo)
1.1 Felis domesticus (Roscolux and Jenny)

Thank you! I just bought more bird seed.. rather have a few bugs than a sick Uro!!

I'll soak him tonight.. then off to an exotic vet if that doesnt work..thank you!!

Kelley

uro constipation can be frustrating and in the past bathing our uro in a inch of HOT not scalding water (110-115 degrees) for ten minutes has worked really well.

however, recently our uro had a cronic constipation problem; his diet wasn't the issue, he had recently been wormed, the substrate was fine, and bathing just wasn't working. we tracked the issue back to our take set up. last time we re-arranged the tank we concentrated on making a lot of area for our uro to climb, neglecting to give him wide open space for running and dashing. we found that he would always move his bowels during periods of time when we would allow him to run freely on a carpet in our living room. the motion and action of his back legs gets things moving in his bowels. its the same with many animals. i find taking a short jog with a dog who won't go on a walk works the same way.

good luck!

I have an Egyptian Uro that is about 18 months old. He became constipated for over a week. I could feel hard lumps in his stomach and he looked bloated. I was worried and tried all the warm baths etc but they did not work. I read on here about giving mineral oil to help free the blockage. I tried to get this and my chemist looked at me in a puzzled manner. I ended up using a couple of drops of olive oil mixed with 5ml of water and gave it my Uro with a needle less syringe. Within the hour he had crapped everywhere!!! We were both "relieved" !!!!
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AndyD

0.0.1 Mexican Kingsnake
0.3.0 Bearded Dragons
1.0.0 Egyptian Uromastyx

I get food grade mineral oil in kitchen stores.
they sell it in bottles to condition wooden bowls and chopping blocks.
--benedita

CRUSHED WALNUTS SHELL BIG NO NO AS IT WILL CUT THE INSIDES OF THE ANIMALS AND AS FAR AS YOUR SEEDS, I HAVE FOUND THIS TO BE A PROBLEM AS IT SEEMS TO CAUSE A PARASITE PROBLEM BECAUSE OF ITS DIFFICULTY TO KEEP IT CLEAN OF FECAL MATTER.
We have had ours for about seven years, since he was a baby, and we try to keep our animals' substrate as close as possible to the region they are from, which in the case of Egyptian Uros means sand. I use construction grade sand. I rinse it, bake it in the oven at 350 degrees for an hour then I let the sand cool before putting the lizard on it. I prefer this sand over all sands because it is extremely low in silicates, which also can cut their insides. Under no circumstances get trapped into buying those store bought calcium sands as they do not disolved and will cause gut impactions. I hope this help.
Good luck to you and your lizards.
James

Thanks for your reply.. But my little guy passed away not long after my post.
I had him for almost 14 years. He is very much missed!