Egg binding - Jam's surgery (Update 4 added!)

[TheDragonKeepers]

Posting for those looking for info on egg binding!

NOTE: If you suspect your female is egg bound - DON'T wait. Get her to the vet. An xray might be expensive, but a dead beardie is worse :S

My big female, Jam, is terrible at laying eggs. I don't breed with her (or any of them, actually) but she regularly lays infertile clutches and makes a bad job of it. Every time, she winds up with an infection, so I'm pretty used to her not being well afterwards. Our vet is pretty used to her too!!

This time however, she continued looking very unhappy on the second day. When I got home that evening, I gently felt her belly, and found a lumpy mass on the left hand side. Shortly after, she passed a bunch of mushed up shells with a large poop - though I could still feel a solid chunk in the same area of her belly.

So we took her into the vets this afternoon. Bless her, she's been a real treasure - she didn't like the new vet man (his prodding hurt! Not deliberately, obviously, but it's very sore.) and ran to me for help. I don't know why she trusts me - I'm always mean, prodding her and feeding her medicines, but she settled down in my hands and let him have a good poke.

He agreed - he could feel something too - and the xray confirms there's something in there.

She's on her back in this picture (much to her extreme disgust!) - the black patches are gas bubbles, big one on top right when you look at the pic, and top mid left also, which are pretty normal for her when she is diagnosed with an infection. These will clear up with the antibiotics.

Underneath the biggest gas bubble, in the lower quarter of the flank, there's a white smudge with a dark patch in it - actually, two mushed together, if you look closely. We're pretty sure those are the failed eggs.

She's still in the vets as I type - she'll be having a dose of oxytocin to force her uterus to contract - this should force the remaining ruined eggs out. If two doses doesn't work, it will be likely that the shells have bonded to the flesh inside. If this is the case, she'll be going in for surgery to remove the ovaries and uterus entirely.

This will effectively "spay" her, and will prevent any future problems with eggs - she won't be able to have any more eggs! Frankly, this is no great loss to me. As mentioned, I'm not intending to breed, and she has such a hard time with it - and so frequently! I'd not send her in for surgery if it wasn't necessary, but I certainly won't be sad if she has to. It will save her a lot of trouble in the future.

I'll keep you updated as to how she's doing along the way. She should be in the middle of her first round of oxytocin treatment now...

 

[kcarello]

Very good and informative post!! Hope your girl is ok...please let us know how she is doing!!

 

[TheDragonKeepers]

Hallo again!
She's grand now - as ever, she responded quickly to the first dose of Oxytocin and expelled what we believe was all the remains of the ruined eggs. Just a few hours after treatment, she was eating of her own accord and generally being her usual sunshiny self, handing out free licks and happy faces. We've got antibiotics and supplements as usual, and will be monitoring her closely over the next few days just to be sure the problem is done with.

My vet and I have also agreed to have her spayed in a couple of months to prevent future episodes, as she is such a recurrent problem layer. I would advise that any surgery is a big deal for a small animal, and should only be used as a last resort or life improver for the dragon, not you.

I have found this vet on youtube to be highly informative about bearded dragon surgeries - WARNING, GRAPHIC VIDEOS:
http://www.youtube.com/user/ReptileDoctor?feature=watch

Particularly as he's filmed himself spaying a dragon:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_V4NYpeFivw

I will keep posting on her recovery and I will also post on her surgery when the time comes

 

[AHBD]

Wow, it IS grand that she came through with flying colors and appetite intact ! Good for her and for you, that was quite an ordeal and could have gone the other way had she not been seen in time. Thankfully most beardies will never have such a difficult time , and it's a bit of a mystery as to why some do. Hopefully all will go well with the future procedures !

 

[TheDragonKeepers]

*laughing* It takes a lot to knock our Jam. She does show signs early, unlike many dragons, but bounces back very fast too. I guess it's the same with humans - some have no problems, some have problems all the time.

She nommed NatureZone Bearded Dragon Bites and butterworms for lunch, had a few sips of water, and went back to sleep under her bed again.

 

[TheDragonKeepers]

We are booked in on Thursday 20th for her surgery.
My vet, Michael at Abbey Vets in Grimsby (UK) has advised to keep an eye on her when her order of Baytril runs out - just in case any follicles or fragments remain after her oxytocin treatment.

