Very Ill Hatchling

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Sorry about my first post being about a sick baby, but this is urgent. For some background I work at a veterinary clinic that has one vet that sees exotics. A chain store brought this little guy in on Friday, they received it Monday and it had not eaten or had supplements since arrival. They were calling it a failure to thrive and no one in the store had the time or willingness to deal with it. I thought I'd try. This is my first bearded dragon but I have successfully raised/rehabbed neonate leopard geckos and have several other reptiles.

The baby is 2.5 inches from nose to vent, 5ish inches from nose to tail tip. He is 5 grams. He presented very lethargic, dehydrated, and emaciated. We did a direct fecal and didn't see any parasites but couldn't get enough of a sample for a crypto test or swab for the atadenovirus. No medication yet since he is already anorexic.

I've syringe fed critical care diet with calcium added starting yesterday. He has fresh greens available at all times and phoenix worms - but will not eat. He was willingly lapping the diet from the syringe tip yesterday and this morning, but by mid afternoon today was really not wanting to eat at all and he developed a head tremor.

I know his chances are very slim, but any advice is appreciated.

Mainly: do i try feeding with pureed veggies / baby food or just stick with carnivore care - (it has a lot of protein in it)?, being sick do I keep his temps at the regular 95-100 basking during the day and 72-80 at night or should they be more constant? Right now he is being soaked twice a day per the vet to maintain hydration but he's getting wrinkly by mid-afternoon - do I add a 3rd soaking?

He is in a 20gal long with reptisun 10.0 on a 12 hour cycle, and a 75 watt basking bulb on a thermostat set at 98*F during the day with no additional heat at night. The room he is in is 76*F at night, Substrate is paper towel over slate tile. He has rocks to climb and bask, two hides (that he doesn't use), a flat butter dish lid with water and a flat lid with veggies. until this evening he was moving to thermoregulate on his own
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

Well, sometimes they definitely will surprise you & make it through.
Do you have any pictures of the little one, we could see, as well as your tank setup just so
we can review it.
Does he seem to like the critical care at all? If you wanted to do an adeno test, you can do
a fecal swab or an environmental swabbing, either one, just to know if he does have adeno.
I have an adeno website where I help people get their dragons tested for $20 you could
consider.
I would do several feedings daily just to spread out nutrition more evenly since he is so thin
& dehydrated. Go easy on the protein right now to help ease the stress on his kidneys.
I would recommend keeping him a little warmer overnight, to help boost his immune system,
also.
Let us know how he is doing. I hope he pulls through, bless him.

Tracie
 

Spotteddragon

Member
Original Poster
I will post some pictures. He took 0.5 mls of a veggie and roach slurry I made this am and didn't show any of the head tremors. If he makes it until Tuesday when my vet is back in the office I will try and get the virus swab. The slurry I made today is organic kale, collard, and mustard greens, sweet potato, yellow squash, a few raspberries, and dubia roaches. (needless to say I won't be using my blender from milk shakes anymore).
This is right after I got him home and under a basking light, the temp now is 98*on the rocks checked with a digital thermometer and IR heat gun.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachme...066__6163D3AD-E897-4F33-A63B-742D853CB392.JPG

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/450442571596955653/716668986238042122/IMG_1868.JPG

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachme...784__D004681E-FBBB-425C-B88E-FB5589C2591B.JPG

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/450442571596955653/716669986537603092/IMG_1869.PNG
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Basking temps should be 105-110 --- also the reptisun 10.0 is this a coil or a tube?
Karrie
 

Spotteddragon

Member
Original Poster
KarrieRee":sf6h1d6s said:
Basking temps should be 105-110 --- also the reptisun 10.0 is this a coil or a tube?
Karrie

I will up the thermostat temps - using a herpstat EZ1. The reptisun is a coil - I know it's not ideal but the housing for the tube kind won't be here until mid week from amazon. I borrowed this lighting set up form work until mine arrives. I thought some uvb was better than none
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Ok yeah the coils are not ideal --- in the mean time you can get him outside for some UVB -- if your temps are 65+ degrees take him out either by holding him or in a plastic tote NO Glass - place him in some direct sunlight/ partial shade for 15 minutes - watch him you dont want to burn him up or over heat him -- the 15 minutes will equal out to about 4 hrs of UVB --- the coil may or may not be doing any good I dont have much faith in them but the outside would be better --- coils in bigger tanks do not do any good but the smaller tanks so so I am saying--
Karrie
 

Spotteddragon

Member
Original Poster
KarrieRee":2umvg604 said:
Ok yeah the coils are not ideal --- in the mean time you can get him outside for some UVB -- if your temps are 65+ degrees take him out either by holding him or in a plastic tote NO Glass - place him in some direct sunlight/ partial shade for 15 minutes - watch him you dont want to burn him up or over heat him -- the 15 minutes will equal out to about 4 hrs of UVB
Karrie

No problem! thanks for the info - Its in the 80s outside to day so I will take him out here in bit when I feed him again. He's still weak but is more active in the cage today.
 

Spotteddragon

Member
Original Poster
Thanks for your advice, but unfortunately he was already passed at 3pm. I appreciate you taking the time to help me out
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
I am so sorry! :( Poor baby! Do you have any idea why he passed?
Karrie
 

loljelloclowdz

Juvie Member
I’m super sad he’s gone, but I’m happy that you gave him a chance, you’re most likely the first person to show this animal compassion. The mills these animals come from need to be outlawed for harboring disease (disease can mutate and spread to humans, as observed with a current global issue.). Also I’m glad the employees brought him to you, since a lot of chain pet stores often neglect the sick animals and just let them waste away in the back of the store. It’s very tragic that he still passed, but he passed with dignity and finally knowing what UVB feels like on his skin.
 
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