Beardie throwing up, not eating *Update: Toby passed away*

[Xeyla]

Hello again,

My beardie, Toby, is not doing well these past few days. I noticed about 3 weeks ago he developed a twitch in his head, and started to have balance problems. So I took him to the vet. Lo and behold he did not show the vet his twitch, and waited till they left the room before twitching. They did a fecal on him, and it came back clean. They took some mouth scrapings and found nothing. Although the vet said his tongue looked swollen, and he had extra mucus in his mouth as if he was dehydrated. So, they gave me some antibiotics for him, 5 tiny syringes that were to be given every 72 hours, which were to be injected under his skin and to bathe him for 30 minutes a day to rehydrate.

Now, this past few days he seems to have gone downhill. He won't eat anything I try to give him (baby food, bearded dragon bites in paste form). He spits it back out. He's never spit out a paste before. He can't really open his mouth much now either, let alone chew. I don't know if he has MBD or what. He can barely walk now, and topples over if he does move. His coloring is a very light sandy color, which used to mean he was happy, but now I'm not so sure. His beard does go black though, so not sure what to make of that. He is not irritable in any way. He has been throwing up once a day, but not much comes out except clear liquid and a tiny bit of brown colored food.

His setup:
120 gal tank
Arcadia HO 22" tube +D3 from Light your Reptiles http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/ard3t522in24.html, it was installed on **4/1/13, so it should still be good right? I wasn't sure so I purchased a Mega Ray MVB bulb, and am waiting for it to arrive which **should be the 27th.
Black Ceramic heat emitter, 100watts for basking heat/night heat
Sylvania 72 watt Soft white light bulb, for basking heat
Soft white 60watt CFL bulb, for just light
Basking temp spot is between 100-109
Cool side of tank is between 72-80
He weighs 300 grams, and is 5 years old/17 inches long
Calcium +D3 dust 5x a week
Multivitamins 2x week
**I mix the powders into the beardie bites paste, and syringe feed him about 1-1 1/2 teaspoons of paste, I add some superworm guts **to it also.
I have been giving him baths everyday, for about 10-30 minutes each time. Toby used to love getting a bath, now he tries to get out. **I use cool water at first, then get it warmer after he warms up. He does drink when in the bath though.

If pics are needed, let me know. I can upload some tomorrow, after I get home from work. His pelvis bones are showing at the base of his tail, but his beardie boobs look good (not flat or deflated). He does have wrinkles on his sides, but he always had them so I think he is good on hydration. Should I buy some pedialyte just in case?

Thanks for any help,
Sandra

 

[ShockerAndSavage]

Hi Sandra,

I'm new to Beardies so I am not sure how helpful my post will be, however my Dragon had a similar problem when we bought it, it started toppling over and doing circles as if it could only see out one eye, couldn't climb anything, sitting strangely and neck twisted sideways and up and couldn't really eat much as it coordination was off. It was lacking calcium so the vet gave it a calcium shot and a liquid to give to my dragon (1 drop a day for 4 weeks). I moved the UVB light closer to their basking spot and obviously gave it the drops. After about 1-2 weeks completely back to normal and is eating well, can climb normally and is no longer stressed.

Hope this helps in some way.

Regards,
Leanne

 

[Xeyla]

I have some pics of Toby:
Full body view

Head shot, along with some puke. I gave him a few drops of water from a dropper, and he puked it back up about 20 minutes later. Its the brown stuff on the towel.

Top of head, which looks dehydrated some. But he gets baths every day, for a total of 30 minutes.

His pelvic area, with his bones showing some, and his skinny tail which used to not be skinny.

I don't know what caused this. His Arcadia light is only 6 months old, going on seven. I'm wondering if I have been giving him enough calcium. Can someone post a pic of how much powdered calcium he should have at one time?

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

How is he doing this evening?
The HO Arcadia D3 12% tube bulb should be fine for quite awhile, actually. How far is it from him & do you have any plastic or glass in between the light & him?
Since he is 5, he only needs calcium 3 times per week, but, we need to figure out if he is having calcium issues.
Which multivitamin do you give, what brand is it? Does it have vitamin A & vitamin D in it?
As far as the "amount" of calcium powder, you could use 1/16th or so of a teaspoon which should be adequate or just a small pinch in between your thumb & index finger like you would for measuring salt. I would need to find my camera cable to try & take a picture.

How long has Toby not been feeling well?
Before this started, how many feeders, on average did he eat per week & does he normally eat greens too?
Can you also post a picture of his tank setup too?

Thanks.
Tracie

 

[Xeyla]

I will post everything when I get home from work.
Toby has stopped eating back in July, and I have been syringe feeding him every day, 2x a day. I have been using this: http://www.arcatapet.com/item.cfm?cat=14365. I was taking about a level teaspoon and soak it in some water to get it soft, fill up a syringe with the soft pellets, then squeeze it into the side of his mouth. It comes out as a paste. I try to get him to eat all of it. I have been adding a small amount of calcium to the pellets (5x a week), and some multivitamin dust (2x a week). I will add some pics of the dusts I am using, and his tank setup when I get home. When he kept refusing to eat on his own, I was wondering if I was feeding him too much, so I lowered the amount of pellets to half a level teaspoon. I have been offering Superworms to him, but he doesn't eat them. All he does is lick his lips, and stare at them, but doesn't try to eat them. They used to be the only thing he would eat a year ago. I weaned him off of them in favor of the beardie bites and salads. He is 12" away from the light, and the light is installed under the tank lid, with nothing inbetween the light and the lizard.

 

[Xeyla]

Well, Toby passed away today around 1pm, while I was at work. My husband was giving him a bath at that time, and Toby died in his hands. There is a pile of puke in the cage that is very brown, so we are assuming it is blood. Does anyone know how much an autopsy would run for beardies? And how can I preserve his body until Monday, when I can take him to the vet? Is it possible to preserve his body until then, without freezing him?

 

[Derobmi]

I'm so sorry to hear about Toby. It is so difficult to lose a precious beardie. :'(

I don't know the answer to your questions, but please know that you and Toby are in my thoughts.

Mary

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I am so sorry Toby passed away in your husband's hands. At least he didn't pass away alone though.
You can wrap him in a blankie & place him in the fridge. He will be fine until Monday until you can get him to the vets for an autopsy.
They usually run $200 or so for autopsies on average, but could be more or less depending on the vets.
My sincere condolences to you for your loss.

Tracie

 

[Xeyla]

Thank you very much everyone! Aron and I want to know what happened to little Toby. He seemed not so far along with his mystery illness, but it is not a shock to us either. I think I prepared myself for this outcome, I had a feeling he wasn't going to get through whatever he had. I'm just glad he is not suffering anymore.

Thank you Tracie for the info. I am going to call the vet tomorrow morning and ask if they do autopsies, and how much they charge. I want to know if it was my fault Toby got sick, or if it was something else that I had no control over.