Beardie favouring one leg?

[Miss B]

well id say it shouldnt be from the male,u probably would have seen signs by now then if it was,id have to say maybe muscle damage,also a possability is that with the producing of all the eggs they can lay,she may be weakened from putting all her calcium into egg production,just a possability,not highly likely though as shes carrying great condition for a beardy hows just laid,she how she is in the morning,it may be sore so shes just resting it for now

Thanks. I will check her out in the morning. If she's still favouring that leg I will get her to the vet for a good look at it. I'm hoping it's just sore, although it's weird timing, but I'll see how she goes in the morning...

 

[alex_c]

I've got a girl that jumps out of her enclosure into my lap. She's my little monkey :lol:

lol and this ones my little psychopath im actually forcing her to eat a piece of apple and its working shes very weak though

 

[richardsc]

haha,missB,my male does the exact same thing,when im feeding them i sit by there cage whilst the pellets are soaking,the 4 of them all come to the door and look out,the male always hangs right out then leaps on to me,there gotta be the coolest lizards like that,well my lacies do it as well,the 2 bigger ones,scares the bejesus out of me though ,lol,having 3 and 4 foot of claws and teeth leaping on to u to check u out just isnt the same

 

[richardsc]

alex,is she kept by herself,my narky one was really shy,and if housed with the others wouod miss out on most of the food,she went through stages of not eating so i sepperated her so when i fed her,she could come out and eat when i left the shed,which she did,but if she saw u enter she would hide away,where as all the others would be at the door of the cage wanting food,lol

 

[Miss B]

Lol yeah and sometimes if I'm holding some bok choy, she jumps at me trying to eat it. If I hold my arm up out of her reach, she'll climb my arm to get to it, like a monkey up a tree :lol: This is my other girl, mind you, not Phoenix. Phoenix is too fat to jump or climb anywhere with any enthusiasm :lol:

Well I'll have another look at Phoenix in the morning. Hopefully she's just a bit sore and it's nothing sinister, but if she is still favouring that arm we'll go see what the vet thinks. Poor baby.

 

[alex_c]

alex,is she kept by herself,my narky one was really shy,and if housed with the others wouod miss out on most of the food,she went through stages of not eating so i sepperated her so when i fed her,she could come out and eat when i left the shed,which she did,but if she saw u enter she would hide away,where as all the others would be at the door of the cage wanting food,lol

yeah shes housed with the male but usually shes the pig but shes just lost her appetite over the past few weeks. i just managed to get a little bit of apple and 0.3ml of mutton bird oil into her so hopefully she will pick up a bit:|

 

[Miss B]

Ok this is getting stranger. I've woken her up and given her a bath, and I can feel a small lump in her belly which feels pretty much like her eggs felt the other day - WEIRD. There only seems to be one..? Could she have accidentally retained an egg, or maybe she's started on her second clutch already..?!

I'm so confused

 

[Miss B]

I also called the local 24hr veterinary hospital. They let me talk to a vet (she's not a reptile vet but she owns beardies). I described what was going on, she said it would be hard to determine the exact cause without an examination. She recommended that so long as Phoenix is comfortable and doesn't seem in pain, just let her sleep for now and get her looked at tomorrow. She has referred me to a veterinarian that specialises in exotic pets - we're heading there first thing tomorrow morning just to see what's going on.

I'm going to need a strong coffee in the morning just to keep me awake

 

[Miss B]

Well we have been to the reptile vet this morning and things aren't looking too bad.

She had a couple of xray's - the arm is neither broken nor fractured, she probably just twisted it and it's a bit sore. She's on pain medication and the vet expects her leg to improve over the next week to ten days.

As for the lump, it is definately not an egg. Possibly a tiny little bit of impaction from the pressure her eggs were placing on her insides - she needs daily baths and should come good of her own accord. The vet also wants a fecal sample just to make sure she has no nasties.

I also had that injury on her chin looked at, and apparently it's healing very well and is no cause for concern.

All in all I am pretty happy with the outcome, and $190 for the consult, xrays, and medication is not too bad either.

