Sick beardie constantly laying eggs

[Fortunate]

Hi guys,

I have a 5 year old female beardie who is battling, she is constantly laying eggs and not eating well, she used to eat 80 crickets every two days plus a full salad everyday and she weighed 900grams in the last few months she will eat a maximum of 3 crickets every 5 days and maybe some superworms and hardly any salad, she now weighs 430grams.
We have been back and forth to the vet for calcium injections and treatment for the constant egg laying.
2 weeks ago she was very bad and it was found that she had a uterine infection and would have to be spayed once strong enough, she got antibiotics and was on the mend and eating fairly well, she packed on some weight and things were looking good but in the last few days she has deteriorated again and started laying eggs again. I am making an appoitment with a specialist vet but will have to wait a few days for the appointment. is there anything I can do for her in the meantime? i feel so useless, she is so skinny and lathargic and will not eat at all.
she is definetly not strong enough for surgery but she keeps loosing weight with every egg laid.

Please help

 

[AHBD]

Aw, poor girl ! What is her name ? At 900 grams she was way overweight but losing so much is pretty dangerous in itself. All you can do is try to syringe feed her, ask the vet for Oxbow Critical Care. Or get some baby food squash, green bean and chicken. Put any or all [ mixed ] in a syringe + drip/smear gently on her nose. That might spark interest.

Losing weight + not eating can affect her liver, too but hopefully that won't happen. Be sure that she is doing better before any surgery. Can you post a few pics of her ? Do you have a before and one from now ? Here's how to post:

https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then hit XIMG

 

[Fortunate]

This is when I first got her - Matilda (dragon in need of help) is on the right - and yes shes extremely obese here and was put on a diet shortly after.

This is Matilda at her optimal weight, vets and I were happy with this weight (780grams and 6 months after first photo was taken)

Matilda is on the left - the beardie on her right is the same beardie as the first photo and also lost some weight but not alot so her size is about the same in both photos - as you can see there is a huge difference in Matildas weight. (here she was just over 500grams)

I have no new photos of Tilly, will take more in the morning.
Specialist just phoned and he can see us on monday or tuesday at the earliest.

 

[AHBD]

Aw, what a sweet looking girl. Even her " skinny " pic she still looks pretty good at 500 grams and has a sweet face ! I would say that 550-600 would be a good weight for her.

But anyway, has she always lived with the other girl ? I'd advise separating moving the other dragon to a new tank, not Tilly. BUT... I know that some females do form bonds + may sulk when separated. I've seen it in some of my own. So just something to consider. [ separating ]

Remember try syringe feeding with Oxbow critical care [ ask vet for it ] and/or squash, green bean/chicken baby food. Add a few pinches of calcium powder to the baby food if you do get some. You might also try a bit of scrambled egg, microwaved for 50-60 seconds with no oil or anything. Just a few quarter sized pieces hand fed....some of my dragons like egg once in a while. Best wishes going out to Tilly !!

 

[SpacialCoogs]

My vet had me adjust the light duration after my third clutch in 2 months to see if we could stop the hormones ca using the need to lay.

I had it on a regular 14 hour pattern and I moved it to 12 hours. She hasn't had eggs since this year.

 

[Fortunate]

Hi guys,

She was living with the other girl (Peta) when I got them - in a very tiny viv - so I brought a bigger one and put both Tilly and Peta in the large one, things were great and everyone was thriving but then the egg laying started so I thought I would separate them and see if it stops, it didnt and Peta started going off her food and bashing the glass to get out, after finding blood in her viv from her constant bashing I put them together again and they have been living happily together ever since.

At 460grams Tillys skin is hanging off her and every bone is visible, the xrays we took when we thought she was egg bound showed no fat reserves in her body at all, will try get the images of those too, So vet doesnt want to operate until she is at least 600grams, but will see what this new specialist im seeing says.

We have no such thing as Oxbox critical care here in south africa so im using Hills recovery food for dogs, 3ml 3 times a day syringed into her mouth (vet recommended) and daily baths to keep her hydrated.

We changed her lighting cycle two weeks ago and she is now on 12day and 12night but this has not really helped.

She usually lifts her head to look at me when I go greet them in the morning, today she did not, her eyes followed me but she didnt move. This Vet visit cannot come soon enough!

The trip to the specialist is two hours each way and I dont know how long we will be there, I want to put heat packs in the carrier but im afraid she will burn herself as she is not moving much or they get too cold too quickly - usually I go without the heat pack but we are having very cold weather at the moment and in her fragile state I dont want her to be fighting to stay warm, would tucking her in my shirt (she comfortable there) be warm enough? or should I try find a battery powered heat pack for the carrier?

 

[AHBD]

Poor Tilly....do you have a current pic of her ? Yes you can keep her warm in your shirt for the vet visit., absolutely. Maybe a small loose towel around her in case she has an accident, but with your body heat and the heater in the vehicle she will stay cozy [ even if there weren't heat in the vehicle ] And for nutrition, do you have a blender that you could use to mix a variety of greens , veggies and insects ? It would be healthier than the dog food which has a lot of fat. Just in case this is affecting her liver. I don't know what type of greens you have in S.Africa but something that would be the equivalent of collard, turnip, mustard , dandelion greens and squash would be good.

