Another swollen limb thread!

I have a couple of rescued beardies, this one I've had about 6 months. He has a little chin deformity meaning he can't fully close his jaw, but has a gap at the tip where his tongue pokes out a bit while he sleeps, but it's pretty cute...

When I got him he had one really swollen foot, but as he had no UV before I got him, I put it down to that. He now has Reptisun 10.0 linear bulb in a household fitting with no case, 10 inches from his basking platform. Just realised I haven't yet replaced it, so it's 6 months old and may be causing the issue?

The inflammation seemed to be going down, but has come back in the last few weeks. I started giving him black cherry juice, but wasn't sure how much or how often, so he gets 0.5 cc every day at the moment.

He gets superiors, crickets, butterworms, hornworms, waxworms, dubia, and veggies (parsley, dandelions, kale, peas, berries, squash, bell peppers, etc), though he's not bothered about the greens. He loves spaghetti squash and berries though, he gets those once a week. I offer the green veggies every day, but he doesn't often eat them. I usually have to trick him by cutting it all up small then sprinkling it with bugs, so some goes in by accident.

His bugs and veggies are dusted with Repashy Calcium Plus. His staples are super worms and dubia, the other things he gets once a week.

I also noticed that the tip of his tail has died, and the rest looks partially discoloured, so I'm worried it's spreading.

His name was Pistachio, but we seem to end up calling him Beef, because he has such beefy arms and tends to hang around looking like a big hunk of steak!!




His tank is wider than you can see, to the left of the bath is a large hide that he rarely uses, but he does like climbing on it when he's feeling manly!!

His arms to look a bit swollen. The black cherry juice may help that if it's gout. A vet would need to do some testing to be sure on that though. In the meantime I'd cut out the fattier bugs like waxworms and butter worms. I'd reduce bug feedings to only a couple of times per week and offer the salads daily. The squash is good stuff so that can go into the salad daily along with the other things you listed. I've had good luck with chopped up green beans and yellow/green squash as well. That should be the main portion of his diet at this point. I would definitely replace the UVB. If you can upgrade to a T5 that would be good. A T5 with a reflective fixture would put out daylight levels of UVB mounted about 12-14'' above the basking area. If you want to keep going with the T8, I'd move it a bit closer. More around 6'' without a reflector or up to 8'' with a reflector for best output. Plenty of UVB combined with a diet lower in protein and fat may help quite a bit over time.

As far as the tail goes, it looks like there may be some damage but I can't see clearly. Can you post some closer photos of his tail? If the damaged area appears to be spreading it's probably a good idea to bring him to an experienced reptile vet for an exam.

Sorry for the late reply! Thank you for being so thorough. So fixing the light, cut back to bugs just twice a week, and offer veggies daily? He's doing well, but does seem to have stiff joints. I do have a good reptile vet locally, but I'm hoping I can try the simple fixes first, the tests get expensive fast and in the last year I've spent $2K on my teeny Rankins with a broken jaw, and $1K trying to diagnose my panther chameleon!

Here are some clearer pics of him having a soak, I think I'm less worried about his tail, though the very tip has died, it doesn't seem to be spreading. He really likes the black cherry juice, which is convenient!

Any suggestions for tempting a fussy beardie who only wants to eat food that wriggles? As I said before, pretty much the only veggies he'll eat are spaghetti squash, zucchini, berries, and peas. I offer him a lot of different veggies every day because he's spoiled and prefers to be hand fed, but he's picky. He did once raze a potted hibiscus to the ground, so I'm tempted to find a potted plant that he can eat.

Hi. I've read where alfalfa is suppose to work for gout. Also he'll probably need to be on allopurinol and that you can order online.

Hello,

He is a nice looking dragon, great colors & body condition. The tip of the tail should just fall off if it's drying out. It doesn't appear to be spreading upwards, either.
That's great he likes the black cherry juice, it's good for him. I would limit to 25-30 insects weekly, along with greens & veggies as much as you can.
I know vet visits can add up! If you can get a blood test done on him, that would help to determine whether or not it is gout or an infection. Maybe improving the light/placement, diet, etc can help reduce swelling. A lot of times it can.

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie

So the veggies etc he'll willingly eat are: spaghetti squash, zucchini, peas, and berries. Assuming I keep the berries to a minimum (I avoided them as staples for my tortoises because I'd heardo the fruit sugars could cause colic) are those veggies enough for a balanced diet or should I keep trying to push other veggies too?

Those are good options. I'd try to rotate in new ones as you can get them and keep his diet as varied and wide as you can but the squashes are especially good in salads. I've had good luck with chopped green beans as well.

Hello,

How is your boy doing today?
I hope he has been eating a little more veggies/greens! Those veggies are fine, as suggested, just rotate them around & he should get a decent variety. Does he like any leafy greens or not? Maybe he will start liking a bit more but that's a great start!
Keep us posted on him.

Tracie

He's very fussy! He did decide he loves iceberg lettuce today, which figures, as it's so low in nutrients that it's barely even a vegetable. As he's also fussy about drinking, it's a good way to get some hydration in though. He's still fairly active when stimulated, though I can see his knees are stiff. When he's in his tank he just wants to flop like a loaf, but he's fidgety when he's out to play.


He's also the best, but don't tell the others.