Beardie May Be Compacted?

[PensBurgh]

Hello!
So I have a female bearded dragon. I’m guessing she’s about a year old now. She isn’t full grown so I’m considering her a “teen”. Everything was peachy! We got her last May and everything seemed to be great.
When we first got her, the temperature was high, 115 in the hot spot, about 80 in the cool spot. She was eating well and pooping fine.
All of the sudden, about a week ago, she starts flipping out and trying to get out of the cage, pacing back and forth and clawing at the glass. It ended after 10 minuets. I figured she wanted out so I took her out and she let me pet her and hold her, which she NEVER lets me do. She’s always squirming when I pick her up. I put her the tub and gave her a bath before letting her run around the house, watching her of course. Days passed, 7 or 8 days now, and she still hasn’t pooped. It isn’t like her not to go. She normally goes once every 3-4 days. She started flipping out in her cage again and after googling they said that maybe the tank was too hot. I put in a cooler bulb and the temp is now at 98 in the hot spot, about 75 in the cool. She hasn’t been running around much anymore since but now she won’t eat like she used to.

Things to know:
Currently the tank is 98 basking, 75 cool.
UVB light is mounted in the cage, at least 6 inches above basking spot.
The floor is the reptile carpet.
I do use calcium powder on her food.
She always has available water and fresh Kale. I sometimes add cucumbers without skin and fruits such as apples or strawberries.
She mainly eats superworms and crickets.
I’ve backed off of superworms since this started happening and put in more crickets.
I’ve tried hotter baths and rubbing her stomach, 3 days in a row now.
I mixed together olive oil and apple sauce and gave it to her in a syringe.
I gave her some water in a syringe Incase she was dehydrated.
She pooped about three days ago but it was so tiny and had a clear stringy thing coming off of it.
I know something is wrong because she doesn’t try to get away from me when I hold her. ITS NOT LIKE HER.
I have seen her try to catch a cricket once yesterday. I also saw her eat a piece of apple 2 days ago.



I called the vet and have an appointment today, but I’m just wondering if anyone else experienced this?

 

[EllenD]

I'll answer quickly because I'm on my way out, but if you're going to the vet today, please demand an x-ray. It will not only show if she's impacted, but it will also show whether she's gravid. If she's over a year old she may be carrying an infertile clutch of eggs, and God forbid she's egg-bound or an egg has ruptured inside her, which can cause a serious infection. Eggs can definitely cause issues with bowel movements that appear very similar to an impaction, so an x-ray will hopefully show what is going on.

I will point out that if you have a choice between an x-ray and an ultrasound, absolutely do the ultrasound, because flat x-rays, even flat digital x-rays don't always show impactions (depending on what they are made up of), and they will generally only show eggs that are already shelled, and often times if the eggs don't yet have solid shells or are still in the follicle stage an x-ray won't show them, but an ultrasound will.

 

[AHBD]

She might just need to lay eggs so since you have a mature female set a laybox up right away. A medium plastic tote with 10" of damp sand or sand/soil mix. Pile it up higher on one side and start a tunnel for her. Pregnant beardies always act wired + hyper, it's when they go lethargic in the tank , usually almost lifeless with a black beard that they are having trouble.

Having sad that, the temps. were too high but it still doesn't explain why she'd behave this way suddenly. Get a laybox done ASAP + put her in it. You can get sand + plain topsoil at Walmart or Lowe's.

 

[PensBurgh]

She might just need to lay eggs so since you have a mature female set a laybox up right away. A medium plastic tote with 10" of damp sand or sand/soil mix. Pile it up higher on one side and start a tunnel for her. Pregnant beardies always act wired + hyper, it's when they go lethargic in the tank , usually almost lifeless with a black beard that they are having trouble.

Having sad that, the temps. were too high but it still doesn't explain why she'd behave this way suddenly. Get a laybox done ASAP + put her in it. You can get sand + plain topsoil at Walmart or Lowe's.

Can they have eggs even though they aren’t with any other dragon? If so, how often does this happen? Is it normal? I already rubbed her belly, I hope I didn’t puncture them inside of her. It’s just weird that she’s letting me picker her up and not running away from me, not eating as much and not going to the bathroom. I will still keep the appointment today just Incase. I hope that’s what it is. I feel like that may be better than her being compacted.

 

[PensBurgh]

I'll answer quickly because I'm on my way out, but if you're going to the vet today, please demand an x-ray. It will not only show if she's impacted, but it will also show whether she's gravid. If she's over a year old she may be carrying an infertile clutch of eggs, and God forbid she's egg-bound or an egg has ruptured inside her, which can cause a serious infection. Eggs can definitely cause issues with bowel movements that appear very similar to an impaction, so an x-ray will hopefully show what is going on.

I will point out that if you have a choice between an x-ray and an ultrasound, absolutely do the ultrasound, because flat x-rays, even flat digital x-rays don't always show impactions (depending on what they are made up of), and they will generally only show eggs that are already shelled, and often times if the eggs don't yet have solid shells or are still in the follicle stage an x-ray won't show them, but an ultrasound will.

This is crazy! I hope I didn’t break any eggs by rubbing her belly if that’s what’s going on. Thank you! I’ll keep you both updated after this appointment!

 

[AHBD]

Yes, they develop infertile eggs quite often. And no, rubbing the belly won't hurt the eggs. BTW, if she is constipated a bit you can always give her any or all of these natural laxatives : applesauce, canned pumpkin [ no spices ] baby food squash,sweet potato or prunes and about 1/4 tsp. olive oil or raw honey [ those 2 are optional ] And really some beardies can go for much longer without a b.m, it's not harmful at all and not cause for a vet visit. If you just want to check for eggs that's fine though.

