Abscess won't heal...

[kingofnobbys]

He wouldn't have made it this far without your love and diligent intensive care .... well done.

Have you got a stick blender with a mini foodprocessor attachment .... you could puree some silkworms or superworms or crickets or a mix of these with some calcivet solution (or equivalent) added to boost the Ca maybe and give the home made insect puree to him.

I'd be worried about using too much chicken, though lean chicken mince that's been pureed is probably OK, you can always add some liquid calcium to it to overpower the phosphorus.

 

[CooperDragon]

Is Stumpy still doing well?

 

[Jessmvee]

He is doing well! Thanks for asking about him.

He is still completely unable to eat crickets. He just can't keep up with them. I doubt he ever will be able to. He's sticking to gut loaded dried crickets and squash baby food. I haven't tried any slow-moving live feeders for fear of hard exoskeletons. They make him constipated. Not sure if the softer wax type worms are a good addition?

The vet pulled off all the old RediHeal and replaced it with new over the enucleation site. His skin regenerated over the half of his face they cut off, which is so awesome. He's stitch-less finally!!

I think he's the first known reptile to try RediHeal, so I've been updating the company on his progress.

 

[CooperDragon]

I'm glad to hear he's progressing so well! Some silk worms may be a great choice if you can find them. They're pretty healthy and don't move too quickly. Is he able to eat salads? A nice variety of veges may be good for him too but if he isn't there yet, then the baby food is fine. I've had good luck alternating between squash, green bean, and sweet potato baby food.

 

[kingofnobbys]

He is doing well! Thanks for asking about him.

He is still completely unable to eat crickets. He just can't keep up with them. I doubt he ever will be able to. He's sticking to gut loaded dried crickets and squash baby food. I haven't tried any slow-moving live feeders for fear of hard exoskeletons. They make him constipated. Not sure if the softer wax type worms are a good addition?

The vet pulled off all the old RediHeal and replaced it with new over the enucleation site. His skin regenerated over the half of his face they cut off, which is so awesome. He's stitch-less finally!!

I think he's the first known reptile to try RediHeal, so I've been updating the company on his progress.

Still sporting a BB I see there. Is he grumpy with it ?

A trick I have heard of people using to slow down the crickets for a disabled lizard is to place the feed of live crickets in a plastic 1L take away tub which has a lid on it (any small sealable plastic tub will do fine though), and leave them in the refrigerator for 5 - 10 minutes (or how ever long it takes for them to chill and get very sleepy and groggy AND SLOW MOVING BUT STILL TWITCHING AND CRAWLING in your fridge).

Or you could try hand feeding him the crickets, I do this with Rex, bad habit I formed with her when she was hatchling and she now refuses to chase crickets, expects 5 star service from daddy.
Essentially I dust them in a small container (little round chinese takeaway dipping sauce tub) ,and take 2 or 3 out at a time (keep in my hand) and I squash the head of each cricket prior to presenting it to Rex , either goes straight in a ready open mouth (in anticipation of the cricket) or I firmly but gently press the cricket against the side or front of her lips and she takes it and eats it.
16 large crickets takes 5 - 10 mins for her to eat this way.

Cricket or worm puree is also a good idea (was suggested to me by a vet when I was caring for a seriously injured skink (Lucky the juvi water skink several years ago). Can add liquid vits and liquid calcium to this and you'll need a good feeding syringe and maybe some proper stainless steel crop feeding needles to get the puree into his mouth without risking his eating pieces of syringe,
This is the kind of kit I suggest :
http://vetafarm.com.au/product/reusable-feeding-syringe/
http://vetafarm.com.au/product/medication-tube-crop-needle/ probably a 10G or 12G for your big boy.
I'm sure you can find these over there (likely from a good vet or online).'


I'll second the suggestion of trying him on silkworms. He'd probably do best I think with medium sized silkworms (about 1" - 1.5" long than large silkworms, and you'll find the medium silkworms will last a few weeks before they grow to large size and pupate (form cocoons). They are dead easy to keep (in a ventilated shoe box say) fed with either silkworm chow (comes as dry powder that you mix with boiling water and then nuke for a min or 2 in a microwave) or better still on fresh mulberry leafs (the mulberry leafs are good green to add to a lizard's salad too).
If you can't find laval stage silkworms, the next best option is to buy silkworm eggs and hatch them and raise them (will take 3 - 4 weeks before they are big enough to use as feeder for your boy).

