Our beardie is really sick

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Sriley

Member
There seems to be a lot going on with our little guy and I don’t know what to do. He is almost a year old and everything had been going great until about two weeks ago. We started noticing his apatite was off. He has always been a very very big eater. Worms and greens and carrots. Then we noticed almost over night a bump on his head. Left side towards the back of his head. He also became very lethargic. He used to run around our living room for 3 or 4 hours a day and jump off our couch chasing our two huskies. Now he moves from time to time and becomes a bit more alert here and there but he won’t eat and doesn’t drink unless we force him to even then he fights us. To make matters worse we took him to a vet that says they care for reptiles. They had no idea what was wrong and wanted to do a bunch of tests. Unfortunately it cost more then we could afford to do all of the tests.

We opted to test what was in the bump. They told us they could not hear blood swirling through it so that was a good sign so they took a sample to be tested. Almost two weeks and still no results. I have called them multiple times.

We left the vet with a prescription for Enroflexcin (antibiotic) and Tramadal (pain killer) and a food Supplement. They had also given him his first dose. We got home and he seemed worse but we thought maybe it’s just the meds. The following day my wife gave him the antibiotic and some food but no pain meds. Each day he seemed to get worse. On the 3rd day and after lots of reading and researching on the internet I realized she had been giving him the wrong dosage of the antibiotics. Prescribed .05 and was giving the poor little guy .5.

We stopped the meds and have not given him any antibiotics since, so 8-9 days I believe but he doesn’t seem to be getting better. He has more moments where he perks up but he is loosing a lot of weight and just doesn't look good. His left eye stays closed most of the time but not always.

I am afraid of doing the wrong thing but have tried to improve on his care.

Any advice would be great.

Also should we give him Probiotics?

How long does the antibiotics take to get out of his system? I tried the vet they said they won’t give medical advice over the phone

He is roughly 10 months old.

16” long

Tank is 48” across x 15” deep and 17” tall

Brand new Reptisun 10.0 UVB T8. The previous UVB light probably had stopped working for a few months ago but he got daily sunlight in our window

Eco terra 60 W ceramic heat emitter for at night. We had been using a red light but found it it was not good for him. Usually by morning the tank is still at 80 degrees but it had dropped to low 70’s a few times

Zoo med basking bulb. 8-10” above his rock. We try to keep his basking rock between 100-105

Substrate is Thrive reversible habitat carpet

Humidity is usually between 25-35 but has gone up to 50 a few times but not for very long.

Digital temp gauge that sits on his basking bulb and a temp and humidity gauge all in one in the middle of the tank

He was eating between 8-10 good sized worms every day plus some greens and carrots.

He has pooped 2 times since all this started. The last time it was not runny it looked healthy brown with some white and some pee at the end. It’s been 3 days now since his last poop but he isn’t eating hardly anything

We were probably not very consistent with his lighting and temp/humidity levels but he was always fine until literally over night things went bad. We have since gotten more consistent with his lighting

Oh last thing. His name is Mushu.

I am attaching pics of him showing the bump and of his enclosure.
 

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Shinryu

Hatchling Member
Staff member
Lead Writer
I will tag a couple of folks with veterinary experience that can take a look. @Drache613 @AHBD. I recently came across something similar on a different bearded dragon site, and in that case, it was a head aneurysm so perhaps this is something you can look into while we give other folks a chance to respond. Do you have photos of the enclosure itself so we can see how your UVB and basking bulbs are mounted? A couple of general photos of your enclosure would help as well. Make sure that your new Reptisun 10.0 UVB T8 bulb is mounted inside the terrarium since the output isn't strong enough if mounted outside the terrarium. Low 70s is not a big deal at all. We typically recommend using a ceramic heat emitter when the temperature drops below 65 degrees at night in your house. Your humidity level is also good.

In the several months when your UVB light was broken, did your beardie only receive indirect sunlight from the window? I hope little Mushu will start feeling better soon!
 

Sriley

Member
Original Poster
I will tag a couple of folks with veterinary experience that can take a look. @Drache613 @AHBD. I recently came across something similar on a different bearded dragon site, and in that case, it was a head aneurysm so perhaps this is something you can look into while we give other folks a chance to respond. Do you have photos of the enclosure itself so we can see how your UVB and basking bulbs are mounted? A couple of general photos of your enclosure would help as well. Make sure that your new Reptisun 10.0 UVB T8 bulb is mounted inside the terrarium since the output isn't strong enough if mounted outside the terrarium. Low 70s is not a big deal at all. We typically recommend using a ceramic heat emitter when the temperature drops below 65 degrees at night in your house. Your humidity level is also good.

