Tumour/Swollen Left Throat Gland

[orangebud]

Hello, I've been to the exotic Vet with this big guy a number of times and another vet before that. He has been losing weight on the base of his tail for years and has had a couple of antiparasite treatments for Protozoa as the vet found high concentrations in the poop.

About 6 months ago he started getting a swollen beard that slowly grows. We treated with ~24 injections 3 months ago. Antiinflamatory/antibiotic + antiparasite for 14 days daily.

This reduced the right side Gland to normal size.

However the left side gland continues to grow and mostly blocking his throat. He is strong and can eat himself and harrass the ladies, but becoming weaker as time passes, as anyone would. The Right Gland is huge now and has become sensitive. The vet can only proceed with invasive exploration which i have been hesitant to consider being he's been my best friend for so long However, he has discomfort so i'd very much like to know if this can be shrunk.

He is 13.5years old now. My oldest was 14yrs (died 2019) so i am new to caring for aging dragons.

The reason I am here is to show some photos of the condition and ask whether you've experienced this or a similar ailment before.

Be amazing to give him his throat back. I'd love to treat it with natural remedies, however not willing to experiment on him and cause unnecessary pain.

Let me know what you think.
---

^his mouth is open from my hand pressing on the gland. It is huge.

I haven't any photos inside but will attempt to get some as he sits with it open at times if it would be useful.

 

[KarrieRee]

View attachment 74681
Hello, I've been to the exotic Vet with this big guy a number of times and another vet before that. He has been losing weight on the base of his tail for years and has had a couple of antiparasite treatments for Protozoa as the vet found high concentrations in the poop.

About 6 months ago he started getting a swollen beard that slowly grows. We treated with ~24 injections 3 months ago. Antiinflamatory/antibiotic + antiparasite for 14 days daily.

This reduced the right side Gland to normal size.

However the left side gland continues to grow and mostly blocking his throat. He is strong and can eat himself and harrass the ladies, but becoming weaker as time passes, as anyone would. The Right Gland is huge now and has become sensitive. The vet can only proceed with invasive exploration which i have been hesitant to consider being he's been my best friend for so long However, he has discomfort so i'd very much like to know if this can be shrunk.

He is 13.5years old now. My oldest was 14yrs (died 2019) so i am new to caring for aging dragons.

The reason I am here is to show some photos of the condition and ask whether you've experienced this or a similar ailment before.

Be amazing to give him his throat back. I'd love to treat it with natural remedies, however not willing to experiment on him and cause unnecessary pain.

Let me know what you think.
---

View attachment 74684
View attachment 74682
^his mouth is open from my hand pressing on the gland. It is huge.

I haven't any photos inside but will attempt to get some as he sits with it open at times if it would be useful.

We need Tracie our vet tech to address this
@Drache613

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Congratulations on having a 13.5 years old dragon, he looks very good. His colors are bright,
too. The beard swelling, does it go up & down right now? What did the last vet say it was,
inflamed tissue, or a tumor?
Does it seem to bother him at all?

Tracie

 

[orangebud]

The vet said it is a gland tumour. it is very swollen blocking his throat. will attempt to get a photo tomorrow. A huge balloon at the back of the throat when he opens his mouth, at first i thought it was his lungs or heart, but the vet clarified quickly when we went in.

It is definitely wearing him down, sleeping more, and is so big it effects how he grabs bugs with his tongue. however like i mentioned above, when there is stimulation, bug, light, other dragon he's active as normal.

Perhaps it's cancerous, im not sure. everything he suggested was invasive so i said i'd rather not unless essential.

It is just permanently swollen, slowly growing it seems

 

[KarrieRee]

The vet said it is a gland tumour. it is very swollen blocking his throat. will attempt to get a photo tomorrow. A huge balloon at the back of the throat when he opens his mouth, at first i thought it was his lungs or heart, but the vet clarified quickly when we went in.

It is definitely wearing him down, sleeping more, and is so big it effects how he grabs bugs with his tongue. however like i mentioned above, when there is stimulation, bug, light, other dragon he's active as normal.

Perhaps it's cancerous, im not sure. everything he suggested was invasive so i said i'd rather not unless essential.

It is just permanently swollen, slowly growing it seems

How awful! I feel for you and him- are they suggesting surgery?

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

How is he doing today?
Poor guy, I am sure it is definitely bothering him. I think if he can sustain a surgery that looks to
be the only way to get it taken care of. If it is cancerous, hopefully it hasn't spread any.
You could consider CBD oil possibly, it is very good for fighting cancer & other health problems.
It is safe for reptile use as well.
Let us know what you decide for him!

