problems??

Question
i have just had a baby beared dragon hatch within the last ten minutes. he seems fine and is moving about ok but he has something that looks like his bowels or something hanging out of his stomach. what could this be and is there anything i can do???

Answer
Hi Rhys,

It sounds like he hatched with some unabsorbed or retained yolk sac. This is not that uncommon with beardeds and other reptiles. I have had it happen with tortoise hatchlings. It usually absorbs after a couple days but he must be kept in a high humidity atmosphere and the yolk cannot be allowed to dry out completely. Some breeders find that just keeping them in the incubator for a couple more days does the trick. If you choose to remove him then place him in a small container with moist paper towel as a substrate. It must be kept moist. If it dries out the yolk sac can become stuck to it and rupture. He will not eat during this time as he is feeding off the yolk.

There is a photo part way down in this link of a bearded hatchling with a retained yolk.

   http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forums/lizards/401386-yolk-sac-bearded-dragon.htm...