My Beardie's leg looks swollen

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Drache613

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Hello Donna,

That is great news then! AT least the vet is going to help out for him now.
I am glad the baby food addition worked so you could get some black cherry powder into him.
That usually works pretty well.
Gout, if it is early detection & pseudogout then it hopefully can be corrected with the meds relatively quickly. If it is tophaceous gout, that will be the most severe & he will be on meds, for life.
Allopurinol is very good but give it time to work. Continue to give black cherry also, as it will aid in the excretion of uric acid. I'm so sorry Cash is going through this.
Let us know how he is doing!

Tracie
 
Gout can sometimes occur due to what you're feeding your feeders. There have been occurrences where bearded dragons get gout from eating Dubia Roaches, a feeder that is already high in protein and uric acid, that have been raised on dog food, or any other high protein diet. Look at what your feeders are eating and try to stick to a more vegetable based diet. :)
 

Rankins

Gray-bearded Member
If it's articular gout it will go away with the allopurinol. If it's the visceral form it can do organ damage and it can be a lifelong issue. As others stated limit the amount of insect protiens you are giving. Plant protiens are perfectly fine as they are metabolized differently. I still recommend alfalfa meal sprinkled over the greens along with what others have already mentioned.
 

Cash

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Thank you all for your help! I started the alipurynol yesterday...don't know what kind of gout he has...what do you mean by protein? I give Crickets the orange cubes and did sprinkle some bee pollen in there for them...thanks to Tracie but I haven't been giving cash anything other than Crickets and butternit squash (baby food) with the black cherry powder and a little apple and kale (baby food). I have some mustard greens but afraid to give him ANY real greens since this happened.
What should I be staying away from with protein in it and whats the best calcium , with D3 or without and how often? Also...how can I tell what type of gout he has and how long before I see an improvement? Here is a pic of his knee
90303-575434519.jpg
 

Cash

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Original Poster
[XIMG]90303 9044u59409[/XIMG]

This is Cash sunning on my leg right now...if you zoom in, you can see his toes
 

Cash

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OMG! Why didn't somebody just say to lay off the crickets?!! I just googled Crickets and protein! So...what should I feed him as an alternative and PLEASE...is there ANYTHING else I should know before I end up seriously making things worse?!
 

kyleena29

Sub-Adult Member
I'm so sorry, I did say to cut back on protein I guess I should of said crickets instead. You can give him veggies or baby food squash or green beans. Will he eat the crickets on his own still or are you hand feeding? You could give him a few spread out during the day but I wouldn't give too much like he would normally eat until he seems better. At that point you would still want to bring protein back up slowly.
 

Cash

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Original Poster
Thank you...less crickers, it is! I hope I haven't hurt him more. He does like the baby food! I've never hand fed him crickets...I pick them up by leg with tweezers and put them down in front of him or he'll yank them off tweezers...it's no fun chasing them around in cage when he doesn't catch them right away...he eats ALOT of crickets...vet ir no one told me to cut back in those with his gout.

With the alipurynol...will his swolken knee and toes go back to normal?

I feel so bad for him!
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

Hopefully you have caught it early enough that the swelling will recede with treatment.
The crystals have to dissolve & disperse so they can be excreted out of the body & that takes awhile.
As far as the crickets go, since he is growing, don't cut them out entirely, just reduce them some while giving the baby food & greens for him.
He is looking really good though in the pictures, very alert!

Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie
 

Rankins

Gray-bearded Member
Most plant based protiens are fine. It's the insect protiens that cause the accumulation of uric acid crystals in the joints and organs. Most plant protiens dont contain purines and are metabolized differently. I have also read that even plant based purines are metabolized differently and don't cause excessive uric acid formation. However, I haven't studied it enough to formulate my own conclusions on it yet.
 

Cash

Member
Original Poster
I don't understand why all the books say to feed him as many crickets as he can it within 15 mins while they're young if they have uric acid...Cash was eating ALOT of crickets right up till yesterday when I finally cut him back! Poor thing...I was feeding them to him even after he got gout. I hope he can get better now!
He is about to shed his body and isn't happy but yes, other than that he is alert. He stays on his perch alot and goes to the floor of it when he gets to hot but lately, the only time he wonders around cage is when he poos and he does 1 to 3 times a day
 

kyleena29

Sub-Adult Member
You just need to gut load your bugs 24 hrs before feeding. There are underlying reasons for your guy developing gout. He could of got dehydrated or something else with his health is going on. It's not from feeding him what he's supposed to eat. His kidneys are under stress right now from gout. The kidneys work harder with protein and in a lizard without gout it is not a problem. That's the only reason for backing off protein for now. He needs the protein but you want to protect the kidneys right now. Unfortunately since he's so small you can't do a blood test so you don't know how his uric levels might change. It's a wait and see how he does.
 

Rankins

Gray-bearded Member
Crickets contain animal purines which do metabolize into uric acid. It can precipitate out as crystals in joints and organs. Thus causing the problem with gout. That is the reason you should cut back on them right now.
The increased hydration is to flush the uric acid out. However it is true that dehydration can stress the kidneys and if the uric acid levels are high on top of dehydration more crystals will precipitate out.
 
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