Dying?!?

Help oh my god I'm freaking out.
Athena my bearded dragon with MBD I think she's dying. Her eye is leaking this weird grey/orange fluid and her beard is black and she is having trouble breathing I think.
She's been doing great. I let her lay on the floor for a minutes while I cleaned up her poop from the cage and when I looked at her she was on her back, so I flipped her over and her beard turned dead black and she wasn't breathing so I freaked out and started trying to get her to breathe again. She suddenly opened her eyes and started breathing but her breathing is labored and her beard is black I'm freaking out.
What's wrong?! Is she gonna die?!

So she was acting fine and then got flipped over ? Do you know how long she was like that ? That would cause a lot of stress for her, not necessarily dying. Put her back in her tank + see how she does. Was she doing anything before that, no bath or anything ?

Maybe her breathing will settle down once she feels safe again.

She's was acting fine, she's been improving. She wasn't flipped over for more then ten or so seconds.
Nope no bath. She ate a half hour before this happened. I oh the beach in the cage and she's still got a black beard and is stressed.

I didn'y understand your last sentence ? What did you mean " I oh beach in the cage ? "

I know you're really upset....how is her breathing now ? Let her calm down....she's not choking though is she ?

I meant I put her in the cage. Her breathing seems normal now. She just keeps flipping herself over and can't flip herself back. She isn't choking.

It must be so hard for you to see this, poor Athena. Just set close by for a while until it's time for her to go to sleep. The balance problem may be neurological, caused by a vit. B deficiency and/or the calcium problem. You can get some bee pollen to add to her supplements.

It's also possible that she has an inner ear infection from being in the water so if the flipping continues you might have to take her to an experienced reptile vet.

I hope she calms down ASAP ! Best wishes to your sweet girl !

AHBD":1rlp4gxf said:

It must be so hard for you to see this, poor Athena. Just set close by for a while until it's time for her to go to sleep. The balance problem may be neurological, caused by a vit. B deficiency and/or the calcium problem. You can get some bee pollen to add to her supplements.

It's also possible that she has an inner ear infection from being in the water so if the flipping continues you might have to take her to an experienced reptile vet.

I hope she calms down ASAP ! Best wishes to your sweet girl !

Click to expand...

Thank you. I'll make sure to get some bee pollen.

Hello,

Sorry to hear Athena is not doing well!
Can you try to keep her warm overnight since she isn't feeling very good? Just use a ceramic heat emitter or a heating pad on LOW with a towel in between her & the pad.
Which UVB are you using & since she has metabolic bone disease, are you giving a liquid calcium
from the vet or other source?
If she keeps flipping herself over, you can move the basking down so that she doesn't have to climb up to bask.
I hope she feels better soon.


Tracie

The house was pretty warm last night, I have a CHE light for her on the way.
I'm currently getting her out in the sun for several hours a day, her UV light will be here later today and I'll be using the Reptisun T8 10.0 UVB tube.
I haven't been giving her liquid calcium, I was debating about ordering some for her. Right now I've been dusting her crickets with calcium with D3 once a day and giving her chicken baby food (which she eats really well but it is a temporary option) as well as dusting her veggies with the calcium, though she doesn't really touch those.
I don't have a basking spot for her, I was going to buy her a hide/basking spot combo when I picked her up but I didn't want to make her climb to bask in her condition.
I was worried seeing Quinn (my other beardie, they could see eachother) might be stressing her out so I draped a pillow case over the front of the tank so they can't see each other, I don't think it made a difference.

I was worried she would flip over during the night so I stayed up with her, but so far she hasn't flipped tonight. She wasn't really sleeping well until I tucked a small, soft blanket in with her and curled up in it and fell right asleep. I've been taking advantage of being awake and doing more research into her condition.
Thank you!!

Good idea about the small blanket or towel I had forgot to mention that could stabilize her during the night. And yes it's best to keep the other dragon out of her view.....just in case that triggers some anxiety in any way.

http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Calciumglub.html

Is this the liquid calcium I should buy?

Hello,

Hopefully the new UVB light will help her out. How is she doing tonight?
It sounds like placing her in a blankie, tucked in really helped & made her comfortable, too.
That calcium is fine, yes. It should come with some dosing instructions also.
I Hope she is feeling better. Let us know how things are coming along!

Tracie

Athena is doing much better this morning. The UV seems to be helping her too.
I'll keep updates on her, I update on her frequently on Instagram (@SCExoticsRehabAndRescue) so there's always updates on her there too.
She's eating well and drinking too, the liquid calcium will be here in a few days.
Thank you guys!

That's really good to hear, you must be so relieved after that terrible episode. Go Athena !

Hello,

How is Athena doing?
That's great you are got her setup with a new UVB light. Do you normally have a basking
light/spot in her tank too? You will need to have one for her alongside of the Reptisun 10
tube bulb, for warmth, & brightness, too.
The ceramic heat emitter can be used at night, if the temperatures in the house drop too
much. Since it is becoming fall/winter soon, you will probably need it.
I hope the liquid calcium helps her out also. Keep us posted on her.

Tracie