Took my beardie to a specialist; left with more questions

[AHBD]

O.K., she's just trying to stress you out on purpose now. It's a skill that beardies carefully hone to drive us crazy ! :lol:
Just kidding of course, glad to hear that she's doing well. I can imagine how relieved you are .

 

[lizdragon]

O.K., she's just trying to stress you out on purpose now. It's a skill that beardies carefully hone to drive us crazy ! :lol:
Just kidding of course, glad to hear that she's doing well. I can imagine how relieved you are .

She is certainly great at stressing me out! :lol:

Let me tell you, bearded dragons are SO MUCH MORE work than the people at the pet store made it seem when my family bought her (I was with them). I'm so happy she lives with me now, but man, I worry about her all the time.

 

[AHBD]

You're doing fine ! You can update here anytime you're worried or even if you just want to post a new pic of the troublemaker, I mean the pretty girl. They do get to be pretty special pets.

 

[WinFam01]

No need to apologize for an update, we (I) like reading them.

Glad she seem to be coming around, hope she (and you) get a break for a while!

 

[lizdragon]

Hey everyone. I'm sorry to resurrect this old thread about my bearded dragon Liz. Liz was doing well and started showing signs of laying eggs recently. She had decreased appetite and was moving around her tank a lot like she was trying to dig and making tiny poops daily (she always does this before she lays). Well two days ago I noticed her beard had gotten black. It went slightly back to normal but it still is black on the bottom. And then yesterday and today she has not wanted to dig at all and she didn't do her tiny poops like she normally does when she wants to lay. Her appetite is decreased from normal but she is still eating a little. I'm very, very worried about her and scheduled a vet appointment for her tomorrow morning. I'm hoping that the vet can help me but I wanted to know if anyone has any reassurance that things could be okay. I'm hoping that she will still be able to lay despite all this.

 

[AHBD]

The vet can confirm by Xray if there are eggs present, hopefully this is something else. What has Liz been eating normally and what is she eating now ? Can you post a body shot to show her condition ?

 

[lizdragon]

Thank you for responding. Yes, I'm hoping that I'm wrong and that this is something else! I can't take a picture right now but I can post one a little later once she gets back. Her beard seems to have gotten better. It looks a little grey but I'm not sure I would be able to tell if anything was off otherwise. She's also not digging today, but she looks awake and normal to me. As for eating, even though her appetite had decreased initially it seems almost back to normal now. Yesterday she had some bites of her greens and three superworms dusted with calcium.

 

[AHBD]

O.K, that doesn't sound too troubling right now. Hopefully all is well, be sure to post pics of her , her tank and her laybox.

 

[lizdragon]

Thank you! She just finished at her vet appointment. The vet wasn't extremely concerned and didn't think it was extremely urgent. He said her stomach looked bigger but not extremely so, and that her beard didn't really appear to be very black. He did an x-ray which showed what he believes are eggs but he's sending them to radiologist so we can be sure. He's giving her injections of oxytocin, calcium and a few other things.

I can send pics in a little bit! Right now she actually has two lay boxes. A larger one and a smaller one that that can fit in her tank so it can go under her heat lamp. The small one is new (we've always used the larger one in the past) which we threw together yesterday because we were so desperate. I'm not sure which one is better. Actually, for most of the clutches she's laid they were in her tank even though I would put her in her lay box for a good portion of the day. I'm not sure why things are different this time and why she seems to be struggling.

 

[lizdragon]

Here are pics of her and her lay box:

How quickly does the oxytocin usually work? It's been over two hours since her appointment and she is not laying.

 

[AHBD]

O.K, she's looking bored there huh ? :lol: Anyway, for a laybox they are usually more likely to dig if you put an upside down shoebox with one side cut out. Push it down on top of the sand to act as a cave that's already started.

Oxytocin is usually only used if the eggs are full shelled and already down in the oviduct, ready to be laid.

 

[lizdragon]

O.K, she's looking bored there huh ? :lol: Anyway, for a laybox they are usually more likely to dig if you put an upside down shoebox with one side cut out. Push it down on top of the sand to act as a cave that's already started.

Oxytocin is usually only used if the eggs are full shelled and already down in the oviduct, ready to be laid.

Yep, she's just very bored. Oh, I didn't know that about the shoebox. I've always had it like this, but I can try to find one!

As for the oxytocin, he did give it to her. I asked him if it could be harmful to her in case she doesn't have eggs and he said no. I'm really hoping he's right. It's been about three hours since he gave it to her and she isn't laying. He said it could take 5-10 days but I expected it to be sooner.