A friends dragon needs help.

[HumorDragon]

I don't know if you'd have any advice, but I thought I'd give you a try. Nico isn't doing well. About a month ago I was away for a few days and forgot to ask (her sister) if she could take care of Nico. Because of that, he was left, with a blanket over his tank, for about three days. When I got back I noticed that he was favoring his back left leg, but with regular care he seemed to be improving back to normal just fine. Then his foot swelled up. It didn't improve. Actually, all of his limbs are swollen now and they seem to be causing him discomfort. He doesn't want to walk and his eating has decreased greatly. I brought him to the vet a week ago today and she gave me Baytril and Meloxicam. One of them is an antibiotic, in case he has an infection, and the other is to take down the swelling. She said that he has fluid in his limbs but can't really identify why. All the other treatments she suggested would involve a great deal of money (x-rays, hospital stay, blood work) and I can't afford that. Have you ever heard of something like this happening?

This is from the email she sent me. does anyone know what may have happened? (here is the email where she says how his heat is.)

I can't afford blood work. Nico has a bowl of water available to him, although he never uses it (but the crickets do, so it is still beneficial). He also has a heat rock and half of his cage has a heating pad underneith it. The rock is on the non-heated side, so it doesn't overheat. During the day I have a 100W heatlamp on him as well as the bulb that emits the sun-rays (I wish I still had the box, so I could tell you exactly what brand and everything, but he is getting UVA and UVB light). I switch to the infared heat lamp when I leave school, which can vary from 4 to 6 pm each day, and I switch it back to the day-time light and heat lamp when I arrive at school in the mornings, around 7:30. It's usually around 85 degrees in his cage, so I wouldn't think he's getting overheated. I feed him crickets, which are fed by Fluker's Cricket quencher: Calcium Fortified. I put calcium on the crickets before feeding them to him. I also feed him wax worms as a treat every once in a while. He doesn't like veggies unless they're from the ground.

(I just talked to her about heat rocks)

At first I had thought that it was a sprain but it wouldnt make sense with all his feet, does anyone have advise for her? Thank you!

 

[quigleysmom]

Is it possible it could be gout? I am not sure what symptoms gout has in reptiles, but I know they can get it.

 

[HumorDragon]

I did a little research after I read your post, I dont see how he could get it from feeding or husbandry techniqe (she got a ton of her stuff from asking me, and I get it from here. )
She did tell me that he eats grass, does anyone else have a dragon that eats grass? is that considered an improper plant protein for a dragon?
She cant afford blood work (she works as a teacher) could there be any other way of checking for parasites? (I am getting a suspicion about those..)