Lethargic Beardie: Vet suggested impaction, brumation, or..?

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Claudiusx

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Yeah but no fecal or bloodwork was done. Both I think would be beneficial at this point.
I agree, if you have a second option for a vet near you it might be worthwhile. But I wouldn't go unless you are willing to do fecal or bloodwork. And like mentioned earlier, if you can have hin tested for adv and its not much more I would do it.

At this point without lab tests all you can do is keep up with the baby food and hopefully that will give him the nutrients to get his energy back. The baby food can cause odd colored stools.

-Brandon
 

Aebrius

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claudiusx":g6i8kzo2 said:
Yeah but no fecal or bloodwork was done. Both I think would be beneficial at this point.
I agree, if you have a second option for a vet near you it might be worthwhile. But I wouldn't go unless you are willing to do fecal or bloodwork. And like mentioned earlier, if you can have hin tested for adv and its not much more I would do it.

At this point without lab tests all you can do is keep up with the baby food and hopefully that will give him the nutrients to get his energy back. The baby food can cause odd colored stools.

-Brandon


Thanks to both of you.

Another vet isn't an option, unfortunately. I called in telling them I wanted to get a fecal and bloodwork done, they said they'll check about the fecal and will get back to me if they can do reptile bloodwork. In with the same exotic vet again tomorrow, hopefully this time will be better.
 

Claudiusx

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Unfortunate that your vet seems so unwilling/unable to do labworks.

Either way, there are lots of people here willing to help you so hopefully we can turn your guy around.

If you haven't yet, do weigh him so we can keep track of whether not not he is losing weight.

-Brandon
 

Aebrius

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The vet called after to say no go on doing blood work, but that I should bring in the fecal for them to send off... Monday, since they wouldn't trust the carrier company to hold it properly over the weekend. Since I don't see much physical change in him she said there isn't much point in another physical either, so I'm just dropping it off for them to send Monday I guess?

I was with him a lot today, I got him to eat a small hornworm and he ate some baby food as well. It's almost like he goes up and down with how he's feeling, he'll look more okay for a short amount of time, then get lethargic where it seems like he just gives up and goes to sleep instead. This was mainly around two-three, which is usually his most active time, before and after that he was mostly sleeping.

I'll weigh him tomorrow morning for sure. He seems to have lost weight, but he's also not really eating right now besides baby food and the very rare hornworm. I tried to open his mouth to put a little baby food onto his tongue for him, and he was very much full struggle having none of it. Which was nice to see, haha
 

KarrieRee

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Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
I would suggest getting some carnivore / herbivore and mix it together -- its going to keep him from losing weight- I have been struggling w/ Hiccup to get him to eat and hes having none of it- I am mixing 3 -1 where as the 3 T is the herbivore mix - 1 T carnivore--the vet finally heard back from the U of Miami today and since all blood work was done and they are asking for another sample since some of it came back high showing signs of infection and xrays were done after that and nothing showed on that as well so they want another sample to re test-- he is doing everything normal - basking and moving about his tank etc........... the vet from the U of Miami stated that it is normal for a dragon and geckos to become very spoiled w/ us feeding them by syringe so she was not overly concerned at this point-- the pics of the tank that my vet sent of his tank set up didnt go thru and they were resent as well-- so we will see what the U of Miami says about that-- I am at a loss as to why hes not eating ---- why will your vet not do blood work ? do they not know how ? are they a reptile vet? When you get the fecal test back to see what it shows and if its clean then I would move on to xrays and see what they show -- blood work would be the best thing -- but I guess I would ask about feeding the carnivore / herbivore mix just so he is getting the nutrients etc that he needs-- at this point Hiccup is sustaining his weight-- and I have tried feeding him salads at different times and not feed the carnivore/ herbivore mix for a few days or longer -- hes eaten one bit of salad since last Wed--- :roll: --- and I have tried enticing him w/ stuff like bee pollen - argula and tomorrow I am picking up some cilantro since it has a strong smell --- but again you can ask your vet about what you should be feeding him --- I was gonna say too if he's got parasites that would cause him not to eat
Karrie
 

Aebrius

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Update: He's starting to do better now!

The fecal came back as negative for anything, so she recommended that I come in for an appointment with the other vet there instead. Slightly frustrating.

After my last post I went out and bought him a new T5HO (Even though his was just short of five months, I believe) and have been feeding him by syringe a mix of zilla jumpstart, baby food, and a small bit of calcium/multivitamins. He got to his worst as of three ish days ago, but has been improving a lot since and is eating small hornworms on his own again.

I also adjusted the wood piece on the back closer to the downward heatlamp and made it so he could get closer to the T5 now also. He seems happy with the changes.
 

Aebrius

Member
Original Poster
URGENT UPDATE

Girlfriend was home with him today, and as of two hours ago he was able to look around and was moving. Earlier before that he was running around on her shoulders.

Now he's very barely able to use his front arms. I came home and he was in his basking corner, and I noticed when I picked him up he seemed... softer I guess? His belly and such, and his front arm muscles.

I took him out into the sun and noticed he kept falling sideways, and eventually figured out that he's barely able to use his front arms at all. I tried putting him in the bath and massaging them gently, no luck.

I put him in his tank on his hot spot up onto the stick, and he started pushing himself up higher onto it with his back legs, his little arms barely able to move at all. He cant hold himself up so he's kind of snaking his way around his floor right now.

The only thing I'm reading online is impaction, but he's been pooping normally. I've been feeding him the babyfood mixture still, but he's also been eating hornworms a little on his own too.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Hi there, sorry to see this happening to your poor baby. :( This would not have anything to do with impaction. Impaction can cause hind leg paralysis when there is a mass of poo that is pressing against the spine it would not happen to the front legs and would not be a possibility since he's pooing. You may have had a bad uvb bulb, maybe the new one will help him to absorb calcium now. Get him in the sun if you can. I also agree that he should have bloodwork done but his symptoms now are likely related to calcium deficiency.
 
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