Prolapse, what to do now?

Hi,

First off: I’m from the Netherlands so if I don’t use the right words for certain things, I’m sorry!

I have a 14 yo bearded dragon (female, she has laid eggs in the past) and today she had a prolapse. I fear she has walked around with it for hours but I was at work and before work everything was fine. There was blood in her tank and she was still pushing. I called a local vet but they couldn’t help me because no one there was specialized in reptiles. After calling several others further and further away I finally found one but he had his day off today. Eventually the vets assistent told me how I could push it back myself and I did.

But what to do now?

Is there a way I can prevent this in de future? She is pretty old but I don’t want her to suffer in any way. Do I have to take her to a specialized vet just in case? Since it may have been hours I’m really scared that she is damaged beyoned recovery. At this moment she is vert alert and walking around more than she usually does (well not right now because her lights are out and she is sleeping). She is also still interested in food and water.
She has never had any problems with her health before and I haven’t changed her surroundings (she got a new tank 2years ago but I highly doubt that has anything to do with the sudden prolapse).

Sorry for the long post, I just really care about her a lot and have zero experience with this problem.

Thanks in advance!
Tink

Wow, 14 years old is great! You must be providing excellent care. For a prolapse, I would prepare a bath with high levels of sugar. Soaking her in the sugar water may help reduce swelling and allow the prolapse to resolve itself. There is risk of it happening again in the future though so a vet visit is a good idea. They can treat further if needed. Here is some more info http://www.anapsid.org/prolapse.html

CooperDragon":z4a91pzq said:

Wow, 14 years old is great! You must be providing excellent care. For a prolapse, I would prepare a bath with high levels of sugar. Soaking her in the sugar water may help reduce swelling and allow the prolapse to resolve itself. There is risk of it happening again in the future though so a vet visit is a good idea. They can treat further if needed. Here is some more info http://www.anapsid.org/prolapse.html

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Yeah she just turned 14 last month, I actually have no idea how old they usually get.
But thank you for the info!

Usually around 10 is average old age. I've heard of some living longer but I usually think of them having about the same life span as a dog.

Hello,

Wow that's great she has reached 14, how terrific! How are the Netherlands?
How is she doing today, is the prolapsed area still in?
Most of the time, prolapses are caused by straining, weak muscles or trauma. Is your UVB
up to date & do you give calcium supplementation on a regular basis?
Is her beard dark or regular color?
Let us know how she is doing.

Tracie

Hi,
The prolapsed area is looking good, she got through the night! But she hasn’t tried to poop since it happend, that will be the real test.
Uvb light is being replaced regularly and she gets her supplementation. I was thinking maybe, since she is old, it could be because of natural causes? Just like older people who’s bones are getting brittle en muscles are getting weaker. No idea if thats the same for beardies.

Hi there, it's great that you got it to go back in. Once the vet is in the office you can see whether they might put a suture in each corner of the " vent " [ cloacal opening ] Don't feed her for a few days so she doesn't feel the need to poo. Just offer oral hydration, let her drink from a spray bottle or syringe. Don't bathe her at all because this causes some dragons to want to go poo. After 4-5 days introduce soft foods and eventally insects that are not more than medium sized and possibly freshly shed.


The cool sugar bath mentioned by the other poster [ Cooperdragon ] should only be done if you see it come out again. You can even put a sugar or honey paste on it. Raw honey is the best. Then try to get her to a vet. Hopefully she won't repeat but for now a stitch on each side may help keep it in.

For those who are interested:

She has been doing great! After the prolapse she started digging around so I set up her lay box and today (after several days of digging but no eggs) she laid 10 eggs (all infertilized off course) and everything is still where it should be.

Thanks for all the info and the support !

It's nice to hear that she's doing well + has not had any more trouble. Hopefully it will stay that way.

Hello,

That is great news she is doing so well now. At least she hasn't prolapsed since then. So, she
laid eggs? Hopefully she wont lay anymore eggs but a lot of times, they do lay several clutches.

Tracie