Do you administer medicine during semi brumation?

[DanielleGia920]

I have a one year old bearded dragon who was diagnosed with gout at 6 months old. She takes allopurinol once a day which has helped a lot. The past two weeks she seems to be in a semi brumation. She has been hanging on the cooler side and burying herself under the fake plants and napping during the day. Some days she comes out, looks around a little, she may take a bite of a collard green, hang for a little while and then she’ll go back to her bush. If this is a semi brumation, should I still take her out each day to administer her medicine and then put her under basking lamp or is she ok to go without it during this period of time?

Thanks for your help!

Danielle

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That is a hard question & one I have had to deal with before, also.
Does she have any swelling currently or is the gout all under control now? I am glad to hear
that the allopurinol has helped out a lot for her.
How many days a week on average is she out a little bit, basking right now? It is stressful on
them to take them out too often if they are brumating even partially. I would say if she does
not have any swelling, that perhaps you could give the meds 3 times per week for some
maintenance to let her rest some but, monitor her for signs of problems. Is she getting oral
fluids fairly often too?
They tend not to metabolize meds real well if they aren't at optimal temperatures for at least
part of the time.
Do you have pictures of her?

Tracie

 

[DanielleGia920]

Hi Tracy,

Thanks for your response. No she doesn’t have any swelling, she does have a small bump on her knee from her original flare up from last October but nothing new. She doesn’t really go on her basking rock at all on her own. I usually put her there after giving her, her medicine and she usually doesn’t last very long there. When she does come out she usually hangs in the middle of the tank, looks around a little bit, goes for a little stroll and then goes back in a cave or under a bush. I gave her medicine on Sunday and then didn’t bother her again until Wednesday. I got nervous because I had skipped a few days. She does get really annoyed when I try and take her out to give her the medicine so I don’t want to stress her out to bad but I also don’t want her to get sick again. I’ll stick to every 3 days and keep an eye on any possible swelling. I took her out this morning and put her in a bath and she drank a couple drops of water and had a bowel movement which was the first bowel movement in about a week. She wasn’t happy being in the bath and kept tryin to jump out which she never did before, I can tell I was really annoying her. As soon as I put her back in her viv she buried herself under the reptile carpet and is snug as a bug now ? I moved the carpet aside and took a picture, she wasn’t happy about that.

? I weighed her this morning and even though she hasn’t been eating much at all the last 2-3 weeks she is currently 414 grams, she was 412 grams 3 weeks ago so she isn’t loosing any weight, which is good. This brumating thing is stressful ?

I took this one last week after giving her medicine.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That sounds perfectly fine. A 2-3 time per week should work alright right now, since her
system is slown down. It does make it harder to medicate them. Since she isn't showing
any symptoms right now, it is hopefully under control pretty well.
That's great she did drink some in her bath. You are doing terrific, I'm happy to hear she
is doing so well right now!

Tracie

 

[DanielleGia920]

Update:

Deka is no longer brumating and has returned to her normal activities. She is eating wonderfully, basking, active and exploring. She has returned to the normal medicine schedule as well and has no signs of active gout. Any crystallization she had from her first attack last October has resolved almost completely. She uses her limbs normally to jump, run and climb. Things continue to look good! ??

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

She looks terrific! I'm happy she is out of brumation & feeling well. It definitely
doesn't look like she has gout so brumation didn't hurt her any then. Her system was
slown down so that helped out.
It sounds like she is getting around just fine. Has she started to eat yet?

Tracie

 

[DanielleGia920]

Yes it was a slow progression over a week or so, but she’s now eating normally, drinking and going to the bathroom normally. Can’t wait for it to start getting warmer so we can get her out in the sun still pretty chilly here in New Jersey, the warm weather is really taking its time this year ??
Thank you for all your help and advise.

Danielle

 

[Drache613]

Hello Danielle,

It does seem to take a week or two, for them to zap out of a hard brumation. Their body
has been shut down & it takes awhile for their metabolism to start speeding up.
That's great she is eating & drinking normally again! Hopefully the weather will warm up
more so she can enjoy some sunshine also.


Tracie