Reptile & Amphibian Forums

A bit of background, first:
This water dragon came to my teaching clinic (I'm a vet tech student) in 2004 in wretched condition. He had a MBD that lead to fractures of both his forelimbs (and since the kid didn't bring him to the vet right away, they healed in a very crooked position), dysecdysis, missing a claw, dehydrated... The works.

(March 31, 2004)

A year later, I adopted him, as he was doing much better, but the college's clinic was having a hard time giving him a proper environment... Most of the rooms he was kept in were too cold, and the humidity was grossly insufficient. He'd also developed an infection in his mouth, which I believe is a periodontal disease. About a week after I brought him home and had him in his new enclosure, the gunk in his mouth cleared up, but some discolouration discolouration remained.

(November 5, 2005)

And a shot of his gingiva:

So about two weeks ago, Puff ("the Magic Dragon," since his recovery was pretty phenomenal for a CWD) lost some of his appetite, and seemed reluctant to go after prey items (which are handfed because of his slightly limited mobility). I became worried that his mouth may have been bothering him, that it was either uncomfortable or painful. He dropped from 145g to 136g in these two weeks, so I brought him into the clinic and discussed meloxicam for pain management with the vet to see if pain was actually the problem, and took a deep culture of his gingival discolourations to see what's growing there.

Just for fun, we took an x-ray:

Lo and behold, Puff is female! I see at least 8 eggs on the radiograph (sorry it's a photo of the x-ray, the contrast is better on the actual film). They look half-decently calcified to me, and her bone density is pretty good, too (but doesn't show too well on this photo). The eggs are easily palpable, as well, so I'm quite sure that they've ovulated and aren't just follicles. I've given her a laying box of moist sandy soil, about 2.5" deep.

We're going to hold off on the antibiotics until she's laid, and I'm giving her another week and a half to two weeks to see if she'll lay the eggs naturally, unless her condition suddenly declines. The vet wants to try oxytocin after that- surgery is the absolute last resort.

Any input on what else should be done? I've also posted this on the Herp Health forum.

Christina Miller
www.herptiles.net

Refusal to eat for sometimes 6-8 weeks is one of the signs of a CWD being gravid. Looking at her mouth, I would say low degree of stomatitis. I would swab mouth with nolvasan or 50:1 water/iodine solution and lightly currette with a flat toothpick or (you may have access to a debriding tool of some sort). Dragon "pus" is a thick, caseous material and will be imbedded in the gum tissue. Your dragons gums don't look too bad. if you get no caseous material then just swab twice daily with the chosen antiseptic for a week or so. If the curretting reveals pus, then repeat every 48 hrs. until you determine it is all removed. She will only require antibiotics if she starts to decline-indicating that the infection has become systemic. good luck with the eggs. My vet says that usually they will shell the eggs and lay within a week of the time they enter the tract to the shell gland. My female laid 1 solitary egg 10 days ago and another this morning. She always has difficulty. I expect a few more in the next 48 hrs. She lays in her heated pool for hours for several days before she lays. It is recommended that you supplement the female with neo glucalgon or calcium glubionate orally during the gravid period and for a week or 2 after laying. I have read various recommendations as to how much, but I settled on 3 times weekly. 3 drops per 100 grams. In an article by Dr. Mader he said daily supplementation during egg-shelling would be beneficial. good luck. diane
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dianedfisher@yahoo.com

My 3 CWD-Avanyu, Tripod and Drago