Beardie fall

[KarrieRee]

I can’t really tell if her balance is improving. She’s still wobbly, so she still has some sort of issue. She did come out yesterday and walk/wobble around the room. And her beard isn’t black any more. However, she does still gape her mouth and puff out her beard periodically- I can’t figure out what that means. The one good thing about it is it allows me to drip water on her tongue, put food in her mouth, and give her the serrapeptase. She won’t eat something if you offer it in front of her though.

I called the vet, and she said we could get her another x ray from a different position to see if a disc was slipped or something like that. But it sounded like if that happened, there’s not much they can do? I guess I’m just not sure how much time it’s supposed to take for her to heal before we figure out if this is permanent. Or to tell if she’s still in a lot of pain.

I do have a question about the serrapeptase- is it better to give her smaller doses more frequently throughout the day or the one full dose once a day?

Thank you for monitoring her!

It sounds like shes gaping and adjusting the body temp - puffing the beard is normal as well

 

[EmberRising]

It sounds like shes gaping and adjusting the body temp - puffing the beard is normal as well

One slightly strange thing is that she gapes after her lights turn off while she is sleeping - at least I’ve seen her do it in the early night when I am still awake and in the early morning before her light turns on. So maybe it’s not while she’s in a deep sleep? I haven’t checked her in the middle of the night. Still strange.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

How are things going?
You are right, if a disc did slip there isn't really much of anything that can be done about it. The
spinal column should heal up but soft tissue takes time.
You can give the Serrapeptase several times daily if you would like, or just in one dose. It really
depends on how much time you have & if she takes fluids easily.

Let us know how she is doing!

Tracie

 

[Hazel_Basil10]

Hello,
Poor thing! Beardies love to jump off of things just like my bearded dragon jumped off my bed and surprisingly didn't get injured. Keep us updated on your little baby!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

How are things going with your girl today? Keep us posted on her. I really hope that she
starts to improve, even if it is slow!

Tracie

 

[EmberRising]

I think she is very slowly improving? It’s still hard to say. She doesn’t move much and is wobbly when she does. But she does move around her tank for her light/heat needs. She’s also still gaping and puffing her beard, but it seems a little less frequently. She isn’t black bearding.

I’m still putting food and water in her mouth bc she’s not eating by herself. Not sure if that’s the right thing? When I do that, she will gape a little more frequently, so it makes me think she wants the food. But then I noticed that the food all stays in her mouth. She ended up with quite a big clump of the food in her mouth/inner beard. Is that how they normally eat? She eventually swallowed it, but I’m not sure if that was too much food or if that is normally how they eat. I don’t usually get a wide open view into her mouth bc she very rarely gaped before! She is pooping normally.

Thanks for reading and rooting for Ember! I’m hoping she’s continuing to improve!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That's great to hear she is improving even if it is slowly. Could there be something causing any stress
that might make her puff her beard more?
Has she shown any interest in eating on her own? Keep trying to get food into her but if you are feeding
via syringe go slowly so that she doesn't choke. They do sometimes hold food in her beard but should
quickly swallow it & clear it out.
Double check her temperatures to be sure she isn't getting overheated since a large portion of the country
has been very hot.
Let us know how Ember is doing!

Tracie

 

[EmberRising]

Hello,

That's great to hear she is improving even if it is slowly. Could there be something causing any stress
that might make her puff her beard more?
Has she shown any interest in eating on her own? Keep trying to get food into her but if you are feeding
via syringe go slowly so that she doesn't choke. They do sometimes hold food in her beard but should
quickly swallow it & clear it out.
Double check her temperatures to be sure she isn't getting overheated since a large portion of the country
has been very hot.
Let us know how Ember is doing!

Tracie

I’ve been watching the temp pretty closely - keeping basking spot at 95. She has been gaping and puffing her beard both on the warm side/ basking spot and on the cool side of her tank. So I’m not sure what that is about. And I can’t think of anything that could be stressing her, although she is a bit anxious normally anyhow. It could just be that she’s still not feeling normal?
And she hasn’t really shown interest in eating on her own.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Do you know what the humidity is in her tank & what type of thermometer do you have?
It does take them a little bit of time to get better yes. Keep your eye on her behavior though,
to be sure she doesn't get any worse. Has she been eating anything?

Tracie

 

[EmberRising]

Hello,

Do you know what the humidity is in her tank & what type of thermometer do you have?
It does take them a little bit of time to get better yes. Keep your eye on her behavior though,
to be sure she doesn't get any worse. Has she been eating anything?

Tracie

The humidity is around 38% usually. I have 2 probe thermometers and also a temp gun.

I have still been hand feeding her on her tongue. She went over to her salad yesterday and looked at it but didn’t eat. I gave her some greens on her tongue and she seemed to want them - she gaped more frequently. I tried to give her a roach and she eyed it on my finger in front of her for awhile but never stuck out her tongue for it. I think she’s maybe having a hard time moving / controlling her head? She also flipped over on her back again yesterday- I think she was trying to walk too fast. I don’t like that. I’m just hoping she’s not in too much pain.

 

[EmberRising]

Here are some pics inside her mouth and one of her gaping and puffing up her beard. Does her mouth look normal?

 

[KarrieRee]

Here are some pics inside her mouth and one of her gaping and puffing up her beard. Does her mouth look normal?

This does not look good please get her into the vet as soon as possible - the flipping over on the back is not good either
@AHBD

 

[Hazel_Basil10]

Here are some pics inside her mouth and one of her gaping and puffing up her beard. Does her mouth look normal?

She looks worse then previous photos! I'd suggest to take her in ASAP before it gets worse and worse. And you said that she's starting to flip on her back? That is not a good sign that she's recovering so make an appointment with the vet

 

[EmberRising]

I will make another appointment. She’s not newly flipping on her back- she has done that every once in awhile after the accident. I was hoping she was getting better and not doing it any more. But she just did it again yesterday (as mentioned above). She’s gaping about once / twice a minute it seems. And sometimes she will just sit with her mouth cracked open. She spit / flung out the serrapeptase I gave her this morning.

It has been 3 weeks since the accident - not sure if that’s long enough for healing or not.

When I talked to the vet last week, it seemed like there was not a ton more they could do. They could get her something stronger for pain, but they said that if she’s not healing and not eating and is still in a lot of pain, we might want to consider putting her down. I don’t like to say that. I still can’t believe this happened.

 

[EmberRising]

Here she is looking more normal