emilybortz
Hatchling Member
Hi all,
This past summer was an incredibly tough one for Bean, and I wanted to share her story to hopefully get some information out there to beardie owners in similar situations, or who may suspect that their beardie is having trouble developing and laying eggs.
In June I noticed that her tummy was getting bigger and figured it was eggs after doing a bit of research on bd.org. She's never been around a male before, but females often lay infertile eggs. I switched her over to liquid calcium, set up a lay box, and waited patiently for a few weeks. Her tummy kept getting bigger but the rest of her was getting thinner. Her fat pads had sunken in and she rarely moved around.
Then, I took her to the vet and they did an x-ray. Nothing showed up on the x-ray, meaning that the egg follicles, although HUGE, weren't fully formed. If she had been healthy and gravid they would have appeared shelled and calcified, but because the follicles were growing without calcifying, she faced a serious risk of one rupturing and killing her if emergency surgery wasn't performed. They gave me some time to think about it, because there still was a slight chance that the follicles would form and she'd lay and everything would be fine. The biggest problem was that we couldn't see anything because nothing was showing up on the x-ray. I decided to go with the surgery that weekend. They would take out the follicles and spay her, so we could be sure that this never happened again.
To make matters worse, I had to go across the country for a family reunion that weekend, and it was so hard waiting by the phone the entire time, but the options were either to do surgery that weekend while I was away, or schedule it for the next week and hope that nothing bad happened in the meantime. I would have to leave her with the vet that weekend regardless, because I was going out of town, so I felt it would be in Bean's best interest to do the surgery ASAP. After much worrying, I finally got the call that Bean was fine and pulled through the surgery well. Apparently her follicles were so enlarged that they had adhered to some of her organs and much of her belly fat, and she was almost certainly facing death if we hadn't done the surgery when we did. Luckily we had a fantastic vet who was able to get everything out, and I brought Bean home the next day (I went to pick her up straight from the airport) with her meds. She had a huge incision going vertically down her belly, and was very woozy and sore. I wrapped her favorite log in a soft fuzzy towel, so for a week or so she mainly spent her time there, and I syringe fed her critical care and she would much on veggies on her own. She was also on an oral pain medication as well as an antibiotic that I injected into her arm every 3 days for 2 weeks.
I know that one of the biggest obstacles to providing vet treatment to our pets is the cost. Bean's surgery was fairly expensive. Of course, her's was a unique case because we live in a city where prices are much higher, and I also had to hospitalize her for the weekend which added to the cost considerably. I do know that my vet's office as well as many others offer payment plans such as Care Credit, which certainly comes in handy in emergency situations such as this one.
It's now been 8 weeks since the surgery, and so far she's done 2 full body sheds (the stitches shed off as well) and is now back to her regular routine. Proper nutrition significantly aided Bean in hanging in there as long as she did pre-surgery, but egg development issues can happen to any female beardie, regardless of how carefully we watch their diet/lights/temps. Even if it looks (and feels!) like eggs, an x-ray might be a good idea just to be on the safe side. With Bean, a matter of days was the difference between life and death, and I'm so happy to have a healthy lizard here with me today. She's such a trooper and I'm so proud of her!
Pictured here with me this morning - I wear this bracelet every day!
This past summer was an incredibly tough one for Bean, and I wanted to share her story to hopefully get some information out there to beardie owners in similar situations, or who may suspect that their beardie is having trouble developing and laying eggs.
In June I noticed that her tummy was getting bigger and figured it was eggs after doing a bit of research on bd.org. She's never been around a male before, but females often lay infertile eggs. I switched her over to liquid calcium, set up a lay box, and waited patiently for a few weeks. Her tummy kept getting bigger but the rest of her was getting thinner. Her fat pads had sunken in and she rarely moved around.
Then, I took her to the vet and they did an x-ray. Nothing showed up on the x-ray, meaning that the egg follicles, although HUGE, weren't fully formed. If she had been healthy and gravid they would have appeared shelled and calcified, but because the follicles were growing without calcifying, she faced a serious risk of one rupturing and killing her if emergency surgery wasn't performed. They gave me some time to think about it, because there still was a slight chance that the follicles would form and she'd lay and everything would be fine. The biggest problem was that we couldn't see anything because nothing was showing up on the x-ray. I decided to go with the surgery that weekend. They would take out the follicles and spay her, so we could be sure that this never happened again.
To make matters worse, I had to go across the country for a family reunion that weekend, and it was so hard waiting by the phone the entire time, but the options were either to do surgery that weekend while I was away, or schedule it for the next week and hope that nothing bad happened in the meantime. I would have to leave her with the vet that weekend regardless, because I was going out of town, so I felt it would be in Bean's best interest to do the surgery ASAP. After much worrying, I finally got the call that Bean was fine and pulled through the surgery well. Apparently her follicles were so enlarged that they had adhered to some of her organs and much of her belly fat, and she was almost certainly facing death if we hadn't done the surgery when we did. Luckily we had a fantastic vet who was able to get everything out, and I brought Bean home the next day (I went to pick her up straight from the airport) with her meds. She had a huge incision going vertically down her belly, and was very woozy and sore. I wrapped her favorite log in a soft fuzzy towel, so for a week or so she mainly spent her time there, and I syringe fed her critical care and she would much on veggies on her own. She was also on an oral pain medication as well as an antibiotic that I injected into her arm every 3 days for 2 weeks.
I know that one of the biggest obstacles to providing vet treatment to our pets is the cost. Bean's surgery was fairly expensive. Of course, her's was a unique case because we live in a city where prices are much higher, and I also had to hospitalize her for the weekend which added to the cost considerably. I do know that my vet's office as well as many others offer payment plans such as Care Credit, which certainly comes in handy in emergency situations such as this one.
It's now been 8 weeks since the surgery, and so far she's done 2 full body sheds (the stitches shed off as well) and is now back to her regular routine. Proper nutrition significantly aided Bean in hanging in there as long as she did pre-surgery, but egg development issues can happen to any female beardie, regardless of how carefully we watch their diet/lights/temps. Even if it looks (and feels!) like eggs, an x-ray might be a good idea just to be on the safe side. With Bean, a matter of days was the difference between life and death, and I'm so happy to have a healthy lizard here with me today. She's such a trooper and I'm so proud of her!
Pictured here with me this morning - I wear this bracelet every day!
Nhà Cái Cá Cược Trực Tuyến Đáng Chơi Nhất 2024
