Swollen Leg and Foot

[mygirlz]

Help! I now have an issue with my 6mo old, Elliot. He's not eating as he had been,

but I'm not as concerned about that as I am about his left rear leg. It's been swollen for at least a week and he's just dragging it around. He doesn't move nearly as much as he used to and is staying at the bottom of his habitat for the most part. He's not chasing crickets nor eating his veggies as usual. He's been very healthy thus far. His is defecating daily, and he does eat a few cricket/day, but he was eating 40 or so in a feeding. Today he ate about 15. I tried to feed him again this evening, but to no avail. He just lets the crickets crawl on and around him and he doesn't even try. I've attached pics for your viewing... please let me know if I should bring him into the vet or not. Thanks again!!!

 

[mygirlz]

Here are some more pics....

Habitat usually has reptile carpet, but that's being washed at the moment. He has a 150w ceramic basking bulb and a 13w UVB 150 bulb. The ambient temperature on the cool side is 80°. The tank is 40 gallon.

 

[destiny1998]

Hi. Nice looking dragon. It looks like he could have gout. Usually caused by too much protein. You can give him some black cherry juice that helps break down the uric acid crystals. You probably should take him in and get a blood test to be sure and they'll probably prescribe some medicine for it.

 

[mygirlz]

Hi. Nice looking dragon. It looks like he could have gout. Usually caused by too much protein. You can give him some black cherry juice that helps break down the uric acid crystals. You probably should take him in and get a blood test to be sure and they'll probably prescribe some medicine for it.

I will research more about gout. I have been seeing this and it has caused me to question. The nearest vet that specializes in herp is over an hour away. Can u give me an idea of how to help first, black cherry juice, etc.. and approx time frame of uses?

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

He looks so much like my boy Richter, hits close to home.

Black cherry juice is a great start to help break down the crystals, but I'd still recommend he be seen by a vet when you can. Gout can be very serious, and the fact he's dragging his foot says he's very uncomfortable and likely in pain. It doesn't look too severe, but as mentioned it's best to get confirmation on what you're dealing with

 

[mygirlz]

He looks so much like my boy Richter, hits close to home.

Black cherry juice is a great start to help break down the crystals, but I'd still recommend he be seen by a vet when you can. Gout can be very serious, and the fact he's dragging his foot says he's very uncomfortable and likely in pain. It doesn't look too severe, but as mentioned it's best to get confirmation on what you're dealing with

Great! Thanks for the advice. I'll try and get him in asap. At the vet. He'll take a fluid sample to determine gout? Do you have any idea the cost? I have a second dragon as well, he was failure to thrive and I had to isolate him with an entirely new set up... Very expensive. He's doing far better and even growing. But the costs definitely add up. $85 just to be seen. Anything else would help.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

He is a nice looking dragon! I agree, it is most likely gout developing, poor thing.
If you can, a blood test should confirm it so you can get him started on treatment.
For gout, Allopurinol is highly effective especially if caught early.
Black cherry juice extract or even Tart cherry are excellent for helping break down
gout crystals, naturally. So I would get him started on that as soon as you can. You can
give 1ml, daily of the juice & he should like the taste of it, also.
How many feeders do you give weekly?
Which UVB are you using, is it a compact/coil light?

Tracie

 

[mygirlz]

Hello,

He is a nice looking dragon! I agree, it is most likely gout developing, poor thing.
If you can, a blood test should confirm it so you can get him started on treatment.
For gout, Allopurinol is highly effective especially if caught early.
Black cherry juice extract or even Tart cherry are excellent for helping break down
gout crystals, naturally. So I would get him started on that as soon as you can. You can
give 1ml, daily of the juice & he should like the taste of it, also.
How many feeders do you give weekly?
Which UVB are you using, is it a compact/coil light?

Tracie

He eats like 100 crickets a day, but they are 2week as I have another dragon, Animal, who was diagnosed with MBD and failure to thrive. After a vet visit and husbandry he is doing much better. In any case, Elliot likes sweet potato and prickly pear. I try to vary his diet as much as possible. He's still growing. Approx 7-8 months old. I clean his habitat daily, it is free of feces and I offer fresh warm water. He is placed in his warm water after the morning feeding and usually defecates in it, so I have to change it again... He had loose stool a couple of weeks ago, all is back to normal now. Plenty of urine as well. His uvb light is a coil light. 13w Exo Terra Reptile uvb150 desert terrarium. I've already ordered the tart cherry juice from Amazon, should be here Tuesday. I decided to offer only fruits and veggies in the meantime. I will see about getting him into the vet tomorrow, it's so far away!!! Ugh! I just can't understand why my babies are having such difficulty. I researched all about care before I decided to own one. It's just crazy! And I feel super bad. Anyway, anything else you can give me would be amazing!

Jenny

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

Hey Jenny,
I'm glad you have the tart cherry juice coming!

I'm unsure if this plays a direct impact on his gout situation (I have to imagine it does), but his uvb exposure is much too low. Those compact/coil bulbs are already pretty weak, but that 13w uvb light is not doing much for him. I'd recommend getting a 26w coil right away, or if you have the means/money to upgrade to a reptisun 10.0 t5 and fixture, I'd do that sooner than later.

The coil bulbs at a 26w above screen only put off rays about 6" from the source, meaning he'd need to stay 6" from that light at all time to benefit. With yours being a 13w I'd have to imagine that he'd need to be half that distance, or 3", to get any use from the bulb. Even a reptisun 10.0 t8 mounted above screen is 6-8" for benefits, where a t5 tube brings that to about 12" to benefit, huge difference. It's also worth noting those coil bulbs and t8 bulbs need to be replaced every 6 months as the uvb it puts off diminishes, whereas a t5 bulb is once a year. Food for thought.