1 medium sized silkworm is equiv in mass (of insect protein) to 3 - 4 large crickets.

2 or 3 large silkworms is a good sized meal for an adult beardie.

 

[Jessmvee]

So his RediHeal fell off today because a huge bubble grew. I'm sooooooo tired of swelling in this area. This whole thing better not start over. He has no eye.

I'm at the vet now.

 

[AHBD]

Awwww....come on baby Stumpy, get better little fella ! Hopefully just some harmless fluid build up there....Best wishes + love for the special guy ! Hang in there !

 

[Jessmvee]

He stuck a needle in it and drained a ton of fluid. He thinks it's from his tear gland. He didn't seem worried. Applied more RediHeal and sent us on our way.

Here's what his wound looks like without RediHeal.

I know it looks bad, but remember he had to remove half his facial skin and there was a huge hole where they eye was removed and all the surrounding tumor tissue. It's healing up nicely minus the bubble.

 

[AHBD]

Poor baby.....I hope he rests well tonight. Hopefully it won't be a re-occuring problem. It did seem just like some fluid. Get some rest yourself , your a good mommy for tough little Stumpy.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Poor Stumpy.... he's certainly been in the wars.

I guess you must have freaked out when you saw the extent of surgical wound and the size of the hole left, the fluid filled bubble would have had really been upsetting to see after the ordeal you and especially Stumpy have been through.

Will take a few months yet I expect before the wound starts to really close up.

Did the vet say there was plenty of granulation going on in the wound (creation of new tissues and skin) ?

How is he managing with the feeding (did you try chilling the crickets ?)

Did you invest in a proper feeding syringe and a proper feeding (crop) needle ?

 

[Jessmvee]

Feedings are going well. A nurse I work with at school gave me a really nice syringe until I buy a better one. I don't know what it's made of...seems like a tougher plastic. It's used for diabetics.

A bit of bad news...the bubble has already returned since yesterday. Curiously, the liquid that came out yesterday looked just like the fluid that filled his eye before. It's also the EXACT same spot where all this started. What if it was an overactive tear gland or something relatively simple this whole time? I'm a little discouraged thinking we are about to go through this all again.

 

[kingofnobbys]

The tissues have been horribly traumatised in there, I expect a lot of fluid discharge is to be expected.

The fluid might be coming from his sinuses , aren't the tear ducts and sinuses connected ?

 

[Jessmvee]

So stumpys other eye is now swelling the exact same as before. He can't even open it today. I did a little research on blocked tear ducts, and to be honest, I think that's what his other eye was before we started cutting around on it. I saw some other threads even on this forum talking about how the tears don't drain into the mouth and build up in the eye instead. Looks similar to my little man.

I just took my finger and pressed firmly on the swelling, and the lump went away. His eye came back into socket and all was fine...for about 30 seconds.

I'm so nervous that's what happened before and we just cut and poked him until we had to remove a perfectly fine eye. Poor dude.

I'll have him back at the vet tomorrow. I'm not letting this eye be cut or poked.

 

[AHBD]

Sorry to hear this Jess, and I agree that you might not let any procedure or antibiotic drops be administered. Did the vet ever get the results of the tissue biopsy and show you the pathology report ? I suspect [ but can't say with 100% certainty ] the same as you, that it may have been irritation from the tear duct. Did you come across this article by chance ?
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=7&cad=rja&uact=8&sqi=2&ved=0ahUKEwjH4tfYkIXMAhWCcD4KHVU0DPMQFghMMAY&url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.allexperts.com%2Fq%2FReptiles-704%2F2014%2F7%2Fbearded-dragon-eye-problem-1.htm&usg=AFQjCNHhhaoTjNZ-4zsLtZ--p3pI8OWBzA&sig2=2qb-_lNtZ3J_Mo1VUR6Gng&bvm=bv.119028448,d.cWw

 

[kingofnobbys]

Poor Stumpy, he's really in the wars.

My elderly mother had a blocked tear duct that the doctor fixed with a very tiny needle. I hope this is all that needs to be done and things don't spiral downhill like they did with is other eye , he'd have very poor quality of life if he had to have major surgery on the other eye , and lost his sight entirely. I really feel for you and Stumpy and hope this new problem resolves itself without anything dramatic being required.