Doyle's Funky Eyes - Exophiala Fungi

[Drache613]

Hello,

How is Doyle doing?
Which medication is he on for the fungal issues? Do you have an eye medication also, like an ointment, or not?
Poor guy, it sounds like the issues have been building up for him for awhile. You could try the Herptivite which has beta carotene in it, instead of the synthetic vitamin A. The vitamin A is tricky, as it can become toxic pretty easily.
When do you expect to get the blood tests & the culture back?

Keep us posted on him. You are doing a wonderful job!

Tracie

 

[McSkweeky]

Thanks Tracie! I hope I can get him back to being healthy.

The meds he has been given are as follows:
Itraconazole 10mg/ml - 0.24ml once daily for 30 days (fungicide)
Panacur 100mg/ml - 0.25ml daily for 3 days then once weekly for 3 weeks (dewormer)
Lactulose w/ 4% Sylmarin compounded to 40mg/ml - 0.15ml once daily (to help with GI upset)

He seems a bit down today - he was reluctant to get up and move around. Finally I just picked him up and moved him to his basking spot hoping it would perk him up, only he's still just blah. It's finally a beautiful sunny day here in Seattle (approaching 80!) so I put the turtles out in the kiddie pool and have been sitting outside reading a book with Doyle on the patio with his leash. I put his salad (collards, butternut squash, carrots, and red pepper) out with him, but he is completely uninterested in it. I was hoping to feed him the salad first and then a few crickets this afternoon, but since he's so uninterested I may just opt for the crickets and see what he does with them. I know he hadn't been eating well, and chances are he wasn't getting or eating much salad before. I even put a couple bits on his nose to see if he'd want to try it, but no such luck. I can't really blame him though. He got poked and prodded to the hilt yesterday - forcefully taken fecal, eye scraping, nail trim, and blood drawn. I'd be sad too!

He is still blackbearded - how long should that typically last? I'm also concerned about making his viv the right temps on the cool side. His basking spot is perfect, but how can I make sure the rest of the viv is at the proper 85ish degrees?

 

[Sherri]

It is so heartwarming to read that you have rescued this poor beardie. Not poor now, however thanks to you.

It boggles my mind that the previous...people...(cuz they sure did not *own* him, no care in ownership at all) could see him like that day in and day out without a care

Those eyes...he has to be SO uncomfortable :help: And now he had you~~~~~~AAAhhhhh, much much better.

Sherri

 

[MissT]

Some don't get themselves up in the morning-both of my males would stay on their blankies all day if I let them!

He is probably adjusting so might not eat much- plus all those meds will put him off a bit! Try to get some acidophiliz or benebac to give to him as those meds will destroy all the good gut flora. Tracie sells acidophiliz on her website bug-de-lite.com - I hope that's right, I'm on my phone and can't remember the address exactly!! It is fabulous stuff! I had to be really careful with the itracinazole and he is going to be on it for quite a long time so u will def need something to counteract that!

I hope he stops blackbearding soon! He is probably uncomfortable from all the poking and prodding yesterday and I bet his eyes are really sore! He knows you care so he's not afraid to show you that he is hurting!

Now, more pics please! Hehe!

 

[MissT]

How is Doyle doing today?

 

[McSkweeky]

Good morning!

Yesterday afternoon I was out of the house, and when I came home he was in the same spot I had left him on the bottom of his viv and hadn't touched his salad. I offered him crickets, waxworms, and a lobster roach and he was having nothing to do with any of it. I gave him his meds, and he did much better than the previous day at the vet. He did take his frustrations out on the syringe and I'll have to go get some more in the next day or two if he keeps chomping on them like that. I managed to get him to get a couple bites of red pepper to take the taste out of his mouth.

I gave him a bath, and he pretty much fell asleep in the tub. Sorry for the bad photo - the lighting in the bath isn't great.

