Bearded dragon is SEVERELY sick; please help

[Pharaoh123]

My bearded dragon, Pharaoh is 3 years old and he hasn’t been feeling his best for a few months. His beard is constantly black, and we elevate his head because every time his head is lower than his body, he starts making hissing noises as if he was trying to vomit. He is tired, makes hissing noises, refuses to eat and sometimes pukes clear liquid. Recently his eyes also got really sunken, he refuses to stay in the heated areas despite the cold, and is just in terrible shape. The vets confirmed that he has a respiratory infection. A reptile expert also said that he has yellow fungus. They prescribed some home made baytril as antibiotics. They also gave us Saline, for us to give to him by Nebulizer. We have been following his instructions, giving him 0.2 ml of baytril every other day and giving him 10-15 minutes to use the nebulizer. Online we also found that giving him betadine baths and applying lamasil, an anti fungal cream, to the affected areas would help him. But on the second day of applying lamasil, his eyes got sunken. Since we weren’t sure if the lamasil was the reason for his sunken eyes, we gave him some pedialyte, which could help with dehydration. So far he’s only had 0.5 ml of it. We were feeding him sweet potato and banana baby food via syringe. But we stopped today as his belly seemed to be unnaturally bloated. He also has uncontrollable diarrhea, with watery poop. Sometimes it’s just watery white, similar to that of a bird. What should we do to help him, if it’s not too late?

 

[xp29]

Flagging Tracie she is a vet tech
@Drache613

 

[AHBD]

So sorry to hear this, hopefully you can get some help. Can you post pics of him, showing his full body as well as the fungus. Also a pic of his enclosure + lights.
Sweet potato + banana is too sugary, try to get Oxbow Critical care or Repashy grub pie. Can he eat some smaller insects ?

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That does sound awful, bless him.
Some pictures would be helpful so we can see the extent of his condition.
If he has yellow fungus, giving Baytril wont help with that. It may make the fungal condition worse.
Can you get some food into him as AHBD suggested, as well as some probiotics also?
For now, no more lamisil until we figure out what else could be going on. If you need help with topical
treatments, I have an excellent silver gel that can help with lesions & fungal issues on my website.
Also, until we have more information, I would forego any baths, too just to discourage any spreading of
the fungus, also.

Let us know how things are going & if you are able to get food into him.
Tracie

 

[KarrieRee]

What are the surface basking temps and how are you taking them? Stick ons are inaccurate - next uvb are you using a coil or long tube fixture?

 

[Pharaoh123]

We used to give him UVB, but awhile ago, when he started getting sick, we replaced the UVB with an extra heating lamp, as it gets cold where we live.

 

[AHBD]

Any pics ?

 

[KarrieRee]

We used to give him UVB, but awhile ago, when he started getting sick, we replaced the UVB with an extra heating lamp, as it gets cold where we live.

Not good uvb is crucial to his health by doing that you have made him sicker - please tell me what you pulled out- dragons will not live w/ out uvb

 

[xp29]

Please put the uvb back, he needs a long tube type. It is critical to their health.

 

[Pharaoh123]

We didn‘t feed him anything and we weren’t sure if feeding him live food would really be good for him. At this point, I’m not sure if we should keep feeding him or not. We also gave him a bath today. We’re considering getting him some colloidal silver which could help with infection and parasites. Is this a good idea? Hopeful-he can make it through the night. I’ll also try to take some pics in the morning. Thank you guys for your help

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

How is your dragon doing? Has his breathing gotten any better?
As suggested, he does need a good UVB light, so we highly recommend putting your other
UVB tube bulb back in.
The colloidal silver will be fine, but be careful when giving him fluids, so that he doesn't aspirate
any. Drip some onto the end of his nose to see if he will lick some off. I hope he is feeling better.

Tracie

 

[Pharaoh123]

Here are the pictures
I’m going to give him 0.5 ml of pedialyte today. Yesterday he was very tired. He slept for awhile. His eyes are almost constantly closed, and his beard is usually black around the tips. When I give him his pedialyte or antibiotic, it turns pitch black. He still won’t eat anything, but his stomach is still really big. He still won’t poop. We’re going to try to get him a UVB lamp today. His stomach is really bloated. Is there any way we can get him to poop? He’s still breathing and very weakly. Sometimes I have to watch him to make sure that he is breathing.

 

[Pharaoh123]

Also, is there a specific brand of colloidal silver to use? im not sure if I should give him the human ones. Please send a screenshot of the best type for him. Also, how long should it take for the UVB to start making him better? I saw that watermelon or apple baby food could help him poop, should I get him some?

 

[AHBD]

Poor Pharoah, he's a nice looking beardie even though he's so sick. Very important question, did the vet take an Xray to determine the R.I ? Take blood tests ? The reason I ask is because there's a chance he has a tumor in his stomach, something that is happening with beardies sadly.

 

[AHBD]

Oh, where is the yellow fungus ? If it's on his underside and can you get a picture ? There's no Y.F on his body in that pic. Also, what is home made Baytril ? And it's true that he needs uvb but that wouldn;t cause any more decline , he's very sick from something but not from a short time without uvb so don't feel guilty about that. He does need it though.