Yeah, I read that thread and looked at all the pics carefully. While Lea doesn't show the deformities associated with severe MBD, she is extremely calcium deficient. Let me update you with today's news:
Turns out Lea quit laying because she prolapsed her rectum during laying. I found her lying on the sand this a.m. with no new eggs visible, so I picked her up to check on her; that's when I found she had the prolapse. After researching this condition, I realized that even if the prolapse could be shrunk, she would be unable to lay her eggs without it recurring unless the eggs were surgically removed, which is an expense I cannot afford. Hence, I made the painful decision to have her put down.
I tried to call my own vet, but their line was busy, so I called another vet I know here locally and asked if she felt able to put Lea down. The answer was yes, so, I did not try calling the herp-certified vet in Oklahoma City--that's around an hour drive or more for me, and as I was planning only to have her put to sleep, I didn't feel taking her to a herp vet was necessary if a local vet could do it.
It may be fortunate for Lea that I did it this way! The vet to whom I took her is my husband's research partner's wife, widow, actually (he died just after Christmas, and we've helped the family a lot), and she has decided to try to save Lea. I told her we cannot afford the surgery, but she insisted that she wants to do it and won't charge, so she will be operating today. She does a lot of exotics and feels she can do it.
She also took an X-ray and we could NOT EVEN SEE THE BONES IN LEA'S LEGS--that's strong evidence of MBD. IF Lea survives today's surgery, then she's very lucky not to have the deformities from far worse MBD, and we'll be able to help her with her calcium levels.
The real question is whether Lea is strong enough to survive the surgery.
Contrary to what the other exotic animal vet said, Lea is NOT overweight; indeed, she is UNDERWEIGHT. I realized yesterday that I could see her ribs as she was turning away from me in the evening, which had me wondering about the "overweight" diagnosis, and Kerry (our friend/vet) agreed--Lea has NO fat reserves at all. So we don't know if she'll survive the surgery, but as Kerry pointed out, once she is anesthetized, she will be feeling no pain, and if it doesn't go well, they will give her a deeper dose then to humanely end her life.
Think good thoughts for Lea; I'm much more hopeful now than I was earlier this morning!!!
