I have a bearded dragon who is about 4 years old. He hasn't been eating a lot, but the last few weeks he stopped eating completely, he has diarrhea, is very lethargic, and now he is really thin and dehydrated. I took him to a local vet who did a stool test and they said there were no parasites but that there was a lot of bacteria, so they gave us Carafate, Baytril, and Metronidazole Benzoate. I gave him those medicines for a week and tried to force feed him some nutrient mix, but I am not very good at forcing him to eat and am afraid that I will injure him. I also gave him frequent baths which seemed to help some, but he still wasn't eating and was pretty lethargic. He also seemed to have really thick saliva and did not seem to be swallowing well, and he still had diarrhea and any nutrient mixes we gave him he passed really quickly.
I took him to a different vet clinic that specializes in exotic animals, and they did a blood test. They said that his organs seemed to still be functioning, but that it looked like he had an infection somewhere in his organs. She told us to stop taking the other medications, and prescribed Ciprofloxacin. He has only been on the new medication for a day or two, but he seems even more lethargic and has started to move weirdly. Also, he looks like he is trying to bite the air, constantly has a black beard, and is moving around the enclosure like he wants to get out. I am not sure if this is due to stress from all of the vet trips, or something else. Also, when he pooped today, it looked like it had blood in it, and his body seems really bloated even though he is underweight.
I don't know what to do, and I'm really worried about him. Please help if you have any recommendations or advice.
Additional info: He is in a 48" X 24" cage. We usually use reptile carpet, but he is on paper towels right now so I can clean up any gross poop easily. I replaced the heat lights (halogen bulbs) when he started acting sick, and I ordered a new UVB bulb. His diet was not very well balanced before (mostly peas, strawberries or grapes with crickets occasionally) and I understand the issue with that and am trying to fix it, but he won't eat anything right now.
I took him to a different vet clinic that specializes in exotic animals, and they did a blood test. They said that his organs seemed to still be functioning, but that it looked like he had an infection somewhere in his organs. She told us to stop taking the other medications, and prescribed Ciprofloxacin. He has only been on the new medication for a day or two, but he seems even more lethargic and has started to move weirdly. Also, he looks like he is trying to bite the air, constantly has a black beard, and is moving around the enclosure like he wants to get out. I am not sure if this is due to stress from all of the vet trips, or something else. Also, when he pooped today, it looked like it had blood in it, and his body seems really bloated even though he is underweight.
I don't know what to do, and I'm really worried about him. Please help if you have any recommendations or advice.
Additional info: He is in a 48" X 24" cage. We usually use reptile carpet, but he is on paper towels right now so I can clean up any gross poop easily. I replaced the heat lights (halogen bulbs) when he started acting sick, and I ordered a new UVB bulb. His diet was not very well balanced before (mostly peas, strawberries or grapes with crickets occasionally) and I understand the issue with that and am trying to fix it, but he won't eat anything right now.