It's possible his weak uvb exposure is making it difficult to process his nutrients correctly, resulting in gout.

 

[mygirlz]

Hey Jenny,
I'm glad you have the tart cherry juice coming!

I'm unsure if this plays a direct impact on his gout situation (I have to imagine it does), but his uvb exposure is much too low. Those compact/coil bulbs are already pretty weak, but that 13w uvb light is not doing much for him. I'd recommend getting a 26w coil right away, or if you have the means/money to upgrade to a reptisun 10.0 t5 and fixture, I'd do that sooner than later.

The coil bulbs at a 26w above screen only put off rays about 6" from the source, meaning he'd need to stay 6" from that light at all time to benefit. With yours being a 13w I'd have to imagine that he'd need to be half that distance, or 3", to get any use from the bulb. Even a reptisun 10.0 t8 mounted above screen is 6-8" for benefits, where a t5 tube brings that to about 12" to benefit, huge difference. It's also worth noting those coil bulbs and t8 bulbs need to be replaced every 6 months as the uvb it puts off diminishes, whereas a t5 bulb is once a year. Food for thought.

It's possible his weak uvb exposure is making it difficult to process his nutrients correctly, resulting in gout.

Ok. I actually think I may have misspoken. My other dragon actually has the coil light. Elliot does have the 10.0 Reptisun as it came with the aquarium, which I bought in February. I will add a picture of it so you can see... I will also purchase a stronger ubv bulb asap. If you can give me any more info I'd appreciate it.

Jenny

 

[mygirlz]

Here are some more pics.. I don't mean to be gross but I have posted a pic of his poo so that you can see he is not dehydrated, at least I don't think. Also I posted a picture of his uvb light. And him in his water dish. He let's his swollen foot float. I posted a close up of the swollen foot as well as the other one for comparison. I help him to the tree for his basking area. I also moved his uvb bulb over the top of him in hopes it will help.

Sigh...

 

[Crowley]

I don't know enough about gout to give any advice, but I do recommend taking the water bowl out of there. It raises the humidity (I think you want 20%) and they can possibly drown in it. i think high humidity can cause respirtory issues and my dragon is known to fall asleep in water (I hold his head up) during bathtime. Just a thought, good luck with your beardie

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

At least his appetite hasn't diminished any, that's great to hear.
I hope you get the Black cherry quickly. You can also get some alfalfa meal, which is purine free, to help supplement protein to help out the kidneys.
I agree, improper UVB likely has caused these symptoms.
That is a mini fluorescent which is essential a compact/coil type of light. Definitely upgrade to the Reptisun 10 tube, or you could even consider an upgrade to the T5 high output tube which emits even better UVB.
How is he doing today?

Tracie

 

[kingofnobbys]

Here are some more pics.. I don't mean to be gross but I have posted a pic of his poo so that you can see he is not dehydrated, at least I don't think. Also I posted a picture of his uvb light. And him in his water dish. He let's his swollen foot float. I posted a close up of the swollen foot as well as the other one for comparison. I help him to the tree for his basking area. I also moved his uvb bulb over the top of him in hopes it will help.

Sigh...

Invest in the following :
an ExoTerra NanoHood + 26W UVB200 , mount it near the basking globe UNDER THE SILLY SCREEN MESH viv lid (cable tires will do the trick) - need to be able bask about 8 inches or less from the 26W UVB200 in Nanohood
or
a 24W T5 reflector hood + a 24W 10%-12%uvb tube , mount under the mesh screen lid.

The 13W 5% UVB compact is inadequate for a bearded dragon , even more so mounted in a dome ONTOP of the mesh lid because
>> it only produces 5% UVB and it is very weak in wattage so not very bright in UV or visual, your beardie would virtually have to wear the dome as a hat to get sufficient UVA and UVB from it.
>> it is on top the mesh lid, so
1) it is too far away to be of any benefit (UVA and UVB) to your beardie
2) it is having over 30% of the UVA and UVB blocked by the mesh lid
3) it is mounted vertical so only a narrow beam of light is produced.

This is high priority because
1) inadequate UVA will result in a poor apetite and longer term neurological problems
2) inadequate UVB means he can not metabolise dietary calcium to make serum VitD3 the result longer term is MBD and other issues.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Hey Jenny,
I'm glad you have the tart cherry juice coming!

I'm unsure if this plays a direct impact on his gout situation (I have to imagine it does), but his uvb exposure is much too low. Those compact/coil bulbs are already pretty weak, but that 13w uvb light is not doing much for him. I'd recommend getting a 26w coil right away, or if you have the means/money to upgrade to a reptisun 10.0 t5 and fixture, I'd do that sooner than later.

The coil bulbs at a 26w above screen only put off rays about 6" from the source, meaning he'd need to stay 6" from that light at all time to benefit. With yours being a 13w I'd have to imagine that he'd need to be half that distance, or 3", to get any use from the bulb. Even a reptisun 10.0 t8 mounted above screen is 6-8" for benefits, where a t5 tube brings that to about 12" to benefit, huge difference. It's also worth noting those coil bulbs and t8 bulbs need to be replaced every 6 months as the uvb it puts off diminishes, whereas a t5 bulb is once a year. Food for thought.

It's possible his weak uvb exposure is making it difficult to process his nutrients correctly, resulting in gout.

Ok. I actually think I may have misspoken. My other dragon actually has the coil light. Elliot does have the 10.0 Reptisun as it came with the aquarium, which I bought in February. I will add a picture of it so you can see... I will also purchase a stronger ubv bulb asap. If you can give me any more info I'd appreciate it.

<<< is the reptisun 10.0 a T8 or a T5 tube , and is it in a reflector hood ? and is it mounted ontop or under the mesh lid ?
<<< how long each day are the lights on ?

Jenny