Here is Doyle this morning

I had to wake him up this morning to put him on his rock to get warm. Once he was up there I went about my morning getting ready. When I came back into the room to check on him he was wiggling his back end a bit, and his back legs were just kind of dangling off of the rock. After a moment I realized he had just poo'd. I have no idea what normal looks like, but there was poo and urate and it STUNK. I can't wait until the worms are gone. I made him another small salad and added in some fruit hoping that would make him hungry. When I left this morning he was down by his salad bowl. This evening I will offer him a roach or two, maybe a cricket, and some waxworms. I'm worried he isn't eating, but it only has been a day. I'm going to order some probiotic today for him as well. How long can he go without eating before I should start to worry?

What is the best way to make sure his viv at the correct temps? The evening temp is about 70 in the house. During the day he has his basking light and the new UVB bulb on. I know the cool side isn't getting up to the desired 80-85 degrees. Should I used the ceramic heat lamp?

 

[AHBD]

Hi Mc sweeky....I see the poor guy is all done in from all these new activities. He's not liking the meds., and I had thought [ before you mentioned the de - worming] that it might have been best to treat one thing at a time. His weight was a bit low, but not so bad that you can see he was eating at his old home, he was not emaciated. So it might have been best to just do the anti - fungal before the worm meds., just so he would have had less nasty stuff to deal with because he's lived with the parasites this long and still kept his weight on even with his illness. I also noticed the dark beard in the bath....that indicates extreme stress, and I would suggest giving water orally when you give his meds. and possibly skip the baths unless he's filthy. Stress is super detrimental in animals and humans, and can really hamper any success . He possibly was not bathed at his old home. The less strange new things you do to him while he's settling in, the better.

 

[McSkweeky]

He has been blackbearding since his trip to the vet on Saturday afternoon. His previous owner was bathing him about once a week, so that isn't out of the norm. When I bathed him Saturday I used a soft toothbrush to scrub off the dirt that had accumulated on him. I know he's stressed - just want him to be better. He's had 2 doses of Panacur already. Today will the his 3rd dose and then he won't have another for a week so that will be a good break for him. I know the anti-fungal meds can be rough on his GI tract, so I'm hoping a probiotic will help.

 

[AHBD]

I know it's nerve wracking to treat a sick pet. I see that the lactulose has Sylmarin [ milk thistle ] in it. That will hopefully help his tummy feel better as the lactulose helps move his bowels. As far as your cool side temps., as long as they are around 75 he'll be fine, because he can choose to be closer to the basking spot where it's warm anyway. A CHE may raise temps. a bit too high. Anyway....keep up the good work Maggie.

 

[MissT]

He is looking much better this morning! His eyes even look brighter and he doesn't look so stressed on his basking spot!
When he is in the bath, hold him up- they can aspirate very easily so just keep your hand under his front half!
I know what you mean about syringes- iv went through 5 this past week- I had to go ask the vet for bigger ones with a slightly stronger tip- I was ending up with kazis food all over me and he swallowed a piece!!!!!

 

[McSkweeky]

I'm glad you think he looks better. He seems a bit down to me, so I'm worried of course. I'm also worried he's not eating...How long should I wait before I start panicking and getting some baby food?

 

[MissT]

Make him a slurry with greens and baby food and just offer him a little- try not to force it at this point as he's already having enough things! Ask the vet about critical care- they might think it's an option if he keeps up the not eating. Although he is stressed from the move I think it's important to try to get food into him soon with all those meds.

 

[McSkweeky]

I will do that tonight on the way home. Thank you so much!!

 

[MissT]

Also- I used baby apple or blackcurrant juice to get the bad taste away- just have some in a syringe ready to go straight after the meds

 

[McSkweeky]

I made another appointment with the vet clinic tomorrow for a weight check and to potentially bring home some Critical Care and get more syringes if he is going to continue to chomp them all. He was 485 grams on Saturday so hopefully he won't have lost too much weight.