Bump on beardie's back

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shlurmp

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Hi, this is my first time using these forums! My bearded dragon has recently developed a bump on his back near his spine last week. I think it might be MBD, but he isn't acting any different than how he normally does. I'm planning to replace his UV light very soon (I suspect this is the source of the problem) and I dust his food with calcium powder. Is there anything else I can do for him? Thank you in advance, if you need any more information I'm happy to provide!

Image below:
98599-3309417172.jpg
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Hi there, I see the bump is actually to the left side of the spine, I think it's more likely a small abscess or cyst or something. Get an xray done by an experienced reptile vet to see exactly what it might be. Hopefully [ and probably ] nothing serious but the sooner you know, the better.

Can you post a few pics of his set p + lights anyway ?
 

shlurmp

Member
Original Poster
Thank you so much! I know it would be the best to go to the vet but are there any alternatives if I can help it?

Here are the pictures (excuse the mess :'o)
98599-5161496601.jpg
98599-31039957.jpg
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
That's a nice set up, uvb is pretty close but as long as it's not bothering his eyes it's fine. :) And unfortunately this is not something that you can guess at, it's not MBD so the first thing to do is find out what it is.
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

That's hard to know exactly what that could be, maybe a cyst or abscess. Is it hard to the touch
or soft?
I agree, it doesn't look like metabolic bone disease though. Hopefully it isn't serious.
Just a quick comment on your UVB tube light placement. It would be a lot more effective if you
mounted the tube bulb directly overhead instead of on the back wall of the tank. Mounting it at
that angle makes it very hard on the eyes & the UVB refracts out & away from your dragon instead
of directly onto him. If you can, try to get it mounted directly overhead, alongside the basking
bulb for him, it's much more effective. The tank looks great though, the tiles are very nice.

Tracie
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
I think it's either an abscess or cyst of somekind too. If it's got some give in it , this the most likely diagnosis.
If it's hard - it's anyone's guess until the vet takes a sample and blood samples and xrays.

I concur, needs to be examined by a COMPETENT REPTILE VET , xrays, ultrasounds, small needle aspiration of what it contains (hopefully it is only full of fluid of some kind).

Unfortunately , there are no free home remedies and the longer you put involving a vet and the poorer the outcome for the dragon.
Needs to be
>>> surgically drained and the infected tissues surgically removed under a general
>>> a long course of antibiotics (targeted at the germ that is involved) will be involved

Don't let it get big , the bigger it gets the more involved the surgical procedure involved the costs go up exponentially and the longer the recovery and longer the course of antibiotics.
 

shlurmp

Member
Original Poster
Thanks! It isn't hard at all, it just feels like extra thick skin there. The only reason I ask about alternatives is that my mom doesn't think its worth spending a lot of money on a vet. I'll see what I can do though. And I'll be sure to try and mount the uvb light above the cage, good to know :eek:
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
shlurmp":2ilm5gkh said:
Thanks! It isn't hard at all, it just feels like extra thick skin there. The only reason I ask about alternatives is that my mom doesn't think its worth spending a lot of money on a vet. I'll see what I can do though. And I'll be sure to try and mount the uvb light above the cage, good to know :eek:

Lizards are very good at hiding when they are feeling sick , when they are showing they are sick and in pain it's often life threateningly serious and they loose the ability to act normal. If the lump is a cancer or an abscess the dragon is already sick even if he's acting relatively normal, and he will only get sicker and weaker without proper vet treatment.

The lump wont go away by itself and will only get bigger and get very expensive to treat very fast unless properly treated very soon.
Plus if it's an abscess and the pus in it invades the bloodstream you will have a very sick dragon very fast who will have a systemic infection which will be very expensive to cure and will involve a very long and expensive course of antibiotics as well as surgery to remove all the infected tissue.

Waiting is not an option if you want your dragon to survive and be happy and painfree and healthy.
The lump is quite small now so the vet expenses are likely to be large, but this will change very fast and you are likely to then be looking at hundreds of dollars.
 
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