In the several months when your UVB light was broken, did your beardie only receive indirect sunlight from the window? I hope little Mushu will start feeling better soon!
Thank you so much for your reply. I really appreciate it. I have read a little about the possibility of an aneurism. Obviously I am hoping that isn’t it. The lump has gotten a lot smaller since the beginning but it is still there and the vet said there didn’t appear to be blood in the lump when they took a sample. She also said they couldn’t hear any blood going through that area or they wouldn’t of tried to get the sample they did. Monday will be two weeks still no results. I will for sure do some more research on that possibility. What I did find didn’t say anything about how long he may have or if he is in a lot of pain. In fact what I did read all said their beardie didn’t act any different for a long time.

I’m afraid that there is the lump and possible something else besides the Over dose of antibiotics that is making him sicker. At the end of the day I want to make sure I am doing everything I can to make him comfortable and as healthy as possible.

I will send you some pics of my enclosure as soon as I get home.

I’m not exactly sure how long it wasn’t working I just read that after 6-8 months they stop putting out the UVB rays. As soon as I learned that I went and got him the new bulb. As far as uvb he was getting it was direct sunlight for 2-3 hours every day although it was through a screen since my walk would put him in the window in our living room. Plus she took him outside off and on and to my sons soccer games.

Thank you again for your response.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
It's really good that Mushu's lump has gotten smaller, glad to hear that ! From our last message I was hoping the vet could tell you at least if you should resume the meds. or let Mushu recover from the accidental overdosing. I know that can def. upset the tummy and that flushing out the kidneys with plenty of hydration would be a good idea. Probiotics might help too, hopefully Tracie will chime in tonight !
 

Sriley

Member
Original Poster
It's really good that Mushu's lump has gotten smaller, glad to hear that ! From our last message I was hoping the vet could tell you at least if you should resume the meds. or let Mushu recover from the accidental overdosing. I know that can def. upset the tummy and that flushing out the kidneys with plenty of hydration would be a good idea. Probiotics might help too, hopefully Tracie will chime in tonight !
Thank you for your response. I called the Vet the following morning and explained what had happened. The woman on the phone was very detailed in her questions read all the info back to me and had me hold so she could talk to someone but when I asked if there was anything we could do like give him lots of water or anything at all to help him get through it she told me that they were not allowed to give medical advice over the phone but they could make time in two days to see him if I wanted to bring him in. We had just spent almost $600.00 on the previous visit plus meds and we just didn’t have the money till payday so another $100-$150 wasn’t possible. Believe me if I would of actually had the money I would of took him to a vet just not that one.

He hasn’t been eating or drinking hardly anything. Only what we manage to force on him and that seems to really stress him out so it’s hard to do. Can you or anyone tell me if the Zoo Med Electrolyte soak is any good or if it works at all. I read that dragons don’t absorb water through their skin so I wasn’t sure how it would work?
 

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Shinryu

Hatchling Member
Staff member
Lead Writer
I'm sorry to hear that the vet's office isn't being super helpful. Sounds pretty frustrating considering how much you have already spent trying to obtain care for Mushu. I will let @Drache613 take a look at the more medical aspect of what you've posted but did want to chime in regarding the Reptile Electrolyte Soak. My understanding is that bearded dragons are not able to absorb water through the skin so this is unlikely to help in terms of getting Mushu to drink more unless Mushu drinks some of the water. Another idea would be to try Unflavored Pedialyte. I read that diluting Unflavored Pedialyte 50/50 with water would allow it to be administered via a syringe.
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

So terrible that Mushu is having such a horrible time of things. I hope that the vet gets the results to you soon.
What is the strength of the Baytril/enroflaxin? He got 3 doses of it & his condition worsened? I am wondering if
he hurt himself jumping off of the couch & hit his head which caused the aneurism or hematoma?
If you feel that he might be having a toxic reaction, you can get some activated charcoal into him as soon as you
can. Or you can also make a paste/slurry with parsley,cilantro, mint, basil & oregano to help detox him.
Be sure to keep him around 75-80 overnight right now since he isn't feeling well.

