Beardie Coma?!? Barely responsive!

For the last few weeks, one of my drgaons - Zhu - has been losing weight. But in the past 48 hours, he has gone very down hill.

About 6 weeks ago I moved him to a new tank which is in a different room. That's when he started slowing down. At first he didn't lose weight (which is why I figured it was brumation) but then slowly he started to lose a little weight at a time. It was barely noticable - until a week ago. I tried hand feeding him and upped his temps a little. I soaked him twice. Nothing was helping. So I moved him back into his old tank in the original room yesterday. But now his eyes will barely open and he seems lifeless. I don't know what to do or why he is acting this way.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Sorry your beardie isn't acting right. Could you fill us in on the UVB light you're using and is it a coil, compact, strip fluorescent or mercury vapor bulb? What are the tank temps and what type of thermometer are you using to measure them? Is the basking bulb white or a colored bulb? Is Zhu housed by himself? How old is he? When did he last have a poop and did it look normal? How long since he's eaten?

Sorry for all the questions, but these are very important things to know.

He currently has a reptiglo 8.0. Its the strip, not coil. Its just about six months old, so I'm ordering new ones soon. His basking temp in the original tank was 94, which is a little low, but is where he likes to be kept. If I go much hotter, he won't bask. The temp in the current tank I believe was 95. I can double check in a bit - I just turned on lights. I use a temp gun for all of the temp readings. His basking bulb is a regular household white bulb.
Zhu is housed by himself - always has been. He is about 3.5 years old. He has been pooping throughout the past few weeks, but mainly urates or tiny little bits of stool. He might have eaten a superworm the other day, but I'm not positive. Other than that, I hand fed him about a week ago... about 8 ccs of ReptiAid mixed with Critical Care Herbivore formula and some blended up veggies.

As of this morning, he is on his log where I put him last night. He responded to me touching his head but hasn't opened his eyes. I'm really worried about him. My boyfriend said last night that he looks exauhsted... Like he's on his way out.

Im so sorry im not a help but I want to wish him the best and a fast recovery.

Hello,

Sorry about Zhu. That is too bad he is not doing well.
Can you go get a bloodtest on him to determine if something is going on with his liver or kidneys?
How much weight has he lost?
I would definitely try to increase his basking temps just by a couple of degrees if possible to make sure he digested the little food he did eat. Also, right now, I would not let him even try to brumate at all. Do you have any babyfood or jumpstart around to start feeding him?
What do his urates look like, are they white or offcolored?

Tracie

Right now I really can't afford to get him into the vet but I'm thinking its my only option... And he has lost weight mainly at the base of his tail. His belly still seems pretty healthy looking, but his fat pads are almost completely gone.
I brought up his temps to about 98*. He seemed to be doing better earlier today. Around 8 pm I checked on him and his eyes were half open. He looked like he was black bearding at my baby. So I brought him out and hand fed him a mix of reptiaid, critical care (herbivore), and calcium. He ate about 6 cc but I had to open his mouth; he wouldn't lick it off of his nose. I just went to turn off lights (10 pm) and he is lying flat on the bottom of his tank with his mouth cracked open. He is barely breathing and barely responsive. He looks like he is going to die. I don't understand what is happening to him or how he went down hill so incredibly fast.

And help would be very appreciated.

Hello,

You are doing absolutely everything you can at the moment. It sounds like an organ issue. There is no explanation for him to go downhill so suddenly with no reason. It is most likely kidney or liver related. A bloodtest is really the only way to get some answers, & I realize the expense of it. I am really sorry that Zhu is not doing well.
Has he come into contact with any toxins or anything like that? Could he have injured himself in any way?
When he went into brumation, did you get a fecal done on him to make sure he did not have worms or parasites? That is another option, too.
Those are the only ideas that I have. Going downhill that quickly is normally an organ problem.
I highly recommend that if he is still with you in the morning, to try & get him into the vets, if you can just to see if there is anything that they can do. Maybe give some subcutaneous fluids, etc, to see if they can stablize him until they figure out what is going on.

Keep me posted on him.

Tracie

Aww, I am SO sorry to hear about this! It upsets me very much! I hope your baby gets better!

Thank you to everyone for the support and advice.

Unfortunately, Zhu passed away in the night.


I wish I knew what happened to him. He was so fat and healthy just a month or so ago. Could changing his cage really do this to him? I feel horribly guilty. I wish I would have gotten him to the vet sooner. But I honestly thought he was just being stuborn about eating.
He was never exposed to any toxins that I know of - he got the same worms and veggies as everyone else. He traded cages with my old man, Trogdor. And although Trogdor has always been thin (he was rescued from a horrible situation and I'm sure has liver problems) he is not sick. Is it possible that Trogdor has something that was passed to Zhu? But then why wouldn't Trog get sick? And what would kill Zhu in a matter of days that hasn't killed Trog in years?

I feel really bad about all of this... Did I do something wrong? Did I wait too long to help him? He went downhill so fast - could I really have stopped it?


.:.RIP Zhu.:.

I am so sorry to hear about your baby. You obviously cared very much about her! I think you did everything that you could, these things just happen sometimes. It could be that she was born with a problem that no one could have been aware of. It's really not your fault, you did everything you could. Seeing how fast she went downhill, I doubt even getting her to the vet would have helped. Be comforted that she passed quietly in her home and knowing she was truly loved!

I'm sorry your beardie died. I don't think it's your fault. By the time they seem sick, it's often to late, even if you did get her to a vet.

We had two beardies that we were given 4 years ago this month. They seemed healthy. One got anexoric for a little over one year before she died. We took her to vets in our local town, big mistake. We never did know what caused her illness. The other one was fine until about 1.5 months after the other's death. When we saw she was ill we took her to a vet as soon as we could. I didn't do any good as she died the day after we got her to the vet. We didn't get her there soon enough because we didn't have a lot of $ for the vet and she seemed fine. We had to go back that following Saturday to get her body as they let her stay there as we couldn't get her there soon enough after the blood tests would have been back. That was in order to get her treatment ASAP.

I'll post a poem if I can find it. It's called rainbow bridge.

Thank you all for the comforting words.

I spent the morning cleaning cages, giving baths, and hanging out with the rest of my beardie family. I'm still pretty upset about the whole thing... But I'm feeling better. Its tough to be sad around a group of goofy beardies.

Perhaps this poem will help just a little:

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.
There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together.
There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.
The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Once again, I would like to thank everyone for their help and support.

My boyfriend and I buried Zhu in the back yard this evening. I scratched his head one last time and I said my goodbyes. I really will miss him.