Tracie

 

[orangebud]

Hi Tracie, Been monitoring him to make a better decision after your comments. The issue to me is him losing weight on the tail for so long and consistently thinner. It is almost certainly the protozoa, flagelados. But why does the antiparasitic treatment not control it.

Going for a poop test this week hopefully. he poops VERY irregularly at the moment or it would already be done. So few and far between it is usually on a friday when the vet is closed for 2 days.

His appetite is what i would call good, but he has a the ball in his throat making eating a chore.

Here are a couple of images i managed to snap:

The conclusion i arrived at from observing him so long is... that the tumour more an inconvenient blockage to his day to day. Like you can see it is behind the mouth in the throat.

It prevents him grabbing bugs effectively being so big. however it has not grown the past 3 weeks. Only the tail slowly loses fat.

So, based on what you said, he should have it operated on and removed if it is straight forward.

HOWEVER, why can we not stop the fat loss around the tail base is my long concern..

The vets dont speak english well and for health and law things i like to be sure everything is known and understood. Plus the vets dont have a ton of experience with older reptiles.

Just dont want to make him worse or create other problems for him. Literally doesn't look old at all apart from the tail fat loss.

But because the tail has been getting skinnier for years i always wonder if there is an underlying problem that is not parasites..

If the vets were more experienced down here (south spain) id simply trust and go with their advice. But it's more that i have to tell them what to do, they only offer up some possibilities.

See what you think from the pics, maybe you've seen something like that in the past.

Thanks very much for your time Tracie

John


P.S. thanks for the CBD oil tip, I was not aware they responded to it. I have given him medical THC oil in the past (which includes CBD) in small dosage as a test as in this area a lot of people treat major illnesses with it. I read that Reptiles do not have the receptors for THC a while ago so gave up on that pretty quickly.

Raw Apple Cider Vinegar is great for Alkalising our bodies, is it good at all for the dragons to help give them some internal equilibrium?

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Thanks for getting back with us! It is hard when they get older because just like people, they
tend not to absorb vitamins/minerals in the same manner.
Can you review the type/brand of supplementation you use for him, like calcium, vitamins, etc?
What type of UVB lighting are you using? I totally understand with you being located in Southern
Spain, that it's probably difficult to find supplies.
We have seen a few dragons over the years, here on the boards, with same or simiiar type of issues.
A year or so ago, there was a dragon with a lump or cyst, etc in the throat area. I am wondering
if it is a benign tumor or an abscess of some sort?
The CBD works a bit differently than THC does. They don't have receptors but they do seem to
respond well to it. The CBD is helpful for overall health & for cancer.
Do you happen to know the name of the parasite & protozoan medication (s) you have used for
him?
If you use the raw apple cider vinegar, I would dilute it some so it isn't too strong for him. It should
be safe for use for him. Maybe mix it with water or juice, a few times per week.

Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie

 

[Jessss]

Hi! Unfortunately I can’t help much with the actual problem but can offer some advice with foods that may help!
My boy Bruce had stomach cancer (was too far gone to operate) he couldn’t eat solids and was loosing weight so I would give him slurries with a syringe which he would eat and it helped get the right nutrients in him and helped him hold some weight on.
My other girl has very bad MBD which has made eating and swallowing food difficult for her so can’t eat any insects besides wax worms and meal worms.She lost a lot of weight after laying 2 clutches back to back so I wanted to fatten her up a bit.
My two best products are Repashy beardie buffet and Arcadia omnigold.Both come powdered and are mixed with boiled water,my girl prefers the beardie buffet a lot over the omnigold and is fed beardie buffet 2-3 times a week.The omnigold turns into a paste sort of consistency and the beardie buffet is more of a jelly kind of consistency.Both could be watered down to make a slurry/smoothie texture which I find helps with swallowing.Personally I’ve had good results from both products but the beardie buffet is the fave it’s helped my girl put a lot of weight back on.
Hope this helps! Also if you do offer it watered down offer it very slowly so he doesn’t aspirate it and with the jelly/paste consistency don’t allow him to eat it too quick as it can gather at the back of his throat where the tumour is.I really hope he’s feeling better soon,reminds me so much of my first boy Bruce Not sure if you’ll be able to get these products where you’re located but if not there’s some great slurries you can make at home for him.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Let us know how everything is going with your dragon. I hope that he will start to improve
for you & feel better. Have you started the apple cider for him or decided to try it yet?

Tracie