Little Dragon with bum trouble

[HereFishyFishy]

HI all,

I'm sorry for signing up quickly and not introducing my self etc but I need some advice,

My beardie took a poop today (same as normal, one before crickets and one after dinner time salad) and after the poop his anus seemed to have pushed out a little of his bum lining, after a frantic run around his viv it went back in just fine, had has not come out since (this is about an hour ago).

I gave him a bath in sugar water, put some paste on his bum ( no anal protrusion but did it anyway) and he now seems same as usual.

I did notice 5 days ago a little blood in his poop, i did some research and it said to wait 72 hours and see if it goes? it did, normal successful pops with no blood for a few days, then this today. I;ve looked online at the pro lapses, it doesn't look like them, it was as if he pushed too hard and pushed his bum out. ( like the poop had dragged the sides out with it a bit).

It was a little bloody but its all looking ok now,

my question is what do I do now? it's gone so do I still vet him? there isnt a reptile vet here just one "with an interest". do I give daily baths and cut down on food for a few days and see if it settle down or fixes?

Thanks

 

[PatsyB]

You did the right thing with the sugar bath. Sugar shrinks the membrane and helps it go back in. Not sure what "paste" you put on but just some vaseline, triple antibiotic ointment (w/out menthol) or ky jelly would do the trick.

What size bugs are you feeding your beardie and what kind of substrate do you use? Bugs should be no bigger than the width of their eyes. If he is on sand it's possible that he ingested too much of it. You are going to need to make sure he is well hydrated. Drip water on his nose to coax him to drink water. Pushing his bum out is exactly what a prolapse is. You may be lucky and this will be the only time it happens or it may be an on going issue. You should try to find a vet just to do an exam and rule out any issues such as parasites. If this keeps happening the vet may have to do some stitches.

 

[HereFishyFishy]

Thanks patsy,

Been waiting with baited breath on a reply.

Yes I'm really hoping it doesn't happen again, fluffy seems fine (fast asleep as it's 1am here) and isn't traumatised by it.

I feed her crickets, they are at most the size of between her eyes, the odd one might be slightly bigger but the boxes come with an odd one sometimes (I do feed the crickets for good guy loading).

He's only about 6 months old at most, he's really inquisitive and it scared me today.

The substrate is actually stone carpet flipped upside down, the stone side stained easy so I flipped it to the soft side, I have some viv carpet to put in which I will do tomorrow or Saturday, never had sand and I ditched the wood chips about a month ago.

I'll drip water onto him from tomorrow, give him a few baths and cut his food to see if that helps, he has crickets for breakfast and a kale,carrot and cress dinner.

His viv hits 40c (sorry don't know that in F) and he loves to sit on top of his wooden walkway all day (he really isn't much for doing anything other than eat.)

He was actually my girlfriends but since she started work I've kind of taken the burden of keeping him (which isn't a burden, he sits with me on my days off from my shift work and loves a good chin tickle, I've ended up with a friend ). I dust his salad with calcium also.

I'll keep an eye on him.

 

[HereFishyFishy]

Why did I keep putting "her"? Fluff is a boy!

 

[PatsyB]

Try to bump the temp up to 43c, that's a good temp to help him digest his food a little better. You can either get a warmer bulb or somehow get his basking spot a little closer to the light. What kind of light are you using for UVB?

Like I said before keep him hydrated and that should help things. Also, try feeling him a different bug something more soft like some kind of worm. Not sure what you have available where you are but things like hornworms, silkworms, phoenix worms and earthworms are good.

 

[HereFishyFishy]

He's got a 60w heat bulb in there and a long strip uvb that came with the viv (all new). The temp here is odd currently (UK), have to keep swapping between 25w 50w and 60w to keep the temp at an ok range, it's raining one day and a heatwave next, it's really cold today and the viv is 38c on the 60w.

Dropped some water on his nose, not sure how much I should give him? How do you get bear dies to drink regularly?

Yes they do works at my pet shop, not sure which ones. I'll try talk my girlfriend into feeding him worms, she's paranoid they will kill him? I'll get some on the next trip.

Thank you for your help. He seems fine today, he pooped while I was asleep and there wasn't anything bloody

 

[PatsyB]

Mine usually stop drinking when they've had enough. While they are in the tub, mine will usually either put their head down and drink on their own or they will lick the water that I drip onto the tip of their nose. My oldest one will lick her lips in her tank to signal me that she's thirsty!

As far as the worms go, there is an old wives tale that worms will eat your beardie from the inside out. That is false. Bearded dragons have teeth and very strong jaws. Also, if you've ever looked in their mouth there is a upside down V shaped cartilidge at the back of their throat. When they eat worms between those 3 things the worms are pretty crushed by the time they are swallowed. If they are by change still breathing, the stomach acids will kill them before they can harm the dragon.

 

[HereFishyFishy]

Cool I'll make sure he gets a good drink at bath time then if not then I'll drop it on his nose, he'll soon get used to it I'm sure.

Thanks for the info on worms, I'll have to let my partner muse on it

 

[HereFishyFishy]

Hi, just to let you know that fluff is fine.

Just got back from the vet, fluff got wormed and checked out, vet gave me some liquid parafin to put on his food or in his mouth(or bum!) to help the food pass easier.

Vet said not to worry unless is doesn't go back in, in that case he will stitch it.

Thanks again

 

[HereFishyFishy]

 

[PatsyB]

Awe, look at that face! He's like why are you going around talking about my butt to strangers?! Glad that he's better.

 

[jarich]

Hmmmm...sounds like you have an older vet. Liquid paraffin is really not a very good treatment unfortunately. Its a highly refined mineral oil that just coats the bolus. The problem is that it also stops the absorption of any fat soluble vitamins or the fats themselves as a result. Its sort of a last ditch effort without addressing the issue. You dont want to get to the point of stitches as that has its own issues too.

I'd say go with Patsy's suggestions and for now stick to a more soft bodied insect, as well as increasing the salad proportion of the diet. If you little one is eating the salad well, then make that part of the diet bigger and give a bit less of the high protein insects.

If you are having trouble getting him to drink, then spray his face with a mister bottle when he is in the bath. That will usually get them started as they lick the water off their face.

Also, just dust the insects and dont worry about dusting the salad right now. It should have its own nutrients that dont need fixing really if you give a good variety.

 

[Andyurgay]

I kind of worry that he was on wood chips at some point. We had a woman bring in her sons dragon when I worked at a pet store. Said her dragon was pooping bloody sometimes with similar symptoms to yours. While trouble shooting, we found her son kept the dragon on wood chips and since we weren't a vet, we sent her to my exotics vet. They did an xray and found he had swallowed a small wood chip. It was allowing him to poop but as he still had something wedged in there, he continued to push and that caused bleeding and a small prolapse.
I would ask your vet for a quick xray just to check for a blockage.