very sick baby beardie- please help

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I have had my beardie for almost four months and he is around that old. I got him from a chain pet store which may be the reason he has some of this problems and I was misinformed in his care. For 3 months I had him on a coil UVB bulb and he didn’t have the proper basking temps and maybe that’s the reason he’s like this now. I got him the ReptiSun T8 10.0 UVB bulb and have it inside of his tank, the closest he gets to it is 6 inches. I have fed him dubia roaches the entire time I’ve had him with crickets when I run out and once I gave him small horned worms as a treat. I always calcium dust his insects. He has a 150 watt heat bulb since my 100 watt one wasn’t getting it hot enough. He is on a sand mat which is rocks on a mat so it’s not a loose substrate and he can’t ingest any of it. I give him baths in warm, dechlorinated water about every week. I also give him salads everyday mixing it up every time, I rotate through arugula, squash, grapes, peas, corn, broccoli, pear, watermelon, carrots, and bell peppers. As a staple which I give him everyday I feed bok choi since we always have it in the house, consistently I give him collards, turnip, and mustard greens. I mainly give him those with grapes, apple, carrots, and bell pepper, rotating everything else. I feed him broccoli very rarely since I heard it can block calcium absorption. I dust those with calcium everyday and a multivitamin every few days. He had been walking weirdly for a while and it started to get bad which is when I found this site and was told he probably had MBD and I needed to get him the right lighting. He seemed like he improved but then just started getting really bad and I’m very nervous. His left eye was starting to become droopy but his right was fine. Here are some photos from then.
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(right)
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(left) Then about 2 weeks later his right eye was also drooping (that was about two or three days ago). Now he barely ever opens his eyes and rarely opens them all the way. Also for a while he had been doing this weird hiccuping thing where his throat would poof out and then go back in, like he was swallowing weird or something. Now he has a lot of spit in his mouth and has been spitting it out. He also has had his mouth open all the time without anything threatening him and when he’s not basking. It’s almost like he’s having a hard time swallowing his own spit. There’s not mucus coming out of it or his nose, though earlier today after I had tried a natural laxative to help him poop, about an hour later he spat up lightly orange tinted spit. He hasn’t been pooping and looks extremely bloated and I saw that a tiny bit of prune juice and olive oil could help, the person who I heard it from said it always worked with their bearded dragons but mine still hasn’t pooped and it’s been more than a week. He also barely ever moves and finds it extremely hard to do so, he almost looks like he’s army crawling. He used to be able to climb and run around but he can’t even grip onto a stick anymore. I want to take him to a vet but the reptile expert at the vet has been gone and won’t be back until tomorrow and I feel like I need to do something now since this has been going on for so long. Also, I forgot, I was told he might be dehydrated so I should spray him with a little water once a day which I do every two or three days. I’ve been giving him baths to try and help him poop but it doesn’t help, but he does drink some water so I guess that’s good. He also shakes his head sometimes like he can’t control it or something. Here are some pictures of him and his setup I took the same time as writing this. I also discovered that he had a red little bloody spot that I just now noticed. I don’t know what could I have possibly done it. I tried to get a good photo but it was hard, I hope these will do. There’s probably stuff I’ve forgotten, so much has happened to him I can’t remember all of it at once but I got the majority here.
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KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
I would say a trip to the vet is in order ---- Tracie our vet mod is on at nite hopefully she can help you but I am gonna give you a website to find a vet in your area -- www.https://arav.org/
If you take him to the vet DO NOT LET THEM GIVE HIM A ENEMA ---------------- I know you said hes not pooping but its best to do it w/ natural ways -- also when hes feeling better please NO more broccoli corn watermelon!! If hes eaten any corn I am wondering if that is what is causing the pooping issue --
Karrie
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Poor little guy, he has 2 strikes against him. Sounds very much like an R.I . as well as impaction. For impaction try giving him a warmer than usual bath for 5-10 minutes and keep his tank a bit warmer. Keep up the natural laxatives and add a drop of raw honey. Rub his belly lightly while in the warm water, start from under his " arm pit " + work down toward his vent [ bum ] Cut out the broccoli altogether, it may be too hard to digest and since the bulb you had previously was not giving enough heat he could not digest his food or ward off the respiratory infection. BTW, is there a chance that any of the insects he ate were a bit too large ? And one more thing, the pebbles come loose from those sand mats very easily so there's a slight chance that he swallowed some of those. I hope a good reptile vet and some of these suggestions can help your little guy ! You might also consider setting him up in a low sided plastic tote so he doesn't have to crawl up to get near the uvb . Here's how I used to set up my babies :

https://www.beardeddragon.org/media/30051/full

https://www.beardeddragon.org/media/29889/full
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

