Desperate Dragon Help

[ddd04]

I have a dragon named Ragnar, he's around two years old. He's currently in a 40-gallon tank with reptile carpet, an Arcadia T5, he's got a 150-watt basking bulb with basking temps around 90-100 degrees, and the humidity is around 30% with an analog gauge. He also has the ramp bowl that he sits in all the time instead of basking.

He has not been eating normally for about two months now. He refuses to eat any vegetables or bugs, and he won't bask. He will hide from any type of heat or will sit in his water bowl all day long. When it started, he would only eat about once a week, and then it started getting worse. We called to make a vet appointment once he stopped eating and started feeding him critical care until we could get him seen. He was also pooping all the time, though it was mostly liquid. The vet took a look at him, determined he was not dehydrated, and said he didn't seem impacted, but he had a sore on the top of his mouth. To help with this sore she provided him a month's worth of antibiotics. While we were there he also pooped so they sent in a sample to get tested and was negative for all parasites.

It's been a month, the meds are done, and he's only gotten worse. We do plan on getting him into the vet, however, the closest vet to us is already 45 minutes away and is currently on vacation so it would be about another week and a half before we can get him seen. He still isn't eating, he's losing weight, his tail bones are starting to show, and now he's throwing up with blood-looking vomit. We are terrified that he won't make it in time for the vet and aren't sure what to do.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Sorry to hear Ragnar isn't doing well!
Do you have any pictures of him along with his tank setup just so we can see his body condition?
Which antibiotic medication did the vet prescribe to him?
Did they do a blood test by chance, or not?
Instead of giving the critical care, try getting some organic chicken or turkey baby food, mixed with
sugar free canned or fresh pumpkin & canned or fresh squash or sweet potato. Try to get some of
that into him in several small feedings per day if you can.
Are you keeping him around 75-80F overnight? That can help boost his immune system. It sounds
like he is very critical, let us know how he is doing.

Tracie

 

[ddd04]

He looks really rough. All of his bones are showing. I don’t remember what the antibiotic was but it was an injection every other day. We are currently trying the pumpkin purée and he won’t even open his mouth.

 

[ddd04]

Hello,

Sorry to hear Ragnar isn't doing well!
Do you have any pictures of him along with his tank setup just so we can see his body condition?
Which antibiotic medication did the vet prescribe to him?
Did they do a blood test by chance, or not?
Instead of giving the critical care, try getting some organic chicken or turkey baby food, mixed with
sugar free canned or fresh pumpkin & canned or fresh squash or sweet potato. Try to get some of
that into him in several small feedings per day if you can.
Are you keeping him around 75-80F overnight? That can help boost his immune system. It sounds
like he is very critical, let us know how he is doing.

Tracie

I replied to the wrong thing. The pictures are above.
This dragon is actually my mom's so everything I know is secondhand. She has been texting me updates, but not nearly as often as I would have liked. She did not tell me he was this bad.

I made an appointment with a vet farther away from us because he looks so rough. He is super skinny, all of his bones are showing, he's barely moving, and he doesn't even have the energy to keep his eyes open. I went over and tried to feed him some pumpkin puree and he was not having it, I could barely even get his mouth open. She told me that everything she feeds him goes right through him and that he was violently shaking the first time he threw up.

We got a fecal sample at the first appointment but not a blood sample or blood work. Every common illness we can find online that may explain this should have all been fixed by the antibiotic he was given. I looked up what the antibiotic was and it was ceftazidime.

I'm sorry if this doesn't make sense, he was my baby too and I have this gut feeling that the appointment we have in four hours from now he won't be returning from.

 

[KarrieRee]

Your gonna have to force feed him --- syringe and go slowly -- the surface basking temps and UVB are critical for the dragon to eat and his health --- surface basking temps need to be taken w/ a digital probe thermometer -- 95-100 I see only a analog for temp gauge -- what are you using for a UVB? Brand and bulb please and if the screen is a fine mesh it needs to be unobstructed-- screens block 30% of the UVB rays and this would cause him not to eat along w/ improper surface basking temps

 

[ddd04]

I replied to the wrong thing. The pictures are above.
This dragon is actually my mom's so everything I know is secondhand. She has been texting me updates, but not nearly as often as I would have liked. She did not tell me he was this bad.

I made an appointment with a vet farther away from us because he looks so rough. He is super skinny, all of his bones are showing, he's barely moving, and he doesn't even have the energy to keep his eyes open. I went over and tried to feed him some pumpkin puree and he was not having it, I could barely even get his mouth open. She told me that everything she feeds him goes right through him and that he was violently shaking the first time he threw up.

We got a fecal sample at the first appointment but not a blood sample or blood work. Every common illness we can find online that may explain this should have all been fixed by the antibiotic he was given. I looked up what the antibiotic was and it was ceftazidime.

I'm sorry if this doesn't make sense, he was my baby too and I have this gut feeling that the appointment we have in four hours from now he won't be returning from.

Hey, we took Mr. Ragnar to an urgent vet that was farther away and they concluded it was best to put him down. Although they thought it was MBD (which it doesn’t seem like it to me), he was too far gone to help. Personally I think he had a liver or kidney failure.

Thank you everyone for your help.

 

[KarrieRee]

Hey, we took Mr. Ragnar to an urgent vet that was farther away and they concluded it was best to put him down. Although they thought it was MBD (which it doesn’t seem like it to me), he was too far gone to help. Personally I think he had a liver or kidney failure.

Thank you everyone for your help.

What was the diagnosis? Dragons can bounce back if given the proper treatment- so no blood work was done to determine liver or kidney failure?

 

[xp29]

Oh man I'm sorry to hear that

 

[AHBD]

I'm so sorry to read this about poor Ragnar, what a heartbreaking thing to happen to him and you as his owner. Something took him down pretty quick, vomiting blood is very serious, nothing to do with MBD but likely a severe liver problem or even cancer. My heart goes out to you.

 

[Drache613]

Hello Dawn,

I was going to email you back but thought I would check your thread here. I am so sorry you
had to let Ragnar go, how horrible for you. Something was definitely not right, he may have
had a tumor possibly to be causing vomiting blood, etc.
My condolences for your loss, it is never ever easy to lose them.

Tracie

 

[Jjurovaty]

I just want to add..dragons should not vomit..that's a worst tell tale sign..so sorry to hear about your loss. May he RIP.