Critically ill beardy - RIP Sydney, you will be missed!

dezismom":2n70h5wt said:

Can you clarify what you mean, by the shed turning "very bad?" And what kind of fungus your vet has diagnosed--a skin fungus, or one in the lungs? Is your beardies breathing labored? Exactly what meds is she taking? Sometimes, too many meds, or switching to different meds, can make a problem worse. Also the side effects can make a Beardie more sick, before they get better. Some meds take weeks to have complete effect...and depending on the meds, a supplement with probiotics is needed, to support their digestion during and after treatment..what exactly are the symptoms of "going downhill"? .What makes you think she is in pain? .A photo of the beardie, and of the"fungus" if on the skin, would be very helpful.

Without more information, any advise I gave would be just guesses, but I can say that, if she is still moving, eating, drinking and pooing, there is no reason to lose hope. We often misinerpret signs of stress, as pain--the stress of taking meds, or a change in routine can cause behaviors that will go back to normal, when the medicating and treatments are done. We tend to want this difficult time to be over with soon, for their sake, but it takes a long time to treat and then for full recovery--sometimes weeks of treatment, followed by weeks until full strength returns. The animal is not aware of time as a concept as we know it, and does not suffer as we think of human suffering; they are much sturdier than we think. When I was in the wildlife rehab business, I did not hesitate to put down an animal that was not going to recover. However, if recovery is at all possible, giving them time to do so is my own inclination, even though it may be difficult to watch their struggle. We may be thinking a sign, like heavy breathing, for example, is due to pain, but it is actually something else entirely...and sleeping can be a sign of the body using energy to heal itself.

Beardies are very dramatic--and we of course love them and do not want "needless suffering", but if we just wait it out, they can make amazing recoveries. Other times, they can seem to get better, of have just a minor illness, and we lose them no matter what we do. That said, only you know the whole picture, and only you can make the decision that is right for you and your beardie. It is so very difficult. I apologise for so many questions, and hope that it does not add to your distress, but if I were to just toss out a bunch of guesses at you, without good understanding of the symptoms and problem, it would not be much help, at all...I am sorry you are going through this.

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Stephan85":1u675zov said:

Many thanks for your reply. I had a look on the website but when selecting ‘england’ it seens the last update was in 2016 and unfortunately none of them seem to be close (Brighton, east sussex region). Obviously we are willing to travel if needed but wonder if the website is still accurate enough for this..?

Anyway in case it helps, we went to see Coastway Vets in Brighton which we got recommended by the RSPCA reptile rescue.
Regarding treatment we got the following:
0.04ml loxicom - once daily up to a week
0.15ml Sporanox - only daily up to 10 days
0.1ml fortum inj (ceftazidime) every 3 days

Otherwise we got some cleaning stuff that you mix with water, looks like a light tea. (Would have to look up the name but that seems what everyone is using). Give her a daily bath, clean her home and replace towels/newspaper.
Temps are 40c in basking and around 20c in cold corner. UVB has been replaced a month ago and she’s in a 4ft viv. <<< suggest nudging up the mean viv temperature by 6 - 10 degC , ie cool zone up to about 28-30 degC , but keep the basking spot not hotter than 40 degC, she also needs to be kept warmer overnight (I suggest no cooler than 26 degC overnight) this will help boost her metabolism and immune system - did the vet suggest this too ? (should have if they are competent).
Thursday just before the timer turned off the light she trew up, we cleaned everything and when coming home on friday her whole head/face looked flat and eyes sunken. We tried giving her longer baths but doesn’t seem to improve, not sure how long this will take?
Her weight is ‘stable’ around 250 grams but she used to be 400 grams 2 weeks ago to give you an idea how fast it’s going.
We got wax worms, lokust, morio worms, crickets but she doesn’t want any of it, we can only give her a small proteine mixture with syringe but that doesn’t feel like enough...? <<< what is the exact protein mix you are giving ? Oxbow ? VetaFarm ?

Even though she is so sleepy/slow.. today she went for a swim and also for a small walk through the living room..! We really hope there is any chance for survival and any help/advice is welcome!
We have also looked at Hawthorn Vets in west sussex but didn’t go there.

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