I agree, he is indeed critical. Based on the pictures & description, he definitely has a
respiratory infection & probably is impacted from previous care.
As Karrie suggested, if you are able to get him into a vet, please do not allow them to
give him an enema. More times than not, it IS fatal. He is small & they are easily injured
at that size plus, if the vet is not trained, he will damage his internal organs, which will not
end well.
You have gotten great advice here. The honey is an excellent source to help with impaction.
You can also add sugar free applesauce or canned pumpkin with a drop or two of coconut or
olive oil but avoid mineral oil though.
Try to keep him around 80 or so overnight, in his tank using a ceramic heat emitter to help out
his immune system right now.
Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
Poor little dragon , he's have a rough trot. But at least he's not black bearding.

I concur with what has been said already , definitely no anema unless it's a last resort , anemas regularly result in dead lizards , don't let the vet try to push any blockage through with high pressure water in the GIT ( easy to rupture the GIT , very delicate membranes in this ,and too easy to have the water asperated into the lungs = both very bad and can be lethal ).
Demand an xray to determine the extent of any blockage in the GIT and exactly where and how big it is and then discuss this and the SAFEST GENTLEST WAY to treat this .


Warmth 24 hr per day is going to help with his immune system , metabolic rate and hence getting things moving in his GIT ( ie getting some poos ).

I don't see in your long wordy post how long it's been since he delivered a poo ?
So when was his last poo ?

If he is indeed impacted or has a GIT blockage , no more SOLID foods until you get a clearance from the vet , more solids will only exacerbate the problem and there will be more food putrifying in the GIT.
If it's been less than 2 weeks since the last poo , move to a more sloppy diet for now and give 0.3ml olive orally by eyedropper or syringe every 2nd day . My experience is this usually gets things moving in a day or two . My dragons have always liked the taste of olive oil too which is a bonus.

The oral discharge might be food being upchucked rather than a RI. Get the vet to check for a RI while there including maybe a swab of the mucus in his mouth to see what is going on.

Hope he comes good. I wouldn't hold off on getting him to good reptile vet , better to know what you are dealing with and to get ontop of any RI early than later.
 

adhdreptilenerd

Member
Original Poster
Thank you all so much, I am taking him to the vet very soon and will take all your advice on what to do there. I believe it’s been about a week since he pooped. I’m feeding him very small roaches, they’re a little bit bigger than newborns but definitely small enough for him, I’ve been very careful with that. I’ll try the other natural laxatives and give him another bath and update on how that works out.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
I would get rid of the sand mat and put down some paper towels newspaper --
Karrie
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

Definitely keep us posted on your boy! I hope he is feeling better soon. Have you been
able to find a vet then, in your area?
Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie
 

adhdreptilenerd

Member
Original Poster
Last night I gave him a little bit of raw honey, prune juice, and olive oil and today when I was checking on him and making sure nothing else was going wrong he pooped! It’s only like half a poop and it’s not as wet as it usually is but it’s something. I took a picture, let me know if this is as good as I think it is or no since it’s just the white part. I tried to get a little bit of him in the photo for size reference
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adhdreptilenerd

Member
Original Poster
Just saw the other additions to the post, I guess it wasn’t loading correctly before. I am going to change the sand mat now and I’m setting an appointment with the vet tonight I think.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
That's urate- needs dark poop as well-- remember no enemas!!!!! Is he still bloated?
Karrie
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
The vet no enemas!!! He's so little it will kill him-- have you tried baby organic prunes- unsweetened applesauce ? Your choice you can use either paper towels or carpet- both are good
Karrie
 

adhdreptilenerd

Member
Original Poster
I haven’t tried either of those laxatives, I’ll be out tomorrow so I’ll grab some. I’ve also heard puréed squash is good, what’s your opinion? I’ve removed the sand mat and will make sure at the vet no enemas. My parents also think they’re bad and they no next to nothing about beardies so that really says something. As soon as my dad gets home we’re going to try and set a vet appointment, I’ll let you know how that goes.
 
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