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Old 01-15-2003, 11:16 AM   #1
Uffern
How do you deal with impactions?

Just looking to get everyone's opinion of how to best deal with an impacted dragon.

This is how I handle it.
(all dosages vary with size of dragon)

I start by giving the affected dragon .2 - .3ml of mineral oil. Next, I give them all natural fiber (just fiber, no additives) mixed with water to a pasty consistency. This is usually about .5ml. After this they get a warm bath and a massage. The next day, they get another warm bath and massage. If there is no change, on the thrid day, I again give them mineral oil and fiber, along with a warm bath. The day after they get another warm bath. Fifth day and no change, they get the same treatment again, and sixth day another bath. If there is no change by then, a vet visit is needed.

This treatment works best when the impaction is mostly sand, or some other slow building blockage, and not when it is caused by a too large prey item. I also wouldn't use this for very small dragons, as it seems to me that giving them an appropriate dosage would be next to impossible.

How it works:

The mineral oil acts as a lubricant in the intestines, and the fiber draws a great amount of liquid(water) into the intestines as well. It is very important to keep the dragon well hydrated while doing this, otherwise they can easily become dehydrated. The mineral oil is indigestible and simply goes through. You will notice this probably during the baths after the first day. I have used this several times as a preventative measure and usually by the fourth day the dragon defecates what seems to be a bit of sand.

What do the rest of you think? How do you deal with impactions?
 
Old 01-18-2003, 10:34 AM   #2
Pennebaker
Sounds good to me. I would try warm soaks and raising the temps in the cage for awhile before the mineral oil, but I dont think it can hurt.
dana
 
Old 01-18-2003, 02:47 PM   #3
Reptscue
I agree. The only thing I'd like to add is if the impaction is caused by sand, then, you should remove the sand! And use a "hospital" tank. (newspaper/paper towel, h2o bowl, basking areas and hides)

Kim
 
Old 01-18-2003, 03:17 PM   #4
Uffern
Good addition. Thing is, paper substrate doesn't work so well for adults and sub-adults. I once tried to use paper towels for one of my lizards when he needed a section of tail amputated. It ended up wadded in the corner in about 10 minutes. Personally, I sift my playsand twice through a screen colander before putting it in the tank. Since I started doing this, I have not caught any kind of impaction trouble with my dragons, not even my babies. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Truth be told, most of the sand that was ever flushed was from back when I used calci-sand for some of my dragons. The ones that have been on playsand their whole life have never had a problem.

A good idea, though. If you are having an impaction problem, it is a good idea to re-evalueate your set up, or the needs of that specific dragon (as some seem to be more prone to eating sand then others).
 
Old 01-18-2003, 10:29 PM   #5
dwedeking
We use soakings. Frequent (read as weekly or so) soakings will usually solve any impaction problems and also take care of hydration (which can cause a myrid of health issues).
 
Old 01-26-2003, 11:08 AM   #6
eyespy
I use epigastric lavage

It's a procedure used by vets to clear out the bowels before surgery and is highly effective. I do an epi-l on any beardie I acquire that has been kept on sand and have flushed significant sand quantities out of dragons who have never shown signs of impaction.

I only do this with assistance from a qualified vet, as there are risks to the procedure. First an anesthetic spray is administered to the back of the dragon's throat. Then an epigastric tube is placed so that it goes completely through the stomach and into the small intestine. This placement is critical! If the tube merely enters the stomach it can be hyperinflated to the point of rupture, which is why only a qualified vet should do this procedure.

Once the tube is properly placed, a mixture of pressurized gases, sterile saline and an enzymatic detergent are sent through the tube and the mixture is allowed to bubble up and loosen the gut contents for about an hour. Then a large quantity of sterile saline is sent down the tube to wash away the impaction. The effluent is saved, dehydrated and analyzed to determine the cause of the impaction.

This is the effluent I got from the gut of a 5 week old dragon who was kept on playsand since her hatching. About 1/3 of the vial contents are the playsand, the other 2/3 are bile salts, digestive juices, salt and enzymes from the detergent used to flush out the sand. It was 3.8 grams of material removed from a 5 week hatchling.

<img src="http://www.thebeardedlady.org/images/sand.jpg">

She was never acutely impacted, but in my experience almost all dragons kept on sand suffer chronic impactions. This is where sand grains slowly build up and coat the intestines, particularly the upper third of the small intestine where they are caught on the villi. Over time the dragon often loses the ability to absorb nutrients because of the sand clogging the villi and the dragon slowly starves over the course of years. Occasionally there is enough of a sand buildup in a pocket of intestines to compromise circulation and the tissue dies off. Acute sepsis sets in and the dragon dies within days or even hours. It's only when sepsis sets in that most people, even vets, detect a chronic impaction.

Most of the nearly 1,300 dragons I've seen who died of sand impactions were at least 5 years old and died as a result of chronic rather than acute impactions.
 
Old 01-26-2003, 11:36 AM   #7
Uffern
What is the likelyhood of a procedure like this going wrong and killing your dragon? How easy is it for the vet to mess up?
 
Old 01-26-2003, 11:47 AM   #8
eyespy
Roughly a 7% mortality rate

The primary risk is that the tube is placed in the stomach and it rupture. The second risk is an allergic reaction to the anesthesia. So you do need an experienced vet, but any vet who has fellowship training in abdominal surgeries is qualified to perform it and the risks are minimal for them.

The fellow I usually work with is a bowel surgery specialist, he does an epi-l on every patient he's operated and has only lost 2 animals to complications in a 14 year career.

The risk of a chronic impaction leading to death has not yet been assessed, but the Special Species Clinic at Penn does not yet have a single patient over the age of 8 who has been kept on sand all its life. They have over 300 dragons age 12 + who have never been kept on sand. So they estimate the odds of a chronic impaction causing early mortality is probably well over 75%. The only way to conclusively diagnose a chronic impaction is by a detailed necropsy which slits open the entire intestinal tract to look for clinging sand. Even barium xrays do not conclusively show a sand buildup.
 
Old 08-20-2007, 02:57 AM   #9
p_i_r_sales
Instead of paper towl or newspaper try astro turf. It stays down, cleans easily with the hose and looks nice. This works great for adults but not for the youngsters because they can get their toe nails caught/snagged.

Dirt cheap at lowes or home depot. About $1.50 per L. Ft.
Comes in all kinds of colors!

Good luck!
 
Old 08-20-2007, 12:26 PM   #10
Drache613
Hello

Hello,

I have heard of that procedure & that it is a successful one as well, as long as they know what they are doing of course!
However, the easiest is just to not use sand at all to prevent impactions altogether. That is by far the healthiest thing to do.
I agree, impactions in adults build up slowly over time, & completely mess up the absorption rate causing malnutrition & other problems. Plus, so many adults are not kept properly hydrated either which makes the problem even worse.

Tracie
 

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