Please help with a spay decision for 2.5-year-old female bearded dragon

[Think]

Hey everyone,

I could really use some advice on whether to go through with a scheduled spay for my 2.5-year-old female bearded dragon.

Background:​

• She had an infection about four months ago that required two rounds of injectable antibiotics. Her bloodwork showed liver issues at the time, and her liver was enlarged, but everything returned to normal after treatment.
• We never figured out what caused the infection.
• She has had follicles for the past 2.5 months but hasn’t laid any eggs.
• Our other female has laid two clutches in the same period, but this one isn’t showing any digging or nesting behaviors.
• Multiple ultrasounds confirm the follicles are still present.
• The vet is recommending a spay, but I’m hesitant because bearded dragons don’t always handle anesthesia well.

Current Status:​

• The most recent ultrasound showed a small "adhesion" that the vet thinks could be early calcification or some other type of hardening.
• She still twitches sometimes when her lower belly is touched, though it’s much less frequent than before.
• Aside from that, she’s alert, eating well, and acting normal.

The Dilemma:​

• A second opinion would take about three weeks, and I don’t want to wait too long if there’s a real risk of her becoming egg-bound.
• On the other hand, I don’t want to rush into surgery if it isn’t necessary yet.

Has anyone dealt with a similar situation? Would you go ahead with the spay or hold off for another opinion? Also, if anyone has experience with how well beardies recover from this type of surgery, I’d love to hear about it.


Appreciate any advice you can share!

 

[Sadie]

Hey everyone,

I could really use some advice on whether to go through with a scheduled spay for my 2.5-year-old female bearded dragon.

Background:​

• She had an infection about four months ago that required two rounds of injectable antibiotics. Her bloodwork showed liver issues at the time, and her liver was enlarged, but everything returned to normal after treatment.
• We never figured out what caused the infection.
• She has had follicles for the past 2.5 months but hasn’t laid any eggs.
• Our other female has laid two clutches in the same period, but this one isn’t showing any digging or nesting behaviors.
• Multiple ultrasounds confirm the follicles are still present.
• The vet is recommending a spay, but I’m hesitant because bearded dragons don’t always handle anesthesia well.

Current Status:​

• The most recent ultrasound showed a small "adhesion" that the vet thinks could be early calcification or some other type of hardening.
• She still twitches sometimes when her lower belly is touched, though it’s much less frequent than before.
• Aside from that, she’s alert, eating well, and acting normal.

The Dilemma:​

• A second opinion would take about three weeks, and I don’t want to wait too long if there’s a real risk of her becoming egg-bound.
• On the other hand, I don’t want to rush into surgery if it isn’t necessary yet.

Has anyone dealt with a similar situation? Would you go ahead with the spay or hold off for another opinion? Also, if anyone has experience with how well beardies recover from this type of surgery, I’d love to hear about it.


Appreciate any advice you can share!

Let's have Tracie our vet tech help you I will flag her - she's usually on late at night

 

[Sadie]

Let's have Tracie our vet tech help you I will flag her - she's usually on late at night

I have flagged Tracie again

 

[Think]

I have flagged Tracie again

Thank you, I really appreciate your help

 

[Think]

Well the surgery is a little over a day away. For now we have scheduled another ultrasound immediately prior to the spay to determine if the possible calcification has changed. If it appears smaller or is gone, we will postpone the surgery and opt for a second opinion while monitoring her for lethargy, loss of appetite, discomfort, etc. Still trying to figure out what we will decide if it appears unchanged, there's risks with either decision.

I will continue to update this thread as we navigate this to its conclusion as it may help somebody facing a similar issue down the road.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Have you decided to go ahead & have her?
How is she doing? There are always risks with having a surgery done when it comes to reptiles.
If she continues to have issues with infection or with laying eggs in general, spaying would most
likely be the best option to avoid major complications in the future.
Is she still pretty active right now, or has her beard been dark in color?
Since her liver was enlarged, have you been treating the liver condition with Milk Thistle so far?

Let us know how she is doing.

Tracie

 

[Think]

Thanks for the reply Sadie. The procedure is scheduled for first thing tomorrow morning. To answer your questions:

• She is acting like there is nothing wrong, happy, active, good appetite, alert, no dark beard at all.
• Since the original diagnosis of an enlarged liver we have been supplementing her with a milk thistle supplement daily. Her last ultrasound and blood test reflects no abnormalities or liver issues so that seems to have resolved. It may have been due to overfeeding and too many treats/berries, which we immediately curtailed.

Thanks again

 

[Sadie]

Thanks for the reply Sadie. The procedure is scheduled for first thing tomorrow morning. To answer your questions:

• She is acting like there is nothing wrong, happy, active, good appetite, alert, no dark beard at all.
• Since the original diagnosis of an enlarged liver we have been supplementing her with a milk thistle supplement daily. Her last ultrasound and blood test reflects no abnormalities or liver issues so that seems to have resolved. It may have been due to overfeeding and too many treats/berries, which we immediately curtailed.

Thanks again

If you have anymore questions Tracie is here to help w/ this --

 

[Think]

UPDATE:

So she went in for the ultrasound and there was no detected calcifications, but due to the amount of time that has passed since she started producing follicles (2.5 months - we have another dragon that has laid two clutches in that same period of time), we went through with the spay.

She came through it just fine. We were told that her ovaries were falling apart during removal, and that it was really good that we went through with it instead of waiting. That was 4 days ago now. So far she is happy and active, acting like she doesn't have a 2 inch slice in her belly stitched together. It's been difficult keeping her from being too active. We have been given CEFT (injectable antibiotic) and an injectable painkiller/anti-inflammatory to administer while she recovers. So far so good.

I intend on providing at least one more update after she has gotten the stitches out (assuming she avoids infection and complication. Replies come to my email, so if anyone in the future wants to ask any questions feel free to reply. Thanks, and I hope this helps somebody else facing this decision!

 

[Sadie]

UPDATE:

So she went in for the ultrasound and there was no detected calcifications, but due to the amount of time that has passed since she started producing follicles (2.5 months - we have another dragon that has laid two clutches in that same period of time), we went through with the spay.

She came through it just fine. We were told that her ovaries were falling apart during removal, and that it was really good that we went through with it instead of waiting. That was 4 days ago now. So far she is happy and active, acting like she doesn't have a 2 inch slice in her belly stitched together. It's been difficult keeping her from being too active. We have been given CEFT (injectable antibiotic) and an injectable painkiller/anti-inflammatory to administer while she recovers. So far so good.

I intend on providing at least one more update after she has gotten the stitches out (assuming she avoids infection and complication. Replies come to my email, so if anyone in the future wants to ask any questions feel free to reply. Thanks, and I hope this helps somebody else facing this decision!

Glad to hear she came thru w/ flying colors- please keep us posted on her progress

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I am happy to hear that your girl came through the surgery very well. Have you gotten the stitches
out? The Ceftz/Fortaz antibiotic is a commonly used one for infection so that should be clearing up
anything in her system.

Tracie