Bearded dragon has 2 lumps on his front leg :(

Question
About 2 months ago my bearded dragon Agi had swollen front right palm.We took him to the vet and they gave him enroxyl and meloxidyl.They didn't rly know what was wrong but they made xray and they said its not broken and it must be some infection..
After few days swelling was gone but there was a small lupm!
2 weeks ago his leg started swolling again,and they gave us same medicines. So now he has 2 lumps..:S
But he doesn't limp like he did when he had swollen leg so i think it doesn't cause him pain..

Do you think i should insist that they open the leg and look if he has a tumor?Im afraid he's gonna get another lump if we don't cut those 2 out :S
If they open his leg,can they make stitches on lizards skin?
Our vets in Slovenia don't know a lot about bearded dragons.They didn't even know why he has black beard!

Thanks for your time and sorry for spelling mistakes :)

Answer
Lara,

Are the lumps hard or soft? Lizards can get abscesses under their skin and these feel like hard lumps. They are essentially localized infections that need to be manually removed. It usually consists of making a cut over the top of the lump and prying out the hardened deposit under the skin. It is uncommon for reptiles to develop tumors. There are few occurrences of cancerous tumors recorded for reptiles. I think he may have some sort of localized infection. The answer to your question about stitches is yes, they can and do make stitches on lizard skin. Depending on how big the cut, they may not have to do any stitches at all. You would just have to keep the area clean. I recommend betadine and saline solution to clean open areas on lizard skin.
I looked up the enroxyl and meloxidyl... the enroxyl is not really an antibiotic I don't believe? Have they tried something like baytril or ciprofloaxacin? These are antibiotics we generally use on reptiles. They require at least 1 month of treatment with antibiotics because reptiles have a slower immune system due to their being cold blooded.

Keep a watch on him that he doesn't change his appetite, behavior, temperament, etc. If he does, this may indicate something more serious that needs to be addressed urgently. So long as he eats well and remains his normal self, I wouldn't think he has a serious life-threatening condition.

I hope this helps.

Sara J Gwerder
President
Raptor Rescue Iguana Sanctuary
Shreveport, LA
www.RaptorRescue.org

Good Diet + UVB Radiation + Proper Temperatures + Set Daily Schedule = Healthy + Happy Reptile