5 month very lethargic

I posted about a couple weeks ago about Bellamy. He had just stopped eatting his dubias roaches and wouldn't even look at food of any kind. I feel like the decline was when I came back to his cage after class and found a puke ball of roach or when he ate a darkish colored wax worm. I was advised to get a repti Sun 10.0 instead of relying on the powers 150watt to get UV. So now I have him under a new powersun 100 watt and a repti 10.0 tube. He is on reptile carpet and his basking spot reaches 110 (depends where he goes on his log)with low side at about 75.

Here's how he looked when I got him as a hatching in December


Here's how he looks now:


He hasn't really started eating again, 2 roaches a day or about 3 crickets. Sometimes he watches the food but doesn't hunt. To keep him alive I feed him Fluckers repta boost. He has a vet appointment on Thursday where I also requested a fecal test. I am coming here for more help and insight though.

I also have noticed that when I pick him up the bulge above his vent is hard. I don't know if that is something or if all bearded dragons are like that.


Any help is appreciated.

Hello,

Hm, no, he shouldn't have a hard bulge above his vent like that. Could something have impacted
him somehow?
I see he isn't on loose substrate, so were any of his feeders too large possibly? How long has the
bulge been there?
I am glad you are getting him to a vets. Be careful that they don't give an enema, because those
can be fatal, especially if the vet doesn't know what he is doing. They can injure them internally.
The Powersun MVB used along with the Reptisun 10 tube should be fine. How often are you giving
calcium?
Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie

Drache613":2lgsgnjx said:

Hello,

Hm, no, he shouldn't have a hard bulge above his vent like that. Could something have impacted
him somehow?
I see he isn't on loose substrate, so were any of his feeders too large possibly? How long has the
bulge been there?
I am glad you are getting him to a vets. Be careful that they don't give an enema, because those
can be fatal, especially if the vet doesn't know what he is doing. They can injure them internally.
The Powersun MVB used along with the Reptisun 10 tube should be fine. How often are you giving
calcium?
Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie

Click to expand...

Hi, thanks for responding!

I now do believe, one of the feeders were too big. It makes sense because the day he puked, I do believe I saw a half eaten roach. This was about 2 or 3 months ago, after that he started eating less and less till barely eating every other day. I haven't really took notice about it till yesturday because I could feel it more. Before it was a little smaller and I thought all beardies had it. He is pooping everyday however. It looks a little weird from the repta boost. He gobbles that down fine.

I gave calcium on his roaches every feeding and vitamins every 3 days. Are there anyways of helping what's in there pass?

I suspect this may be partly retracted prolapse ==> needs urgent attention by reptile vet .

kingofnobbys":8dvxtolx said:

I suspect this may be partly retracted prolapse ==> needs urgent attention by reptile vet .

Click to expand...

So I looked up some solutions to that and did a sugar bath soak and Vaseline on the vent area. No luck or change to the hard bulge. I wish this happened at a different time because I have 2 final exams tomorrow that I have to study for all day today and tomrrow. This is just stress on top of stress. I have a final paper due Thursday at noon as well, this is why I can't see the vet until Thursday afternoon.

Here are some pictures of the poop he did yesturday. They melt into the carpet when they dry.

Okay guys he's really looking worse today. I found another vet through repticzone that looks very specialized in reptiles, they said they could take him in 4:30 today!

That's good to hear. Hopefully they can help him out!

They euthanized him guys. They said he most likely had parasites right when I got him and they were taking his nutrients. He said the bulge was his bone. He also said all that darkness in his stomach was blood. But his stomach always looked like that. Bellamy had his head down and eyes closed the entire way, yet right when the vet picked him up to euthanize him, Bellamy picked up his head and looked at me. I think realizing it wasn't me who was holding him. The vet said he only had a couple more days and I should put him down in a humane way. I just feel like I made a mistake. They said I can come pickup his ashes in a week.

*edit:
Now that I had some time to mourn I see this as a great lesson. Always bring new companions to the vet immediately, if you can't afford the exams and testing, hold off on getting them.

