bearded dragon heart health

[rubymiss]

HI
Recently I heard couple owners lost their BD due to enlarged heart and congestive heart failure, which make me sad cause their BD all received treatment from vet early and seems getting better but still passed in a month, BD all around 6yo. I search some information about BD heart issue and read some cases, symptoms for BD heart diseases like low appetite, quiet, lethargy, blepharedema, X ray reading, effusion, but I don't see the cause of the disease and how to prevent it .Most of the information are for people heart health instead of reptile. The reason I am so curious about BD heart health is my 2.5yo BD MIGHT has similar situation like heart disease(I hope its not), she always not so hungry, quiet, less active and smaller size, she looks more comfortable to sleep with head up and be hold vertically. She has normal husbandry, good lightening, and even vet blood work and x ray shows normal, I know sometimes all those vet check and numbers are normal but BD still pass for no reason. I start to worry about my baby after I saw those cases and symptoms, what if my BD has early stage heart issue, what I can do to prevent it from getting bad, what tips I can follow to promote my baby's heart health, I hope she could live long and be active. anyone has experience or suggestion plz let me know! Thanks you for reading and help! Ruby

 

[KarrieRee]

HI
Recently I heard couple owners lost their BD due to enlarged heart and congestive heart failure, which make me sad cause their BD all received treatment from vet early and seems getting better but still passed in a month, BD all around 6yo. I search some information about BD heart issue and read some cases, symptoms for BD heart diseases like low appetite, quiet, lethargy, blepharedema, X ray reading, effusion, but I don't see the cause of the disease and how to prevent it .Most of the information are for people heart health instead of reptile. The reason I am so curious about BD heart health is my 2.5yo BD MIGHT has similar situation like heart disease(I hope its not), she always not so hungry, quiet, less active and smaller size, she looks more comfortable to sleep with head up and be hold vertically. She has normal husbandry, good lightening, and even vet blood work and x ray shows normal, I know sometimes all those vet check and numbers are normal but BD still pass for no reason. I start to worry about my baby after I saw those cases and symptoms, what if my BD has early stage heart issue, what I can do to prevent it from getting bad, what tips I can follow to promote my baby's heart health, I hope she could live long and be active. anyone has experience or suggestion plz let me know! Thanks you for reading and help! Ruby

Gonna flag this to Tracie our vet tech mod
@Drache613

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

There does seem to be an increasing problem with heart issues, etc right now. It could be partly due to genetics & some
linked to diet. Unfortunately the food supply has a lot of genetically modified foods which are very unhealthy for both humans
& animals. The insects, if fed genetically modified grain based feed, can be contributing to poor health overall.
Do you have any pictures of your dragon you could post?
We can review your dragon's diet, the insects fed & what you use to gutload them, lighting, etc if you would like.

Tracie

 

[Drache613]

Moved by Moderator from General to Health

 

[rubymiss]

Hello,

There does seem to be an increasing problem with heart issues, etc right now. It could be partly due to genetics & some
linked to diet. Unfortunately the food supply has a lot of genetically modified foods which are very unhealthy for both humans
& animals. The insects, if fed genetically modified grain based feed, can be contributing to poor health overall.
Do you have any pictures of your dragon you could post?
We can review your dragon's diet, the insects fed & what you use to gutload them, lighting, etc if you would like.

Tracie

Hi Tracie
Thanks for reply, Chiao's pic is as attached, she is 2.5 yo, she eat 10 crickets every other day or every 3 days, Sometimes I switch to dubia roaches. I offer Greens everyday, but she only have couple bits Sometimes dont even touch it. So I syringe feed her squash baby food two times a week. Crickets eat collard green or mustard green, roaches eat fresh carrots or squash. Tank temperature: basking spot 40.5C(105F),coolside 25.5C(78F), lamps are on top of screen 30cm(12.5inch)from lizard, T5ho uvb tube changed every 10 months. Chiao goes to bed at 4:30pm even her lights are still on, wake up at 7 am , sleeps a lot. She is not so willing to move, calm, and cant handle too much heat, Sometimes I have to drop basking spot to 36C so she could bask longer. She is 45.5cm 480 gram, smaller than other dragons. Thanks you!