Possible gout? Vet is no help!!

Hi! My Archie is about a year and a half old, temps are perfect with a 150 watt basking bulb, no loose substrate and proper reptisun 10.0 uvb lighting. I noticed his front limbs were swollen and he has been sleeping more than usual, so I took him to the vet. He agreed they were swollen but did not think it was gout, although no actual diagnosis was made. He wants me to come back in a few weeks and do blood work if everything stays the same, but I'm so sure it's gout that I don't want to wait. I went out and purchased black cherry juice, but am having a hard time getting him to drink it. What else can I do?! I do not want to go back to the vet, as I feel he has no idea about bearded dragons. I am trying to soak veggies in the juice and hope he'll eat them in the morning. I'll attach a photo once I figure out how. Thanks so much!!
Also, just an opinion on whether or not you think this is gout would be so helpful!! I feed him dubia roaches and veggies such as carrots, turnips, collard greens and blueberries.

Hello,

It probably is the start of gout. The vet didn't do a blood test, correct?
The Reptisun 10 that you have is that a tube bulb also?
If he wont drink the cherry juice, you may need to dilute it a little bit & try dripping it onto his
nose to see if he will take it. Otherwise, you can get his mouth open gently, with a swab or by
using a piece of cardboard folded over, with a hole cut in the center so that you can gently get
some fluids into him.
How many dubias are you feeding weekly & what do you feed the dubias?
I would try switching the dubias for crickets, & silkworms or another type of worm, for less of
the purine found in dubias. You will need to try & get him more hydrated if at all possible on a
daily basis.
He probably needs to get started on allopurinol to keep the swelling from getting worse. Are
you going to try & find another vet or go back to this vet?

Tracie

Correct, no blood test was done. I'm definitely not going back to him and have scheduled an appointment with another vet, but I'm in a pretty rural area and can only get in a week from now. I do use the long tube for his lighting and feed the roaches veggies or fruit. However, I order them in bulk and did feed one batch cat food before I knew it was bad. I feel that may have caused this. Usually I let him eat maybe 50-75 per week. Sometimes more, as he prefers them over veggies. I will keep trying with the black cherry juice and hydration. Just wanted a second opinion and to see if there was anything else I could do in the mean time. Thank you.

Hello,

How is your boy doing today? Let us know what the new vet says when you have the
appointment.
Is the tube bulb within a 6-8 inch distance from him, underneath of the screen top?
The black cherry juice will help his system out, along with keeping his protein a bit
lower right now. Are you feeding the dubia more veggies & an insect chow instead?
If you have caught it early, it is very treatable. Do your best to hydrate his system
daily right now. Keep us posted on him!

Tracie

Hi! Thank you for checking up on him. I got him to drink lots of water and cherry juice today, but his legs still look the same. I have a hooded light over the tank with a skinny reptisun (I always forget the difference between t5 and t8), but I see where some people have them mounted inside the tank. Do you recommend this instead? The dubia are being fed only veggies now, I don't know what the heck I was thinking! I haven't fed him any dubia the last two days, but it doesn't look like he's eating his veggies. I will keep you posted after the vet. I think being able to see these kinds of posts really help people who may be going through the same thing.

Hello,

How is your boy doing tonight?
Here is a link for dubia chow if you wanted to feed them dry feed along with veggies:
https://dubiaroaches.com/products/dubia-diet?variant=9890966213

We do recommend if possible, mounting the tube bulbs underneath of the screen to get full
maximum UVB. If you want to post a picture of your tube, we can help identify it for you.
The T8 bulbs are thicker & the T5 bulbs are thinner.
That's great he is drinking & taking the cherry juice then.
Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie

Hi! I just got back from the vet with Archie and while he's not 100%, he said it's likely it's the start of MBD, which I really was not thinking at all. He did an xray and pulled fluid from his joints, but found no crystals. His bones look good, except the ones in his feet look frail. Vitamin D and A were injected and I go back in two weeks for more. In the mean time, I'm going to try to spend as much time as possible in the sun with him and figure out a way to mount his uvb inside his tank. This is the light I have now, and I feel like it's much too heavy to mount inside. It fits a 34 in bulb, but is that too much to have in the tank? I feel like it will fall.

That's a T5 bulb so it should be putting out plenty of UVB even through the screen unless something is wrong with the bulb. You might want to get a replacement just to be sure. Generally in that fixture it will produce excellent UVB at 10'' even through the mesh top.

You are definitely right in needing a replacement. I looked at the date of my last uvb bulb order and it was in August. I did not realize that much time had passed and of course, it's still currently working. I already have one on arriving tomorrow, I just thought perhaps mounting it inside would be best, but I will save myself the money on a new fixture if this one is okay, especially after spending 200$ at the vet!

A T5 should usually be good for at least a year but I still think it's good you replaced it as the original may have been defective. You can mount it inside the tank but if you do I wouldn't keep it closer than about 10-12'' from the basking spot since they are pretty strong. You might be able to suspend it from the top by wrapping picture wire or similar around it. Do make sure it is quite secure if you do that though.

Hi, guys! I have been taking Archie to the vet every two weeks for vitman D injections. I haven't seen much visible improvement, but the vet seems to think he looks stronger. However, I am very stressed, as he isn't eating his greens hardly at all and will only touch dubia roaches or super worms. I have tried the bee pollen to no avail. Overall, he just seems very lethargic. Whenever I take him out of his cage, he instantly finds a place to sleep and even while he's in his cage he just looks really down. He is only alert if I take him outside in the sun. I honestly don't know what else to do, could this be a side effect of the injections or could it maybe be brumation? I live in the US and it just became spring. Also, he is not losing weight, as the vet said he gained 10 grams! He is about a year a half and I think his weight was 310. Any help is most appreciated.

Here are some updates pictures

Hello,

Do you think the swelling has stayed the same or has it increased? Is he really that lethargic?
I am a bit concerned with him getting too much in the way of vitamin D & A injections.
Since you are using a T5 tube bulb, he really doesn't need any D shots since he should be
getting plenty of D3 synthesis under his light.
I'm glad he is gaining weight, that is good.
A lot of times when aspirating fluids there wont be any crystals. Honestly, most of the times a
blood test is the best indicator of gout & or pre-gout conditions. Has he mentioned doing a
blood test?
It could be somewhat of a brumation but I really wouldn't let him go into a full brumation with
having some issues right now.
Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie

Hello. I have a beardie girl who has had gout almost 1 year. It was misdiagnosed the first time I took her to the vet. I have learned so much about giut- am still learning- and would love to give you some ideas and share what I have learned. Since breading beardies has become so popular, Gout is becoming more and more common. Please let me know how your baby is doing.
Shann Roxy’s Mom

RockyTurner":2w45qwfa said:

Hello. I have a beardie girl who has had gout almost 1 year. It was misdiagnosed the first time I took her to the vet. I have learned so much about giut- am still learning- and would love to give you some ideas and share what I have learned. Since breading beardies has become so popular, Gout is becoming more and more common. Please let me know how your baby is doing.
Shann Roxy’s Mom

Click to expand...

Hello and thank you! I have been treating him for gout with allopurinol after researching on my own. The vet did not think he had gout and treated him for MBD. During treatment with the vet, he lost use of his back legs and has not fully covered. He was not able to move them at all at one point, but I have seen improvements. His joints are still swollen and his toes are very odd. This is a relatively recent photo, he is shedding on his legs right now so it's difficult to get a good picture of them. The only thing the vet could offer was euthanasia.