savannah monitor not eating, suspected impaction

ecbee · 05-11-15, 02:14 PM

i own a roughly 3 year old savannah monitor who came from a womans house who did not know how to properly care for a savannah monitor. she was housed on decorative fish rocks and wood chips which i quickly changed to 1/2 top soil 1/2 play sand and corrected the humidity and the temperatures when she came into my care. within the first month of her being in my care she passed 3-4 decorative fish rocks from being in this womans care....
ive had her for a good handful of months but since she wasn't raised correctly on the right diet she is not apt to eating insects unfortunately but she doesn't mind rats at all. we've been feeding her weaned rats i believe thats the size she is eating with a mixture of trying to feed her some meal worms when she will take them and horn worms. she gets the occasional egg but only as a treat.
my problem is.... she WILL NOT eat. ive tried giving her anything and everything...
smelt, quail eggs, rats, mice, african soft fur rats, hornworms, meal worms, crickets ... everything. the last thing im going to try are some roaches. what im thinking is she might be impacted.
ive tried warm baths while massaging, i increased the temps, monitored the humidity and still nothing. yes vet care i get it if a couple more baths dont do the trick she will be going there this upcoming week, just creating this post to try and get some feed back
anyone out there able to help me?

jarich · 05-11-15, 10:40 PM

How long have you had her? What basking temp do you have for her and how are you measuring this? What is the cool side temp? How deep is the soil you have provided?

Honestly my first thought would be that she is gravid. Either way, she needs an xray so you know for sure one way or the other. Given that poor past, if she is gravid she may have undeveloped eggs she is retaining. The sooner the better with the vet really.

Ballchris · 05-11-15, 11:12 PM

I don't know anything on monitors, all i wanted to do is say i hope she gets to feeling better.

Albert Clark · 05-12-15, 08:12 AM

Wow, good job in trying to troubleshoot the issues. I agree with the vet visit. At least then you will have a baseline t work with. The first thing I think of in a non feeding reptile after husbandry is parasitic loads. Before you go to the vet make sure to collect a fresh stool sample in a zip lock bag to take with you. Good job and good luck.

Toothless · 05-12-15, 09:00 AM

I would definitely get it into the vet as soon as possible for an x-ray and blood work. Could be impaction, retained eggs, the start of organ failure and gout, or some other issue. Seeing that it was in improper care for most of it's life, it may very well have caused irreversible damage which may just be showing up now. The only way to tell for sure is with a vet visit and some test. You are right to be concerned, and the sooner it is seen by a good reptile vet, the better.
Do you have a photo of the monitor (as recent as possible) and a shot of the enclosure?