Post vet appointment worries

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Hello!
I have a 1.5 year old male beardie named Rudy. For about 2 -3 he would hardly eat anything, and he did not poop for 2 weeks straight. He was also very down in the dumps and looked to be losing weight. I took him to the vet a couple of days ago, and here were his results:

No parasites
No masses or impactions found
Still waiting on blood work
He had a 2 inch urate plug they were able to release when they gave him an enema to get him to poop.
They said he also had 2 places where his shedding is stuck.
Slightly underweight
Possibly dehydrated

I was sent home with injectable antibiotics (ugh I really hate to have to do this to the poor guy) and directions to soak him daily for 15-20 mins. The vet also said I should keep his basking temps around 95 ( I thought it should be around 100-105)

It has been 2 days, and he has only eaten 4 small super worms. He hasn’t touched his salads. I’ve soaked him each day, and it seems like the places he is shedding are starting to come out more.

I ordered a thermostat to try to regulate his temps because I have been checking them constantly to try to keep them in the right range.

I’m not sure what my actual question is here honestly, lol. I guess I’m wanting to know why he has no appetite. Would the urate plug backup cause him to not eat? Were my temps (100-105) too high? Is he just stressed now from the vet appointment? I have to give him a shot today, and I’m sure that won’t help.

Thanks in advance for any advice you can give.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Hi there, sorry to hear about Rudy's problems. First question here is what did the vet prescribe the antibiotics for ? If they did not diagnose an infection then there's no need for them at all. The enema was probably unnecessary because it's possible to help a beardie to poo with natural " laxatives " like baby food prunes, sweet potato, squash, and a bit of veg. or olive oil added. Aside from that, can you post pics of Rudy to show body condition and pics of his tank including lights to see if there's anything that needs changed.
 

Teach88790

Member
Original Poster
The vet said the antibiotics were in case there is an infection. Would they be able to determine this from the bloodwork we are waiting on? I will post some pics of his setup now and get some good pics of him tomorrow.
106434-9687943449.jpg

He’s in a 4x2x2 zen habitat. Reptisun T5 10.0 for his uvb. Changed about a month ago. I currently have a zoomed 100W basking bulb on a dimmer switch. His lights are on from 8a - 8p. I’ve been measuring temps with one of those laser thermometers, and I try to keep the hot side around 100-105. The cool side is 75.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Beautiful tank! And yes the bloodwork will be able to tell if there is an infection
Karrie
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

That is a very nice tank indeed, great lighting!
When are you expecting the blood test results back in? If they did a complete blood count
test then the white blood cell counts should be included. That should help to determine if
there is an infection going on or not.
Has he had a black beard at all?

Tracie
 

Teach88790

Member
Original Poster
Thanks!
The vet said maybe today but not positive because they’ve been backed up.

The sides of his beard are a little dark, but I haven’t seen him with a full black beard. (Only once have I ever seen that - when my dog jumped up and startled him)

I will get a bunch of pics from all angles today once he wakes up.
 

Teach88790

Member
Original Poster
Took these as soon as he woke up, so his color isn’t as bright. He usually is a little darker in the mornings before he does his basking.

106434-5920258188.jpg
106434-158941057.jpg
106434-9004589161.jpg
106434-2530120812.jpg
106434-3425955321.jpg

His tail shed is looking better. It wasn’t progressing at all. You can see that he looks a little thin. I’m going to make a fresh salad this morning, and hopefully he will eat some. The vet said he should only have bugs twice a week, so I’m trying to cut him back on those. When he was actually eating, I gave him a few bugs each day. He is doing really well during his evening soaks, and I’m able to have him stay in for 20 minutes. Should I go even longer?

Please let me know if there are any specific pictures I need. I’ll take more later once he wakes up some more.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
I would not cut his bugs back - he needs some weight on him --- and I would not give the antibiotic until you find out for sure he has an infection -- is he eating his salads? I would get some worms for him like super horn and some silk worms meal worms -- what are you feeding for a staple? A balanced diet is going to put some weight on him --- salads worms and insects --- I would get him on some dubia roaches and some silk worms and alternate between the 2 of them -- I would add worms in his salad like 1-2 of each or so what ever ones you can get and on hand -- have you ever fed any of those worms mentioned above? Unless some one else says other wise about the meds and feeding bugs that is what I would recommend -- but I cant see giving a medication if you dont know exactly what your giving it for-
Karrie
 

Teach88790

Member
Original Poster
I used to feed mostly BSFL and crickets (also daily salads of course). Lately he hasn’t had an appetite for any bugs or salads. I’ve tried dubias, crickets, BSFL, and recently I got some super worms (which I didn’t give him very often and he LOVES). He ate 4 small ones on wednesday. He hasn’t touched his salad.

Whenever I would offer bugs, he would just sit there and close his eyes. When I gave him the super worms, I placed them in his salad, but he didn’t eat the salad. I have never been able to really get him to LOVE salad, but he used to have a big appetite for any bugs.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Is he on any meds now? As far as soaking why are you giving soaks?
Karrie
 

Teach88790

Member
Original Poster
The vet said he was a little dehydrated (which caused the urate plug). He also said he had some shedding stuck on his tail and legs.

He was given antibiotics on Tuesday, and I gave him his second injection last night.

Question: what should I be feeding the bugs? Do you give them veggies? I have been using a roach and crickets feeder (powder stuff). I also have water crystals for the crickets and dubias.

By the way, I ordered a herpstat thermostat to regulate his temps on basking side. It will be here today! Which temp do you recommend?
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
The meds will effect his appetite -- and hydration is key here too --- does he drink from the bath? if hes not drinking from the bath and hes not eating his veggies then get a syringe and give him VERY slowly water like 1ML - 2ML per day --- go in from the side of the mouth and give slowly let him swallow it before giving more - you dont want him to aspirate it -- watch his poops - if his urate is dry or chalky looking then hes dehydrated --- you want them moist looking and if there is extra water that is good hes good and hydrated -- I feed my dubias dubia food and carrots and squash - I put in some cucumber this last week mainly for hydration - they wont eat greens -- tried they dont like them - you can feed strawberries or fruit oranges they really like those -- crickets eat about anything I think -- I really didnt have them that long -- I fed them carrots for hydration and cricket food -- if your feeding carrots to the insects dont feed your dragon carrots too to much Vit A -- they will eat sweet potato -- I feed my dubias at nite or evening as they come out at nite - that way they are good and gut loaded in the morning -- Recommended temps for a baby 105-110 -- juvie / adult 95-110- they like a gradient heat - a good piece of decor that has different places to sit on stand against or lay on will do that - that way they can pick a spot that has a different temp --
Karrie
 

Teach88790

Member
Original Poster
He doesn’t reallydrink during the bath (is there a way to teach him to do this), so I usually give him droplets of water using a syringe. If I drop it on his nose, he will sometimes start drinking the drops. Do I need to mist his terrarium ever?

Can I feed raw carrots to the crickets?

Should I look for a different piece of decor than the log in the pic? He does lay on different parts of that at times.
 
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Clapton is acclimating okay I think. He's quick as lightning so I'm not sure how much I should bring him out of his house yet. He's not at all interested in his salad though. I wonder if I should change what I'm giving him. Least he's eating his crickets.

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