Vet wants to desex my bearded dragon?

[viciousred]

Has ANYONE heard of this being done? Mortality rates? Behavior changes? She has enlarged follicles and isn't eating so he wants to desex her once she has put weight back on. A bit hard when she isn't eating. She is on Baytril injections every 2 days and now calcium syrup .2ml twice a day, although I'm having serious difficulty getting it into her.

Anyone?

 

[souldoubt]

I have heard of it being done to a chameleon at a clinic I wont name (partly because Im not certain which clinic it was now), and i think it was uncomplicated and I have also just read about uncomplicated cases of spaying bearded dragons. Desexing is a fairly straight forward procedure if you have a vet that is competent in performing surgery on reptiles it shouldn't be a problem - of course potential issues are always present when surgery is involved eg. bad reaction to anaesthetic etc. but your vet has suggested this because they think its best for the animal and they would have weighed up the pro's and con's prior to suggesting it

Im sure behavioural changes will occur to some degree but they are far more pronounced and obvious in males. Does your beardie live with other females?

In regards to the weight, You could force feed her some hills a/d through with a syringe and dosing needle but that is stressful for the animal, and stress cause immunosuppression so I wouldn't do that until the infection you're treating has cleared up

 

[viciousred]

Thats the thing, she doesn't have an infection (that i have been told of) they are giving her anti biotics to stop the follicles getting infected? i think? No she lives on her own. She has been picking at bok choy but nothing substantial. If i try and put a syringe of calcium in her mouth its going to stress her like crazy as well. I'm so stressed out over all this, I don't know what I'm meant to do.
I know its what he thinks best, But i have never heard of it being done, can't find anything on the net apart from an artical description on how to do it, and I know how finicky reptiles are under anesthetic.

 

[Helikaon]

sounds like she has follicular stasis, whihc is common in female beardies kept alone. They still go through all the motions but they are not fertilized, most of the time the female will just lay a clutch of infertile eggs, (slugs) but it some they sit their and basically rot. yolk is a very good food source for bacteria as well. They usually will not eat in this state and a histerectomy is the usual treatment. If they become infected you will have a much more complicated surgery and a much sicker lizard, which will create further complications with the anaesthetic

 

[solar 17]

Feed her with a cropping needle that will take 3 seconds and that wont stress her out, maybe only you.
.......solar 17 (Baden)

 

[Helikaon]

though i cant tell you if this is the best treatment, the vet who has seen it will be best for that. sometimes, with some treatment and husbandry changes, you can get them to lay the clutch if everything is normal inside.

 

[viciousred]

I have No experience with a crop needle, how easy would it be to put it down the wrong whole with her thrashing about?

I had thought of that Helikan, I'm changin her UVB coil to an Arcadia tube, and was thinking of swapping newspaper for sand, or putting a box of sand in there for her to dig...

 

[Helikaon]

their glottis is very cranial , just behind the tongue, it would be difficult for you to accidently pas a dosing needle into the trachea, but if you are worried then see if you can get someone at your vet to show you how it is does so you are more comfortable

 

[viciousred]

Ok cool thanks for that.

 

[Helikaon]

Did they xray her viciousred? If the they are eggs rather then just follicles then you should be able to get her to lay, not having an appropriate laying area can definitely cause dystocia but majority of the time one given an appropriate area they will lay, i suggest you offer an area of damp sand make it as deep as you can. i quite often jsut use a nice big container fill it 3/4 with damp sand and put the lizard in and quite often if the eggs are ready they will dig and lay within a few hrs

 

[solar 17]

their glottis is very cranial , just behind the tongue, it would be difficult for you to accidently pas a dosing needle into the trachea, but if you are worried then see if you can get someone at your vet to show you how it is does so you are more comfortable

For what its worth l agree with the above, but gee wizz l reckon feeding any non feeding herp with a cropping needle would have to be the most least stressfull way of feeding on this planet, by a confident or experienced person it would take 3-4 seconds literally.
.........solar 17 (Baden)

 

[viciousred]

They did an ultra sound of her, the nurse said it was enlarge follicles, thats as much info as i got.

What kind of sand would you suggest?

 

[Helikaon]

sounds like you need to give them a call, are they experienced with reptiles?

i jsut used that wash sand pit sand from bunnings

 

[viciousred]

ok cool.
Yes they are, I'm not sure if I'm allowed to say?
They wont discus it with me on the phone and when i go i don't get to speak to a vet. I'm really really sick of this. I went with a list of questions and all i got was a brief spiel from the vet nurse when i picked her up today.

 

[Helikaon]

dont name names, but yes i would go in again and ask to speak to the vet, if they wont discuss it with you then that is terrible customer service and they dont deserve your buisness and i would rec getting a second opinion by someone actually willing to talk to you.

 

[viciousred]

I have another appointment for Thursday morning for more anti biotics, so hopefully then, but if not I've got to ask for all test results and notes on paper and walk out.

thankyou so much for all your help.

 

[souldoubt]

For what its worth l agree with the above, but gee wizz l reckon feeding any non feeding herp with a cropping needle would have to be the most least stressfull way of feeding on this planet, by a confident or experienced person it would take 3-4 seconds literally.
.........solar 17 (Baden)

you dont think having your mouth forced open, and a crop needle shoved down your throat would be stressful? Its stressful irrespective of the timeframe or other available methods


It might be worthwhile noting that she may not eat for up to a month after the surgery so you may need to get someone to show you how to force feed her just in case you do need to do it post surgery (or even beforehand) good luck with it

 

[longqi]

Put Powerade in her water or give her a bath in it
2/3 powerade 1/3 water
That will get her feeding again

The bath doesnt work quite as well on lizards as it does on slitherers
But well worth a try

 

[Em1986]

I have another appointment for Thursday morning for more anti biotics, so hopefully then, but if not I've got to ask for all test results and notes on paper and walk out.

thankyou so much for all your help.

If/when you get the results on paper, can you please post them here so i can have a look at what is written and see if i can help.
A vet nurse shouldn't be the one telling you anything really, the vet should be the one that gets you to book an appointment just to discuss the findings with you. I used to do vet nursing and it was always the vet that gave results etc and if asked anything i would book them in with the vet for further discussion of the results/situation.
Good luck and i hope your girl gets out of having to have her op and she's better soon!

 

[viciousred]

Again thank you all sooo much.
Will try the poweraid tomorrow after work, and get the dig box happening tomorrow or thursday.
I'm kind of disgusted that I work in a pet shop and have only now found out the the bulbs for uv i sell and use are utter crap.
Either way mine will all be changed over in the next few days too.

And thanks shouldoubt, I'll look into finding someone to give me a hand with it. don't know how much stock I put in these vets anymore...

Will keep you updated.

Managed to get the calcium into her this morning, she had a spack atttack after i had her in the sun and brought her in so i just squirted it in when she bite the seringe. Has eaten a little bok choy. I'm home most of tomorrow so will try offering some life food then too. Going to get the poweraid tongith, have only just got home from work.

What uv globes/tubes are good bad? I am using the exo terra coil 5%, I was told this was enough....



Also should i just put a dig box in or change her to sand completely?