# Impaction



## trinacliff (Aug 9, 2004)

One of my adult imitator is clearly having trouble passing fecal matter. She was trying to go this morning, and when I just came home, she is in the same place. I have to run out and get some Pedialyte, but in the meantime I was able to get her into a film canister holding water...will that help at all? She is sitting in there right now...

Any other advice? Will I likely lose her? Also, what causes this? She has been treated just like all my other frogs, and I have never had this happen before.

Thanks
Kristen


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## kleinhanz (Oct 18, 2004)

Are you sure she is not able to have a bowel movement? The only way I would know for sure it to move them into a shoebox enclosure with wet papertowels as the substrate so I could clearly see (and count) any scat.

Maybe a silly questions but, could she be gravid?


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## vet_boy77 (Feb 10, 2005)

What was she doing to make you think she was impacted? Impaction is possible, but it good to be sure, so the paper towel idea is warrented. It also helps to consider other possibilities.
Pedilyte soaks may help, and might even be able to help pass any blocked stool via frog hydration and/or stool softening. It may not be enough either. If it's really an impaction, you could also try flushing the cloaca with warm saline, or minberal oil. You can hurt the frog this way, so you might want to get someone with experience to do this (such as a vet). 
And of course, we love to hear about diet, envirnoment, and behavior to consider other possibilities.
Best of Luck
John


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## trinacliff (Aug 9, 2004)

Well, I KNOW she's impacted...the actual feces is visible. It was barely protruding this morning, and she is posturing like she is trying to pass it. Later, when I realized she wasn't just going at that moment, it was a little further out. 

I've contacted my herp vet to see if he does darts or know of anyone that might. 

They are in a 10gal viv that I just put them in recently...hydroton and sphagnum moss on the bottom...pothos for cover. Dusted FF are their only food...dusted with Herptivite and RepCal alternating days. I give them a day off here and there...occasionally, if I notice FF still in there, I will not feed them that day, hence no dusting that day. Room temp is 73...I've had them almost a year. They are misted daily, sometimes twice a day.

Thanks
Kristen


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## dmatychuk (Apr 20, 2005)

I had this problem with an aratus. Soaking didn't seem to help. The bad news is she died but the good news is that it was not contagious and I have never seen this issue again. My frog was totally bloated and it was obvious she was going to explode and it did take several days, much longer than I would've thought before she died so you may have time.


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## trinacliff (Aug 9, 2004)

Was yours bloated when you noticed the problem? Did you see it trying to pass fecal matter? 

She doesn't look excessively fat...pretty much the way she always looks. I got her soaked in Pedialyte for a bit tonight, and if it's not passed soon, I'll make sure she gets in it again tomorrow AM.

Thanks for the info...anyone have any idea why this happens occasionally?

Kristen


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## dmatychuk (Apr 20, 2005)

I had no idea till I noticed she was huge and somthing obviously wrong. at that point I bet she lived another 10 days. She died when I kept food from her, she looked like a bowl of jello.


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## EDs Fly Meat (Apr 29, 2004)

I would soak her in a mineral oil bath (mineral oil can be found at any drug store). Not a lot but enough to cover her cloaca. It will help lube the dropping and hopefully squirt it out. But be careful, reptiles also respirate through their skin, and the oil would block that air exchange. You could try and apply some with a q-tip, but that is only a suggestion that I tried a long time ago. It worked, but my cause was lack of water and humidity in a tank. Mist the tank really well that she is in to boost the humidity. Good Luck, hope she's ok.
Dave


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## pa.walt (Feb 16, 2004)

are you sure it is impacted. yeah i know you said you saw it but if it is shiny i could be a prolapse.
i always thought that if it was impacted you wouldn't see any sort of feces coming out. it would be in the body and not hanging out of the body.
just a thought.
walt


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## EDs Fly Meat (Apr 29, 2004)

A prolapse is a flesh colored ball where the cloaca should be. There are many causes parasites are one, and an impaction from eating environmental substrate is another. I have heard of some wild treatments including (I am NOT making this up) preparation H, applied to the spot. I am in NO WAY a vet in any way, shape or form. Obviously this is way out my scope of practice. If you can find one then hopefully they can do your frog a bit of good. Good luck.
Dave


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## trinacliff (Aug 9, 2004)

It's dark brown/black...and it looked just like one when I have caught them while defecating. 

When I checked on her tonight, the protruding feces was gone, but there was still something there...forgive my crude description...a round brown/black spot almost like it had either partially come off but there was more to come out. Like if you are pushing Playdoh through one of those shapes, then cut it off. You would still see the Playdoh there ready to come out, but it's not actually protruding. Does that make sense? Oh dear, can you tell I have kids? haha

Anyway, I appreciate all of your input...I've contacted a vet to find out if there is anyone to consult, and I have also e-mailed Dr. Frye to see what he has to say.

Thanks again!

Kristen


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## pa.walt (Feb 16, 2004)

the reason why i said it could be prolapse is i have an imitator with that problem. i gave it too big of a cricket. or as was said it could be some a piece of "dirt" in it's system. preparation h and also sugar water mix is supposed to work. i used the sugar/water mix.
the bulge is more of a black than a flesh color. it seemed to go down but i haven't looked at it lately. i am also feeding it springtails. i was feeding it also melanagaster flys. i might even try to give it more of a springtail diet.
walt


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