Beardie HELP

[jaclyndaniel]

Okay I have a fat bearded dragon, she is about 4 and since yesterday she has stopped walking around so much. Then i found below her mouth on her jaw to the left there is a lump. She seems to be having trouble pooing as she did some and looked like she still had more to go but her bum just looked all red around the edge. She shakes when she is walking and seems really tight.
She is booked in for the vet on thursday, but im so worried I tried 2 vets and got the soonest appointment.
i have not seen her eat since 3 days ago and ive given her 2 baths
Can anyone help me
What do i do?

 

[LizardLady]

Hey Jac!

I think you have two separate issues with this dragon - just for starters... Before I ask lots of questions, we'll start at the beginning...

Firstly, we'll tackle the "not walking around so much" and the vent - you say she feels "tight"? Run a luke-warm bath for her (I know you said you've done this already, just humour me!), just up to her shoulders, so she can 'swim'... If she's impacted (sounds highly likely), she'll try and poop in the bath fairly quickly. Watch to see if she strains - if she does, gently manipulate by massaging her tummy with your thumbs on her back, forefingers gently massaging her tummy, rolling toward the vent. This needs to be done GENTLY, but with just enough pressure to help her... (I'm guessing she's on sand, or bark or some such?) When she's finished, as quickly as you can, run a fresh bath for her, to relax her. Let her do what she wants, but keep an eye on her vent. If she strained too hard, she may have a prolapse (another situation entirely, let us know if this occurs).

As for the lump on her jaw, it's really too difficult to diagnose without photos. Does the lump hurt her? Does it feel squishy, or hard? If you can post a pic or two of this "lump", that will help us help you to help her...

Now the questions! Could you please explain to us what her enclosure set-up is like? Heating, UVA/B tube brand, how far away it is from the dragon, temps, substrate, furnishings, feeding... Your answers to these questions will give us a 'picture' of the husbandry (not saying that's the issue, but there's obviously something "amiss") and may just pinpoint a reason for certain behaviour...

As for the vet - the soonest appointment may not necessarily be the best - unless it's with a reptile vet... Sadly, veterinarians don't major in herpetology, so some know very little about the animals - to the point it may be hazardous.

Anyway, if you get the manipulation done in the bath, and can get some pics of her jaw up for us, answer these questions, we'll be able to help you a little better!

Good luck!

Best,
Carolyn

 

[jaclyndaniel]

Thanks for the reply
She didnt move alot when i woke up, i gave her a bath and nothing happened. Ive put her under the basking area where she normally sits. I did find some poo in the enclosure but i think it may be from one of my other beardies, there are 2 others in there.
The lump is hard and it seems to be annoying her, she keeps moving her beard, making a clicking sound
So most of the time she is constantly basking, since its so cold here I had to put in a higher wattage bulb.
I have a ive been running it 24/7 and its bright white, 20cm from the ground
I yesterday I put in another UVB UVA tube, i didnt know if it needed changing, and i though better to be safe. The one ive put in has been used before for about a month and has been sitting on my shelf for nearly a year. Tube is 40cm from the ground
The basking is about 30, hot end about 27 and cool end at about 20
And the substrate is sand but if thats a problem in happy to change to something recommended
Thanks so much for help, hopefully we come up with an answer



lump is on the left side of pictureno lump




lump side, she is keeping her eye closed now.

 

[Chris1]

the lump on her jaw and trouble pooing, and shaking when walking is making me think calcium deficiency,...

what do you feed her?
do you supplement her food?
i know you changed ur UVB already, how old was the previous one? what brand? also 40cms away? 40cms gives t hem minimal benefit if its a tube uv,...

basking at 30C? should be 40 to digest properly and extract all the necessary nutrients from her food.


do you get her out in the sun at all?

 

[LizardLady]

Okay, first things first, you need to separate her from the others NOW... Get her off the sand, use newspaper or paper towel...

Bump up her temp in the "hospital" enclosure...

Keep furnishings etc to a minimum...

Yes you will need a vet visit...

You didn't say how her vent is this morning (I'm still guessing prolapse here), so an update on that would be handy.

As for the lump - it's obviously painful for her to be touched - your vet 'should' do a biopsy (I'd be recommending that as a minimum) to ascertain what it is. Has the lump grown since you first noticed it? I'm hoping "no"...

Anyway, it is definitely recommended you take her to the vet (hopefully they know enough about reptiles to help!), but in the meantime, set up a hospital tub (with higher heat and UV) with newspaper as substrate, basking rock and monitor her for the time being. I'd also guess she's not interested in eating, so don't offer crickets. Try her on Parsley (hand-feed) and/or Bok Choy. Get some greens into her if you can. This will also help "flush" her system, as well as giving her necessary nutrients. Try to drip feed some water to her (drip onto her nose, she'll lick at it) - as much as she'll take.

Sorry I can't be much help - it's imperative that the temps are raised at this time and no handling (keeps stress to a minimum) unless necessary...

Keep us posted on her progress!

All the best,
Carolyn

 

[Chris1]

id say offer her whatever she will eat,....dunked in calcium,...

like Lizardlady said she needs to be seperated if she has flatmates,..and def remove the loose substrate, you dont want anything else adding to her problems,...
has she been housed with a male? if shes producing eggs she'll have used up all her normal calcium and be pulling it out of her bones really quickly,...if shes not gravid she still needs calcium to function,...and it would still be taken from her bones if theres not enough in her diet, just at a slower rate than if shes producing eggs.

have you had her the whole 4 years?

if you have sunny screened windows, heat up a bag of rice to 40C, wrap it in a towel, place beardy on the bag in the sun for ran hour,..

if it is a calcium deficiency the sooner you get on top of it the better,....if its something else calcium and some proper sun cant hurt,....

i noticed in a previous thread you posted in april you had a beardy with pus oozing out of its face?
did you find out if the lump was something infectious?
is this the same beardy?