Name: Zinnia
Age: 3 years
Species: Bearded Dragon
Sex: Spayed Female (After in hospital treatments)
Zinnia has been coming to our clinic for routine physical exams since she was a ‘hatchling’. She had always been in good health and her owner had quite a bit of experience owning Bearded Dragons, and followed all of our doctor’s recommendations.
When Zinnia was a baby she was housed alone. When she was about 1 year of age, she was introduced to another female bearded dragon; Electra. They got a long very well and shared a tank together. Electra was housed with a male Bearded Dragon before being introduced to Zinnia. When she was placed in a home with Zinnia she laid a clutch of fertile eggs.
After that Zinnia laid her first clutch of eggs. These eggs were not fertile as she was never in contact with a male bearded dragon. Reptiles, much like avians will lay eggs if put in the right environment, or given the time of year/season. Sometimes they will continuously lay eggs. Zinna continued to lay a clutch every month.
Zinnia was brought in too see us in June with a decreased appetite and weight loss. Her activity was normal but the owner was noticing her legs were becoming weak, muscles felt smaller and her temples had become shallow. During the last few months of spring Zinnia had been laying many clutches of eggs and was continuously trying to nest.
Occasionally with the season change, reptiles can go into a hibernation mode. During this time, or during a shed, their appetite will decrease. It can be triggered by a cooler environment. You want to avoid reptiles from going into hibernation by maintaining the temperature in your terrarium. Checking the temperatures in your terrarium regularly will keep you aware of this.
Upon examination she had a generalized decrease in muscle mass. There were no abnormal findings upon palpation of her abdomen. She seemed bright, alert and responsive. Because our doctor’s could not find any physical abnormalities upon exam, our next step was to encourage her to eat and have her re-weighed in 5 days.
Zinnia was brought back 9 days later and her weight had dropped significantly, despite the fact that her appetite had remained normal at home.
The process of laying eggs is very exhausting and uses a lot of the Bearded Dragon’s everyday nutrients and calcium. Because Zinnia was unable to stop laying eggs she was draining herself of her own nutrients. She needed to be spayed as soon as possible.
At the end of June Zinnia was brought in to be spayed. The surgery went well. Dr. McQuade successfully removed her ovaries and uterus.
To this day Zinnia has not laid a clutch of eggs. She is active, eating and happy! She has gained back all of her deteriorated muscle mass
