Help needed

Hi

7 year old female. Laid eggs once, perhaps 4-5 years ago. Has never been a good eater or very active, but goes for crickets and butter worms.

Standard setup, UV light, heat, crushed walnut on the floor, etc.

She has developed some sort of soft mass on the underside of her head. Vet did a biopsy, but couldn't find anything. Prescribed calcium drops and a vegetable slurry, and her appetite improved. However, the mass is increasing in size and her eyes are also bulging out at times.

Looking for any ideas. The mass is soft to the touch and she does poop every other day now. There does not seem to be any obstructions in her digestive tract. Not sure what to do, there aren't many vets in the area who are familiar with this lizard.

Hi there, what a sweet looking girl ! Is the entire beard just swelling or is it more pronounced on one side ? Some beardies get a saggy beard + bulging eyes if they are retaining fluid + possibly having liver or especially kidney problems. What type of supplements were you using before the vet visit ? How do you hydrate her, does she drink at all ?

It's evenly spread on the underside of her head. She drinks from her bowl, but not much as far as I can tell. She also gets water from the vegetables. I suppose I can give her some water with a dropper.

Other than that, the usual stuff, dusting crickets with calcium and some vitamins (I believe it was calcium and vitamins combined in the same package, perhaps Zoo Med).

She's never been a good eater though, especially after she turned 1.5-2 years old. Not going for veggies much and live food has to be moving, otherwise it's almost like she's not seeing it. She will take crickets from the tweezer, but won't really chase after them. You could almost say she's lazy, but I'm sure that's not it.

The vet drew some blood from the enlarged area and said there was nothing unusual there. But it's growing in size and I'm concerned.

Can you take a picture of it from the front ? Can you also post a pic of the calcium + vitamin bottle ? For now try getting her to drink some water from a dropper, slowly drip on her nose until she starts licking which may take a minute or so. BTW, is your vet experienced with reptiles ? And one more Q, is there a lump on her neck/back or just the other leg propped up to cause the illusion ?

I think it's just an angle on the photo I took, there are no lumps. The skin on her body is fairly loose, she should be fatter, in my opinion.

Awesome tip about giving her water. After the first drop, when she saw the dropper, she just opened her mouth and waited for it. Question is - how much is enough at one time?

Vet is allegedly experienced. At least that's what she said. There was also a nurse there who has a beardie.

See photos for the rest. Vitamins are in a non-original container, I pulled it off the net.

Good to hear that she drank ! She can have as much as she wants but give her a break to see that she doesn't choke. There are a number of things that it could be including excess vitamin A or D from the product you are using. You might opt for something like in this link without D3 to use twice a week and the other brand that you have once a week.

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/shopping?q=tbn:ANd9GcQ4HY8yygh3Vb52kd-va8cCUJ2P4_f8e55xhPlZCx0RHM_26N4J0-SfYimHBPKtACoC7UeMkcE38wk&usqp=CAc

It may also be an infection so try this first but you may want to have a blood test to see if she has an infection. Here's a thread with a dragon similar to yours :

viewtopic.php?p=1868279

Thank you very much. This thread is exactly what she has. Other than the difference in their eating habits.

I'll try other supplements as well as letting her have water from the dropper, but if the swelling doesn't start going down soon, it's back to the vet, although I might try a different one. Herp vets are very few around here.

Hi there,

You've been given great advice so far.
One thing I would highly recommend though is switching out your substrate. Sometimes puffy beards like that can be due to an injury - a scrape/cut/bite to the inside of the throat. It's a possibility that her substrate has cut her up a bit if she's been ingesting it. Crushed walnut is very sharp and jagged, and we've seen it really do a number on some dragons.

Even if you could just switch to paper towels for now while you try to resolve the issue, I think it would help.

-Brandon

Sounds good. It actually feels pretty soft to my fingers, but that's just me.

What do you recommend long term other than the paper towel?

A more permanent solution would be tile, textured linoleum, non-adhesive shelf liner, slate, or even newspaper.

A lot of us here like tile. You can get some nice looking tile that has a texture to it so it's not glossy and slippery. It's super easy to clean, and has the added benefit of keeping the nails trimmed down a bit.

But to be honest, even regular playsand would be better than the crushed walnut shell. I know it can be hard sometimes to think of switching from loose substrate to solid. My girl Naughtica was on loose for almost 4 or 5 years before we switched her (and all my other dragons to date) to solid. I don't regret it

-Brandon

I had reptile carpet originally. It was fine, just had to be washed often, so when it wore out I switched to walnut. She seemed to like it, but, yes, I was aware of potential dangers.

I like the entire floor not to have seams and couldn't find a tile that would fit. Didn't think about linoleum. Will see what the best option is.

Any thoughts on reptile carpet?

Took her to the vet. Showed her the post from the other thread and she prescribed the medicine:
Sulfatrim and Metacam.

Started her on it tonight. Will see if there is any improvement in a few days.

Thanks everyone for your help and feedback.

I would go w/ textured non adhesive shelf liner from Home Depot or Lowes -- its cheap easy to clean w/ vinegar/ water 50/50 spray bottle and insects cant get underneath
Karrie

I thought something soft, similar to sand, might be more comfortable. Hence, the carpet. But that's an idea too.

You can always put a nice fleece blanket in her hide to sleep on or piece of soft clothing
Karrie