 

[PensBurgh]

Yes, they develop infertile eggs quite often. And no, rubbing the belly won't hurt the eggs. BTW, if she is constipated a bit you can always give her any or all of these natural laxatives : applesauce, canned pumpkin [ no spices ] baby food squash,sweet potato or prunes and about 1/4 tsp. olive oil or raw honey [ those 2 are optional ] And really some beardies can go for much longer without a b.m, it's not harmful at all and not cause for a vet visit. If you just want to check for eggs that's fine though.

So I took her to the vet. She does have eggs! They gave me a calcium medication to give to her orally. It’s hard to do! They also gave her three shots for dehydration (just incase she was) and told me to soak her 3 times a day. They told me if she doesn’t poop by Monday to bring her back. They also said if she doesn’t pass the eggs in 4-8 weeks, to bring her back for more X-rays to make sure the eggs didn’t dry up because that could cause infection. They would also, as a last resort if she didn’t pass the eggs, look at getting her spayed. My poor beardie. She isn’t herself, clearly. They didn’t say anything about putting some dirt in her cage for her to dig, but I forgot to ask. I think I’ll do that anyway so she’s more comfortable. Thanks for all your help. I’ll keep everyone updated if something else happens!

 

[AHBD]

Good that you got an answer . Developing + laying eggs is part of their normal life and usually not a problem. Don't bother at all with 3 baths a day, one a day is more than enough in case she's thirsty, if she drinks that's good but other than that she doesn't need the stress of constany dunks in the water. I've had plenty of females lay eggs and yes, it's best to set up an actual lay box as I described. You can't just pot dirt in the tank unless it's in a large container that can serve as a laybox. Providing a laybox gives them the most security + chance to lay in privacy. Here are a few pics :
https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4264/34425003394_30d700bafa_h.jpg
http://img.tapatalk.com/d/13/10/18/uzynezug.jpg

The dirt/sand should be even deeper than shown in the 2nd picture though.

 

[EllenD]

This is completely normal, and be aware that they typically lay more than one clutch at a time, usually they lay at least 2-3 clutches, possibly more. First off, as AHBD said, there is absolutely no reason to give her 3 baths a day or even 1 bath a day unless she always drinks the bath water through her mouth. They don't absorb any hydration through their vents or their skin, I'm guessing this wasn't a reptile specialist, lol, but rather an "exotics" vet if they didn't know that. Like already mentioned, she doesn't need the stress of a bath unless she actively drinks the bath water, soaking does nothing at all, and even if she does drink the bath water 1 bath a day is more than enough.

I'd follow the directions for making a lay box for her out of a large, plastic tub that AHBD posted, and if she's running and glass surfing then put her in the lay box with a clamp lamp and a bright white basking bulb over the plastic tub. It's much better if you use a large, plastic tub for a lay box rather than doing it in her enclosure, it will allow you to put much more sand in, creating a mountain of sand on one side of the container that slopes down to the other side of the container. That way you can dig the start of a tunnel for her, and when she's ready to lay her eggs she'll dig the rest of the tunnel out herself, and she'll have plenty of room to do so. When she starts glass surfing or digging around in her enclosure put her in the lay box for a few hours to see if she starts digging the tunnel out, she may not do it right away, if she doesn't start digging within a couple of hours of being in the lay box you can put her back in her enclosure and try again later, the next time she starts glass surfing or digging around in her tank. Having a separate lay box also allows you to know when she's laid the first clutch, where as if you just put sand in her enclosure you really won't know unless you watch her 24/7. Once you see her digging out the tunnel she'll eventually start laying the eggs, which can take awhile for her to do, depending on how many she's carrying. You'll know when she's done and has laid the entire clutch because when she's done she will cover the eggs and the tunnel up, and then be ready for a nice, warm bath to clean her up, a drink from a syringe dripping water on her snout (unless she does drink bath water), and a nice big meal of live bugs. She'll be tired after she lays the eggs, that's totally normal, it can take a couple of days for them to feel normal again. Then I suggest that after you get the eggs out of the lay box and dispose of them, you get the lay box prepared again and just keep it set up, because she will probably have at least another clutch or two, if not more. Then just repeat the process, being sure to feed her a nice big fresh salad of healthy greens and veggies, and extra live, gut-loaded insects, as making eggs and laying them uses up an enormous amount of energy and burns a ton of calories, so you don't want her to lose a bunch of weight in between clutches.

If at any time she throws a black beard or it looks like she's continually straining to poop but she can't and this goes on for any length of time, you need to get her to her vet or a 24-hour animal hospital, as those are signs that's she's in distress and pain, probably due to either being egg-bound or having an egg break inside her, and she needs emergency help immediately. This isn't anything to stress out about or worry about and I'm not trying to scare you, she'll most likely be fine and have zero issues, but you do need to be aware of the signs of egg-binding and a ruptured egg and be ready to immediately take her to the nearest open vet or animal hospital for help, because it's not at all something that can wait if it happens, time is of most importance. So I just wanted you to be aware of the signs and what to do about it. She should get through laying her eggs without any issues at all, and it's very good that she's on liquid calcium, that will definitely help her to make her egg shells nice and thick and strong, which is what keeps them from becoming egg-bound in the first place (it usually happens due to low amounts of available calcium to make the eggs), so be sure she gets her liquid calcium every single day, along with lots of high calcium, low oxalate greens (NO KALE OR SPINACH!!!!)