Prolapse

[Hanna]

Hi Everyone,

My beardie, female approximately 5 years old, had a prolapse last week Thursday. I immediately rushed her to the vet and they managed to fix the prolapse surgically. More than a week later the prolapse has not reoccurred but she is depressed and refuses to eat - even crickets which she normally loves. She ate a little bit on Wednesday and pooped on Thursday (which she had difficulty doing). However she does not want to eat at all now. Her cage is fitted with a UV bulb (10%) which I replaced last week and a heat bulb. I bath her in luke warm water daily and provide her with fresh fruit (papino) and crickets. I am doing everything I can possibly think of to help her. Does anyone have suggestions as to how I can get her to eat? Stuffing the food down her throat hardly seems the way to go... I dearly love my beardie and at this point I'm getting desperate...

 

[AHBD]

Hi Hanna....Im sorry that your beardie has had this problem. Did the vet give you any after care instructions ? In most cases it's advised not to feed them for a while so they don't have a large poo that can cause the prolapse to reoccur. You might offer baby food chicken, turkey and add a little water for extra hydration, but it's O.K for her not to be eating much. For feeder insects it may be best to go with soft body worms like silkworms + hornworms, but not mealworms or superworms. Crickets should not be the large ones. And when a prolapse is put back in, it may have messed a little bit with her internally....some of her other organs would be pressed on, and she's just not going to feel well. On the other hand, if she were carrying eggs and prolapsed because she wanted to lay but couldn't that would even be more trouble. Hopefully she heals well, but don't try to force her...just offer the soft, easily digested foods for now. I'd also encourage you to p.m. Drache613 ,[ Tracie ] she's a mod. on here + very helpful in these types of situations. I wish the best outcome for your girl !

 

[Hanna]

Thank you for the advice. The vet said I must keep her quiet, give her soft food and call if anything changes. I'm optimistic because it's been more than a week after the prolapse and even though she's not doing great she's still alive and alert - which I doubt would have been the case if there was tissue necrosis. I bought her some leafy foods today (watercrest - I know it's an occasional food but unfortunately I live in a small town so getting a variety is difficult). I also got her some sugar snap peas - she loves them. I'll just make sure I chop them fine so that se doesn't get big chunks in. I'm not sure if that'll be ok? Further I'm just trying to keep her comfortable with lots of tlc... She didn't lie eggs. I've had her about 3 years now and she's lain unfertilized eggs twice in the beginning and then never again. I keep her away from males. She got horribly thin and sore when laying the eggs and I don't want her to suffer for nothing. The vet actually has no idea why it happened. It wasn't an impaction because she pooped a decent sized poop the day prior to the prolapse and it was soft poop with no hard chunks in it... We dewormed her and gave her some antibiotics.

 

[discojan]

I'm sorry your lizard had a prolapse. Our big girl had some bad ones last year, and ended up having emergency surgery, so I know it is very stressful (she's doing great now, a year later, thank heavens). It took our girl a while to get her appetite back. We were giving her oral critical care slurry until she decided to eat some hornworms and greens on her own. It may take awhile for your girl to get her interest back. Sending good, healing thoughts your way.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

How is your girl doing today?
Are you using UVB lighting & if so what type & brand? Do you give calcium several times per week for her?
How are her colors looking?

I hope that she starts eating soon. Are you giving soft foods also?
Prolapses can be caused by a lot of different reasons. Genetics, nutritional issues, egg binding, etc.

Tracie

 

[Hanna]

Hi everyone,

All in all she's doing better - we're now 2 weeks past the prolapse. She still doesn't want to eat much. Upon recommendation of the vet I give her some mashed fruit in a syringe. She'll have a cricket every now and then. I dust her insects with calcium and I mix some calcium and vitamin powder with her mashed fruit. She gets bathed daily and poops daily with relative ease. Her UV bulb is a spectrum 10 by reptizoo (I think - might just have to confirm that. It came in a blackish box). I try to take her outside for some natural sunlight as often as possible. She's a bit more active lately and her colour is better but she still tends to turn black. I just try to keep her as comfortable as possible. All in all she's doing well under circumstances.

Thanx for the support - we really appreciate it.

 

[AHBD]

Hi Hanna, it's good to hear that it's so far so good ! One little thing I'd suggest is that you give her pureed greens like turnip, mustard, collard and some squash, with just a tiny bit of fruit. The staple foods should be veggies, fruits are sugary + not too great for beardies. But anyway, glad that she's holding her own.

 

[Hanna]

Will remember that and make her a veggie shake tomorrow :-D