Sorry for the long post!
This poor lizard

Waiting to hear back on his test results for ADV, but I’m pretty sure it will pop up positive due to these symptoms. Not sure what else he could have so suddenly.
Background: I picked him up at an expo for $40 as he was in pretty rough shape & I felt horrible for him. Some of his limbs were swollen, so I assumed gout but both test results showed negative for gout (biopsy and blood test). He was positive for a bacterial infection, that the vet thinks is the cause of the swollen limbs. The vet also gave him a dewormer at our first visit. He prescribed him Fortaz (10 doses, given every three days) he had taken 7 doses until Christmas Day 12/26/24 where he took a turn for the worst.
That morning he was completely black beard, lethargic, barely moving/eating, fat pads starting to sink in, eyes starting to sink in, mouth gaping more than usual. I checked on the cam and saw he had flipped himself. He continues to flip himself anywhere from 4-6 times a day. He’s been able to flip himself back the times I wasn’t aware that he did it. I’ve been trying to keep such a close eye on him as best I can. I removed everything from his enclosure because it was all a flipping hazard.
I brought him back to the vet & I was told to continue his current meds as well as give him Ponazuril once a day. (Fecal tested positive for pinworm & coccidia) We retested his kidney levels again and they came back normal like before. As days go on his fat pads get worse and worse
.
I’ve been giving him a warm, shallow Pedialyte bath 3-4x a day (which he does drink out of) along with critical care & organic carrot baby food w/ Pedialyte, and a dash of repashy.
From what I noticed, anything that startles him will cause him to flip (like the lights turning on in the AM , if his ambient air gets to 90°F he usually flips, staying on the hot side too long.) I’ve been keeping his ambient temps on the warm side max 85°F so it doesn’t exceed anything hotter;his body can’t seem to tolerate it.. It’s almost like he doesn’t know to move away/regulate his temperature anymore so he gets overheated maybe.
Not sure if anybody else has dealt with something similar, but this is so sad to watch. I’m constantly checking in on his camera to make sure he’s not stuck on his back. This all happened so quick & suddenly. He had none of these symptoms when I first brought him to the vet.
- Do u think the Fortaz shots are too much on his body, which caused him to decline 3 weeks later (7 doses in)? (My vet doesn’t think so)
-The vet said his uric acid levels aren’t that high & He saw no crystals in the biopsy. How high does the uric acid level have to be to be gout? Could he have misdiagnosed him for A bacterial infection instead?
Beardie info:
Age: unknown maybe 2yr old
Uvb: Arcadia 24watt T5 12% mounted inside 16” away. (Bulb checked w solar meter 6.5r.)
Heat: white basking bulb
Lights on 12hr/off 12hr
This poor lizard


Waiting to hear back on his test results for ADV, but I’m pretty sure it will pop up positive due to these symptoms. Not sure what else he could have so suddenly.
Background: I picked him up at an expo for $40 as he was in pretty rough shape & I felt horrible for him. Some of his limbs were swollen, so I assumed gout but both test results showed negative for gout (biopsy and blood test). He was positive for a bacterial infection, that the vet thinks is the cause of the swollen limbs. The vet also gave him a dewormer at our first visit. He prescribed him Fortaz (10 doses, given every three days) he had taken 7 doses until Christmas Day 12/26/24 where he took a turn for the worst.
That morning he was completely black beard, lethargic, barely moving/eating, fat pads starting to sink in, eyes starting to sink in, mouth gaping more than usual. I checked on the cam and saw he had flipped himself. He continues to flip himself anywhere from 4-6 times a day. He’s been able to flip himself back the times I wasn’t aware that he did it. I’ve been trying to keep such a close eye on him as best I can. I removed everything from his enclosure because it was all a flipping hazard.

I brought him back to the vet & I was told to continue his current meds as well as give him Ponazuril once a day. (Fecal tested positive for pinworm & coccidia) We retested his kidney levels again and they came back normal like before. As days go on his fat pads get worse and worse

I’ve been giving him a warm, shallow Pedialyte bath 3-4x a day (which he does drink out of) along with critical care & organic carrot baby food w/ Pedialyte, and a dash of repashy.
From what I noticed, anything that startles him will cause him to flip (like the lights turning on in the AM , if his ambient air gets to 90°F he usually flips, staying on the hot side too long.) I’ve been keeping his ambient temps on the warm side max 85°F so it doesn’t exceed anything hotter;his body can’t seem to tolerate it.. It’s almost like he doesn’t know to move away/regulate his temperature anymore so he gets overheated maybe.
Not sure if anybody else has dealt with something similar, but this is so sad to watch. I’m constantly checking in on his camera to make sure he’s not stuck on his back. This all happened so quick & suddenly. He had none of these symptoms when I first brought him to the vet.
- Do u think the Fortaz shots are too much on his body, which caused him to decline 3 weeks later (7 doses in)? (My vet doesn’t think so)
-The vet said his uric acid levels aren’t that high & He saw no crystals in the biopsy. How high does the uric acid level have to be to be gout? Could he have misdiagnosed him for A bacterial infection instead?
Beardie info:
Age: unknown maybe 2yr old
Uvb: Arcadia 24watt T5 12% mounted inside 16” away. (Bulb checked w solar meter 6.5r.)
Heat: white basking bulb
Lights on 12hr/off 12hr