Giving beardie antibiotic injections

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Tfulton30

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Hi. Anyone have experience doing this? My husband and I just did our second one today. (She has a URI) It is a bit nerve wracking. Today went better than yesterday but I wanted to see if anyone had a good method. We were givin Baytril after the first oral meds didn’t work. We are injecting It into her muscles. The thing that worries me is having to pull the syringe back to make sure it didn’t hit a blood vessel but this is so complicated when she is moving and trying to get away. Does anyone have any suggestions or a good method? I have looked at videos and they make it seem so easy but it just isn’t. Thanks in advance.
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
Inject into the back near the shoulders and only ever go in with the needle at a very shallow angle and between scales (less pressure needed to penetrate , less chance of accidentially impaling the lizard on the needle) and never more than 2 or 3 mm deep.

I've injected a skink as small as 5g (who was my first rescue and was the victim of a cat attack).

The vet nurse made it look easy, believe me , it's not and it's very scary and traumatic (for the lizard and the human).
 

Tfulton30

Member
Original Poster
Thanks for the advise. That’s where I did the injection yesterday and it didn’t seem to bother her too much. I’m honestly not sure if I can handle doing this for 2 weeks which is how long the vet told us to give the Baytril. I think I’d much rather do it orally. I’m just worried cuz the last oral meds she was on did not work.
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
Tfulton30":1csl1cay said:
Thanks for the advise. That’s where I did the injection yesterday and it didn’t seem to bother her too much. I’m honestly not sure if I can handle doing this for 2 weeks which is how long the vet told us to give the Baytril. I think I’d much rather do it orally. I’m just worried cuz the last oral meds she was on did not work.

Believe me giving antibiotics to a lizard by IM injection is MUCH QUICKER and EASIER and MUCH LESS STRESSFUL than giving nasty tasting antibiotics orally. Been there done that and the skink I mentioned HATED the oral antibiotics with a vengeance and did his best to make it hard two person job (one person restrained the skink and guided the plastic cathetar tube into the skinks mouth (the back corner) , and the other person operated the 1 ml syringe attached to the catheter tube (slowly pushed the plunger to deliver the dose. I was giving Lucky combined broad spectrum antibiotics mixed with painrelief IM injections for 4 weeks , and oral antiobiotics by mouth for 4 months.
Lucky was a crazy lizard for about 1 minute after each oral dose , huge yuck response.

The kit I used is shown here : 22G (blue catheter tube) viewtopic.php?f=45&t=232687
syringe_and_22_G_SUREFLO_CATHETER_TUBE_ONLY.png


Even little Lucky did his best to destroy the hated catheter tube (they are made from Teflon), a bearded dragon has much more weaponry in it's upper and lower jaws so is likely to bite bits off the end of the tube. You may need to resort to using a small gauge 18G feeding needle (these are made of high grade surgical stainless steel so are literally indestructible and designed not to damage the gums and teeth of lizard).
Like this :
syringe_and_18_G_medication_-_crop_needle.png
 

Tfulton30

Member
Original Poster
Oh geez. Maybe I’ll just keep doing the shots. I know how hard that is trying giving them the oral stuff. I had to pry her little mouth open from the side and shove the tube in. I felt horrible doing that too and sometimes a little bit would spill out the side which isn’t good. Do you know how long these uri’s normally take to clear up? She has had 4 injections now and is showing no signs of getting better. I know the baytril has side effects but she is still having breathing issues. I feel so horrible for my little girl and just want her to get better. This has been goin on for a month.
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

How is your girl doing this evening? Oral meds are hard on their system, but are effective. It
is important with any type of medications to always keep them well hydrated.
Have you considered doing any nebulizer treatments to help with the respiratory issues?
Are you keeping her warm overnight, around 80, to help boost her immune system right now?

I hope she gets to feeling better soon.

Tracie
 

Tfulton30

Member
Original Poster
Hi. Thank u for asking about my baby. I did do the nebulizer treatments a couple of times. She seems to hate it and I felt bad making her do it but maybe I should continue. I have been misting her daily cuz I did hear they can get dehydrated and I do have warmer in her cage at night. This infection just seems to be lingering. She seems really tired and doesnt want to eat but I heard those r side effects of baytril.
 
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