Swollen ball of foot

Butterflies2706 · Aug 7, 2019

Hi, my bearded dragon, Buster has a swollen foot. She has had an X-ray and there are no signs of breakages and bone health looks good. The xray did show that the swelling is pushing two of her toes apart. She has had four weeks of antibiotic injections and anti-inflammatory drops with no affect. The vet thinks that the next step is to have an operation to find out what it is which we are hesitant about due to the risks. Buster in herself seems in really good health and eating a lot more than normal and the swelling does not seem to be affecting her movement. Has anyone else experienced anything like this?

Drache613 · Aug 7, 2019

Hello,

Can you post some pictures of that swollen foot for us?
Poor thing, I hope she isn't in too much pain. Please review your tank setup with us such as
the lighting, temperatures, supplementation & diet for her so we can be sure it's all correct.
How long has it been swollen for?

Tracie

Butterflies2706 · Aug 8, 2019

Thank you for your reply. Here are some photos. Her foot has been swollen for about a month and a half now and doesn’t seem to have got any bigger or smaller.
The vet said everything seemed ok with the set up: we have 2 uvb lights (one is 10% and the other 12% and both have reflectors and 1 basking light, temperature under the basking light is around 40 degrees and 30 degrees on the other side, she has a box of crickets weekly and hoppers weekly, eats kale, greens, blueberries sprinkled with calcium powder with multivitamins including vitamin d3.

CooperDragon · Aug 8, 2019

That doesn't look so good. Did the vet take a blood test and try to get a sample of what's inside the mass? Is it solid feeling or does it seem to be full of liquid?

Butterflies2706 · Aug 8, 2019

No blood test. They tried to get a sample but it just bled. It is hard to touch.

Butterflies2706 · Aug 8, 2019

I will suggest a blood test at the next appointment. Thank you for your advice. What would you suggest they look for?

Drache613 · Aug 8, 2019

Hello,

That is quite swollen. Are there any other areas on him, hands, feet, digits, etc that seem to be
swelling up at all? If you can, please include a few full body shots of him too.
I would definitely request a blood test. It could be an infection from some type of bite, but, my
guess would be gout. So they can see what the uric acid levels are first off, for renal function.
How old is Buster & how many insects does he receive, weekly?
If you can find some black cherry extract for him, to begin giving that to him daily to help out if
there is gout (tophi) crystals building up there. Just give .5ml to 1ml daily, with some extra oral
fluids right now.
What type/brand of UVB lights are you using?
Are you in the UK or other area in Europe?

Tracie

Butterflies2706 · Aug 9, 2019

I can’t seem to be able to add more photos, but we can’t see any other areas that are swollen. We did wonder about gout but she doesn’t seem to have any other symptoms. She eats around 20-30 crickets a week and about 10-15 locusts. We are in the uk. We are using Arcadia uvb lights. Thank you for you advice, we will try her on the black cherry extract and fluids and see how she goes. She is five years old.

Claudiusx · Aug 9, 2019

My first thought was gout also. The black cherry extract can only help.

I wouldn't call the amount of feeders excessive, but you might want to cut down on them for a bit just in case it is gout. The blood test would help diagnosis that better.
Is she a good salad eater?

-Brandon

Butterflies2706 · Aug 9, 2019

Thank you for the help. I have found some Montmorency cherry concentrate at a local health food place to try and we will cut down the amount of live food we give her. She does love her salad.

Claudiusx · Aug 9, 2019

That is great! Hopefully you will start seeing some improvements! :mrgreen:

-Brandon

Drache613 · Aug 9, 2019

Hello,

That's great you found some cherry juice/extract for her.
It does seem a bit odd though, since her diet sounds good & that really isn't a huge number
of insects per week, either. At least she is also eating her greens & salad, too.
Which Arcadia UVB light are you using, a tube bulb or the MVB light?
Could a cricket have gotten loose in her tank & bitten her & it gotten infected?

Tracie

Butterflies2706 · Aug 10, 2019

We are using the UVB tube lights. The vet does think it is an infection and thinks that it possibly could be puss that she can’t clear but we have just finished four weeks of ceftazadime injections today and the swelling is still the same. He said that if the injections didn’t help then he wants to do an operation to find out what it is. That sounds quite extreme to me especially with Buster seeming so well in herself otherwise and so I would prefer to try the cherry extract first and keep a close eye on her. What do you think?
She could have been bitten by a cricket I guess.

Drache613 · Aug 10, 2019

Hello,

So 4 weeks of the Ceftz have not cleared that up, at all & the swelling is still the same?
It could be just a localized infection, definitely. Did he not culture the blood or any other
fluids that he could get out of that area?
Well, surgery sounds a bit extreme. I personally think instead of surgery that he should
try again, to lance that area to see if he can draw any type of fluids out of the swollen tissue
to culture it for infection, etc before doing a surgery.
Good the tube bulbs are better than the compact/coil lights are.
Trying the black cherry juice/extract for awhile sounds good along with monitoring her feet,
& hands, etc to be sure no other area starts to swell up as it would with gout.
I hope this starts to get better for Buster.

Tracie

Swollen ball of foot

Butterflies2706

Member

Drache613

BD.org Sicko

Butterflies2706

Member

CooperDragon

BD.org Sicko

Butterflies2706

Member

Butterflies2706

Member

Drache613

BD.org Sicko

Butterflies2706

Member

Claudiusx

BD.org Sicko

Butterflies2706

Member

Claudiusx

BD.org Sicko

Drache613

BD.org Sicko

Butterflies2706

Member

Drache613

BD.org Sicko

Members online

Latest resources

Latest posts

Latest profile posts

Forum statistics

Share this page