jazmatazxo
Member
Please tell me how to attach videos, I need someone to see this as I've never seen a beardie do this along all my research online over the past 4 weeks.
Firstly, im well educated in set up and I know everything is on point, his strip UV bulb is 6-8inchs from him and a reptisun 10.0, his basking bulb is 100w and Basking temp sits at around 37-40c most of the day, and cooler end around 28-30c, we were using tile as flooring but I switched to kitchen roll as he didn't seem to like it. I have recently taken the kitchen roll out just for time being as he has been unwell and not moving around much or pooing.
4 weeks ago I thought he had a seizure, which was later suggested a possibly stroke and I fear he has suffered long term neurological damage. He didn't eat "right" for a few days beforehand but I put it down to mid shed mardiness. There was no obvious trigger, I actually woke up to it happening, approx 30-60mins after his light would have turned on, his beard and half his body went blacker than ever, he was arching his head/spine back and kind of trying to move around but not getting anywhere, he kept flicking his head back and his eyes looked different, he looked so scared and in pain, I tried to pick him up to comfort him but he tried to get away, this is when I realised his limbs were pretty much paralysed, the whole thing didn't last very long and I set about finding an exotic specialist vet.
I found one around 15 miles away who agreed for me to get him seen right away, at this point he couldn't walk. They did tests and kept him in overnight, they gave him morphine as he still looked in pain, very hunched, and this relaxed him by the evening of the first day he could move his back legs but not his arms, but the next morning they bathed him (which he's always hated) and this gave him the push to use the front legs and paralysis has not been an issue since. They did blood tests, all normal, fecal tests, no parasites, full body x-ray showed healthy bones and no sign of MBD, full physical examination and they couldn't find anything wrong. They prescribed injection antibiotics for a possible infection which they believe could have caused pain and seizuring, as well as vitamin booster and pain relief too orally. I had much much trouble administering the oral meds, he is not like another dragon! He will not lick water or food off his nose, he would not let me force his mouth open, I tried all sorts of tricks and methods and I really did not want to hurt him, he didn't appear in pain when I got him home and they vet said he had no deficiencies so I figured the pain relief and vitamins were not worth the extra stress for him. I administered the antibiotics as stated and it took 15 days to complete the course, there was no real change. He didn't eat for nearly 4 weeks, we tried force feeding baby food/ homemade smoothie slurries, no interest, lots of different types of salad and veggies, which he usually loves, no interest, live food, absolutely no interest. He also spent a lot of time in his cool side and I actually had to keep moving him to his basking spot in order for him to perk up a bit, and weirdly, kept facing the corner, he would stay there all day if I let him, which he's never done (possibly due to neurological damage?), He tolerated me getting him out to handle everyday but before all this he would run to my hands when I opened the door, and he would run around the house happily and snuggle on sofa with me to watch TV, nonenof this anymore he would just sit on me with eyes closed. He's lost weight so is not brumating and on Sunday morning I actually said to my partner I think we need to call the vets tomorrow and think about his quality of life..
Well he must of heard that cuz Sunday morning he pooped out of nowhere, was more alert, and actually ate loads of food!! I was. Over the moon, he went to basking spot himself, Monday was much the same but not hungry, Tuesday very hungry again no issues, pooped again in bath, Wednesday and Thursday ate a small amount, but today (Friday) he's had another episode much the same as 4 weeks ago!! I managed to catch some of it on camera, and I feel this one was not as severe (but definitely still painful and scary for him) I wanted to hold him but again he tried to get away as best he could when I opened his doors and I didn't want to cause extra stress. He's finally stopped with the twitching, it's not like an MBD twitch it's like every 5_10 seconds he would tense his whole body for a second then relax again.. he isn't black anymore and I have moved him to the warm end on a little towel, I think he is still able to move his legs, but he doesn't want to, looks tired as you would expect a human to be after a seizure. But I'm not convinced it was a seizure?!
I really want people to watch the videos and see if anyone else has experienced this and lend some advice. I'm more concerned now that it is not a one off
I have called my vet again this morning and I'm waiting for the exotic specialist to call back but I really can't afford another £400 for test to come back normal and treatment that I did not feel helped at all..
I feel it's unfair to keep him alive if this is his life now, seizuring then not eating for 3.5 weeks then being great for 3-4 days then repeating the cycle.. what is going wrong here?
