CurlyShark
Member
I have a bit of a frustrating and heartbreaking issue with my little boy and I really hope someone can help me here. I've been a lurker here since I got my first dragon, and have read some very useful information by very knowledgeable people, so I am hoping someone can advise me about this issue!
My little boy is a 3.5 year old male bearded dragon. He was a Craigslist rescue; when I got him he was in pretty rough shape. (1 year old and only 10.5 inches and 83 grams) Miraculously we got him better, and now he is 18 inches and 400 grams!
He has been in surprisingly good health considering... We got his MBD in time with no lasting problems, and besides a bit of digestive troubles (food sensitivities I work around), he's a happy, healthy, active, and loving little boy.
The problem I've been having now for the past year (on and off) is he keeps getting what we thought were URI's. This is the fourth one now, plus he's been having a lot of trouble with his eyes watering and bothering him.
The first URI the vet gave us Baytril and a nebulizer solution. The first time was definitely a URI.. His lungs were crackly and the Xray showed the infection.
The second time I had to take him to the exotic hospital as his vet wasn't available. The vet there said his lungs sounds were clear and the xray showed nothing but a little tummy gas. But since she'd witnessed him coughing, she went ahead and gave us a course of Baytril and plain saline for the nebulizer.
The third time we got to see his regular vet, but like last time, she said there was no sign of infection. But since he was coughing, we got antibiotics (not baytril that time, but I can't remember the name) and the nebulizer solution from the first time.
Now we are at the fourth time. The vet wasn't able to see us straightway, so she gave us some more nebulizer solution, and scheduled us in for a followup later that week (this past Friday) since he was only lightly puffing at the time and otherwise seemed well. He got a little worse though, so I brought him in. Again, lungs clear, no sign of infection. She was stumped; said the only thing she thought could cause this would be his heart, but she ruled that out and said his heart is fine. She said the xray showed signs of inflammation of the bronchia as you'd see with COPD or asthma, but there was no infection or fluid in his lungs and everything else looked good (heart/liver/intestines/etc).
Over this year there is one thing I noticed though- He seems to get sick right after I start feeling sick. And most of the time for me it's my allergies. I am allergic to many things (dogs, cats, dust mites, mold, etc) and have to keep my house very clean and run allergy filters in every room, as well as in the main air handler. I'd been suspecting he might have allergies as well, but research showed that to be pretty unlikely. Regardless, figuring it wouldn't hurt, I started cleaning his house more, plus I bought him a little mini hepa filter and that seemed to really help his eye irritation.
Prior to this third and fourth time, I got behind in some of the more in-depth house cleaning. I'd fallen and broken my foot and wasn't able to do more than the necessary. Also because of the pandemic and people using the allergy filters for facemasks, my replacements were on backorder and I wasn't able to change them on time. So when I started feeling pretty cruddy with my allergies, a couple days later my little boy started with his eyes watering and then the puffing and coughing.
This fourth time I told this to the vet and she agreed that's what it sounds like is going on with him based off his symptoms and what she saw in the xray. So she figures he has a sort of allergic asthma. She gave me prednisone to give him by mouth, and I am to continue the nebulizer solution since it seems to help him a little.
So here's the big problem for me.. There is NOTHING online about this. It seems allergies in reptiles, though not impossible, are pretty unheard of. So of course there isn't any allergy testing for beardies to find out exactly what it is that's bothering him, and nothing online to advise me what I can do to help him. I feel horrible cos he's really miserable and I hate seeing him go through this.
This weekend I've upgraded his HEPA filter. He's started his prednisone, and I'm still doing his nebulizer when he asks for it (2-3 times a day.) I've changed his house decor in case it's dust mites he's allergic to (he LOVES soft things, plushes, pillows, etc. so he's really frustrated about that!) But beyond that, I don't know how to help him, and the vet doesn't really know either, just the medicines and what I'm already doing. But I want to keep this from happening to him again!
Does anyone here have any advice? For myself and my allergies, I am unable to take allergy medicine because I have epilepsy, so I use guaifenesin and home remedies, and those do seem to help me. Is there anything similar and safe I could use for him?
Is there anything else I could try to keep him from flare-ups like this? Or maybe even something the vet may not have thought to check? She's a good vet, and would definitely be open to suggestions and would not get weird about it like many would.
Besides the breathing problems and being miserable and frustrated from that, he seems fine otherwise. He's still pretty active and very alert. His appetite is down a little and he's lost a tiny bit of weight (less than 10 grams), but he's still eating a decent amount and pooping daily.
Thanks for reading and for any help anyone can give. Sorry if this is long-winded; I'm not the best at getting my words out. I really love my boy; my dragons are my life and I will do anything I can for them so I will be grateful for any help!
The obligatory info (hopefully I don't miss anything):
Housing: 24x48x18 wooden vivarium (3 stack; two adult females in the other two houses)
Previously reptile carpet- probably will replace with vinyl flooring unless someone can recommend a better hypoallergenic option (he hates tile and slate gets too hot)
Lighting: 60w incandescent basking bulb, 36" T5 Reptisun 5.0 HO (4 months old)
Temps: 102f basking, 98f hot side, 83f cool side (temp gun)
Nighttime usual 74f (ambient house temp) raised to 80f when ill using CHE
35-38% humidity
My little boy is a 3.5 year old male bearded dragon. He was a Craigslist rescue; when I got him he was in pretty rough shape. (1 year old and only 10.5 inches and 83 grams) Miraculously we got him better, and now he is 18 inches and 400 grams!
