Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have a bearded dragon that has what looks like an inside out vent i think that perhaps she ate too much and pushed too hard what can i do to get her back to normal without the help of the vet? any suggestions would it hurt her to soak her in salt water?

if you can post a pic of it on here so we can see what it is better.

its sounds similar to what happened to a female i had when she laid eggs. i believe it was her ovaduct came outside of her body. it was repaired easily by a vet putting it back in, and 2 stitches. she was fine, and later laid more eggs with no problems.

anyways, soak her in warm PLAIN water, no salt water. salt water dries out wounds and can hurt her more than anything. just think what happeneds to use when we put salt on a cut or wound. OUCH!!!

if soaking her does not work get her to a vet ASAP. this can lead to serious problems and infections. dont wait long.
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Beach Beardies

2.4. bearded dragons
1.0. Turquoise x Sunburst Veiled Chameleon
1.1. Sugar Gliders
0.2. Felines *queen athena and missy*

It's called a prolapse and is an emergency. If it's a boy a prolapsed hemipenis is about a 3/4" long by 1/4" wide bright red to dark red mass. If this becomes inflamed or swollen then even when the vet puts it back in it will just pop out again requiring amputation.

Take out all the cage furniture in the meantime and have him only on paper towels to reduce the risk of irritation. If he/she was mine I'd be at the vet when they opened without an appt.

To answer your question, your dragon has a prolapse. Salt water will not help at all, in fact it will cause more problems, not to mention being very uncomfortable for your dragon. BDLvr advise about putting your dragon into a barebones cage is very good advise. You can soak your dragon in luke warm (around 70-75F) sugar water (not salt, but sugar) may help reduce swelling and allow the prolapse to correct itself. It it doesn't after soaking for about 20 minutes and then removing the dragon, and giving about 12 hours, take him to a vet.

If the prolapse doesn't go in, it will mean the tissue will dry out, become infected and eventually, kill your dragon. Even if the prolapse does go back in on its own, it may come again.

If you feel your dragon is straining to poop, or keeps prolapsing after each bowel movement, this indicates other problems that need to be treated by a vet. Internal parasites, dehydration (about the only thing that doesn't require a vet to fix, just rehydrate your dragon by misting, soaking, offering high water content foods (pureed carrots, squash, sweet potatoes are great ways to do this, or just misting his greens). Some vitamin/mineral deficiences may cause prolapses as well. Oh and impaction/blockage of the bowel or intestines can lead to it as well. As finding the cause of prolapse is just as important as fixing it, taking your dragon to a qualified vet is important.

Infection can still happen even if the prolapse goes back in on its own. Any bit of debris brought into the body can cause irritation and infection, which can in the head seriously threaten the health of your dragon. A vet will flush out the extruding prolapse and reinsert into the body, may even proscribe some anti-biotics as a preventative to infection.
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PHLdyPayne

Oh and hemorrhage means heavy bleeding...and if that is what you mean, that your dragon is bleeding from the vent, then take him to a vet NOW. Bleeding, expecially heavy bleeding, means something is seriously wrong. A little bit of bloody discharge with bowel movements, needs to be checked as well, as this means internal parasites or other injury (impaction, injury caused by large object, or blockage by substrate etc). Again, a vet is needed for proper treatment. In fact, the only thing that doesn't require a vet visit is improper husbandry, as this is something anybody can fix.
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PHLdyPayne

i would suggest a vet asap ..
its better to be safe then sorry ,