 

[Fortunate]

Heres a side view - you can see the fat reserves in her head have diminished

Top view - you can see how loose her skin is and how pale she is

Underneath - her hind legs are so thin the skin just hangs off them, her torso is sunken and her head is so badly out of proportion

Her tail is very thin and you can see she has no fat reserves on the base of her tail.

The veggie and cricket mixture I have not tried yet, I have stuck to the dog food the vet suggested but I will try the mixture next - I have access to all those greens and thats basically what her salads (when she eats it) is made up of, with the occasional fruit.
I forgot to mention i am mixing probiotics into the dog food that I syringe feed her.
She did not eat the egg and refused it - kept turning her head away from it.

She is a bit brighter now, and is lifting her head up

 

[AHBD]

Yeah, poor girl is a bit bedraggled but her tail at least still has a good bit of fat. Still, something besides the egg laying is taking a toll, but the egg laying is making it worse. Does she accept the syringed food easily ? If so, bump up the food to 7-8 ml per feeding , she needs more to keep her from losing so much. And that's great that you have the greens, blend those up with some insects and it will be a good meal, maybe use the dog food once a day and the real food twice a day if she'll have it. Add a wee bit of raw unpasteurized honey , it's good for the entire G.I. tract and contains a multitude of enzymes + nutrients.

 

[Fortunate]

The vet said only 3 mls a time - maybe because the dog food is so fatty??? She likes the blended greens but not with mealworms in it, crickets she liked better, will try pinkies and silkworms tomorrow.
Thank you for all your help! shes already looking better and that gives me hope that I wont lose my girl!
What else do you suppose is zapping her like this? We did fecal samples for parasites and it came back clear, but maybe i will ask them to retest it, xrays showed white bubbles in her gut, vet says from the pus in her uterus caused from the infection.
Her poop is very slimy, has been for a while?

Do these give you any indication of what could be going on?

 

[AHBD]

That's great ! This will be far more nutritious,I'm really glad to hear it was a hit already It may be that she's had some infection for a while, and maybe she has a degree of liver inflammation. That's just a guess [ liver problem ] With the smoothies, be sure to add extra water too, since egg laying , having an infection and antibiotx are all dehydrating.

 

[SpacialCoogs]

The beardie digestive tract is very simple which can mean if her uterus is inflamed then there may not be a huge amount of room available for her stomach to expand. When mine was laying her uterus became inflamed and she would gasp and was off food. I thought RI but the vest said she was more likely just trying to make her abdomen less bloated or uncomfortable due to the inflammation. After antibiotics she was able to eat more.

I'm glad you're taking AHBDs advice, he/she's a beardie sicko for a reason.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I agree, the liver is probably taxed & inflamed from the egg laying issues. She has probably had a low grade infection for awhile & been fighting it. The bacteria has likely built up to a point where she couldn't fight it off very well anymore.
The dog food is a bit fatty which is likely why the vet only suggested 3 or so mls at a time. How many times daily do you feed her now?
She should like the silkworms or a pinky. I'm happy to hear she enjoys the slurries with the greens in it too, that is terrific for her.
If she is already looking better, hopefully she will continue on that trek.
Are you keeping her a little warmer at night?

Let us know how she is doing.
Tracie

 

[Fortunate]

Thanks guys, she did not eat today - vets wanted an empty as possible stomache for consult. We got there and after an hours consult we are not much closer to a diagnosis but heres what vet said:
She will stay in hospital for a few days and get bloods and a fecal done as well as a parasite flush, the bloods will determine if there indeed is an infection and the condtition of her organs, the parasite flush is to flush any parasites if the fecal comes back positive, she will get an antibiotic today and thursday and will be given "nutrient baths" to help her rehydrate. then tomorrow she will be given fluids so she can rehydrate and gather strength so on wednesday they will open her up and spay her, check the condition of her liver, pancreas, kidneys etc. on thursday another antibiotic and if she strong enough I can fetch her on thursday evening or friday, if not she stays longer and they will contiune antibiotics and fluids until she is better.

The vet was not too concerned about her weight, he said hes seen worse but he will be asking another vet to help him with the surgery so they can monitor her more closely,
He is confident she will be ok but now its just a waiting game.
I am not to give her hard foods after surgery so will be looking for silkworms and soft veggies when she comes home - shes already on tiles and I will disinfect the cage again before she comes home to prevent infection. Is there anything else I should know? Ive never had a beardie recovering from surgery.

And yes her temps were increased at night but not by a lot they were about 22 degrees celcius at night and 35 in the day.

The vets were very impressed at how laid back and chilled she was to be handled and at how well I've been doing so far so Yay me! hahahaha!

 

[AHBD]

Aw, what a sweet little sick girl. Hopefully everything will work out. Staying at the vets can be really stressful, and I don't know or ever heard of a parasite flush. I think it will be touch + go for sure. I would have wanted to have her eating the new smoothies for a while, but maybe this will work out for the best, and I send my very best wishes for everything to go smoothly and a full recovery !