DISCLAIMER:
My bearded dragon, Chili, has had a rough ½ year. First, she had a severe case of parasites(July, August 2019), with no open vets, and we were forced to drive over 150 km(93 miles) to the nearest open vet to get her treatment. She made it, and recovered over a course of a month. She had lost a lot of weight and was still fighting herself to make it. November 2019 to December 2019, she was still weak and became weaker, I decided to take her to the vet, since she also had swelling on hands and feet. She had gotten a bacterial infection, but was caught in the early stages(December 23), she got antibiotics for 10 days, later continued for another 10 days since no improvement found place. The vet and I decided to stop the antibiotic cure and see where it could bring her. After a couple of hours/days she had developed tail rot, probably from the infection in her body, which got to her tail. Within 12 hours, overnight, the tail rot had continued up her tail(about 6-7 cm) and I got an emergency vet appointment, but she luckily began to have an appetite again, a very big one. She ate and ate, both dubias and zophobas. After going to the vet, she got 40% of her tail amputated and stitched(Friday, 17th January). In this meantime, she has not been getting better. She is still very weak, still losing weight, despite her big appetite for meat, no greens though yet... And that brings us to this day.
She has begun (1 day ago) gaping a lot, almost constantly, but she can never have her mouth open for very long, since she is also gulping/swallowing often. She is gaping when just a little bit warm under her basking spot, she is only not gaping when she is sleeping or pretty cold. Still gaping when semi warm/cold in the cold end of the terrarium, or just outside her basking spot. She still eats, almost everyday, her stool looks good, no runny stool nor blood or similar. She has a hard time moving around, her muscles are almost non existent and her body fat percentage is low. However, she is alert, awake most of the time and can lift her head up. She could not do this a few weeks ago. So all in all its better, however this gaping and gulping concerns me, that she has something else unexpected. I can not hear any crackling or wheezing when breathing, nor see any mucus around her nose and mouth(pictures at the end).
Could this be a respiratory infection, maybe from the bacterial infection in her hands and feet or signs of MBD? She has had signs of MBD before, and I am getting an UVB tube in the start of February. The vet said that she does not have MBD, however she could be in the beginning stages of it. She sometimes get calcium supplements in terms of calcium and vitamin water, aswell as well-dipped insects in calcium powder and plenty of basking time, since she has to be warm(vet tip). She often has baths, but has been taking a break cause of the amputation. Terrarium gets cleaned thoroughly every 14 days.
P.S, her tail(before and after amputation) is hurting her alot, I can barely touch it.
I have another bearded dragon in the same enclosure, which has been healthy the past ½ year. It's only Chili who is getting sick. Sandy(the other dragon) is healthy and well fed. (THEY GET ALONG! They are not fighting, they are sisters, born together and respects each other.)
I am not an expert, but I can't seem to see any mucus.
Any help, advice, recommendations, etc would be appreciated..!
My bearded dragon, Chili, has had a rough ½ year. First, she had a severe case of parasites(July, August 2019), with no open vets, and we were forced to drive over 150 km(93 miles) to the nearest open vet to get her treatment. She made it, and recovered over a course of a month. She had lost a lot of weight and was still fighting herself to make it. November 2019 to December 2019, she was still weak and became weaker, I decided to take her to the vet, since she also had swelling on hands and feet. She had gotten a bacterial infection, but was caught in the early stages(December 23), she got antibiotics for 10 days, later continued for another 10 days since no improvement found place. The vet and I decided to stop the antibiotic cure and see where it could bring her. After a couple of hours/days she had developed tail rot, probably from the infection in her body, which got to her tail. Within 12 hours, overnight, the tail rot had continued up her tail(about 6-7 cm) and I got an emergency vet appointment, but she luckily began to have an appetite again, a very big one. She ate and ate, both dubias and zophobas. After going to the vet, she got 40% of her tail amputated and stitched(Friday, 17th January). In this meantime, she has not been getting better. She is still very weak, still losing weight, despite her big appetite for meat, no greens though yet... And that brings us to this day.
She has begun (1 day ago) gaping a lot, almost constantly, but she can never have her mouth open for very long, since she is also gulping/swallowing often. She is gaping when just a little bit warm under her basking spot, she is only not gaping when she is sleeping or pretty cold. Still gaping when semi warm/cold in the cold end of the terrarium, or just outside her basking spot. She still eats, almost everyday, her stool looks good, no runny stool nor blood or similar. She has a hard time moving around, her muscles are almost non existent and her body fat percentage is low. However, she is alert, awake most of the time and can lift her head up. She could not do this a few weeks ago. So all in all its better, however this gaping and gulping concerns me, that she has something else unexpected. I can not hear any crackling or wheezing when breathing, nor see any mucus around her nose and mouth(pictures at the end).
Could this be a respiratory infection, maybe from the bacterial infection in her hands and feet or signs of MBD? She has had signs of MBD before, and I am getting an UVB tube in the start of February. The vet said that she does not have MBD, however she could be in the beginning stages of it. She sometimes get calcium supplements in terms of calcium and vitamin water, aswell as well-dipped insects in calcium powder and plenty of basking time, since she has to be warm(vet tip). She often has baths, but has been taking a break cause of the amputation. Terrarium gets cleaned thoroughly every 14 days.
P.S, her tail(before and after amputation) is hurting her alot, I can barely touch it.
I have another bearded dragon in the same enclosure, which has been healthy the past ½ year. It's only Chili who is getting sick. Sandy(the other dragon) is healthy and well fed. (THEY GET ALONG! They are not fighting, they are sisters, born together and respects each other.)
Any help, advice, recommendations, etc would be appreciated..!