*edit
Bellamy was a red hypo translucent leatherback. I just now read that their bellies are see through as babies, which is why his stomach was dark. It was NOT internal bleeding. I'm starting to have a bad feeling about going to this vet. I feel like he could have been saved, but the vet made me think there wasn't a chance

Hello,

Oh no! I was hoping you were going to be able to get that taken care of....I wasn't expecting
him to be put down so quickly. I am so sorry to hear that, poor Bellamy. Oh you feel like
you made a mistake having him put down? At least you got to say goodbye to him, though. It
is never easy to lose one, no matter how young or old they are.
Was he a hypo or trans? I ask because they tend to have translucent bellies. They were sure
it was blood in his tummy?

Tracie

Drache613":1brd3foi said:

Hello,

Oh no! I was hoping you were going to be able to get that taken care of....I wasn't expecting
him to be put down so quickly. I am so sorry to hear that, poor Bellamy. Oh you feel like
you made a mistake having him put down? At least you got to say goodbye to him, though. It
is never easy to lose one, no matter how young or old they are.
Was he a hypo or trans? I ask because they tend to have translucent bellies. They were sure
it was blood in his tummy?

Tracie

Click to expand...

He was both, a hypo trans. Black eyes, clear nails. Right when the vet walked in he said bluntly "This animals dying, it would be inhumane to keep him alive." He was being so blunt and rude, it just made me cry. I came in for an xray and fecal test and he refused. He then went on to say he most likely had parasites that took all his nutrients which is why he still looked like a 2 month old (I thought it was no UV tube).

I then told him about the bulge and he said it was bone, but it wasn't there 2 days ago. He just wasn't listening to me and sort of had a demeaning tone. While he was examining that, he noticed his stomach translucency and said he was bleeding internally. I completely forgot about that trait and was thrown off with the parasite claim and the fact he was a "recommended" reptile vet. I believed him, and thought Bellamy was really suffering.

I do know he was in pain, but I wish I took him back home. The vet didn't even give him a chance and I believed him. He said I can euthanize and take his body home but he may twitch as his brain or nerves are still active. Or euthanize and cremate him. So walked out with his empty carrying case

That's such rough news. I'm sad to hear it =(. It's important that you are comfortable working with a vet and trust the vet. That's one reason why it's good to have regular checkups done. I don't agree with the way this vet handled things unfortunately. In my opinion they are there to provide advice and care but not dictate what has to happen, especially with such a delicate & sensitive issue. That said, it's quite possible he was impacted and in pain/discomfort from it. It's hard to say if that could have been resolved or not if that was the issue. I'm sorry you had to go through this. This sort of thing is never easy to deal with. We just have to do the best we can with the given information, learn from what happens either way, and move on to do the best we can going forward.

CooperDragon":2b4kgcl2 said:

That's such rough news. I'm sad to hear it =(. It's important that you are comfortable working with a vet and trust the vet. That's one reason why it's good to have regular checkups done. I don't agree with the way this vet handled things unfortunately. In my opinion they are there to provide advice and care but not dictate what has to happen, especially with such a delicate & sensitive issue. That said, it's quite possible he was impacted and in pain/discomfort from it. It's hard to say if that could have been resolved or not if that was the issue. I'm sorry you had to go through this. This sort of thing is never easy to deal with. We just have to do the best we can with the given information, learn from what happens either way, and move on to do the best we can going forward.

Click to expand...

Thanks a lot by the way with talking with me . I will defiantly take your advice from the situation, and when I feel like I am ready for a new scale baby, implement it.

Hello,

I am so sorry, that is a horrible story. I definitely don't want to say that he shouldn't have
been put down, but, there is always a chance that he shouldn't have been. I think most vets are
too hasty in suggesting putting down a lizard simply because they don't have the answers. They
are not giving the lizard a chance & it really frustrates me. I'm sorry you had to go through that,
it is awful. Don't blame yourself though. We are all here for you.

Tracie