Black beard and closing eyes

[Jroid33]

Hey guys, my bearded dragon began acting strange last night. Last night I went to check on him and there was poop and he had a black beard. I just assumed that he was stressed by the smell. So I cleaned it up and came back after a hour to see his beard still black. He kept sitting in his basking spot closing one eye and and opening it. He'd sometimes close both. He went to sleep and still had a black beard. After looking at him for awhile he woke up and went into his hide and curled up and fell asleep. It had looked like his beard was a lighter gray now. So today after getting home from school, I saw him on his basking spot, eyes closed, doing nothing. There was also little bits of poop scattered, along with a small undigested stool. He wouldn't open his eyes and when he eventually did, he would just close them again. I picked him up and he felt warm. He went limp in my hands and wouldn't react if I slowly put him upside down. After cleaning up his poop, he was still limp. So at the moment, he is being very odd. He will sometimes open his eyes and be alert. He doesn't want any food either. He sometimes reacts to me putting him upside down. But he will sometimes be limp in my hand and then randomly adjusts himself. If i put him down he'll try to climb. He for a second went straight to his basking spot after putting him down and was scratching the glass and closed his eyes. I have no idea what is going on. Is he having stomach issues? It's starting to worry me and I don't want to lose him. Heres images of him in the past 30 minutes, along with his poop
http://imgur.com/a/yn9AI

And his cage stuff of course:

Bandit is almost 3 years old too

50 gallon nat geo wild tank, with a solar go bulb. Basking temp is around 95 degrees, cool being 75 degrees. He eats collard,mustards, super worms, crickets, and occasional bok choy and kale. I need to give him calcium more often. I give it to him once every week or week and a half. He hasn't had any past sicknesses.

UPDATE: If he ever wakes up, he goes to his hammock basking spot and tries to climb the side of the glass and then falls asleep against the glass

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Sorry Bandit is not feeling well. He definitely appears to be in distress.
How many insects did he recently have & did he eat too close to lights out to where he didn't digest properly?
What type of thermometer are you using to measure the temperatures? The basking temperatures should be just slightly higher, a range of 95-100 anyway, for an adult with the cooler end bumped up some to a range or 78-82 or so. Maybe he isn't digesting well?
The Solar Glo Exoterra mercury vapor bulbs are usually pretty good. Which wattage do you have & how close is it to him?
Since he is 3, he still needs calcium several times per week, at least 3 to maintain bone structure & neurological function.
Do you have any probiotics such as non dairy acidophiliz or non dairy soy yogurt to help settle his tummy? I would also recommend getting some pedialyte or gatorade & water it down to a 3 parts water to 1 part solution to help with rehydration.
You could also consider getting a fecal done, in case he has a heavy load of worms or parasites making him ill.
Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie

 

[Jroid33]

Hello,

Sorry Bandit is not feeling well. He definitely appears to be in distress.
How many insects did he recently have & did he eat too close to lights out to where he didn't digest properly?
What type of thermometer are you using to measure the temperatures? The basking temperatures should be just slightly higher, a range of 95-100 anyway, for an adult with the cooler end bumped up some to a range or 78-82 or so. Maybe he isn't digesting well?
The Solar Glo Exoterra mercury vapor bulbs are usually pretty good. Which wattage do you have & how close is it to him?
Since he is 3, he still needs calcium several times per week, at least 3 to maintain bone structure & neurological function.
Do you have any probiotics such as non dairy acidophiliz or non dairy soy yogurt to help settle his tummy? I would also recommend getting some pedialyte or gatorade & water it down to a 3 parts water to 1 part solution to help with rehydration.
You could also consider getting a fecal done, in case he has a heavy load of worms or parasites making him ill.
Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie

I use a digital thermometer. I fed him 40 large crickets which may have been too much but he had at least 4 hours to digest. I do not have any probiotics. I'm going to the vet later today so we will just have to see :/

 

[AHBD]

Hi Jroid....it sounds likely that he ate far too many large crickets, and some of what appears to be poo is probably vomit. They usually recover after 1-3 days, give plenty of hydration for now. Remember, large amounts of insects are not necessary for adult dragons , 8 -10 large crix a day would be much better. The 40 crix would be the entire week's worth.....next time space it out .

 

[Jroid33]

The vets think he might have a tumor releasing too much glucose. They did a fecal and had no parasites or anything. They gave me this powder supplement that you mix with water that you drop on his nose and he laps it up. So we will have to wait it out. He stays sleepy a lot unless we handle him a lot. But he always tries to go to the corner of his cage and sit upright against it on his hammock. I'll give you guys updates on him and his progress

 

[AHBD]

Oh no, I sure hope it's not a tumor....did they take X-rays to come to that conclusion ?

 

[CooperDragon]

They did a blood test? Do you know how high the glucose levels were?

 

[Jroid33]

GUYS I HAVE A EMERGENCY! He is trying to poop and he is constipated. It looks like his vent is clogged. I want to give him a bath but I'm so worried of causing a prolapse. What do I do!?!?

 

[CooperDragon]

Oh geez. Keep the area clean and moist. If a prolapse does happen, make a solution with hot water and lots of sugar. Mix that into a warm bath and soak him in that for a bit to help reduce the swelling and keep the area clean. If the swelling goes down enough you may be able to gently push the prolapse back in with a q-tip with some vaseline on it. Keep the area clean and ensure no loose particles get attached.

 

[Jroid33]

Oh geez. Keep the area clean and moist. If a prolapse does happen, make a solution with hot water and lots of sugar. Mix that into a warm bath and soak him in that for a bit to help reduce the swelling and keep the area clean. If the swelling goes down enough you may be able to gently push the prolapse back in with a q-tip with some vaseline on it. Keep the area clean and ensure no loose particles get attached.

If he takes a bath and goes, is it likely that a prolapse will happen? He has his eyes closed in his cage wiggling around trying to push

 

[CooperDragon]

It's hard to say for sure. I hope he doesn't strain too hard. If you have an emergency vet available it might be a good idea to bring him. They might be better situated to help in case of a prolapse, but if not just have the bath ready to try and keep the swelling down.

 

[Jroid33]

It's hard to say for sure. I hope he doesn't strain too hard. If you have an emergency vet available it might be a good idea to bring him. They might be better situated to help in case of a prolapse, but if not just have the bath ready to try and keep the swelling down.

I'm gonna try it. So worried

 

[Jroid33]

Bath gave me no luck. He kept pushing and pushing but only little white goo came out. Probably urine. He's so skinny, there's nothing else to push out. He won't drink or lap up the stuff the vet gave. I'm at a loss right now. Don't know what to do and what's wrong. I just want that beard to go away and for him to be alert and silly again.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Poor guy, it sounds like he is having a lot of trouble. I hope he doesn't prolapse, either.
Can you get any softer foods & fluids into him? To help with impaction issues, you can give sugar free applesauce or canned pumpkin & mix it with olive or coconut oil daily, to see if that helps.
Is his beard still dark?

Tracie

 

[Jroid33]

Hello,

Poor guy, it sounds like he is having a lot of trouble. I hope he doesn't prolapse, either.
Can you get any softer foods & fluids into him? To help with impaction issues, you can give sugar free applesauce or canned pumpkin & mix it with olive or coconut oil daily, to see if that helps.
Is his beard still dark?

Tracie

He won't eat or drink anything I give him. Beards still black. Lethargic, and trying to pass who knows what. He is so skinny I don't know what else there is for him to poop