He has advised me that I have two options: I can either send Jam away to an exotic specialist in another area, or, alternatively he can have a go at it, locally, though he hasn't got much experience in the area. He's sat in on a beardie spaying procedure before, but hasn't had the opportunity to run the surgery himself.

It's a relatively straightforward procedure, surgically speaking.

I asked him a few careful questions - and he is well aware of the possible complications, the statistics, the recovery procedures, the specialist requirement of a breather for beardies under anaesthetics (they do fairly well, however the anaesthesia chemicals stops them breathing for themselves) - so, as he seems excited at the opportunity to further his experience with exotics, I have offered him the job.

I'll keep you updated. I'm just trying to get weight back on Jammy, both lost from her ordeal and to bolster her for her coming ordeal! :S

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That was a great video. I know if him also. A friend of mine in Australia goes to him.
I am happy to hear your girl is doing better after passing the last two eggs. At least you caught it before she really started having problems.
Spaying her would be the best option for her health, I totally agree.
It is a pretty routine surgery for vets who actually treat reptiles. Yes, they are actually on a respiratory/ventilator with a number of titrations per minute for their breathing. This is to protect their lungs from collapsing.
She is eating well now & looks good?

Tracie

 

[TheDragonKeepers]

Eatin' like a pig, as usual - chowing down on all my butterworms and Oxbow mix supplements and pointedly refusing her vegetables! Pest. Well, it takes a lot to knock our Jam - like I say, luckily, she lets us know early on if there's a problem.

I'm just hoping all the tasty things she's eating is going back to restore HER, and not develop another batch of eggs!

 

[TheDragonKeepers]

Update: Well, the darling little pain in the backside HAS gone and converted all the tasty good stuff right into a new batch of eggs. I had been suspecting it for a few days as her belly got bigger but none of the rest of her did. I'm also a bit annoyed, because that's £20 of butterworms that are now yolk. (That's $30 to you guys in the US.)

She quit eating a couple of days ago to focus on the last bit of eggerating - luckily, I had predicted this and have been supplementing her feeds with extra calcium, and I'm using Oxbow Carnivorous critical care mix to get some calories and nutrients into her via the power of lick.

I keep offering her the dig box, but she's not interested yet. Luckily again, she's a very blatant and quite predictable dragon - she'll go diggy mad for about two days before actually getting on with the job and laying the clutch. She hasn't got that far yet.

Vet isn't best pleased either, but has advised that she should be okay to lay these, and stop for the rest of the season after this clutch, being as it's her second. And was then surprised when I pointed out that, actually, no - this is her THIRD clutch of the season.

She's still booked for surgery on the 20th of June, but we may have to adjust this if she goes into yet another round of egg building after she lays these. We might need ANOTHER course of antibiotics too, as she _always_ gets an infection after laying eggs - though, as she's still on her current course, it will be interesting to see if she actually does develop one this time.

All I know is that she REALLY hates the taste of Baytril. She puts up one heck of a fight and pulls the most disgusted "BLARGH YUCKYUCK! Why would you DO that?!" faces afterwards.

 

[TheDragonKeepers]

She was taking her time waking up from the anaesthetic, but she's breathing on her own and has come through the surgery as well as expected. Michael (my vet) was a little concerned at her slow rousing, until I pointed out that she does like to sleep - it usually takes her an hour in the morning to realise the light is on and get up.

He said that the level of follicles that were active was certainly abnormal - most of her abdomen was filled with developing infertile eggs, as both ovaries were in full production. He was a little worried about her prognosis due to this (it often complicates surgery and makes the recovery harder due to physical shock) - however I pointed out that this is also pretty normal for her, and she makes a rapid recovery after laying once the antibiotics kick in. She's also quick to eat once any infection is dealt with too.

He was actually a bit shocked by the sheer number of eggs. I took no joy in saying "I told you so". Well, maybe a little.

He also said that prior to surgery, she'd put on 100 grams since she was last in for emergency treatment, however he's going to weigh her later to see how much of it was eggs. Again, this is quite normal for her.

As far as I'm concerned, weighing her was never a good guide for her health for exactly this reason. She recovered most of her headfat and bulked up her tail, so I'm happy she's in reasonable physical condition.

