Eyes shut, not eating, not pooping since December!

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We bought a beardie form the local pet franchise store for my son last fall. The beardie (male) was in good health and should be around 7 months by now. The environment include a 20 gallon tank 75 Watts Sunglo eat lamp & 60 Watt UVB lamp (stay between 100-105 degrees), night lamp, log and sand.

The beardie started having problem with his vision having hard time eating his food (could aim right the food in his bowl and he began having hard time aiming at the crickets). By mid December 2017, he stop eating and pooping. Also, his eyes stayed closed and it looks like there were swelling.
I went to the local pet store and called a local vet. None of them could be of much help unfortunately. After reading a few thread on this web site, we did the following to see if it would help the beardie’s getting back into health:

1) We replaced the sand with reptile carpet (allegedly the sand may caused digestion problem)
2) We attempted to feed him green apples with olive oil (allegedly may help promoting pooping)
3) We have been bathing the beardie with half electrolyte and half warm water for 15 minutes, 3 to 4 times a week.
4) We are applying mineral oil gently on his eyes with Q-tips a few times a week.

As of today, the beardie barely open his eyes, still don’t eat, pooped once since mid-December, lost considerable amount of weight (the side of his belly show some loose skin), still keeps his head up while we give him a bath (but keep his eyes closed), and moved from the top of his log down and back up once a day.

Looking at some threads, it is my understanding that, while very rare, there is a possibility for a 7 months bearded dragon to go into brumation. Which, at the beginning of this lack of eating and pooping I thought that was what he was experiencing. However, at this point, I am wondering how long should we keep him like this and what would be the next thing to do.

I would greatly appreciated any suggestions, recommendations and please keep in mind that there aren’t any reptile specialist veterinary within my local area.

Cheers ,

DomAndNick
 

destiny1998

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Hi. Sorry you little guy is not well. First the uvb is more than likely causing problems. A reptisun 10.0 T5 long tube is what you need or the Arcadia brand. Second put raw unpasteurized honey on his eyes. Third applesauce plain, baby food prune or plain pumpkin work for conspation with a drop of olive oil. Can you post a picture of him and the set up?
 

domandnick

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Thank you very much for your response! I bought and applied the raw unfiltered honey on his eyes and fed him watered down apple sauce with a enteral feeding syringe tonight. He had a bowel movement earlier today which makes his second one in two weeks (and since mid-December), which may be a good sign.

I removed the UVB light today which brought the temperature down to 80-85ish. Would you suggest to keep the current UVB light maybe just an hour or two a day while pending receiving the reptisun 10.0 T5 long tube you suggested?

Again thank you so much for your response. Greatly appreciated!

Cheers ,

DomAndNick
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destiny1998

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Actually the uvb he currently has can be turned off so it won't hurt his eyes anymore. Let them heal a bit before putting in the reptisun. Also are you giving calcium? He looks like he has mbd( metabolic bone disease) in the last picture.
 

domandnick

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Thank you for the reply. At the early stage, we sprinkled some precipitated calcium carbonate on his food but we haven't for a long time. Is there a safe over the counter oral administration of calcium supplement that can be administered via a syringe in your opinion?

Again, I really appreciate you taking the time to reply.

Dom and Nick
 

destiny1998

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I would order some liquid calcium ASAP! He should have been having it 5x a week. Its not reverse able, but you can keep it from getting worse. I order stuff from bearded dragon.co. Did you get advise from a pet store? They are notorious for giving bad information. Once you get the uvb and start the calcium he should perk up. Did you get a t5 or the t8 reptisun?
 

domandnick

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My son's bearded dragon still not eating. We tried administered food (mix of apple sauce, powered calcium mixed with water) via a syringe but he refuses to eat. My son and I have been bathing him in 1/2 electrolyte 1/2 warm water daily and the poor thing wont open his eyes. He lost so much wait and you can feel the bones on his sides when you pick him up.
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AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Hi there, I'm sorry that your son's little dragon is not well. :( Can you post pics of the uvb bulb + heat bub ? You mentioned that once you turned the uvb off then the tank went down to 80-85 degrees, is this how it's been ? If so, that is way, way too cold and would have accelerated his decline. Some off brand uvb's cause eye problems but not having any uvb is more of a risk since the bad bulbs have been corrected. The baby's eyes being closed are due to him being sick + lacking calcium from the start and then on top of that the mineral oil is actually bad for his eyes. So he's had several things happening that made him worse then from the start.

So did you get him a new uvb bulb and is his basking spot at 100-105 ? Please list the new bulbs you have for him, if his heat + uvb aren't sufficient then he may respond once you get those taken care of ASAP. It's not your fault, mistakes were made in the advice about mineral oil and then lack of calcium, plus if you turned off his only source of uvb + his tank was at 85 then these have all added to his not doing well.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Is that the bulb you had before or is this a new one ? That bulb is not bad but it will not reach him because it doesn't put out a lot of uvb. If he was in a much shorter tank the uvb could reach him. And what are the temps. in the tank ? This is super important.
 

domandnick

Member
Original Poster
Thank you. This is the curren-t UVB light and i was suggested to by the long bulb tube. The temperature stay between 85-90 degrees during the day in the baskin area and 100-105 degrees at night.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Your night temp. is way too hot, The night bulb is useless + harmful. He's way overheated at night + too cold during the day. Again, it's not your fault they sell this junk, a big money making thing for the pet stores. The night temp. should be about 75, in the desert + scrub grass woodland areas it would be much cooler at night. So you have to get another heat bulb during the day that's a higher watt so his basking tmp. is 105 durng the day with a cool end being about 80. No lights at night, that bother their sleep. If it's warm where you live get him outside in the grass or on your lap for some real sunshine, he needs some good uvb. Then order the bulb that Destiny mentioned ASAP. It's a long tube.

You can stop the baths, if he's not drinking then it won't help him, but if he drinks then give him a 5 minute bath . You might try this trick to get him to eat, get a small cricket + smash it by the head so that the guts come out the back end, then rub it very lightly on his snout. And rather than applesauce try baby food squash, he might like that better.
 

domandnick

Member
Original Poster
I missed understood what my son told me and I put things backward. That said, the temperature was between 85-90 degrees during the night and 100-105 degrees during the day.

Final update
===========
After consultation with a veterinarian today, I did what I believed was the right thing to do and had Nick's bearded dragon euthanasiate and cremated.

It totally sucks for my son Nick to lose his little buddy “Lui”, only after a few months having him. However, I will remain forever amazed by my son dedication for nursing his bearded dragon throughout this difficult process, alkalizing him with electrolyte & warm water bath daily, helping me feeding him with a syringe, and being so amazingly patients while we were hoping for recovery.

Thank you very much, both you you for your replies and valuable inputs.

Dom and Nick
 
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