Bearded dragon keeps his nose downward, doesn't get head up.

[Rinswind]

Hello. My bearded dragon, which is 5yo male recently (3-4days) has started showing some really weird and worrisome behavior. It started a week ago, he started walking kinda wobbly and became lethargic. I didn't pay it too much mind, because he usually does that or at least similar when he is starting to brumate during the colder months, but 4 days ago he started to spend all his time in his cave (colder part of terrarium - 23-26 C) and shortly he started walking by dragging his nose, like he can't get his head up, when i tried pushing his head up he started contracting his body like its hurting him, so I thought it might be some sort of inflamation of the parotid or the bronchiae or straight out pneumonia, so i palpated his beard and found it was slightly swollen, especially the parotids, nothing too crazy, just mildly swollen (could be because of his contracted head towards his chest.), no wheezing, no discharge from eyes'mouth, nostrils. I noticed the floor heating, which i keep on during the night was plugged off so during the nights it probably got to around 19-20 C. The temperatures in the terarrium are right, I have Arcadia T5 24W 12% UV-B so not a problem there, i suppliment his veggies and fruit treats with Calcium and D3 and also feed him Dubia 2 times a week.
I immediately plugged the floor heating on and now its around 26-27 C during the night(I want to keep him warmer so if its pneumonia it doesnt get worse) and 25-27 during the day (in the cave) started him on Clindamycin 2.5 mg po 2xday and Meloxicam 0.2 mg 2x day, Fluconazole 2.5mg/day. He shows slight improvement(probably becuase of the anti-inflammatory drug, but I want somebody else's opinion. I am a Human medic, so i took things into my own hands since where i am from there are not exotic pet vets, so its useless to go to the vet for other than tests. His apetite is low, but still eats. He does seem to try and dig a lot.

 

[Rinswind]

 

[AHBD]

Poor guy, I've seen some like this that had neurological issues. You have a nice set up but the little rocks/gravel might be replaced with soft substrate of sand/soil. But right now it might be best to leave it and hope he doesn't rub his nose raw. Maybe even put a towel down over some of that area.

 

[Rinswind]

Update: after 24h of treatment he feels less spastic and his head is slightly more relaxed and upward, still downwards tho'.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

How is your boy doing today, poor thing. The clindamycin seems to be working for him right now?
I'm sure that you already know to keep him well hydrated since antibiotics tend to dry them out.
Keep him a little warmer overnight to help boost his immune system right now.
Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie

 

[Rinswind]

He seems better, but still nowhere near normal, started lifting his head to his shoulder level, at least its not pointing down now. and he didn't choose to immediately head into the cave. He's chilling in the front of the terrarium. With all the medication i give him around 3 mL of water, is that enough?

 

[AHBD]

You can ofer a little more water if he'll take it , just be slow and watch that he doesn't aspirate

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Are you giving him plain calcium without D3 also? He could possibly have a slight calcium issue
as well which does cause neurological problems as well.
Keep us posted on his condition, I hope that he starts to improve steadily for you.

Tracie

 

[Rinswind]

The treatment didn't show much results (he is better, but not much has changed).
I went ahead and did an Rx and it was normal. I am a microbiologist, so out of curiosity I did a native smear of his fecal matter and on 100x I found small incapsulated organisms which had two organisms inside, I started googling the possible parasites that can cause such symptoms and I came across Encephalitocoon pogonae or Encephalitocoon cuniculi. these two fungi are in rare cases responsible for EXACTLY the symptoms my bearded dragon has: lethargy, anorexia, weight loss, head dipping, neurological signs and eyesight problems (tried feeding him and he tried to snach the food, but acted like he can't see well, missing the food). Im thinking of starting him on Fenbendazole 20mg/kg.
Yesterday I gave him some B complex vitamins, Omega 3, Omega 6 and Biotin (B7).
I ordered a fresh batch of vitamins, since the ones I had are freshly expired (found out that vitamins deteriorate really fast so in 1 year they can have as little as 30% of their availability left.)
I didn't give him only Ca + D3, even tho' I have some, I'll do that.
I just noticed that he started drooling (saliva is dripping out his mouth, also he seems to be breathing harder, because there is also secretions coming out his nostrils, making the occasional bubbles). I tilted his head down and waited as instructed by a vet and some fluid dripped down his nose (I think because of his state when i was giving him treatment, some of the fluid went to his lungs.

 

[Rinswind]

So yeah, he aspirated some of the water I gave him. For 3h I had to do 10-15 sec. tilt (to drain the liquid by opening his mouth), while giving him 10-30min breaks to recuperate and finally he started breathing relatively normally (took out around 1-2 mL of liquid). Luckily the antibiotic is already on board, so he doesn't develop pneumonia. Before I went to sleep I put him on one of those rubber bags for heating beds so he is extra warm and in the morning he seems ok.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

How is your boy doing today, any improvements? The Panacur should help for those ailments. That's
awesome you did a smear to determine bacteria to help with diagnosis.
Which antibiotics is he on right now, for his respiratory issue? I hope he doesn't develop pneumonia
but the medication along with keeping him warmer should help to ward it off.
Poor thing, he probably doesn't feel great right now. Keep working with him, & hopefully his immune
system will get boosted enough to help him fight everything.
Fresh vitamins should help as well! Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie

 

[Rinswind]

He is ok. Was careful not to give him too much liquids at once so he doesn't aspirate again. I gave him antibiotic for another 4 days after the aspiration and stopped it because I don't want to completely destroy his gastrointestinal flora. Right now I give him the Panacur and some Meloxicam. I think overall he is better, with reptiles I found It takes days, weeks to see results because of their slow metabolism...

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Good, they can aspirate liquids fairly easily but if you go slowly with him he should be just fine.
I'm glad he seems to be better today. They do have very slow metabolisms & digestive systems
so it does take them a little longer to recover from illness.
Keep us updated on him.

Tracie