Hey guys, I have an 11 year old bearded dragon named Darius. He has been to the vet several times this year and most recently 2 months ago because I am always watching him and worrying about him. He has a few random issues 1-a small "sore" next to his eye that sort of looks like a wart but has not changed at all over time. 2-He will randomly bulge his eyes way out of his head and it looks freaky, he will do it for short periods very sporadically. 3- He has random muscle twitches fairly frequently, his beard will twitch, sides of the mouth, thighs, back and belly. 4- His head will "tremor" which seems like hes vibrating it. It will come and go and seems to be when hes holding his neck in certain positions, the vet said that he doesnt think its MBD but we did test calcium and give a calcium shot. 5-on and off constipation (not going for a week or more) with loose stools, sometimes with yellowy mucus been treating with metronidazole, despite negative fecal tests. 6-He does a weird breathing thing that almost looks like an URI but the vet says his lungs are clear and there is no mucus in the nose or excess saliva (it almost looks like hes huffing / forcing air out and his tongue will twitch subtly (will include a video of this). 7-a lump on his chest / some scales on his belly / beard are dark. Vet said the lump is in the skin and that its not yellow fungus and to scrub with a Betadine solution twice a week but that has not had any effect. 8-He walks weird now almost as if he is off balance or drunk, vet said it could be some sort of mass on the brain but theres no way to test for that? 9-shedding takes forever and only sheds in tiny spots at a time. 10-he seems to lose weight whenever he stops the metronidazole. 11-his mouth is pale sometimes but he is not anemic.
Some of those issues have been happening on and off for years and I noticed it during covid lockdowns as I was home all day and staring at him more (lol).
We have been giving him metronidazole on and off for several months which does seem to help with the poops and weight lost. He was giving a vitamin B injection and a calcium injection in September. The vet told me to consider giving more vitamin A but that he doesnt do injections anymore due to risk of overdose. I have been giving a carrot to the crickets more regularly.
Two weeks ago was the last visit where we noticed he had lost a lot of weight (about 20g in two weeks since his last visit)and had very gross poops, we did a follow up test of bloodwork and CBC as well as tested a fresh poop for parasites. He said there is no way for him to see if he has a mass on his brain because there is no tiny reptile MRI equipment and that i would have to travel to a city that is several hours away to have them test. Its been very bad weather and last vet trip was hell due to the heavy snowfall. My car isnt great in the snow and I dont want to have to keep bringing him to the vet because its a long drive and it puts stress on him which i am sure doesnt help. I am willing to seek another vet if needed but the closest is many hours drive away. I do trust the current vets opinion but it seems hes at a loss for what to do now and i dont have an actual answer on what is wrong.
The vet said that his calcium was at the "low end of normal "(8.42 vs the 8.6-18 normal) and his phosphorous was also low (2.17 vs the 2.1-10.6 normal range). the bloodwork showed he is not anemic and there is "no evidence of infection". He said the liver and everything else is normal.
He took his last dose of metronidazole this morning and it does appear to have helped him gain 13 grams back and he has pooped yesterday and today and it looks a fair bit better (still kinda mushy) .
I took a video of him doing the weird breathing thing this morning:
is this normal thermoregulation and im being paranoid or is something off about it? He does this on and off regularly for at least the last year.
Also including some photos of his dark scales / lump on his chest:
Sorry for the long message but I worry a lot about my old man and want to make sure hes getting the best care possible especially at his age.
Some of those issues have been happening on and off for years and I noticed it during covid lockdowns as I was home all day and staring at him more (lol).
We have been giving him metronidazole on and off for several months which does seem to help with the poops and weight lost. He was giving a vitamin B injection and a calcium injection in September. The vet told me to consider giving more vitamin A but that he doesnt do injections anymore due to risk of overdose. I have been giving a carrot to the crickets more regularly.
Two weeks ago was the last visit where we noticed he had lost a lot of weight (about 20g in two weeks since his last visit)and had very gross poops, we did a follow up test of bloodwork and CBC as well as tested a fresh poop for parasites. He said there is no way for him to see if he has a mass on his brain because there is no tiny reptile MRI equipment and that i would have to travel to a city that is several hours away to have them test. Its been very bad weather and last vet trip was hell due to the heavy snowfall. My car isnt great in the snow and I dont want to have to keep bringing him to the vet because its a long drive and it puts stress on him which i am sure doesnt help. I am willing to seek another vet if needed but the closest is many hours drive away. I do trust the current vets opinion but it seems hes at a loss for what to do now and i dont have an actual answer on what is wrong.
The vet said that his calcium was at the "low end of normal "(8.42 vs the 8.6-18 normal) and his phosphorous was also low (2.17 vs the 2.1-10.6 normal range). the bloodwork showed he is not anemic and there is "no evidence of infection". He said the liver and everything else is normal.
He took his last dose of metronidazole this morning and it does appear to have helped him gain 13 grams back and he has pooped yesterday and today and it looks a fair bit better (still kinda mushy) .
I took a video of him doing the weird breathing thing this morning:
Also including some photos of his dark scales / lump on his chest:
Sorry for the long message but I worry a lot about my old man and want to make sure hes getting the best care possible especially at his age.