He has been in surprisingly good health considering... We got his MBD in time with no lasting problems, and besides a bit of digestive troubles (food sensitivities I work around), he's a happy, healthy, active, and loving little boy.
The problem I've been having now for the past year (on and off) is he keeps getting what we thought were URI's. This is the fourth one now, plus he's been having a lot of trouble with his eyes watering and bothering him.
The first URI the vet gave us Baytril and a nebulizer solution. The first time was definitely a URI.. His lungs were crackly and the Xray showed the infection.
The second time I had to take him to the exotic hospital as his vet wasn't available. The vet there said his lungs sounds were clear and the xray showed nothing but a little tummy gas. But since she'd witnessed him coughing, she went ahead and gave us a course of Baytril and plain saline for the nebulizer.
The third time we got to see his regular vet, but like last time, she said there was no sign of infection. But since he was coughing, we got antibiotics (not baytril that time, but I can't remember the name) and the nebulizer solution from the first time.
Now we are at the fourth time. The vet wasn't able to see us straightway, so she gave us some more nebulizer solution, and scheduled us in for a followup later that week (this past Friday) since he was only lightly puffing at the time and otherwise seemed well. He got a little worse though, so I brought him in. Again, lungs clear, no sign of infection. She was stumped; said the only thing she thought could cause this would be his heart, but she ruled that out and said his heart is fine. She said the xray showed signs of inflammation of the bronchia as you'd see with COPD or asthma, but there was no infection or fluid in his lungs and everything else looked good (heart/liver/intestines/etc).
Over this year there is one thing I noticed though- He seems to get sick right after I start feeling sick. And most of the time for me it's my allergies. I am allergic to many things (dogs, cats, dust mites, mold, etc) and have to keep my house very clean and run allergy filters in every room, as well as in the main air handler. I'd been suspecting he might have allergies as well, but research showed that to be pretty unlikely. Regardless, figuring it wouldn't hurt, I started cleaning his house more, plus I bought him a little mini hepa filter and that seemed to really help his eye irritation.
Prior to this third and fourth time, I got behind in some of the more in-depth house cleaning. I'd fallen and broken my foot and wasn't able to do more than the necessary. Also because of the pandemic and people using the allergy filters for facemasks, my replacements were on backorder and I wasn't able to change them on time. So when I started feeling pretty cruddy with my allergies, a couple days later my little boy started with his eyes watering and then the puffing and coughing.
This fourth time I told this to the vet and she agreed that's what it sounds like is going on with him based off his symptoms and what she saw in the xray. So she figures he has a sort of allergic asthma. She gave me prednisone to give him by mouth, and I am to continue the nebulizer solution since it seems to help him a little.
So here's the big problem for me.. There is NOTHING online about this. It seems allergies in reptiles, though not impossible, are pretty unheard of. So of course there isn't any allergy testing for beardies to find out exactly what it is that's bothering him, and nothing online to advise me what I can do to help him. I feel horrible cos he's really miserable and I hate seeing him go through this.
This weekend I've upgraded his HEPA filter. He's started his prednisone, and I'm still doing his nebulizer when he asks for it (2-3 times a day.) I've changed his house decor in case it's dust mites he's allergic to (he LOVES soft things, plushes, pillows, etc. so he's really frustrated about that!) But beyond that, I don't know how to help him, and the vet doesn't really know either, just the medicines and what I'm already doing. But I want to keep this from happening to him again!
Does anyone here have any advice? For myself and my allergies, I am unable to take allergy medicine because I have epilepsy, so I use guaifenesin and home remedies, and those do seem to help me. Is there anything similar and safe I could use for him?
Is there anything else I could try to keep him from flare-ups like this? Or maybe even something the vet may not have thought to check? She's a good vet, and would definitely be open to suggestions and would not get weird about it like many would.
Besides the breathing problems and being miserable and frustrated from that, he seems fine otherwise. He's still pretty active and very alert. His appetite is down a little and he's lost a tiny bit of weight (less than 10 grams), but he's still eating a decent amount and pooping daily.
Thanks for reading and for any help anyone can give. Sorry if this is long-winded; I'm not the best at getting my words out. I really love my boy; my dragons are my life and I will do anything I can for them so I will be grateful for any help!
The obligatory info (hopefully I don't miss anything):
Housing: 24x48x18 wooden vivarium (3 stack; two adult females in the other two houses)
Previously reptile carpet- probably will replace with vinyl flooring unless someone can recommend a better hypoallergenic option (he hates tile and slate gets too hot)
Lighting: 60w incandescent basking bulb, 36" T5 Reptisun 5.0 HO (4 months old)
Temps: 102f basking, 98f hot side, 83f cool side (temp gun)
Nighttime usual 74f (ambient house temp) raised to 80f when ill using CHE
35-38% humidity