02/09/2026
Toffee the bearded dragon came to see us as she was quite lethargic, was not moving around as normal or climbing and her appetite was quite poor 🥲
We did a full examination and apart from a lump on her head we have previously drained, and a slight deformity in her tail, we could not find any obvious reason for her issues 🧐
The owners elected to have further investigations so we admitted her to do some tests. We took a blood sample from a vein on the underside of her tail and sent this to our laboratory. After placing a little mask on her head to keep her calm, we took an x-ray 🩻 and finally drained the cyst on her head again💉
The cyst is likely benign and unlikely to cause any problems, but draining helps to reduce the fluid build up. The x-rays showed no obvious chest or abdominal problems, her bone density was good, however she does look to have some arthritis changes in her elbows 💪
The blood test showed that her calcium levels were high and we felt that this may be a cause of her lethargy. Thankfully her kidney function was good, which can be a common cause, so we think at this time that Toffee may be going through a reproductive cycle. We advised to temporarily stop her calcium supplement for 4 weeks and have given her a trial on Metacam pain relief to see if this helps her mobility🦎
Did you know we treat reptiles, birds and other small pets apart from dogs, cats and rabbits? We can arrange an appointment with vet Vince, or head nurse Martyn who has exotic qualifications and can discuss all aspects of husbandry, feeding advice and medical issues with you 👍
