This is a tale from back in October but I have held off posting until now because I didn't want to jinx anything. I'm finally ready to share the story.
My beardie Jennay will be two in May. Back in October, I had her out and was feeding her carrots (her fav) and playing with her on the living room floor. I saw something shiny probably around the same time that Jennay did and she was too fast for me... she ate it! I knew right away that it was a penny. I freaked out... started yelling for my husband. He came in and pryed her mouth open but it was well past her throat by then.
I google'd what to do and found a bunch of horror stories. It appered that every time a beardie at a penny, it died. They are too small to handle the zinc and to poop it out. It seemed like the only hope was to force her to throw up but even that could cause damage. I read that your best hope was to either to take her to the vet and have surgery (which I called about but it would cost us thousands of dollars... I love jennay but we're in the process of buying a house and I'm about to have our first baby... we can't afford that) or to just pray that it passes. We went to the store and got some sugar-free baby food that would be easily digestable, gave her a few baths a day and lots of stomach massages and just kept a close eye. I was really sad because I knew it was my fault and I could tell from all the other posts that she was going to die.
Fast forward a month... we're pretty much back to normal. She hasn't died but I rarely take her out because I'm far too nervous and we watch her closely waiting for her to pass. We went back to feeding her her regular food because the baby food was making her act lethargic and I figured hey, if she's going to die she might as well die comfortable. It's now December... we haven't even talked about the penny in almost a month. My husband is at work and Jennay is in the bath soaking while I clean out her tank when WHAT DO I COME ACROSS?!?! A disgusting, poo-covered penny!! That's right folks. My little lady poo'd out the penny. I FREAKED OUT and called all my family members so excitedly (not that any of them cared... they find her gross but still, I was ecstatic and needed to share my big news!). I did read about some beardies passing the penny and then still dying from zinc poisoning so I was still pretty nervous for a while but it's been well over three months and she is alive and thriving. She eats like normal and now I am VERY CAREFUL about things being left on the ground when I have her out. I have no idea how the penny stayed in her for well over a month nor do I know how her little butt poo'd it out but it did. I have never been so proud of her in life
I hope that my story helps someone else whose dragon ate a penny. It's a very scary situation to be in and easily avoidable by just making sure to pick up VERY WELL but if it does happen don't worry, there is a chance that your beardie could live
My beardie Jennay will be two in May. Back in October, I had her out and was feeding her carrots (her fav) and playing with her on the living room floor. I saw something shiny probably around the same time that Jennay did and she was too fast for me... she ate it! I knew right away that it was a penny. I freaked out... started yelling for my husband. He came in and pryed her mouth open but it was well past her throat by then.
I google'd what to do and found a bunch of horror stories. It appered that every time a beardie at a penny, it died. They are too small to handle the zinc and to poop it out. It seemed like the only hope was to force her to throw up but even that could cause damage. I read that your best hope was to either to take her to the vet and have surgery (which I called about but it would cost us thousands of dollars... I love jennay but we're in the process of buying a house and I'm about to have our first baby... we can't afford that) or to just pray that it passes. We went to the store and got some sugar-free baby food that would be easily digestable, gave her a few baths a day and lots of stomach massages and just kept a close eye. I was really sad because I knew it was my fault and I could tell from all the other posts that she was going to die.
Fast forward a month... we're pretty much back to normal. She hasn't died but I rarely take her out because I'm far too nervous and we watch her closely waiting for her to pass. We went back to feeding her her regular food because the baby food was making her act lethargic and I figured hey, if she's going to die she might as well die comfortable. It's now December... we haven't even talked about the penny in almost a month. My husband is at work and Jennay is in the bath soaking while I clean out her tank when WHAT DO I COME ACROSS?!?! A disgusting, poo-covered penny!! That's right folks. My little lady poo'd out the penny. I FREAKED OUT and called all my family members so excitedly (not that any of them cared... they find her gross but still, I was ecstatic and needed to share my big news!). I did read about some beardies passing the penny and then still dying from zinc poisoning so I was still pretty nervous for a while but it's been well over three months and she is alive and thriving. She eats like normal and now I am VERY CAREFUL about things being left on the ground when I have her out. I have no idea how the penny stayed in her for well over a month nor do I know how her little butt poo'd it out but it did. I have never been so proud of her in life
I hope that my story helps someone else whose dragon ate a penny. It's a very scary situation to be in and easily avoidable by just making sure to pick up VERY WELL but if it does happen don't worry, there is a chance that your beardie could live
