Beadie not recovering - need help

Hey guys,
So this a'll started about a month and a half ago, our beadie went off her food and initially we thought she was going into brumation. She didn't seen to get any sleepier and started to dig through her paper towel substrate so we then thought it must be eggs. We brought her to a vet and sure enough it was eggs. She's not even a year old yet and had trouble producing them fully. 2 weeks ago she went for an operation to have these half made (they sorta looked like grapes) eggs removed. The surgery went well and she was put on a number of different pain killers and suplements. A week ago we went back to the same vet for a check up and they took a stool sample. It showed signs of parasites so she was put on a worming medication on top of everything else. Fast forward to today and she's finished her worming medication and pain killers but still isn't eating and has vomited after her medication once. She has lost a considerable amount of weight so we've started to feed her baby food starting yesterday. Most of the time she doesn't move much and seems a little shaky on her feet, but when we try to syringe feed her her supplements and baby food she still has energy to fight and run away as if she was right as rain. We're booked into the vet again this Friday but I am just look in for advice. The only thing we can think of is if she is going inti brumation now? This is our first beardie so we arent familiar woth the signs of brumation but she just isnt herself. Seeing her like this is really hard and it's taking it's toll on all of us emotionally.

Thank you so much in advance for any and all help
-Patrick

If she is as sick and weak and emaciated as you say - DO NOT ALLOW HER TO BRUMATE , she wont survive it.

I've not experienced a dragon being egg bound and going through major surgery to remove the eggs but I think it's crucial to get he onto critical care (food replacement) and you may need to force feed her via crop needle and feeding syringe , you MUST discuss her condition with the treating vet as matter of URGENCY and be very careful about overloading her kidneys if she's not been eating (as evidenced in her weight loss) , this needs to be supervised by an experience HERP / REPTILE vet .

Refer to this viewtopic.php?f=45&t=232687

I think the foods you will need to get will be something like
VETAFARM CRITTACARE REPTILE see : https://www.vetnpetdirect.com.au/vetafarm_critta_care_reptile
I've used this to save very sick reptiles , it's very potent and effective , but also a very thick slurry so you will need a syringe with a bore of at least 2.5mm and feeding needle or nozzle with a similar bore.
http://www.oxbowanimalhealth.com/our-products/professional-line/carnivore-care/ is often prescribed for critically sick insectivore / omnivore reptiles.

You need to keep your sick dragon warm 24/day , no cooler than 28 degC overnight would be my suggestion , this will help boost her metabolism and immune system.
You also need to keep her stress free as much as possible ( if she became gravid because she was sharing an tank with a male , she must be kept in her own tank from now on (permanently).

Antibiotics are hard on their gut flora , others here can point you in the direction of suppliments to help with this.

Essentially she needs critical intensive care and several small meals per day to help her recover.

Hi there, sorry to hear about your poor girl. I wonder if she actually needed surgery to begin with because nearly all females [ and I've owned quite a few ] stop eating before laying. Surgery is a very tough thing for any creature, and a beardie spay is VERY invasive. How big was she before the surgery ?


As the previous poster mentions she should not brumate and it's important to get her hydrated + fed the slurry and completely off the meds. She can handle a few parasites , it's far more important for her to get back her appetite and if she is vomiting this is the worst thing for her , so meds. should be stopped. She needs rest, hydration + some nutrition and see how it goes. Best wishes for a full recovery.

BTW, can you post a few pics of your little girl ? Here's how :

https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload them

Thank you both so much for your replies.
I will make sure to not let her brumate as suggested. The only meds she is on now are a critical care powder prescribed by the vet two weeks ago (Avipro Plus), a calcium powder and liquid and an electrolyte liquid, all being syringe fed to her.
In terms of how big she was before the surgery I can quite remember. She did lose weight in the week between the surgery and her next check up but our vet was happy to rule that to just the weight of the eggs that were removed.
Her tank is generally around 30°C and only drops as low as maybe 25 on really cold nights but i will keep her heat lamp on 24/7 from here on in.
Should I keep her on these above mentioned meds along with the baby food? She has no interest in live food at all and her salads just sit around untouched. She spends a good amount of time in her basking spot, as I'm writing this she's just only moved out of it, so absorbing the calcium from the supplements shouldn't be a problem I don't think, but again this is our first beardie and yous guys seem to know a whole heap more than I.
As for pictures I'll get working on them after this post goes live.
Again thank you guys so much, I really appreciate all of your help so far.
-Patrick

You're welcome, I just hope to help her as I'm sure everyone else would also hope. Well her basking temp. at 30C is too low. It needs to be at least 38, maybe 40c. At night you can use a CHE [ ceramic heater ] that produces heat without light since beardies need it mostly dark to sleep. Unless it goes below 25C at night she'll be fine for now.

And keep trying with the stuff your vet gave for her, good to hear that she's off the meds. What she's on now is fine, it's supplemental nutrition. I look forward to seeing pics of her.

We have a 60 watt basking bulb in at the minute but have a spare 100 watt bulb, should we change them?
The last Picture is her when she was healthy and the other 3 are pictures i took of her just now.

Aw, what a beautiful girl ! She looks very tired + unwell. Let her rest for the most part. I really hope she pulls through. And yes, a 100 watt should be much better.

Hello,

Oh my, poor thing, surgery for egg removal, was it a full spaying then?
Can I ask which deworming medication was given to her? I hate to hear that she is lethargic
though, hopefully that doesn't indicate infection or anything like that.
Did the vet give you any type of cream or ointment to put on her wound?
Definitely keep her a bit warmer overnight, around 80 or so, to help keep her comfortable &
warm.
She does look a little tired. I hope she recovers for you. Let us know how she is doing.

Tracie

Oh she looks like the vet gutted her....

No wonder she's looking so tired …. she's had major surgery and she has to be in pain still.

I'd be very worried about such a deep penetrating wound , even though it's been closed up with a couple of stitches and maybe some skin glue becoming infected . I think you will be doing her a big favour if you get hold of some F10 Barrier Ointment

to apply to the wound until it heals.

Watch for pus oozing from the cut or swelling --- if this happens it's an EMERGENCY and I'd rush her back to the vet to get IMMEDIATE treatment.

If she's getting antibiotics …. keep these going UNTIL the vet tells you to stop.

Thank you all so much for all of your replies and suggestions. We have just left the vet and he has said she doesn't look well at all and he is growing concerned that she may not make it. He has decided to take her o at night to try and prompt a recovery but he didn't seem too hopeful.
Thank you all again, we really appreciate all of the help. ❤

Oh man, I'm so sorry. I really hope she pulls through. Was she still active before you took her for the surgery ?

Yeah she was still pretty active before the surgery. We're hoping it's just dehydration, her eyes have become very sunken and she's not moving or reacting much at all.

Aw, I still if wonder the surgery was even necessary. Being active was a good sign. She may have reabsorbed non shelled eggs + been O.K. But for now she's in their hands + I hope she will come home to you .

No the surgery was definitely necessary. I can't quite remember the name if the problem they said she was having, I think it was prenatal something, and the eggs couldn't have passed but we're growing to size where they would have started to "squish her innards". I'm sure it was a lot more concise and termed better than I have put it but we were told if they were not removed they would have been fatal.
I shall keep you posted on what the vet says tomorrow. Thank you for your continued support ❤

Hey guys, just got off the phone with the vet. Unfortunately she didn't make it. Around 4 o'clock this morning (GMT) she gave up the fight.
Thank you all for all your support. Here's a picture of her as a baby doing a poop with her raspberry on her head.
Rest in Peace Cynder, you were a good gorl.