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie
 

Sriley

Member
Original Poster
I'm sorry to hear that the vet's office isn't being super helpful. Sounds pretty frustrating considering how much you have already spent trying to obtain care for Mushu. I will let @Drache613 take a look at the more medical aspect of what you've posted but did want to chime in regarding the Reptile Electrolyte Soak. My understanding is that bearded dragons are not able to absorb water through the skin so this is unlikely to help in terms of getting Mushu to drink more unless Mushu drinks some of the water. Another idea would be to try Unflavored Pedialyte. I read that diluting Unflavored Pedialyte 50/50 with water would allow it to be administered via a syringe.
Thank you for your reply. The bearded dragon community is lucky to have people like you all. I read the same thing about them not absorbing water through their skin. I may try it either way just in hopes that he drinks some. I will also pick up some unflavored Pedialyte. Thank you
 

Sriley

Member
Original Poster
Hello,

So terrible that Mushu is having such a horrible time of things. I hope that the vet gets the results to you soon.
What is the strength of the He got 3 doses of it & his condition worsened? I am wondering if
he hurt himself jumping off of the couch & hit his head which caused the aneurism or hematoma?
If you feel that he might be having a toxic reaction, you can get some activated charcoal into him as soon as you
can. Or you can also make a paste/slurry with parsley,cilantro, mint, basil & oregano to help detox him.
Be sure to keep him around 75-80 overnight right now since he isn't feeling well.

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie
The Bay
Hello,

So terrible that Mushu is having such a horrible time of things. I hope that the vet gets the results to you soon.
What is the strength of the Baytril/enroflaxin? He got 3 doses of it & his condition worsened? I am wondering if
he hurt himself jumping off of the couch & hit his head which caused the aneurism or hematoma?
If you feel that he might be having a toxic reaction, you can get some activated charcoal into him as soon as you
can. Or you can also make a paste/slurry with parsley,cilantro, mint, basil & oregano to help detox him.
Be sure to keep him around 75-80 overnight right now since he isn't feeling well.

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie
Baytril/enroflaxin strength was 100 mg/ml. He was prescribed .05. My wife misread it and loaded .5 in the syringe but she thinks he maybe got half of that each time because he fought her the entire time. Half is better then the full .5 but I am assuming that is still a dangerous amount.

Cilantro and Oregano are his two favorite greens to eat so I will for sure try the mix you suggested
 

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Sriley

Member
Original Poster
So a little update.

Today I got home and Mushu was in his hide. His Basking temp was at 100 a little lower then normal and the cool side was low 80’s. I’ve only seen him in his hide 1 or 2 times before. When I looked in on him I found that he had one of his worms half sticking out of his mouth and a min or two later when I returned he had eaten the other half. That is the first thing my wife and I know that he has eaten on his own. So on one hand I am concerned that he is in his hide but on the other hand he ate something on his own.

Tomorrow hopefully the vet will have some results for us.

Thought I would post a pic or two of our little dude in the spirit of Halloween. These pics are from before he got sick but I figured he is in costume so it is ok!
 

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Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

Tomorrow when I have time I will look over the dose. What is his weight so I can see what exactly he did
get? Do your best to detox him, hopefully it will get flushed out!
So he did eat a little bit then? Be sure to let us know about the results.
Does he have a black beard?
Try to keep him warm overnight still until he starts to feel better. Let us know how things are going.

Tracie
 

Sriley

Member
Original Poster
Hello,

Tomorrow when I have time I will look over the dose. What is his weight so I can see what exactly he did
get? Do your best to detox him, hopefully it will get flushed out!
So he did eat a little bit then? Be sure to let us know about the results.
Does he have a black beard?
Try to keep him warm overnight still until he starts to feel better. Let us know how things are going.

Tracie
Thank you so much. I don’t know how much he weights currently because we don’t have a scale but when I callEd the vet this morning they told me he weighed .5 kg or 500 grams. Still no results yet. They said they don’t know why no results yet but will get back to me today after looking into it. Today is exactly two weeks so they should have results from the test.

It has been 11 days now since we stopped giving him the antibiotics. I assumed that the antibiotics would be naturally being used by the body and getting out of his system but your comment about detoxing him and some different things I read after your comment have made me start to think is it possible that he is not detoxing naturally or at a much slower rate then I assumed? I asked the vet this question again and was told they would look into it. So frustrating.

As far as his beard turning black, as far as my wife and I know it has only turned really black once or twice since we have had him that we saw anyway. His body turns a light black when he is stressed. I have attached a picture from when we first got back from the vet that shows what I mean
 

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Sriley

Member
Original Poster
I was thinking more about the black beard thing and my wife and I don’t think we have ever seen his beard turn really dark black like some pics that I have seen. It has darkened a few times but that’s it. Is this normal for some dragons to get much darker beards for the different reasons I’ve read?
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
I was thinking more about the black beard thing and my wife and I don’t think we have ever seen his beard turn really dark black like some pics that I have seen. It has darkened a few times but that’s it. Is this normal for some dragons to get much darker beards for the different reasons I’ve read?
Yeah they can get a black beard off + on, even females due to stress, illness, excitement or with males, lots pf black beard during mating season so it's totally normal.
 
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