Stargazing, twisting body, and mouth open!!

So recently, our beardie has been acting very off and I posted here before and we got help saying that she was eggbound. We put up a laying box for her and everything, however she isn't digging and we don't think she's eggbound. However she is still acting very different.

Her symptoms now are:
-Twisting her body
-Stargazing
-Sometimes she'll have a seizure like motion (but its been decreasing these past 2 days)
-Beard is always black

She still eats her veggies and poos.

there are no qualified vets around our area, so we don't really have any professional help.

I have a video of her acting her symptoms if I am able to upload that here and if it'll help.

Please help us out in finding out what is wrong with her, she's normally such a sweetie.

I'm sorry that she's so sick. Can you try any local vets to see if they could connect or consult with a reptile vet ? Tell them it's an emergency and see if they could send the video to at least a good exotics vet. And yes, post the video here. The description does describe some type of neurological problem. Is there any chance that she ate anything toxic, in or out of her tank ? Do you have the right uvb bulb, calcium + multi vitamin ?

AHBD":2rw9ybur said:

I'm sorry that she's so sick. Can you try any local vets to see if they could connect or consult with a reptile vet ? Tell them it's an emergency and see if they could send the video to at least a good exotics vet. And yes, post the video here. The description does describe some type of neurological problem. Is there any chance that she ate anything toxic, in or out of her tank ? Do you have the right uvb bulb, calcium + multi vitamin ?

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I don't believe she ate anything toxic that we know of as we usually supervise her eating. We currently use a "straight" UVB bulb ( I think it is 10.0 UVB) and we have been sprinkling her food with Fluker's Repta Calcium with D3.

I'm currently uploading a few videos of her on Vimeo and I will post the link so you guys are able to see.

Here are the links:

https://vimeo.com/306512417
https://vimeo.com/306512756

I don't see actual stargazing there, she's just looking up out of the box. Is that where you feed her or is that something she's not used to being in ? Her weight looks good, the beard means she's very upset for some reason. I can't see anything there that looks out of the ordinary other than the black beard. You might be adding to the stress with so much petting, maybe leave her in peace for a while. Does she get handled a lot ? Some beardies don't like being handled too much so that's why I'm asking . She just doesn't look sick though.

Looks like your dragon is beyond PO'd to me. The way it is snapping it's head to see what's happening, tells me she doesn't like his situation at all. I might also add that most dragons don't like being rubbed briskly (especially on the head). Gentle rub's are ok!! Remember back when you were a kid and, your crazy uncle would grab you and, rub his knuckles on your head....well, that's what this is to your dragon..... irritating.
The fact that, in that box, everything is coming at her from overhead, this spooks them.

Looks to be very healthy to me, just mad!!!

Gormagon":7wlbpb5e said:

Looks like your dragon is beyond PO'd to me. The way it is snapping it's head to see what's happening, tells me she doesn't like his situation at all. I might also add that most dragons don't like being rubbed briskly (especially on the head). Gentle rub's are ok!! Remember back when you were a kid and, your crazy uncle would grab you and, rub his knuckles on your head....well, that's what this is to your dragon..... irritating.
The fact that, in that box, everything is coming at her from overhead, this spooks them.

Looks to be very healthy to me, just mad!!!

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Thank you, we will take note of it! She does occasionally have seizures though, so is there any extra thing we should do for her?

Before this started happening daily, she loved snuggling with us and she was so docile and we usually feed her in that box.

This has been going on for about a week now everyday the open mouths and neck twisting, so maybe we should do something different like feeding and handling wise?

I have just posted another video of her today. She was not happy and we managed to catch her seizure today.

Her seizure is seen in the first few seconds of the video and then she starts biting towards the ground for some reason.

https://vimeo.com/306624677

I hate to ask but, I have to know. What type of set up do you have for her?
Lights ......UVB and basking specs
Temps......basking, warm and cool end
Size of Viv ?x?x?
Substrate
I am very sorry that your dragon is this ill. Is there any way you can feed her in a small tank so she can see her surroundings? The box could be stressing her to the point of what you are seeing. Not being able to see what's coming is hard on them.
That seizure looks to be a neurological issue and, extremely hard to watch. I try to stay out of these types of threads but, this one has gotten my attention somehow.

Hello,

Can you post pictures of her tank setup for us, so we can see light placement, etc for her??
You are positive that she is female?
You mentioned you had a straight bulb, Reptisun 10, do you mean the long, fluorescent tube
bulb?
They definitely become very stressed when they are boxed in & things come from overhead
at them. Is she eating anything at all?

Tracie

Aw, I'm so sorry, I know it must be devastating to see her like this. Definitely neurological, not anything you're doing. The box is not dirty, looks like a bit of powdered calcium in there. How sad for you + for your dragon. It's sad that some animals have seizures like we do as humans. You would really need an experienced vet to take blood tests, and MRI might show something but I don't think many vets would have the expertise. You might send this video to a vet that can consult with other experts and ask what they might suggest. Here's an article on seizures in exotic pets, go to page 3 referencing reptiles. One cause listed is over supplementation , dehydration can also be a cause.

http://veterinarycalendar.dvm360.com/seizures-exotic-pets-proceedings

What kind + how much supplementation do you give her ?

Drache613":1lo2at6b said:

Hello,

Can you post pictures of her tank setup for us, so we can see light placement, etc for her??
You are positive that she is female?
You mentioned you had a straight bulb, Reptisun 10, do you mean the long, fluorescent tube
bulb?
They definitely become very stressed when they are boxed in & things come from overhead
at them. Is she eating anything at all?

Tracie

Click to expand...

She is eating everyday as normally her veggies. The bulb we have for her is not a long fluorescent tube but just the bulb. Should we get the tube?

We posted here before asking about her gender, because at first we thought she was a male, but some people said she was a female. We are still sort of uncertain to be honest.

Can you post a picture of the bulbs you are using ? Just shut them off for a minute + take pics.

AHBD":jigope3e said:

Aw, I'm so sorry, I know it must be devastating to see her like this. Definitely neurological, not anything you're doing. The box is not dirty, looks like a bit of powdered calcium in there. How sad for you + for your dragon. It's sad that some animals have seizures like we do as humans. You would really need an experienced vet to take blood tests, and MRI might show something but I don't think many vets would have the expertise. You might send this video to a vet that can consult with other experts and ask what they might suggest. Here's an article on seizures in exotic pets, go to page 3 referencing reptiles. One cause listed is over supplementation , dehydration can also be a cause.

http://veterinarycalendar.dvm360.com/seizures-exotic-pets-proceedings

What kind + how much supplementation do you give her ?

Click to expand...

We are currently giving her the Fluker's Repta Calcium with D3 everyday sprinkling it on her veggies. We give her a bath everyday and most times she'll have a drink of water herself.

We don't really know what happened as this started happening about a week and a half ago all of a sudden. We just really want her to be better and to give her all the help we can.

AHBD":i6zqd3c1 said:

Can you post a picture of the bulbs you are using ? Just shut them off for a minute + take pics.

Click to expand...

I took out our UVB bulb out and I have the box for the basking bulb we have currently.

I've also attached a few photos of some food that we used to give her, but we stopped since she started acting like this and just focused on her veggies.

The basking light is fine, but get rid of that coil. Get a t5 flourescent -- Either an Arcadia 12% or Reptisun 10.0.

What size is your enclosure? Can you take a picture of your enclosure? Thanks.

Also, temp specs? How old is this beardie? She has great size!

What state or country do you live in? You may want to expand your radius and find a qualified exotics vet.