Hi, this is my first time posting so bear with me..
I got my girl Meeko about 6 months ago and she was around 1 year old when I got her. I took her in for a checkup and tested her stool for parasites at an exotic animal hospital 3 months after I got her and the vet told me everything looked good except she was a little dehydrated and her left front leg was swollen, but she wasn’t limping on it or anything (I didn’t even really notice it in fact, but I’m a first time owner so I really didn’t know to look for it). The vet told me since it didn’t seem to bother her it could possibly be an old fracture she got from before I had her, and that if she started limping to bring her back for X-rays but if not she should be fine. Everything stayed the same, she didn’t start limping or favoring it or anything.
Fast forwarding to today, I just got back from a 3 week vacation and I had moved her over to my boyfriends house to care for her while I was gone, and when I moved her back today I noticed that her other front leg and hand are swelling as well, and whenever I touched the hand she would flinch a little bit. I haven’t had time to let her really run around, I just had her on my bed and she was climbing pillows and stuff without any noticeable problems. I put her back in her tank afterwards and she looked a little shaky when she was walking to her basking spot, but that’s all I could notice. My boyfriend said she didn’t fall off of anything while she was at his house, and after looking through some posts on here I’m starting to become afraid that it could be something like gout.
I’m scheduling an appointment at the same hospital tomorrow, but I just want a second opinion in case the vet doesn’t pick up on it (after reading several posts from here, I’ve become aware that some reptile vets didn’t even know what gout was).
Her basking temps stay around 98-100, her UVB is a reptisun 10 tube that I’ve had for about 6 months (going to replace it next week), and she’s in a 55 gallon tank. I feed her primarily collard greens and also mix in carrots and celery a few times a week, and offer her fruit occasionally. She’s never really been big on fruits and veggies since I’ve gotten her, but she’ll still eat some of it most of the time. For insects I give her gut loaded crickets 3 times a week and dust them in calcium every time (not sure if I need to do this more often, everything I’ve read has been conflicting about it). I also give her superworms dusted in calcium every once in a while as she absolutely loves them, but she mainly gets the crickets. I give her a bath once a week and she drinks water whenever she’s in it, she also has a water bowl in her tank. I spray her every other day with water as well. I have repticarpet in there and I clean it in the washing machine whenever she takes a poop on it, which she does once a week (they’re very big poops). If there’s anything you need to know that I’m missing from here, just let me know
I’d love any help and opinions or adjustments to my husbandry, sorry if this dragged on too long but I wanted to make sure I got in every detail. Thanks so much!!
-Sarah, paranoid Beardie mom
I got my girl Meeko about 6 months ago and she was around 1 year old when I got her. I took her in for a checkup and tested her stool for parasites at an exotic animal hospital 3 months after I got her and the vet told me everything looked good except she was a little dehydrated and her left front leg was swollen, but she wasn’t limping on it or anything (I didn’t even really notice it in fact, but I’m a first time owner so I really didn’t know to look for it). The vet told me since it didn’t seem to bother her it could possibly be an old fracture she got from before I had her, and that if she started limping to bring her back for X-rays but if not she should be fine. Everything stayed the same, she didn’t start limping or favoring it or anything.
Fast forwarding to today, I just got back from a 3 week vacation and I had moved her over to my boyfriends house to care for her while I was gone, and when I moved her back today I noticed that her other front leg and hand are swelling as well, and whenever I touched the hand she would flinch a little bit. I haven’t had time to let her really run around, I just had her on my bed and she was climbing pillows and stuff without any noticeable problems. I put her back in her tank afterwards and she looked a little shaky when she was walking to her basking spot, but that’s all I could notice. My boyfriend said she didn’t fall off of anything while she was at his house, and after looking through some posts on here I’m starting to become afraid that it could be something like gout.
I’m scheduling an appointment at the same hospital tomorrow, but I just want a second opinion in case the vet doesn’t pick up on it (after reading several posts from here, I’ve become aware that some reptile vets didn’t even know what gout was).
Her basking temps stay around 98-100, her UVB is a reptisun 10 tube that I’ve had for about 6 months (going to replace it next week), and she’s in a 55 gallon tank. I feed her primarily collard greens and also mix in carrots and celery a few times a week, and offer her fruit occasionally. She’s never really been big on fruits and veggies since I’ve gotten her, but she’ll still eat some of it most of the time. For insects I give her gut loaded crickets 3 times a week and dust them in calcium every time (not sure if I need to do this more often, everything I’ve read has been conflicting about it). I also give her superworms dusted in calcium every once in a while as she absolutely loves them, but she mainly gets the crickets. I give her a bath once a week and she drinks water whenever she’s in it, she also has a water bowl in her tank. I spray her every other day with water as well. I have repticarpet in there and I clean it in the washing machine whenever she takes a poop on it, which she does once a week (they’re very big poops). If there’s anything you need to know that I’m missing from here, just let me know
I’d love any help and opinions or adjustments to my husbandry, sorry if this dragged on too long but I wanted to make sure I got in every detail. Thanks so much!!
-Sarah, paranoid Beardie mom
