My beardie needs help ASAP!!

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jnayrapp

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My beardie video:
https://youtu.be/vGhJpyiw9Ss

I’m new here and wanted to know if anyone has seen their beardie do what mine is doing in the video with their mouth? A month ago he quit drinking and eating. At first I thought he was going into brumation but he isn’t. He wants to drink but when he tries he does the tongue thing and shakes his head vigorously then tries to drink again and shakes his head until he gives up. Sometimes drool comes out and lately a little blood. By his left bottom teeth there is white pussy looking stuff and blood spots on his tongue inside. He also has a tiny bump on his right lip that is slowly growing. The vet has me tube feeding him 5cc of a prescription mixture of wet canned dog food and water to try to get him stronger since he is just wasting away. He also gave a shot of b vitamins. He ran tests which didn’t tell him much and did an x-ray and can’t find anything wrong or obstructed and he’s still pooping regularly. If anyone has seen this please let me know!!! My thought is rot mouth??

Age: 3 yrs old and got when he was a couple months
Set up:
120 gallon tank
Two desert 50 15 watt UV lighting tubes
Two dome lighting holders, one with 100 watt basking and one with 150 watt standard uvb
Eats organic produce only (mainly collard greens, dandelion greens or endive and blueberry or zucchini and super worms or Dubai roaches. Sprinkle calcium on food every day and have since he was a baby.
Normally a very good eater and active beardie, nothing has changed in the cage size or setup except I just changed the lights all a month ago. The uv lights were a year old, the others go out after about two months so need frequent replacing.
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

That does not look good sorry to say.
Did the vet do a blood test on him? If so, please post a copy of the blood test here & I would
be happy to look over them for you.
Based on those few symptoms & description of his mouth, it sounds like a mouth infection of
some type or an abscess in his mouth.
His tank is large enough, absolutely. What type & brand of UVB lights are you using, you had
mentioned tube bulbs so what brand are they?
How far from him are the UVB lights & are they on top of or underneath of the screen top?
What brand of calcium are you using for him?
Honestly, I am not real keen on the canned dog food for him, there are better choices. That is
way too high in protein & not good for his kidneys. You could get some Oxbow critical care
powdered food for Omnivore or Carnivore care (both of which are formulated for reptiles. If you
aren't able to get some of that then you can get organic chicken or turkey baby food, & mix it
with sweet potato or squash baby food to give to him daily.
I think you might get another opinion because it sounds like it's possibly metabolic bone disease,
along with an infection of some type going on, but hopefully not a tumor that is growing on his lip.

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie
 

jnayrapp

New member
Original Poster
Thanks for the reply. He didn’t do a blood test just an x-ray.

Tube bulbs - zoo Med Repti sun 15 watt - also took him in the sun during the summer months to bask some during the day. These light fixtures sit on the top which is a metal grate top with good size holes.

100 watt zoo med repti basking spot and 150 watt exoterra white heat lamp. Both sit on a hanging hook right above the metal top

This is the same enclosure he has been in for over two years and we change the bulbs pretty regularly.

Using zoo med repti calcium

Recently we have been finding a weird looking beetle getting inside his enclosure so not sure if he ate one and it also has become cooler so he hasn’t been outside in a couple months.
 

CooperDragon

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
I wonder if his mouth feels sore and that is keeping him from wanting to eat. The vet may be able to remove necrotic tissue if found. It may be worthwhile to try cleaning the areas with some Maxiguard Gel using a qtip. It may be good to test for infection as well and treat if needed. The 15w bulb is a T8 so best at about 6-8” without mesh in the way. Since you are setting it on mesh you may want to upgrade to a 22” T5 which will produce higher UVB levels and should sit about 10” or so above the basking area when shining through a mesh top.
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
Soft foods while his mouth is too sore to handle harder / more solid foods will help.

Vet needs to attend to this and work out exactly what is causing this under a general ( will be very hard to give the mouth and throat a thorough examination and take swabs or biopsies while the dragon is "awake" ).
 
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