Sudden hard swollen belly, black beard, and inactivity

I believe my three year old female beardie is in urgent condition as her belly has been hard as a rock since morning. She has laid infertile eggs three times this summer and I am afraid she is egg-bound. I immediately put her in a bath thinking it was an impaction (she has been eating like crazy but refused food this morning). A white urate came out in the first bath and the second bath looked like a tiny yellow urate (I am thinking this could have been an egg yolk from a burst). Are her symptoms consistent with egg peritonitis? She flinches when I try to grab her belly and occasionally looks like she is straining to poo or lay eggs. One side of her belly will start quivering at times too. I have posted pictures but they do not do justice to how swollen her belly feels. It is very solid and feels similar to how she is ballooned when taking a bath. I have put her in her laying box for most of the day hoping maybe she could lay her eggs. I am trying to find a reptile vet that is close and open on Sundays as well which is a difficult task. Any ideas would be much appreciated!

Hi there....she does look very distressed and it does sound like she may be eggbound or impacted. Is that her laybox with the woodchips ? I would highly suggest switching to sand or a sand/topsoil mix [ Topsoil from Lowe's, plain with nothing added ] The wood chips are a big impaction risk. Put her in an extra warm bat 1-2X a day to help her to hopefully pass the eggs or the impaction. An experienced reptile vet is the best choice now if you can find one.

Poor little girl. I hope that the vet can help on Monday.

Yes that is her laybox with topsoil and a small amount of sand. This can definitely be improved but she has never eaten subtrate before nor had any signs of impaction her entire life. We are at the vet now and he seems to think it is just an impaction that may pass. He is not a reptile expert so he could only speculate on any egg related issues. We had them do an X-ray in case so I will post the results as soon as I receive them. Thanks for the reply

Here are the x-rays we got at the vet. It is definitely not an egg-related problem but the blockage (if that thing is in his GI tract) is HUGE. I will be giving her baths twice a day and trying to give her some probiotics and olive oil. Any other tips on getting things moving? Could this be swollen organs and not a blockage??

Hello,

How long has she been bloated/swollen on her belly like this?
IF those are eggs they are not well defined in that x-ray, or she could be egg bound with a couple of eggs that burst which could make her very ill & is often fatal. Since you mentioned she had laid already that is a high probability.
Usually eggs are well defined & round in late stage when calcified & viewed on x-rays. If some eggs burst then that would be why any other eggs are not defined due to the yolk or scar tissue forming inside to blur the images.
Since she is in so much distress I personally don't think you have a very wide window in which to get her stabilized. If she isn't able to pass the impaction if it is an impaction or lay eggs, I highly recommend surgery to see what is going on if they aren't able to determine the entire problem.
Do you happen to have a blood test to see her calcium levels, albumin & protein levels?

Tracie

Drache613":2se0b3lx said:

Hello,

How long has she been bloated/swollen on her belly like this?
IF those are eggs they are not well defined in that x-ray, or she could be egg bound with a couple of eggs that burst which could make her very ill & is often fatal. Since you mentioned she had laid already that is a high probability.
Usually eggs are well defined & round in late stage when calcified & viewed on x-rays. If some eggs burst then that would be why any other eggs are not defined due to the yolk or scar tissue forming inside to blur the images.
Since she is in so much distress I personally don't think you have a very wide window in which to get her stabilized. If she isn't able to pass the impaction if it is an impaction or lay eggs, I highly recommend surgery to see what is going on if they aren't able to determine the entire problem.
Do you happen to have a blood test to see her calcium levels, albumin & protein levels?

Tracie

Click to expand...

Her belly has only been bloated for a little over 24 hours. This morning the puffiness of her belly has gone down significantly. Yesterday the bloated felt high up her belly (about where her heart and lungs should be) but today we noticed it being puffy further down (more like in the stomach/intestines region). This gave me hope that it is indeed a GI impaction. The vet inspected her belly quite a bit and said he didn't feel any eggs and that it felt like impactions he has seen before. I understand that eggs would not have been felt if they weren't developed or had burst. We decided to not have a blood test done as they would have to send it to a lab and the results would not be immediate. The X-rays gave us confidence that it was not egg-related so fingers crossed that she excretes whatever it is. Thanks for the help everyone!

For natural laxatives try unsweetened applesauce, baby food squash and more veg.oil. You can also try baby food prunes as well as raw honey [ unpasteurized from a health store ] Try getting water in her as well. Mix it with any combo of these other things. Then extra warm baths 2 X a day. Hopefully she'll pass whatever it is. Keep her off the wood chips, even a few of those can cause this situation. Best wishes for a successful outcome !

Hello,

I certainly hope she is able to pass it! How is she doing this evening?
I agree, eggs most of the time should be able to be seen if they are developed. It did not resemble eggs really, unless she was egg bound. It is a very large impaction though!
Keep us posted on how she is doing.

Tracie

Drache613":1tn0b5zl said:

Hello,

I certainly hope she is able to pass it! How is she doing this evening?
I agree, eggs most of the time should be able to be seen if they are developed. It did not resemble eggs really, unless she was egg bound. It is a very large impaction though!
Keep us posted on how she is doing.

Tracie

Click to expand...

Put her in a bath this morning and gently rubbed her belly and she let out a large stool!! Her belly is no longer bulging as much as before and she looks much more comfortable. There is still some bulging but I am confident she will go again today. I am very thankful it's looking like just a GI impaction and not bound eggs
Currently fixing her lay box for the next time she goes gravid!

Great news. I hope she continues to be on the mend

Hello,

That is terrific news! At least she passed some now. I am sure she feels better. Hopefully she will pass the rest through without too much trouble. That is a better scenario than egg binding and or peritonitis.
Keep giving soft foods to help her out. I hope she feels better soon! ☺

Tracie

Sorry for being so late responding. Nero made a quick and complete recovery after a few more stools. She's as healthy as ever now weighing 540 grams and being active. Mods can lock this thread now, thanks for all the help everyone!

Hello,

That is wonderful news Nero has completely recovered now!
I am happy her body has gotten back to normal now & it wasn't something more serious or life threatening.
You can post updates at any time, or post new pictures also of her.

Tracie