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Anna came back from the vet today. She stayed overnight. I beleive that she is in fact eggbound. She has her back legs paralyzed and are twitching when she tried to move them. She is able to "limp" across the cage, but refuses food and just sits there. She is 491 grams as of now. The vet beleive shes eggbound, but i dont think they know what to do about it. After $300.00 vet bill and bringing her home here is what they did and what im supposed to do to help her:

original vet exam was 50 dollars.
parasite exam was 20 dollars
a "reptile profile" vetscan was 100.00
She got .5 cc Calphosan injection and .2 cc injection Vitamin A and D3 (which was 25 dollars)
The overnight hospitalization was 25 dollars.
They force fed her with a tube and gave her gatorade, and they diagnosed Strongyles.
They gave me Neo-Calglucon Liquid to give her .5 cc's twice a day, along with panacur and all that..more money.

I can pay any bill, but i dont want her to die. Does this sound right? M
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KDRKreatures.com
Exotic Reptile Breeders - Specializing in Bearded Dragons

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I dont know how they expect her to lay her eggs (dig) when she is paralyzed, so im not sure about that either. Anyone? Please help...
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KDRKreatures.com
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That all sounds alright for the Ca deficiency from egg production but I'd hold off on the panacure for now until she lays. Hopefully her legs will start working again and she'll be able to dig. Might want to give her a starter hole (or complete hole and see if she'll use it. There are only 2 things that I know to do for eggbound girls. If she doesn't or can't lay them on her own there is a drug similar to pitocin that will induce labor. Other than that they have to be surgically removed. Both of these are last resort situations. How far overdue is she? I'd give the meds they gave her a chance to kick in but if she's way overdue and doesn't lay in the next couple days or show signs of improvement get her back in. Best of luck to you guys.

Sean
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Heart Mountain Herps

Hi!
My name is Kris I work at a exotic animal hospital. It is easy to check if she is eggbound an exray or ultra sound. My snake was egg bound we took an exray then we used ultrasound and guided an instrument up here sucked the insides of the egg out and then pulled the shell out. So she was fixed that day and has been great since then.
Kris

I am not sure why they did a parasite exam tho...and is the panacure necessary? Did they find worms??

The twitching is obviously MBD due to the production of eggs and her over usage of calcium. She probably wasnt getting quite enough for her to form the eggs, so she began to use the hphosoporous in her blood when she ran out of Ca. Hopefully the vet diagnosed that properly. The neoglucon will help with that, but be sure that she is recieving proper supplements and lighting too.

I took my iguana to the vet because she had stopped eating for a few weeks. An exam fee and 2 xrays concluded that her egg folicles were active. This cost me $200 for that and a clean fecal. I think that with the overnite stay and the meds, you got away with a decent vet bill.

Mixing calcium:no phosporous in with some diluted chicken baby food will help your beardie back to health too. I woudl onlu do this with a syringe after about a week or so of the pedalyte treatment tho. Ask your vet about doing that if she still refuses to eat. Alot of times, with the pain of MBD comes anorexia. Their jaws become rubbery and it hurts them to chow down crickets, so force feeding bits of baby food will help her regain her strength too.

Hopefully, she will be able to pass those eggs without problem. Did you catch it in time that she can recover from the MBD before she lays? Hopefully, or else you may have to contend with that as well. That can be really scary, because they can break their pelvic bones, or worse become septic from being unable to lay. I hope this helps a bit....keep us posted!

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"Brains for dinner, brains for lunch. Brains for breakfast, brains for brunch. Brains for every single meal; why can't we have some GUTS?"-Misfits

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Did they take x-rays? Dystocia is fatal within just a few days in lizards. Why did they not give hormone stimulations? this works best if given early. Ask your vet for an x-ray. If she is gravid then you should ask for an injection (IM) or (ICe)of Oxytocin. The dosage reanges from 5-30 IU/kg. Then a second dose 30-60 minutes later. This is only effective if done within the forst 48 hours of first symptoms.

The only other option is surgical spaying.
http://www.lbah.com/Reptile/iguana_spay.htm
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How old is she?
Can you see and feel the eggs?
Has she depleted her fat pads?
is she eating on her own at all?

If she is egg bound and has no strength left to push the eggs out you may be out of options. Surgery is about the only choice and the prospects are not good. If she still has some energy left, patocin or a derivitive for reptiles may help along with 20 minute soaks in warm water (keep the water warm).

Good luck
(check back with me off list if I can be of more help)
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Bennett

beardiedragon.com
Home of the Florida Orange

These are not fertile eggs - you cannot feel them, and they did not show up much on the x-ray - she is 2 years old, and fat as can be, though she is not eating on her own as of now. Should i go through with the treatment or call the vet and ask her to give her hormone stimulants to make her lay the eggs? I really really need help here. She has the right lighting, but did not get the extra calcium because i did not know she had eggs. Please..thanks....Also - is surgury ever successful? How much does it run? (Im geussing not successful and TONS of money.
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KDRKreatures.com
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reptile spays are very easy, the risk is in putting them to sleep for the surgery. It is a really easy proceedure though, but I still assume it costs a lot!

I would start with the hormmones certainly. They have about a 50% chance of working.

Jen
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Another question - when you say "reptile spay" does that mean the eggs will come out, or she will not be able to breed again? Right now i want her to live, whether or not she can breed again does not matter to me, as long as she lives and is happy living here with me, just to be a family pet, spoiled as before.
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KDRKreatures.com
Exotic Reptile Breeders - Specializing in Bearded Dragons

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Almost 7 years ago I worked at a Veterinary Hospital and a sweet beardie was brought in. After the exam and x-rays it was confirmed she was egg bound (the eggs showed very well on the x-ray) The owners had two choices..wait to see if she would re-absorb the eggs or have her spayed (removal of the ovaries and eggs) The owners didn't want to spend the $179 to have the surgery done and had her scheduled to be put to sleep. I talked them into giving her to me, and I took her home (my Vet was on vacation) 5 days later she was scheduled for surgery. That Monday we did x-rays to see how things looked prior to doing the surgery and she was re-absorbing the eggs, so no surgery was done. She never got egg bound again (and was never breed) and lived to be 7 years 8 months old. I wish you the best with your little girl and pray she will have a long happy life as Zatarain did!

As far as I know there is no option to remove the eggs and leave the ovaries. The only way to surgically remove the eggs is to remove them ovaries and all. If she is indeed gravid, her situation gets more dangerous as the days go by. The eggs will start to rot and become more and more likely to rupture like Christy said.
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I don't want to scare you, just inform, if she doesn't reabsorb or lay soon, there is a possibility that an egg(s) can rupture internally. That can lead to a host of new problems, even death.
Well wishes ....
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www.classylizard.com

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