 

[TheDragonKeepers]

I'm not looking forward to the bill - but it will be worth it for a much happier and healthier lizard. It will be nice for her to have calories for HER instead of more eggs.

We've got to see how she copes when she realises she's had surgery, but I'm confident that she's a tough cookie. Michael's also given her subcutaneous antibiotics, so she doesn't have to have icky oral meds - and I don't have to do it myself! (Woo! Because I don't like needles.)

She'll have to have another shot on Sunday, but one of the other vets will be doing that on a quick drop in.

 

[TheDragonKeepers]

Sorry about this - the forum keeps returning SQL errors, so I keep having to break it down into smaller blocks. Send me a message if you're getting the same issue - the lovely dev is helping me get to the bottom of the problem.

Summary: So far, so good, as they say. She came through surgery and she's recovering from the anaesthetics - those were the big worries?

As expected, she's staying in overnight for observation - I'll be calling in the morning to see how she's doing. It's most likely she'll be coming home tomorrow afternoon.

Jam had insanely active ovaries. Vet Michael says surgery was absolutely the right option, especially as she has had binding previously and repeated infections after laying.

I'll be posting another update AND PICTURES! when she comes home tomorrow

 

[Esther19]

Good to hear that your girl came through the surgery in good shape. I think that spaying was absolutely the best decision for her. Looking forward to more news on Jam's recovery, and a pic if you can manage it, too. Must be hard having her away.

 

[TheDragonKeepers]

9:11 GMT
Vet says she's up and about, surprisingly cheerful, and to his astonishment has even had breakfast. I laughed. Of course she would have had breakfast - it takes more than opening her abdomen and removing large chunks from her insides to put her off her food.

Plus they've given her an anti-inflammation shot, which will take the worst off the pain. We have an appt on Sunday for another dose as well as another round of antibiotics.

11:00 GMT

Rich picked her up - she was still a little dozy and out of it, but happy nonetheless. It takes a lot to knock our Jam.

19:15 GMT
I've got home and am keeping a close eye on her - she's very tired, poor chickadee. Well, I'm not surprised, considering what she went through!

The vet is still being cautious - dragons with Jam's condition and such a large number of active follicles have a 50/50 chance of recovery. That's what he's said all along - but she's a tough little lizard. I have every confidence in her. She's got through the worst of it - she just needs to overcome the shock to her system and rest up. She's come through surgery and anesthetic, but she has a way to go yet he says. Rumour has it that Michael the Vet also took photos throughout the process - I'm hoping to snaffle some off him, as I'm sure they'll be fascinating.

The vet has told us it was absolutely the right thing for her. The egg binding problems and overproduction has a much higher death risk - it would simply be a matter of time.

She took herself back off to bed, having taken a butterworm as a quick snack; she didn't feel up to two, so has gone to sleep. She opened an eye and gave me a funny look when I put her log hut back in. I've coated it with black cotton so there's no sharp bits to snag her stitches on.

As I mentioned, she's due back on Sunday and Wednesday for booster meds, and a return trip in six weeks to remove the stitches.

20:00 GMT
Well, Jam was oblivious to the delivery unboxing (my lovely neighbour took 'em in, bless him. I owe him a cuppa) - unlike the rest of the dragons, whom promptly went insane having recognised the big white container I put the locusts in for storage.

However, I grabbed a good big one, and pointed it under her bed. Gave it a gentle nudge... suddenly there was a noise: shuffle ... shuffle shuffle ... CRUNCHCRUNCHCRUNCH!

Three more juicy fat locusts rapidly went in the same direction in the gloom under the maple posted bed.

I'd say that was a good sign!

 

[TheDragonKeepers]

20:45 GMT
Jam's got up by herself for a potter around. She's watching TV apparently.

And she has given her new gift a good licking. Yes, I got her a book. Recovery from surgery is long and boring if you don't have a good book to read. Well, if you don't have letters on paper to lick. (She likes licking words in my books - now she has one of her own to lick.)

It is a lovely compilation of stories by Katherine Mansfield, and is the absolute perfect size for her set of shelves. My newsagent found it in his backlog storage up in his attic; he was amused when I told him who I was buying it for and mentioned that he reckons he might well have other miniature books up there. He's going to have a look for me tomorrow and let me know.