My bearded dragon was laying eggs today and I noticed this huge red thing coming out of her end. I researched it and I’m pretty sure it’s a prolapse. However, there is a white substance attached to it and I’m not sure if it’s part of an egg. All my local vets are closed and my parents are at work saying they can’t come home. I don’t know what to do, the vet doesn’t open until Monday. Here is a picture:
Please help. I’ve put her in a sugar bath for an hour now and I don’t know what to do next
Poor girl! You did the right thing by giving her a sugar water bath to try and reduce inflammation. Generally this is an issue that a vet needs to look at quickly but since that's not an option at the moment I'll try to help given my limited knowledge.
Do you have any betadine or plain saline solution on hand? If you do, then you can try to gently clean the area off. Keep everything as wet as possible. If the swelling has gone down you can try to gently get the tissue back in. Don't be forceful with it. A vaseline coated qtip may be helpful. Make sure to keep everything as clean as you can. Think of it like a rolled up sock that's inside out. If it doesn't go back easily then continue the sugar baths to try and reduce swelling further.
Poor girl! You did the right thing by giving her a sugar water bath to try and reduce inflammation. Generally this is an issue that a vet needs to look at quickly but since that's not an option at the moment I'll try to help given my limited knowledge.
Do you have any betadine or plain saline solution on hand? If you do, then you can try to gently clean the area off. Keep everything as wet as possible. If the swelling has gone down you can try to gently get the tissue back in. Don't be forceful with it. A vaseline coated qtip may be helpful. Make sure to keep everything as clean as you can. Think of it like a rolled up sock that's inside out. If it doesn't go back easily then continue the sugar baths to try and reduce swelling further.
Thank you for the reply. I don’t have any of those solutions. Would mixing table salt with water help? It is not shrinking at all and I’m really scared to push it back in as I’ve read that it could make even more damage and my bearded dragons’ one is really big. Would she be able to last for 2 days?
I’m pretty sure it’s not a urate because I can’t get it off, it seems stuck , I tried to use a little bit of pressure to try and get it off but the prolapse seemed to be coming out even more so I immediately stopped. I can’t seem to send another photo but it looks like an informed egg
Poor girl. How is she doing, any changes?
Table salt or sea salt mixed with distilled water would be fine for cleaning the area or a diluted
betadine solution.
You can do another sugar bath too, if you think it may help. You are thinking it is an egg that is
attached to her insides or skin that wont come loose?
Try to get another picture if you can. Is her beard black or not?
Poor girl. How is she doing, any changes?
Table salt or sea salt mixed with distilled water would be fine for cleaning the area or a diluted
betadine solution.
You can do another sugar bath too, if you think it may help. You are thinking it is an egg that is
attached to her insides or skin that wont come loose?
Try to get another picture if you can. Is her beard black or not?
Hi, no it’s stayed the same, looks bigger if I’m being honest. Right now she is basking which is at least some type of normal behaviour. Her beard is not black. I will try and send you a photo in private because I’ve already uploaded one photo and when I try to send another one it comes up with the same photo and I don’t know how to upload another one.
Hi guys sorry for so many posts at one but I am panicking. So the good news is, I think I will be able to call the emergency vets tomorrow and get them to check my beardie out. However, I’m worried that overnight it will dry up and god, I don’t want to wake up to any horrific sights. Please what should I do for the night to keep the prolapse from drying up.
Poor girl [ and poor you ] mix some raw honey and vaseline to slather it with. Avoid salt it can burn the tissue. Raw honey is an antimicrobial + anti-inflammatory so it does double duty. Keep her on a towel in her tank and take the cage decor out for now. Best wishes, a reptile vet should be able to put it back in . Ask if they will put a suture at each end of her vent to help keep it in.
I think you are going to have to bite the bullet and get her to a vet hospital as a matter of urgency because this needs to be handled by a vet surgeon else there is a very strong risk the organ that's prolapsed will become infected and necrotic ==> and will result in a slow agonizing death for the dragon from gangrene and blood poisoning.
At this point it a matter of any vet (even a general practice vet) is better than trying home remedies and home treatment and hoping for the best. Is very likely the gp vet will contact a colleague in another practice who is more experienced in reptile health and reptile surgery and will be told what to do (perhaps even supervised via Skype or video conferencing).
It's likely the vet will need to put a couple of stitches in to hold the organ in place internally while the tissues mend and heal and she'll need to be on special liquid diet for a while so she wont have to pass much solid waste or strain.
She will be prone to prolapses in the future so I'd refrain from allowing her to breed from now on.
UPDATE: the vet said that she had to get surgery and that it’s much more serious than he thought. He said there’s a 50/50 chance that she will live and I am in tears. I pray for her to live but knowing my luck she’ll probably pass away
It's good that you are having her seen very quickly ! The " home remedies " of vaseline + honey is just to keep the tissue moist so it doesn't begin to become necrotic. KY jelly can be used as well. Here is an article in Reptiles magazine about prolapse so you can understand it better. Best wishes, beardies do come through these surgeries all the time but yes there is definitely a chance of this being fatal. Hoing for the best !!