Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi,
My PTS, Flicka, has been stopped up for a few weeks. I have been giving her more fruit than normal, more water, and a fiber supplement. Her temps have been around 85 and her humidity 80-100%. I have been giving her warm soaks for a week or two and the occasional belly massage. I started to get worried because she had not passed stool in weeks, so I finally took her to the vet. When we got there, the doctor examined her and felt a hard bump in her belly. We were getting ready to X-ray her to see if she swallowed something when she started wriggling. After wriggling for a little bit, she passed a HUGE turd. In the turd was the cause of her blockage. And do you know what it was? HAIR!!! Hair, that's right, hair. I think I may have "shed" a few times on her food dish and it just gathered up in her gut. Well the vet did a fecal and she has absolutely no parasites. No worms, no ameba, nothing. The vet gave me a laxative for hairballs. So she has a clean bill of health and I am so happy, because I am getting her a boyfriend, Candy, this weekend from Jess b in California. I am so excited she will have someone to keep her company, though I may have to do something about his name, Candy. I think Flicka will start making fun of him for having a rather effeminate name. Well, I just wanted to share my experience at the vet. Wish me luck for the trek to get Candy, Josh

wow- glad Flicka has passed the culprit. That is a new story for me, a reptile having a human hair impaction. If you soak your PTS in the people shower like I do, the hair may have actually come from on top of the drain- OR it may have been in her since before you got her. As yuck as it sounds, if the hair ball is still around- *I* would soak it to separate the material out- and look at the hair closely and try to figure out whose it was originally- cat/dog/long curly Josh hair/some other person's ect so you can better guess where it came from and prevent it in the future.

By all means, change Candy's name! He was named as a baby before we knew what sex he was. Poor Jenny is even worse off in terms of a girly name for a boy. Hope you arrived home safely.
Cheers, jess b

I LOVE THIS PIC! beautiful pts!
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"i wasn't born with enough middle fingers"

1.0 ball python- Azazel
1.0 columbian boa- Brooklyn
1.0 JCP-Milton
1.0 red blood python-Hiss
1.0 peach phase thayeri-Sancho
0.1 creamsicle corn- Pandora
1.1 hognose- Pricilla and Odd
0.1 russian tortoise- Manja
0.1.1 leos- Boji and Kodama
0.1 beardie- Indie
1.0 BTS- Griffon
0.1 Iggy- Sunny
0.1 pacific parrolet- Mishka
1.1 cats- Cairo and Oberon
1.4 ratties Rizzo, Bree, Blitzkreig, Raisin, and the Runt (R.I.P. Willard. )