Baby Napoleon -formerly titled: Suggestions or link?

Thanks in advance.

I'm trying to give our baby bearded dragon, Napoleon, her first dose of antibiotics for yellow fungus. Needless to say I'm terrified to hurt her, which isn't helping at all. All the guides and vids I've watched are dealing with adult beardies. Does anyone have tips, tricks, or solutions for getting a tiny mouth to open up for .1 cc of med?

I apologize if this is a duplicate to an existing thread... Feel free to re-direct me !

Thanks again and again,
Shara and Baby Napoleon

I think I've got it down... Pull her lip down on one side... Then tiny tiny drop, let her lip close...wait for her to swallow and repeat (over and over again) !

Gave the second dose today at lunch, it's getting easier. I think an eye dropper instead of the syringe would be easier to give slow and exact drops. So... I'll be buying one tomorrow!

-Shara and Baby Napoleon

Poor little Napoleon....are you positive he has YF ? What meds. are you using for it ? Can you post a pic ? I hope your little one gets better and beats that nasty YF. !

I believe it is yf. She went to the vet on monday. The vet did not do a culture, but she was as positive as she could be without tons of labs.

I should post the stats on Napoleon's enviroment.

How old is your dragon? around 4 months
How long have you had your dragon? since mid December
How long is your dragon? 4 inches, I believe and 25 grams weight
What is the sex of your dragon? unknown
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in? 40 gal
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank? newspaper currently, so it can be changed frequently
Do you use UVB lights? yes, repti-sun 10.0
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb? coil
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)? Zoo Med, 13
How old is your UVB bulb? new
How close can your dragon get to the UVB? 1 ft
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? Is it a white or colored bulb? 100 watt day, 100 watt red night
What are the basking temps? 95-100
What is the cool side temp? 86
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun? stick thermometer
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps? near her rock
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad? no
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific. 1-2 ML Fluker's Repti-aid Critical Care Formula 2x a day, I still offer crickets and veggies as well, she had 1 cricket yesterday
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)? 7 am if she's gone bathroom, or noon and evenings between 7-8 pm
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc? yes
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them? see food.
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)? yes! It's very exciting... means everything internal is functioning!
Do you bath your dragon? How often? not currently, it could spread her infection.
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath? a clean bowl of water
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done? not yet, she has a check up in 4 weeks
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon? no!

Napoleon currently takes .1 ML Itraconazole daily. 2 weeks on, 1 week off, and 2 weeks on... then recheck at vet.
Also, I swab the area with Chlorhexiderm Flush every morning and evening.

Since seeing the vet on Monday, the swelling has decreased and the area seems crustier today (noon today was her 3rd dose of Itraconazole). Since Tuesday her energy has increased slightly. There appears to be less visible infection than 2 days ago.

Yes, I have pictures lol... I take dozens per day (including her output)!

Napoleon's face on Monday:


Yesterday:


Waking up this morning (there's some dried formula on her nose discoloring it... she HATES me wiping it off with warm, moist paper towels):


The medicine is still very difficult to administer. I lower her lip on the non-injured side and drop the medicine in, 1 drop at a time. I wait for her to swallow, and repeat. Usually some leaks onto her chin, which worries me that she's not getting all of it into her. I cannot get it inside her teeth, she will NOT open up. I give her medicine after her formula in morning or noon (dependant on if she's been potty in AM), I wasnt sure if it would digest/absorb better and/or be easier on her stomach following food.

She's been wonderful about taking her Crit Care Formula. I drop it onto the tip of her snout and she opens up and lets me continue squeezing it very slowly onto her lips, while she licks. The entire feeding process takes about 30-60 mins for 1-2 ML depending if she falls alseep too many times.

Regards,
Shara and Baby BD Napoleon

OH! I forgot to thank you for your concern and get well wishes!

- Shara

You're welcome ! Oh, poor little sweetie, you had her posted in the E.R. forum recently I believe ? The meds. she is on is quite harsh, so be sure to try to mix a bit of probiotic like Benebac or Acidophiliz+ or soy yogurt to help her tummy. But it's good that she is eating her critical care. So she is 4' long ? That would be snout to vent , since she looks to be about 9" long in the pics huh ? I thought I'd point out that the Reptisun coil UVB may cause eye problems, so keep a watch for that. The Reptisun 10.0 long tube is the one most highly recommended, some of the coil/compacts can burn the eyes, but you just want to keep an eye out for her closing her eyes all the time. If you want to p.m. one of the mods. [ Tracie ] her user name is Drach613, she is quite helpful when it comes to meds., dosing, etc. So you say it looks a little bit better recently ? That's good ! By the way, I'm sure you've seen the thread on this forum on Dino's Y.F., you might get a few tips from there. Hang in there !!!

AHBD":2nce4be7 said:

You're welcome ! Oh, poor little sweetie, you had her posted in the E.R. forum recently I believe ? The meds. she is on is quite harsh, so be sure to try to mix a bit of probiotic like Benebac or Acidophiliz+ or soy yogurt to help her tummy. But it's good that she is eating her critical care. So she is 4' long ? That would be snout to vent , since she looks to be about 9" long in the pics huh ? I thought I'd point out that the Reptisun coil UVB may cause eye problems, so keep a watch for that. The Reptisun 10.0 long tube is the one most highly recommended, some of the coil/compacts can burn the eyes, but you just want to keep an eye out for her closing her eyes all the time. If you want to p.m. one of the mods. [ Tracie ] her user name is Drach613, she is quite helpful when it comes to meds., dosing, etc. So you say it looks a little bit better recently ? That's good ! By the way, I'm sure you've seen the thread on this forum on Dino's Y.F., you might get a few tips from there. Hang in there !!!

