ladymonarchy
Bearded Dragon Egg
- Messages
- 2
Sorry if this is a bit long, but there's something wrong with my Dragon and we've been to the vet twice now and are stumped, so I'm going to try and include as much possible relevant information as I can to see if anyone has any ideas.
I've had my bearded dragon Bonsai now for 7 years, I raised him from a baby after I'd purchased him from a local pet store. My husband and I did tons of research to make sure we did everything right, from food, to habitat, lighting, handling...Etc.
Things have been great up until recently, when his wrists started to swell up and he began to develop hard callus type lumps on them which I think is from him walking on his wrists from the swelling? Nothing has changed much in the 7 years we've had him. His house is the same, his food has changed a bit (I'll explain more below), same lights (other than getting new lights when needed).
I don't think the food is the issue, but I'll include his eating habits just in case: Bonsai is a very picky eater, he always had been. I've currently got him on a freeze dried salad mix because he would rarely touch his fresh salads I would make him and they'd just go to waste. It's formulated for bearded dragons, and includes a mix of veggies and freeze dried super worms and silkworm larvae. He also occasionally gets horned worms as a treat cause he loves them. He gets regular calcium in powder form which I sprinkle on his food.
As for his habitat, I'm not sure the exact dimensions off hand, but he's in a large tank for reptiles that opens in the front. He has a metal mesh top with a 150 watt basking lamp and a uv lamp that was just replaced in the spring. I can't give you his current basking/cool temperatures because his thermometer recently bit the dust and I haven't replaced it yet, but his tank has been the same for 7 years, so I haven't been in a panic to replace it. His substrate is vinyl flooring, and he has a large piece of driftwood to climb up to his basking spot and it also doubles as a bit of a cave underneath. He also has a pool which he frequents regularly. It's cleaned daily and if he poops in it which he does from time to time. His tank is kept mostly clean, any poops/pees are cleaned up daily and it gets a good wipe out when needed. He is a messy eater though and his food is typically scattered all over the place which I try to keep on top of.
He's very lazy, he doesn't move around his tank much, he's always been this way, so he doesn't get a ton of exercise. We take him out once a day for cuddles and sometimes he gets to run around the house, but since his wrists have been bugging him he's not even really doing much of that anymore. His mood and appetite however have been normal and when I touch his wrists he doesn't seem to be in any pain, but it's hard to tell for sure.
We've taken him to the vet twice now, the vet doesn't seem to think it's gout because of the location of the swelling which was my first concern, and she also has ruled out MBD, although she did give us liquid calcium just to see if it made any difference which it has not.
We went on vacation a couple of weeks ago and left my sister to care for him with precise instructions. After we got back
his wrists were looking much worse, they were cracking and discolored so I took him back to the vet. He was prescribed an antibiotic and anti inflammatory which we currently have him on. I know this might help but it isn't going to fix the underlying problem. I've looked up everything I can on Dragon diseases and have found nothing. I'll attach some pictures. Has anyone seen anything like this? Or does anyone have any idea what it could be from?
I've had my bearded dragon Bonsai now for 7 years, I raised him from a baby after I'd purchased him from a local pet store. My husband and I did tons of research to make sure we did everything right, from food, to habitat, lighting, handling...Etc.
Things have been great up until recently, when his wrists started to swell up and he began to develop hard callus type lumps on them which I think is from him walking on his wrists from the swelling? Nothing has changed much in the 7 years we've had him. His house is the same, his food has changed a bit (I'll explain more below), same lights (other than getting new lights when needed).
I don't think the food is the issue, but I'll include his eating habits just in case: Bonsai is a very picky eater, he always had been. I've currently got him on a freeze dried salad mix because he would rarely touch his fresh salads I would make him and they'd just go to waste. It's formulated for bearded dragons, and includes a mix of veggies and freeze dried super worms and silkworm larvae. He also occasionally gets horned worms as a treat cause he loves them. He gets regular calcium in powder form which I sprinkle on his food.
As for his habitat, I'm not sure the exact dimensions off hand, but he's in a large tank for reptiles that opens in the front. He has a metal mesh top with a 150 watt basking lamp and a uv lamp that was just replaced in the spring. I can't give you his current basking/cool temperatures because his thermometer recently bit the dust and I haven't replaced it yet, but his tank has been the same for 7 years, so I haven't been in a panic to replace it. His substrate is vinyl flooring, and he has a large piece of driftwood to climb up to his basking spot and it also doubles as a bit of a cave underneath. He also has a pool which he frequents regularly. It's cleaned daily and if he poops in it which he does from time to time. His tank is kept mostly clean, any poops/pees are cleaned up daily and it gets a good wipe out when needed. He is a messy eater though and his food is typically scattered all over the place which I try to keep on top of.
He's very lazy, he doesn't move around his tank much, he's always been this way, so he doesn't get a ton of exercise. We take him out once a day for cuddles and sometimes he gets to run around the house, but since his wrists have been bugging him he's not even really doing much of that anymore. His mood and appetite however have been normal and when I touch his wrists he doesn't seem to be in any pain, but it's hard to tell for sure.
We've taken him to the vet twice now, the vet doesn't seem to think it's gout because of the location of the swelling which was my first concern, and she also has ruled out MBD, although she did give us liquid calcium just to see if it made any difference which it has not.
We went on vacation a couple of weeks ago and left my sister to care for him with precise instructions. After we got back
his wrists were looking much worse, they were cracking and discolored so I took him back to the vet. He was prescribed an antibiotic and anti inflammatory which we currently have him on. I know this might help but it isn't going to fix the underlying problem. I've looked up everything I can on Dragon diseases and have found nothing. I'll attach some pictures. Has anyone seen anything like this? Or does anyone have any idea what it could be from?
