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I posted a few weeks ago about my 2.5 year old male who I had recently taken to the vet because he wasn’t eating or pooping for about 2 weeks. They did blood work and xrays and gave him an enema to test his poop for parasites.

The vet said that he had a 2 inch urate plug they helped remove, and he tested negative for any parasites. The xrays looked fine and didn’t show any signs of impaction. He stated that Rudy looked dehydrated and that he looked underweight, but not malnourished. He suggested I bathe him every day for 20 minutes to help with dehydration. Before his blood work came back, he started him on an injectable antibiotic that I had to give for 2 weeks. (Every 48 hours in his front leg, alternating each time). The bloodwork came back and numbers were mostly normal, but he said the white blood cells were slightly elevated, and I should continue the antibiotic.

After getting several responses to my post and advice on soaking him too much, I cut back on his baths to every other day and eventually every 3 days. His vet appointment was July 14, and since then, he only eats if I give him baby food with a syringe. I was told that the antibiotics could mess with his appetite, but he hasn’t had a shot of that in over a week, and his appetite still isn’t back.
It was recommended that I start him on a probiotic to counter the antibiotic affects, so I ordered some from Tracie and have mixed it in with his baby food each day.

He also went through a difficult shed on his tail, which I thought could’ve affected his appetite. His tail has now completely shed except for one small piece, but his head is starting to shed.

Another thing I thought it could be was stress. I fooled with his tank quite a bit to get his lighting regulated. I set up a thermostat and moved my basking bulb to the top of the enclosure because the temps were just too hot with it inside. He is in a zen habitat 4x2x2. I have his basking bulb (150w) on top and connected to a thermostat to keep his basking log temps around 95-100.

This whole situation is so stressful. He still isn’t eating, and the past two days he hasn’t wanted to move at all. Now his beard looks a little black and he seems to be breathing a little harder. I will attach a YouTube video

https://youtu.be/FD_cmXfLj-I
 

KarrieRee

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Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Ok so I didnt know they gave him a enema --- :( we do not recommend enemas but now I am wondering if something happened --- Tracie is gonna need to weigh in on this --- if he isnt showing signs of a RI then its probably not that -- I need AHBD to also look and see what the issue is --- I would recommend you keep his tank at nite a little warmer than usual - like around 80 if possible do you have a CHE for your tank?
Karrie
 

Teach88790

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Original Poster
Yes, they said they needed to do an enama to check for parasites. I wish I had know not to let them :(

I do have CHE that I will hook up tonight.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
He looks pretty woebegone but I don't see any sign of an R.I at all which is good. :) Do he's had a lot of things happen to him in the last 3-4 weeks, that's going to affect him physically and also cause stress so just give it some time for him to recupe. His body structure still looks very good so just keep offering the baby food with extra hydration and completely stop any more injections. They are painful and he is going to associate your coming to the tank as a sign that he's going to have another unpleasant experience. He needs to rest and he should bounce back, even if he loses a little more weight don't get too worried, it should returnn after he feels better and more secure. The probiotic should help too. It's obvious you really love him and I can see he's a very handsome good boy and I think he'll be O.K :)
 

Teach88790

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I have the last injection last Tuesday. It was a 14 day treatment.

When you say give him baby food with extra hydration, what do you mean. He will not drink from a bath or water bowl, but I can sometimes get him to drink little droplets on his nose (he hasn’t drank any like that in a few days tho). Do you mean misting him or baths? Will the baby food have hydrate him at all?
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
O.K that's good that he drinks the water drops ! What I mean by extra hydration is to also mix some water in with the baby food, and the baby food itself has a decent amount of water in it as well.
 

Drache613

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Hello,

Oh my poor thing, enemas are so hard on them & often fatal. I am glad he was able to come
through it without any complications.
How are the probiotics working out for him?
Yes, just use a plastic dropper to drip some water or fluids onto the end of his nose. Usually,
they do pretty well that way. He only has one more injection left?

I hope he is feeling better.

Tracie
 

Teach88790

Member
Original Poster
Drache613":1f4jrbkv said:
Hello,

Oh my poor thing, enemas are so hard on them & often fatal. I am glad he was able to come
through it without any complications.
How are the probiotics working out for him?
Yes, just use a plastic dropper to drip some water or fluids onto the end of his nose. Usually,
they do pretty well that way. He only has one more injection left?

I hope he is feeling better.

Tracie

Actually, I gave him his last injection last Tuesday. I am mixing the probiotics (.5ml like you suggested) into his baby food each day. How many days should I continue those?

Thank you all for your help. It has certainly been a stressful time.
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

Just wondering how things were going for your boy?
Sorry I missed your last post here! We usually recommend continuing with probiotics for at least a couple
of weeks or so, maybe even 3 after medication rounds. Their systems can sure get messed up & decrease
their appetites for weeks at a time!

Tracie
 

Teach88790

Member
Original Poster
He seems a little more alert and active. He still is not interested in any bugs or salads. I’ve been putting worms in his salad also, and he won’t touch any of it. I ordered some hornworms, but they are HUGE! I’m taking at least 2 inches. I put one in his tank and he acted afraid if it almost. His beard went black.

I have had him on repta+boost for 2 days and yesterday the Critical Care I ordered arrived and I gave him a dose of that. I ordered the herbivore kind by mistake, is that okay?

I’ve been giving him the probiotics for about 8 days now. He is eating things from a small syringe. When I place the food on his nose he will open his mouth and eat the drops.

Finally, I’m still trying to handle the clogged pores. When I soak him in betadine like Kerrie recommended, I’m using a soft toothbrush to scrub them some. Are they meant to wear down, or is the goal to get them to soften and pop out?

Thanks for all of your help throughout this!
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

I am glad that he seems to be more alert & active but it may take a little while for his appetite to fully come
back so keep trying.
Wow, those hornworms are probably too large for him. They can certainly get very big. That is ok you
gave herbivore as well. Does he like all of the powdered foods you are giving? Keep trying, I do think that
he will turn around eventually, they just recover slowly.
The femoral pores will usually have color so I wouldn't worry too much about them appearing clogged unless
there are protruding pores with the waxy buildup. If they run around enough, their pores will stayed worn
down to a fair extent.

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie
 
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