Reptile & Amphibian Forums

so I'm back,
awhile ago I was posting because my loe had severly lost his appetite and I took him to the vet and the vet said he was healthy and probably not ready to stop brumating. second time I went there the vet did a fecal smear that was inconclusive and said he seemed healthy even though he was throwing up his food and his liver seemed slightly larger than normal (he accredited that to a lack of nutrients from his vommiting). third time I went back everything was fine but bubsy was still occasionally throwing up but seemed much healthier and the vet confirmed he was looking healthy and the meds seemed to work and he was just throwing up because his system was out of wack still. well now bubsy is eating like a starving madman and pooping small normal amounts except this past week (and one other occasion during the main fiasco) where the size of the defacation was massive because it contained undigested worms. I honestly didn't believe it was possible to pass undigested food but since it was mixed in with the feces and uria it has to be an issue of it being passed undigested. so now that you've got the history my question is, has anyone else ever experienced this and can anyone think of what the heck might be going on. right now I'm on vacation and my sister called to tell me the little guy passed so worms and so I plan on yet another expensive trip to the vet (fourth one in two months) in a desperate attemp to figure out whats wrong with bubsy. so yeah any suggestions or advice is appreciated. BTW temps arnt an issue, set-up isn't an issue I've been thorugh the basics many times. I used to feed large mealworms which lead to slight impaction (which is the root cause of the problem, forgot to mention that earlier), but now he's on small mealworms. anyways thanks for readign and trying to help!

my best advice would be to maybe seek out another vet for a second opinion? obviously he isn't normal if he's having this many problems. get another fecal done i guess.

a shot in the dark suggestion would be that mealworms have hard exoskeletons that probably require certain digestive juices to break them down. maybe try offering soft bodied worms like waxworms and silkworms and see if those digest better?

good luck with the lil guy!!!

See I originally thought that too but after passing the impaction he threw up and passed undigested wax worms. this led me to believe it was liver damage since the wax worms are mostly fat and fat is broken down by bile so I switched back to mealworms. even though the exoskeleton is hard it is composed of protein which is broken down by the gastric juices of the stomach and other enzymes in the small intestines. because he had the same problems with both worms it threw my theory right out the door. and the reason I'm sticking with the vet's I have is because they're the only ones in this city that arn't either insane or unqualified. they just got a new reptile expert who seems to know his stuff and said that if the lizard started acting up again we'd try x-rays to check his liver size, but while I'm waiting I was hoping to find someone else who may have experienced this same situation and can lend some insight for me and for my leo's vet. anyways thanks for the suggestions though, its appreciated.

If he's healthy why dont u try not giving him for a week to empty his system and then gradually slowly start feeding him again

well...my advice is try to level out his eating. Only feed him a proper amount each day, and keep on trying. You're doing a very good job, and I wish you luck with the little guy... Good luck.