Need help sick beardie

Hi my name is Julia and I am new to this forum but am so thankful I found it. My bearded dragon is 12-13 years old. He was my brothers, but when I got my own apartment last year, I rescued him because he was not getting the attention or care he needed. Sadly most of my questions were answered by my brother, who did not have correct information. Recently this is what has happened, a couple week ago he started having a sort of head twitch and shake during feeding and handling, then he started rubbing his face a lot in corners which was also new. Then early this week he was somehow able to wedge himself between the glass of his tank and his basking rock, upside down. I came home from lunch, and rescued him. It was a terrifying experience. I pulled him out, and he was extremely stressed and had pooped all over himself. I went to the bath and rinsed him off. He started to calm down but was gaping. We took him to the vet and they said he seemed okay considering the fall. But he was given antibiotics and a calcium supplement. Had an xray taken and his bones were a little on the thin side, but not anything she said to worry about MBD. Also she was worried about a possible respiratory infection, so he was given the antibiotics. Currently we are on day 5 with antibiotics. He is very lethargic. He won't eat. I've tried crickets, super worms, and lots of salads. Ive been giving daily baths, recommended by the vet. We had the crushed up chestnut shell sand which I am afraid got in his nose during the fall, and is why he can now only breath out of his mouth, both day and night. He also currently is having a foam come out of his mouth as he gapes, and I don't know why. I have taken out the sand and temporarily have paper towels in until the reptile carpet comes in. I don't know how else to help him. I have a checkup in a week and can't call my vet until tomorrow. He is almost constantly black bearded, gaping, and lethargic. I can't get him to eat. I am afraid he is in pain and don't know what to do.

Any help would be great, and thank you for taking time to read such a long post.
Julia

Here’s a photo from today

Poor guy. I'm sorry to hear he isn't feeling well. He is at a nice old age, especially if he hasn't had the best care. Do you have a good UVB light for him? It's good that you are replacing the sand. The walnut shells are especially sharp and can do some damage if they are ingested. That is important to have so he can absorb nutrients properly. He looks generally healthy based on that photo. Which antibiotic was he given? That can be pretty harsh on their systems so that may be causing him to feel unwell. I would drop water on his nose so he can lick it up and stay well hydrated while on them. Did the vet take a culture to determine if he has an infection or not?

Thank you for your reply! I have been giving him baths every other day and he has been licking the water when I do put on his nose which is good. He has been having really small poops very frequently now I’m not sure if that has to do with that. I do right now have a reptisun coil but since I’ve gotten on this forum I’ve learned that those are not good for you so I have purchased a 24in Repton reptisun 10 but I am struggling to find a light fixture to put it inside of the tank instead of putting it on top because I do have a mesh lid. I went to Walmart today and could not find one and have also looked at my local Menards. I’m going to try and find some more time this week to continue looking. I can’t find anything on Amazon that I know would work so I’m looking everywhere I can because I know it’s important. He still hasn’t eaten since last week and I’m starting to really get worried. Any suggestions would be great, thanks again.

Please help! He has gotten worse. We are giving him a antibiotic and calcium supplement by syringe. He has not eaten on his own in 3 weeks. We have been giving him the critical care from the vet and baby food by syringe. He can’t move his front legs. He is always gaping and black bearded. Today he wouldn’t eat and has now been throwing up a brown liquid. We didn’t want to give him his meds because he would just throw that up. I want him to be comfortable, I just don’t know how to help him. It hurts to see him in pain and don’t want to let him go...

It doesn't sound like he's doing well. You might consider stopping the antibiotics as they may be doing more harm than good at this point. The frequent small poops are concerning to me. Do you see any blue tint to the urate? That may indicate kidney trouble which could be made worse by the antibiotics. Try just the baby food a little bit at a time and see how that goes.

Is your ReptiSun 10 a T5 or a T8 bulb? It can be tough to find the fixtures locally. You might have luck at a hydroponics store as the T5 lights tend to be used for indoor gardening. Try brining him outside for natural sunlight as the weather permits. That often helps perk them up so the more natural sunlight you can provide the better.