Also he is not old, he is around 4.5 years.
Firstly, im well educated in set up and I know everything is on point, his strip UV bulb is 6-8inchs from him and a reptisun 10.0, his basking bulb is 100w and Basking temp sits at around 37-40c most of the day, and cooler end around 28-30c, we were using tile as flooring but I switched to kitchen roll as he didn't seem to like it. I have recently taken the kitchen roll out just for time being as he has been unwell and not moving around much or pooing.
4 weeks ago I thought he had a seizure, which was later suggested a possibly stroke and I fear he has suffered long term neurological damage. He didn't eat "right" for a few days beforehand but I put it down to mid shed mardiness. There was no obvious trigger, I actually woke up to it happening, approx 30-60mins after his light would have turned on, his beard and half his body went blacker than ever, he was arching his head/spine back and kind of trying to move around but not getting anywhere, he kept flicking his head back and his eyes looked different, he looked so scared and in pain, I tried to pick him up to comfort him but he tried to get away, this is when I realised his limbs were pretty much paralysed, the whole thing didn't last very long and I set about finding an exotic specialist vet.
I found one around 15 miles away who agreed for me to get him seen right away, at this point he couldn't walk. They did tests and kept him in overnight, they gave him morphine as he still looked in pain, very hunched, and this relaxed him by the evening of the first day he could move his back legs but not his arms, but the next morning they bathed him (which he's always hated) and this gave him the push to use the front legs and paralysis has not been an issue since. They did blood tests, all normal, fecal tests, no parasites, full body x-ray showed healthy bones and no sign of MBD, full physical examination and they couldn't find anything wrong. They prescribed injection antibiotics for a possible infection which they believe could have caused pain and seizuring, as well as vitamin booster and pain relief too orally. I had much much trouble administering the oral meds, he is not like another dragon! He will not lick water or food off his nose, he would not let me force his mouth open, I tried all sorts of tricks and methods and I really did not want to hurt him, he didn't appear in pain when I got him home and they vet said he had no deficiencies so I figured the pain relief and vitamins were not worth the extra stress for him. I administered the antibiotics as stated and it took 15 days to complete the course, there was no real change. He didn't eat for nearly 4 weeks, we tried force feeding baby food/ homemade smoothie slurries, no interest, lots of different types of salad and veggies, which he usually loves, no interest, live food, absolutely no interest. He also spent a lot of time in his cool side and I actually had to keep moving him to his basking spot in order for him to perk up a bit, and weirdly, kept facing the corner, he would stay there all day if I let him, which he's never done (possibly due to neurological damage?), He tolerated me getting him out to handle everyday but before all this he would run to my hands when I opened the door, and he would run around the house happily and snuggle on sofa with me to watch TV, nonenof this anymore he would just sit on me with eyes closed. He's lost weight so is not brumating and on Sunday morning I actually said to my partner I think we need to call the vets tomorrow and think about his quality of life..
Well he must of heard that cuz Sunday morning he pooped out of nowhere, was more alert, and actually ate loads of food!! I was. Over the moon, he went to basking spot himself, Monday was much the same but not hungry, Tuesday very hungry again no issues, pooped again in bath, Wednesday and Thursday ate a small amount, but today (Friday) he's had another episode much the same as 4 weeks ago!! I managed to catch some of it on camera, and I feel this one was not as severe (but definitely still painful and scary for him) I wanted to hold him but again he tried to get away as best he could when I opened his doors and I didn't want to cause extra stress. He's finally stopped with the twitching, it's not like an MBD twitch it's like every 5_10 seconds he would tense his whole body for a second then relax again.. he isn't black anymore and I have moved him to the warm end on a little towel, I think he is still able to move his legs, but he doesn't want to, looks tired as you would expect a human to be after a seizure. But I'm not convinced it was a seizure?!
I really want people to watch the videos and see if anyone else has experienced this and lend some advice. I'm more concerned now that it is not a one off
I have called my vet again this morning and I'm waiting for the exotic specialist to call back but I really can't afford another £400 for test to come back normal and treatment that I did not feel helped at all..
I feel it's unfair to keep him alive if this is his life now, seizuring then not eating for 3.5 weeks then being great for 3-4 days then repeating the cycle.. what is going wrong here?
Also he is not old, he is around 4.5 years.