Female Beardie - Swollen Vent

Hello everyone, I'm not an expert on beardies so I'm hoping I can pick your minds!

I am currently house sitting a female beardie for a client and will be for the next few months. Everything has been going quite smoothly, she's eating well and is quite active...and then she decided to lay eggs.

She seemed uncomfortable and laid about 4 eggs. The next day, she laid 14 and appeared to be straining and black bearding quite a bit so I was assuming she was going to lay a few more.

That was two days ago, and today there are no more eggs and her vent looks pretty swollen. I gave her a warm soak and applied some honey since I was reading that it could help. I'm hoping it goes back to normal but was just wondering if this should require some veterinary intervention?

There was some white coming out but I was assuming it was urates as it was able to be wiped away.

Hello,

Oh my,well she is definitely swollen, poor girl. It looks like she could possibly still have an
egg lodged there that for some reason or another is not passing, but, I'm not positive of
course.
However, since you mentioned she has had a black beard she is obviously in distress & in
some pain. I would get her to the vet since she is in some type of distress. They can crash
pretty quickly & then, it will be too late.
Soaking her in warm water & applying honey can help but she still may not be able to pass
it if it is an egg lodged the wrong way. Do you have calcium you can give, to help in case she
is low in reserves? That can help with muscle contractions.
Let us know how she is doing.

Tracie

Tried contacting a few vets in the area but no too many are used to exotics but was willing to take a look. I also send the photos and double checked with her owner, who doesn't wish to seek veterinarian intervention so I'm not quite sure how I should proceed.

As for today, it looks a bit more deflated. No more eggs in the enclosure and her beard is no longer black. She seems quite active, moving around the tank and basking but she also has no interest in food.

I gave her another 15 minute soak, and while she was drinking her bath water I had aside a pre-loaded calcium/water concoction in a syringe that I was able to get into her to drink as well.

I put more honey back onto her vent, as the vet told me over the phone it couldn't hurt. So here's hoping that she'll be back to normal soon!

Looks much better now. Poor thing is really skinny, hopefully she'll start eating soon . What foods do you have for her ?

Hello,

She is looking better, poor girl!
Continue with the honey & some soaking baths for her. At least if her beard isn't black right
now then she must be feeling better thankfully.
Keep us posted on her.

Tracie

AHBD":2lm0h4o8 said:

Looks much better now. Poor thing is really skinny, hopefully she'll start eating soon . What foods do you have for her ?

Click to expand...

I was left with a bunch of superworms being told that was her main staple. She would gobble those up quite quickly. Tried blending with some greens (I have mustard and collard right now) but she just picks out her worms and leaves the rest.

Any other live bugs she's a little hesitant around. No interest in crickets or dubia whatsoever. So I am a bit stumped on how to get her to eat anything else...

I've been reading that bee pollen might be useful?

Hello,

You could also try some silkworms or hornworms, those are usually liked. If she hasn't ever
really eaten greens or much vegetation then it is going to be hard to get her to eat them now!
You can continue to put them out for her & hopefully she will eventually look at them as a food
source.
You could make a nutritional greens slurry for her to give to her a few days per week. Let us
know how she is doing.

Tracie