Dragon eating rusted metal

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Nordicdragon

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Hello, I'm new here and I have an urgent question.

My bearded dragon may have eaten a rusted iron flake from an old grill. He ran out onto the balcony and before I could stop him he ate a c.a. 1X1cm brown flake that may have been a leaf or a rusted flake about that size. It only happened a few minutes ago and I immediately registerd here to see if anyone knew if there is anything I can do.
I live in a Nordic country and cannot access a veterinarian who knows how to deal with reptiles.

Will my dragon regurgitate it or can I make him do it somehow?
Is his stomach tough enough to for it to pass through or am I just going to have to pray to my Nordic gods that he will survive this?
 

Nordicdragon

New member
Original Poster
Got a hold of a vet who toook an x-ray for me and though we did see something in his stomach it was not obviously metallic and seems to be broken in several pieces or folded somehow together.

The vets advice: Feed it lots of paraffin oil to make it go through smoother and try not to worry. I gave her close to 2 ml of oil and hope it's enough.

I´ll post again here if she poops it out OK or if things take a turn for the worse so that it might possibly help someone else.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Good advice from the vet, probably all that can be done right now. I've heard of giving charcoal for potentially harmful substances, but I wouldn't know the procedure, and if the vet recommends oil, hopefully it will do the trick. I hope it all works out O.K.....it will probably pass through.
 

Tonja

BD.org Addict
activated charcoal binds substances that are poisonous and reduces absorbtion of those substances but in the process can absorb nutrients which is short term with little to no effect on the one recieving it. I dont think it would work on anything metallic unless there are heavy metals involved which activated charcoal may or may not bind. Its a fine black powder that is usually mixed with water and given <in people> after gastric lavage <stomach pumping>. It can be syringe fed in tiny amounts but is usually done with a tube in the tummy via the throat. Its tasteless and odorless but can be a very inky black mess when adminstered orally. Before using anything like activated charcoal consult with a vet.
 

Nordicdragon

New member
Original Poster
Good news.The paraffin oil seems to have done the trick. :D
The day after being fed the oil she made a huge, watery mess and she felt quite relieved after that. I was worried that it might not have come out so I kept a close eye on her droppings for the next couple of times and she seems to be digesting properly and feeling good.
She's been a bit agitated and that made me worry quite a lot, but she is shedding so that's probably just natural.
It´s been five days now and she seems quite happy and sociable so I think it's safe to say that whatever she ate has been passed without problem.

An interesting thing about the paraffin oil is that she didn't seem to dislike it and though she doesn't like being force fed (who does?) she didn't struggle all that much and pretty much let me feed it to her. She even licked off extra oil that didn't end up in her mouth.

In conclusion; oiling up the stomach with paraffin oil and feeding her a hefty meal afterwards cleans everything out of her digestive system without hurting her at all. This might be useful if they swallow potentially harmful objects.

Thanks again for your help. :)
 
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