please help me!! my beardie has a huge lump!!

[kingofnobbys]

Pressure the vet to see her immediately , send him photos of her . Find out if they are open today and simply show up with her , they will not turn you and her away when they see her plight. If they do turn her away and show no interest in helping for her here and now , then IMO they are a vet you want treating your pet at all anyway.

I can't add anything much more to what has already been suggested other than keep her warm 24/7.
I'd be having a words with the people you trusted to care for her , and failed dismally to provide her with the sheerest basics of life. I'd never trust them again, if they can let this happen to a defenseless pet .... bloody disgraceful.

Keep the wound as clean as you can , medihoney / raw unpasteurized / manuka honey on the injury , she might enjoy licking some too (wont hurt her) , dilute betadiene soaks as instructed using sterile gauss swabs, F10 Barrier Ointment on the wound daily.

Offer water frequently using a eyedropper to help keep her hydrated.

Offer silkworms small (mealworm sized about 1-1.5 inch or medium sized no bigger then 2 inches, she might not be able to handle a large silkworm, other easy to eat baby foods mentioned to try to get some nutrition into her.
Maybe calciworms / BSF lavae too.
So long as it's something she'll have no problem eating and can be handfed to her or wont move fast and is full of nutrition.

If you are not able to have her with you and there is no one you can trust and rely on to care PROPERLY for her , seriously consider surrendering to a reptile rescuer who CAN care for her or will rehome her with someone who can and will and will give her the love and attention she deserves.

 

[kingofnobbys]

.....
thankyou all so much!! i didn't realise it was that serious, my parents look after her mostly as im away at boarding school so i haven't seen her for months, i am being far to ignorant and have booked the vets for this week,

<<<< When ? what day ?
.... she needs to have been seen by a vet weeks ago, today or tomorrow would be best .... see my other post.
She could easily go down hill very fast any day now and I think she's DEFINITELY CRITICALLY ILL now and in agony.
thankyou all so much, please tell me what i can do in the time being to save her?? and thank you all for replying so quickly i am so worried, i am far too ignorant however i'm going to treat her much better, she's started drinking again today but she still won't eat, what can i do to make her want to eat?? she's so skinny !

 

[EllenD]

I hope she makes it waiting for the vet, you can try all of the things mentioned, but I would prepare yourself for the worst, as that infection has very likely spread to her bloodstream already, which is why I said to find a 24 hour animal hospital that's open on the weekend. Certainly you cannot wait past tomorrow to take her, this is not something you make an appointment for, this is something you immediately rush her to the emergency room for, and she'll most likely be admitted and need surgical intervention. So tomorrow is Monday, do not make an appointment, simply call the closest vet and tell them you're bringing her, or better yet, just show up with her, they will not turn her away. I hope they think she can be helped, but depending on whether that abscess has infiltrated any internal organs and what her blood work looks like, they may just suggest euthanizing her. She's not eating because she's in horrible pain and because she's very sick with infection. I'd get some unflavored Pedialyte and drip that on her snout multiple times a day with an eyedropper, she needs as much hydration as possible until tomorrow when she gets to the vet, because her kidneys may be in danger of shutting down. You can try dripping baby food (butternut squash or sweet potato seem to be their favorites), but I wouldn't force feed, she doesn't need the stress and can't honestly take it. Handling her is likely very painful for her, moving is very painful for her, because that abscess is so large and is attached to a good portion of her body, even moving her legs or tail likely hurts.

So be very gentle, and if you can go to Walmart or the drug store and pick up an eyedropper, some baby food, unflavored Pedialyte, a bottle of Hibiclens antiseptic (I'd use Hibiclens instead of Betadine at this point, because Hibiclens is very effective against both bacteria and fungi, where Betadine does not do much for fungi, Hibiclens scrub packs are now used for surgeons to scrub in with before surgeries, so I'd get a bottle of Hibiclens, it's available at Walmart or any drugstore, it's next to the Betadine/Povidone Iodine, and comes in a green/teal bottle), and some big sterile gauze squares (the really large ones) and then a gallon or two of sterile or distilled water. You can pour some distilled water into a freshly disinfected container and add a couple tablespoons of the Hibiclens to it, and then soak the gauze in it, then place the soaked gauze over the entire abscess. I'd do this instead of moving her all around and stressing her by putting her in a bath or soaking tub. Just very gently place the Hibiclens soaked gauze over the entire abscess (why I said get the largest sterile gauze squares), I'd actually microwave the distilled water for a minute before adding the Hibiclens, so the gauze pack will be warm. Leave the Hibiclens gauze on the abscess for 10-15 minutes at a time, and the gently Pat her dry, then gently put either the diluted raw, unpasteurized honey (REGULAR HONEY DOES NO GOOD, IT MUST BE RAW, UNPASTEURIZED HONEY, JUST AS AN FYI) or triple antibiotic ointment, or if you have a Tractor Supply store near you they sell small tubes of Terramycin ointment over the counter for $15, it's actually a prescription antibiotic ointment sold over the counter, it's expensive but will at the very least act as a barrier around the wound/abscess. If you do actually place her in a warm water soak that contains Hibiclens or Betadine, don't be surprised if the abscess starts draining a bit, which will not be pleasant to see or to smell, though it may bring her some relief if the pressure is relieved. But don't try to put any pressure on the abscess or try to make it drain, she could potentially bleed to death because you don't know how deep it goes or what vascular structures are running through it or around it, plus it would cause great pain to her. But warm water often will cause seepage or drainage...