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Oh thank you so much! I was going to see if I could find info on which yogurt is advisable, I've seen it referenced several places on the forums (Whole Foods should carry Soy?). Also, saw someone say something about the UVB bulbs today too. I planned to search that tonight to see what was recommended. I'll switch out for long tube next week! Thank you so much.

I was under the impression that their customary length measurements are done from snout to vent, but I wasn't sure. I should have specified. You are correct with her 9 inch total length.

I saw Dino's post this afternoon... I'm up to page 4 currently!.... but I briefly skipped ahead to page 46 to make sure I should keep reading. I learned... THERE'S HOPE!!! If Dino can recover... then Napoleon can too! =) awesome thread, poor baby Dino... but I'm looking forward to reading the rest.

I checked the Fluker's insert from her Crit Care Formula. It indicated approximately 2 ML per day for 100% nutrition value. I verified with her doctor and she said to do that 2x a day. Napoleon usually eats 1- 1.5 ML 2x a day currently. 30 more mins until dinner Napoleon's time.

Tracie responded to my ER post last Friday. It was probably the only reason I made it through the weekend. By Monday morning I was crying hysterically (after I got my son to school), 10 mins later... I set a vet appointment.

I keep several forum pages bookmarked on my phone's homepage... I walk around stores consulting and verifying everything. lol

=) Shara and, the not as sick as before, baby Napoleon

I took this quote from an ER thread:

doe222":2n56bn0t said:

Another thing, the red light for night is not recomended. If the room your in is at least 65 degrees at night than you do not need to worry about it. If it does get less than 65degrees i would get a heat emitter, which plugs into a normal light bulb fixture. The uvb is definitely something you need to get changed. i get my bulbs from petmountain.com probly the cheapest around that ive seen. Fixtures for them can get tricky but what ive realized is that blacklight bulb fixtures from walmart or various chain stores are pretty much made for these bulbs. at lightyourreptiles you can get the arcadia 12% and fixture combo which are the best bulbs to get. For heat you can just get a regular CLEAR household bulb. maybe in a little while get a larger viv but thatl do for now. The bowl the left i hope is not filled with water humidity in the cage should be kept fairly low.

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This is excellent information!!! Looks like I'll be going to Walmart tonight.

Since Napoleon is so ill and slightly younger, shouldn't I continue to keep the heat on at night for now? I feel strangely uncomfortable decreasing it currently.

More importantly... I shouldn't have ANY water in the tank?

Thanks again,
Shara

Hello Shara,

I highly recommend the Zoomed Reptisun 10 tube or the Arcadia D3 12% tube bulb mounted at 6-8 inches from him. That will be a lot better for him than the coil bulb, much higher quality of UVB.
I am so glad you got him to the vet for a fungal test & have him started on the Itraconazole so quickly. What is the dose for him?
It is already improving now? Are you using any antifungal cream for him too or silver cream that the vet gave to you?
Yes, definitely keep his tank around 80 over night right now to help Napoleon stay warmer & to boost his immune system too.
You can look for non dairy soy yogurt or acidophiliz either one for probiotics for him. I hope he is eating pretty well too. He is so adorable. His tail looks like it was going to shed?
That is correct, do not keep any water in the tank. Keep the humidity around 20-30% if possible to help reduce any fungal issues from worsening.

Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie

Napoleon currently takes .1 ML Itraconazole daily. 2 weeks on, 1 week off, and 2 weeks on... then recheck at vet.
Also, I swab the area with Chlorhexiderm Flush every morning and evening.

I'll be switching out the bulbs tomorrow for a long.

I'm not sure on her tail, she shed about 4 weeks ago. I hope she does again soon, it should help with her face, I think. She's been rubbing her face on her rock today, even the injured side of her face.

Napoleon had 1 ml of formula mixed with a bit of sweet potato tonight. She kept falling asleep though. I'll add in yogurt tomorrow (after a trip to Whole Foods).

Hello Shara,

That sounds good. She seems to be doing ok with that dose then? Do you know what the strength of it is, by chance?
I hope she continues to improve for you.
The chlorhexadine wash daily is excellent that will help to keep the area clean, too.
At least she ate some formula & sweet potato. I hope you can find the soy yogurt, hopefully she will like that also.
As the area starts to dry up it may start to itch a little. Are you using any cream on it or did the vet not get any to you?

Keep us posted on her! She is precious.

Tracie

We weren't given any cream. Should I ask for something?

Hello,

You can request a silver cream or you can find it at a drug store also. Or you can get some lamisil or monistat at the drug store also. Just apply with care around the mouth area.
How is she doing tonight?

Tracie

I think she's still improving~ Thank you so much for asking. Still hand feeding her. Napoleon has started making odd gulping motions after her medicine. When it started yesterday, I initially thought she was going to throw up, but she didn't. Any idea what this could be?

I'll try a bit of Monistat, actually my mom has been researching and suggested the same thing this morning. Is a light coating of the area once per day sufficient?

=) I'll post a new pic of Napoleon later today~

-Shara

Hello Shara,

Yes, a light coating daily will be fine with the monistat.
Are you going in from the side when giving the meds to help avoid aspiration of the meds/fluids?
She may not like the taste, either. I hope she is starting to do better now.

Looking forward to more pictures.

Tracie