URGENT: My Guy Ate a Firefly

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Herpaderper

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My apartment building has been invaded by fireflies and late last night, my bearded dragon, Dub, ate one crawling on the floor. As soon as I saw it, I fed him a handful of Dubia roaches and Superworms in an attempt to dilute the toxin. Within 30 minutes his beard was blacker than I’ve ever seen it and he had a giant bowel movement. I bathed him under supervision for a bit and he had two more bowel movements. After which, he seemed very stressed. I put him to rest for the night and this morning he was nearly unresponsive. After coming home from work he was more alert and I used an eye dropper to give him a pedialyte/water mixture because of how much water he lost in his bowel movements.

It’s been 18 hours so far, and he’s gotten active enough to climb his perch, but beard is still black, and he’s pancaked out with kind of splotchy coloration on his back. Is there anything else I can do???

Thanks guys
 

Foxxy76

Member
If you have a scale that reads in grams take his weight. Get his weight and some activated charcoal powder. You can call a vet and see what dose of powder to water to mix. Or see if the vet wants to see him.

"I have activated charcoal capsules at 520 mg.
Nacho is 268 g and 17 inches long 7 months old

Okay so I took a guess-timate and did 1/4 capsule to 5ml water
gave 0.02 ml PO"

This is what I did when Nacho ate a mystery leaf.
 

CooperDragon

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
The dosage should be about 1-3mg of activated charcoal per g of body weight mixed with water to a solution that can be administered and swallowed easily. Since it has been so long since the ingestion, it may be tough to remove the toxin from his system. Flushing the system with plenty of water may be beneficial at this point, but I would still consult an experienced vet for additional advice on this situation. I'm glad to hear he survived the night since these can be quite serious. I advise keeping a charcoal kit on hand for situations like this in the future https://bug-de-lite.com/Item/Emergency Charcoal Kit
 

Herpaderper

New member
Original Poster
You guys,

Thank you so much for your advice! He went from black and unresponsive to nearly normal in 24 hours. No more black beard! The skin on his back is still a little splotchy, but he’s a LOT better. The local exotic vets thought things sounded on the up and up. I’m continuing the pedialyte/water to flush his system and he’s downing it. Gonna get the activated charcoal as a future first aid. I just hope there’s no backtracking.

He’s skinny looking, but this is him right now after his hellish ordeal...

do1iis.jpg
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

Wow poor guy! That's amazing news he survived like this, as many of them don't.
Definitely you will want to keep activated charcoal on hand, because you never know
if you may need it.
Since he seems to be back to almost normal, he will likely be fine. You can also get
some parsley, cilantro, basil & mint to mix with water as a slurry to help detox his system,
too.
I would say, overall he looks excellent right now!

Tracie
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

I am hoping that your boy is all 100% back to normal??
Let us know that he is still ok. It is amazing when they come through things like this,
virtually unscathed. I am so happy for him~!

Tracie
 

Herpaderper

New member
Original Poster
Sorry, for the late reply...

Yes, Tracie, he is doing fantastic. He’s happy, healthy, and doing lizard things. Thank you so much for your concern!

And thanks to you and everyone else for all of the excellent advice!

Aaron
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello Aaron,

That is terrific he is doing so well after this ordeal! :D Most are not so lucky.
Let us know if you need anything.

Tracie
 
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