 

[EllenD]

I agree with Knobbys, and I'll repeat it again just simply because that poor little girl cannot be allowed to sit like this any longer, she's better off humanely euthanized than waiting for a vet appointment! Sorry, but it's true, and it seems that you may not understand how urgent it is that she get admitted to an animal hospital IMMEDIATELY. You cannot "book an appointment for her this week", that's not good enough, if I lived close enough to you, I would drive hours and hours one way to pick her up and take her to a 24 hour animal hospital (which are very common BTW) right now...This has already been horribly neglected for months and months, and as a result this is going to be very difficult to treat,as well as expensive. But you cannot simply call a vet and "make an appointment", she's in horrible pain and she's dying. She most likely will not live through this anyway, but she deserves the best chance possible, and she certainly deserves some very strong, opioid pain meds. If the vet you're planning on taking her to opens tomorrow morning at 8:00, you need to be standing outside their door at 7:00 with her, I'm being completely serious. They will take one look at her and rush her right in.

And if you're a teenager or unable to pay for the very necessary vet care and must rely on the same people that allowed this to happen for money, then I'd say your best bet is to surrender her to a rescue or to a person who has the financial means as well as the time to take her to the hospital immediately, pay for whatever testing, surgery, medications, and treatment she needs now and long-term, and then will nurse her back to health and weight. This isn't going to be a quick recovery, it's going to be a long-term recovery that will require her keeper to administer whatever treatments and medications that she needs for quite a while after she gets out of the hospital. If you're going back to school and planning on leaving her with your parents, who are the people that allowed this to happen in the first place, you need to think long and hard about what's best for her. I'm not trying to be mean or harsh to you, but I have a very bad feeling about whether this poor little beardie is going to get immediate medical care, and even more worries about who is going to be taking care of her every single day after she gets out of the hospital. I'm sorry, but I just can't imagine looking at that poor beardie with that horrible abscess, growing larger every day, smelling awful, watching her stop eating, stop moving, and watching that mass of infection seep pus, blood, etc. and not doing a thing about it. So I highly doubt that the people who allowed this to happen are going to be reliable as far as the daily treatment and medication she's going to need, multiple times a day, for a good long time. She'll get tube feedings in the hospital, but when she comes home who is going to do it? I hope you see where we're coming from, we only want to ensure that this poor girl who has been needlessly allowed to suffer for months and months finally gets the help she both deserves and requires in order to survive.

I'd think long and hard about surrendering her to either a reputable reptile rescue, which we can help you find if we know what town/city you live in, or if not a reptile rescue, then a friend, family member, or even someone from this forum that has both the bearded dragon experience and the want to take proper care of her. And honestly, if you surrender her now, they'll take her to the vet or the animal hospital immediately and that will save you or your parents the money. Just please think about what's best for her, because she hasn't had a very good life so far, and if she survives this she certainly deserves a loving, attentive home that will give her everything she needs.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Yes , as I already said in an earlier response , IF she survives surgery and recovery and comes home , you need to think in terms of giving intensive care , as in a human hospital, for many weeks while the surgical wound where "lump" (abscess ?? or worse was) heals .
The vet surgeon may be able to close up the wound , but it's a huge area of infected skin and flesh that will need to be removed so it's more likely she'll be sent home A BIG area of skin and flesh gone and the hole packed with a special surgical packing that promotes flesh regrowth and will need very careful looking after .
This is not going to minor or pretty , but is a major surgery and the hole left not be a simple few staples or stitches to close up, she is likely to come home with a drain tube poking out of her side that will need special care too.
+
she will be on pain relief every day likely for at least a month
+
she will be requiring injections of antibiotics and likely oral antibiotics as well for months
+
regular visits back to vet to be examined / reviewed and perhaps have the wound repacked under a general

Then it becomes high dependency surgical recovery at home for months more. Will take as long as she's been neglected , even longer most likely, for her to heal and become healthy and active again.

She is going to need dedicated loving and gentle care while healing , and I wouldn't be trusting anyone except myself with that (in your situation) .... are you capable of doing all this ?

If not , and there is no one who you can trust to take her on and love and care for her , then she needs to taken by a rescuer who will .

Unfortunately , I live in Australia , else I'd take her in a heartbeat and she would get the help she needs.

She needs someone who is going be home every day to care for her. I'm retired and have a good track record of caring for injured rescued lizards and I speak from hard experience here, someone needs to be home to care for her , do the injections, clean the drain, antibacterial soaks , barrier ointment applications , dressing the wound and assist her with feeding too , every day for months and months until she is healed and rehabilated , someone who is patient and will be dedicated to her.
Can you think of anyone who is like that ?

Please do the right thing by her and get her to the vet today . SHE IS CRITICALLY ILL and can not wait for an appointment.

 

[JLynn87]

Please just pack up your dragon and drive to either an animal hospital or rescue shelter (if you already have not done so), you don't want to wait. My baby just died today, he was failure to thrive from being placed in a pet store too early (this is what the vet suspects and I trust they were trying to help him and have the knowledge to help) it is not worth it to wait, as I said earlier love is what you give your time to. He is an innocent creature who cannot understand the same way we can, he just knows he is in pain and unwell. Als, as I read earlier from another person, I would let whomever was caring for him know, whether it was lack of caring or ignorance they need to be aware. if it was from lack of caring then they should not be responsible for the life of any living creature; Ignorance can be reversed.
Please let us know as soon as you can what is going on, I hope his suffering ends soon (hopefully with him living on).

 

[kingofnobbys]

Update ?

What is happening ?

 

[JLynn87]

How is your beardie? Were you able to get to the vet or rescue shelter? Please update as soon as you can.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Yes, please do let us know how your dragon is doing. We all hope that he gets the medical
attention that he needs.

Tracie