 

[richardsc]

thats great news,also your beardy will have been developing eggs whilst still carrying her first clutch,there laying machines,lol,but yeah lump could be many things,glad she has the all clear

 

[Miss B]

Yeah the vet xray'd the lump and didn't think it was an egg, so then she did an ultrasound aswell. If it's just a little bit of impaction, it should soon pass. Hopefully these pain meds will make her feel better and the leg will improve. I'll be keeping a close eye on her. I feel much better after having had her seen by a vet, that's for sure

 

[dragon lady]

Had me worried MissB........the Red Female ide told you about...6yrs old from URS, went down similar way Dec 06,after her last hatch...still has no use of her back legs-drags them behind her,cant climb any more & is basically hand fed...only 6yrs old!!!!!!, gave advice-not to use sand or paper but to use a carpet or rubbermat in habitat so their girl has some grip and doesnt lose muscle tone in other limbs.........Our animals are so precious hope all works out well.

 

[Colin]

Firstly I really don't have much experience with dragons, but I was thinking since this happened after she laid? maybe it could have something to do with a calcium shortage (used for eggs) I'd be inclined to try some liquid calcium sandoz and give her a little to re-plenish her calcium levels. (get dosage from vet)

I may be totally wrong here but the calcium sandoz would probably do her some good after laying anyway.

Any experienced dragon breeder's think this theory has any merit or am I totally off track?

 

[dragon lady]

Yes,right on the $$$$$...Red Female i wrote about lost too much calcium.......had already in past weeks spoke to MissB about this....dont like to be grim or sound to depressive..BUT not all females hold on to calcium well,it happens to dogs too!
My Adrian....bought her last season already gravid...had poor diet- i knew instinctively something was wrong........ended up with severe infection in jaw bone -not enough cacium...all eggs lost& almost her as well!!

 

[Colin]

Yes,right on the $$$$$...Red Female i wrote about lost too much calcium.......had already in past weeks spoke to MissB about this....dont like to be grim or sound to depressive..BUT not all females hold on to calcium well,it happens to dogs too!
My Adrian....bought her last season already gravid...had poor diet- i knew instinctively something was wrong........ended up with severe infection in jaw bone -not enough cacium...all eggs lost& almost her as well!!

thanks for that input dragon lady. Liquid calcium sandoz is a very good supplement. Cheers.

 

[Miss B]

Thanks dragon lady, and yeah, I'm really pleased to know that it's at least not broken or fractured.

I did talk to the vet about calcium, she said basically you cannot overdose a beardie on calcium, particularly a gravid beardie - so long as it is the phosphorous-free variety. I am adding calcium to her food seven days per week at the moment. The vet also recommended getting her out into some natural sunlight a couple of times per week, it's not something I can manage on weekdays because I work 9-5 but will definately get all the beardies outside for a bit of sun on the weekends.

When I go back to the clinic to drop off the fecal sample (eww) I will ask about a calcium supplement.

Ummm what else. She's got a compact UVB globe in her enclosure... I'm going to switch this over to a fluro tube. I have heard some bad things about the compacts, I wasn't sure if it was true or not but to be honest I'd rather not take the risk.

My partner just phoned me with a progress update. She has had a decent feed since she got home, and is using that right front arm (just a little bit). She climbed up on to her basking rock and used the arm a bit, so that's already an improvement over last night.

 

[Gery]

im glad to hear she is fine and i hope she stays fine and that lump goes.

 

[Miss B]

Thanks Gery, I hope so too.

I will be sure to let you all know how she goes. Fingers crossed she makes a speedy recovery...

 

[swingonthespiral]

Jeez Miss B you and Pheonix scared me for a second!!!

Glad to hear shes improving.

Hugs for the both of you

 

[Miss B]

Lol yes she scared me too! Should have seen me last night, almost in tears at the sight of her hobbling around

But things look to be on the up and up, she's getting some major TLC so I'm hoping to see a quick improvement! Thanks for the hugs... I will pass them onto Phoenix