All of a sudden Digger-again 12/5

[discojan]

I agree; if there is an emergency, they should squeeze you in, especially since it is during normal business hours! Good luck, J

 

[Goonie]

Oh Mary, I'm so sorry to hear that Digger isn't feeling well.
I have to wonder if his black beard is due to him getting ready for a full body shed. If his poop had been normal and he'd been drinking and basking, I can't imagine him having any serious health issues -- then again, I could be wrong since they're so good at hiding illnesses.

 

[athenacp]

I don't know Gina, the hubby sent me a message, he said that he went to get Digger out of the tank, he opened his eyes, looked around, he showed him the outside and he looked, then he took him upstairs to put him in his cat carrier and Digger turned in his hand and wiggled. He was wondering if maybe since he pooped and turned black & white like this if he might be going into brumation? He had brumated the past 6 years but it was always down a dy or 2 then up, then down or just laid around, since he pooped and had a god bath and drank a lot day before yesterday maybe Digger figured he can go to sleep now?

 

[athenacp]

any idea?

 

[Jiffy]

Did you ever get to talk to your vet. Was just wondering if they were going to try to get you in anytime sooner.

 

[diamc]

Mary, sorry to hear that Digger isn't acting right again. If he was brumating, he wouldn't have a black beard, side bars and tail, something is causing him discomfort. He has a large amount of darkness under his eye in the one picture too. What worms has he been eating? What exactly has he eaten since yesterday when he was doing better? What are his tank temps and what is the humidity level? I would continue to push the fluids and baths. Do you have any Pedialyte or any probiotics on hand, even soy yogurt would help if his stomach is upset or he has cramping for some reason.

 

[Drache613]

Hello Mary,

Oh man, Digger does not look good. If there is any way you can get him in to see any vet, even if they don't see reptiles, I think that you should try. The site herpvetconnection is back up.
He would not look like that if he was going into brumation, definitely not. His tail is dark halfway up which is an indicator of severe distress.
What worries me is that his eyes look puffy. That can indicate renal problems, liver problems or heart problems.
Has anything at all changed in his setup?
As Diane suggested, push the oral fluids, & try a bath as well to see if that will help. I am so sorry! Please keep us posted on him.

Tracie

 

[athenacp]

Hi Diane & Tracie,

Sorry for the late update, end of the month at both jobs going a little nuts here.

When I got up at 4, Digger was still in the cat carrier and was sleeping, hubby checked on him all morning and at 10AM he was at the front of the cat carrier, he wanted out. He took him out and he ran around the bed & pooped a little, I asked him to save it for me (that was an interesting conversation)because he said he thinks he saw a raspberry seed in it and a little red, he sent me a pic but cell phone quality stinks, so I will check it when I get home late tonight. He took him out and put him in his viv (temps are between 99-102 on the hot side and 70-75 on the cool side, with the lights off this AM it was 65 I check with a temp gun)under the light. He let him there and checked on him, Digger drank water 3 times and his color is back. He even licked the hubby! (His set-up has been the same for years, the only new thing is we moved to a new home on 9/20 and he no longer has a bay window that he can sit in and watch what's going on and we know he missed it, he keeps looking each time we take him upstairs, he knows things are different)

Tomorrow I am planning to give him a bath, I will put soy yogurt on the list for him, his butterworms came from Mulberry today, so the old worms got thrown out. I do not feed him supers anymore, haven't for a while since he got sick on them last year.

I did talk tot he vet yesterday and he said to keep an eye on him and if anything changes before the appt call him, I would rather go and see him then take him somewhere else, I trust this vet completely.

I gotta go back to work, but wanted to let you know the status right now.

Mary

 

[beardie parents]

I'm not an expert on beardie health, but his coloring in the last pic you posted doesn't look good. I believe something is wrong but I have no idea what. I just hope the vet can figure out what is wrong.

 

[Drache613]

Hello Mary,

How is Digger doing, have you decided when you are taking him in to see the vet?
That is great he is looking better. I have a very strong feeling that since he is having a hard time holding hydration, & is drinking a lot, that he might be having kidney issues. Of course, I can't verify that, only a blood test would. Those are just symptoms of "having some problems" so what you can do now at home, is start oral fluid therapy. That just entails giving 6-8mls of oral fluids, daily for him, to help him out. Are you giving baths daily, too?
Do you know what his urates looked like, or does your husband remember? Were they hard or soft?

I hope he continues to stabilize. At the moment, keep the protein intake low, & the vegetation & fluids, high. If he is having kidney issues, the protein will cause them to work too hard right now.

Keep us posted on him.

Tracie

 

[discojan]

Any update on Digger....I hope you got him in to the vet and that he is feeling better. Best wishes, Jan

 

[Goonie]

Mary, how's Digger doing today? Had his coloring/mood/appetite changed for the better?
Even if the vet doesn't tend to reptiles, they should still be able to draw some blood and send it out for testing.

 

[Drache613]

Hello Mary,

How is Digger doing today?

Tracie

 

[diamc]

I'm wondering about Digger too, hope he's doing a little better.

 

[athenacp]

Hi folks,

Sorry I am not on-line on the weekends, I play catch-up as I work 80 hours a week, so my weekends are usually spent taking care of everything that I can't take care of duing the wek (thank God for my hubby, he takes care of everything around the house except the cooking, I do that on Sunday for the week)

Anyhow, I am hoping these pics come thru. Hubby saved the poop for me so when I came home Friday night I looked at it and there were 2 flatten-out butterworms in it, everything else with it was fine, so it had to be a bad worm! Digger is no longer dark, he puffs out his beard and it stays out a little puggy, but he is no longer black and his eyes are not puffy! I think it was Diane? who mentioned something about a black eye, Digger has always had a little blue-black under his eyes, I was originally gonna call him One-eyed Pete because of the way his eye was, lol!

Anyhow here are the pics, he was sitting on the table we had set up in front of the kitchen window, we no longer have a bay window so we had to think of something:

Hmmm, for some reason I can't get the second pic to come in, try this:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=631512&l=28a59a1ede&id=100000146059401