HELP! 8 years old Beardie threw up last night, and is now dehydrated and lethargic

[pogonavitticeps]

Hello!

I have another update. Last night at about 5:30 out of nowhere again he got a grey beard and suspended his tummy off the ground, looking very painful. He tried to poop a couple times, but only urate and clear liquid came out. He got worse, fully black beard and very yellow, sunken eyes and fat pads. At around 8 he pooped out some very smelly diarrhea. I have attached a pic of it here. Right after that he calmed down but still looked tired.

He is up and awake this morning but his eyes and fat pads are still sunken, and he's still tensing his stomach. I'm not sure what to make of this, he's been eating veggies everyday and back to eating black soldier fly larvae for a month now with no problem. I've been keeping up with Reptiboost everyday with probiotics mixed in. The only this I can thing of is that I gave him Patty pan squash for the first time in a long time the day before and yesterday. Maybe that was too hard on his system.

Aside from all this I was actually planning on taking him to the vet today! He has taken a dip in energy lately and I heard him wheeze a couple times so I decided to take him to a vet to check him out for respiratory infection. I was also going to take a stool sample with me to do a parasite check.

But now that this tummy issue is back again I don't know what to make of it. Maybe there's something bigger going on? I'm hoping he will look better by the time I got to take him, but if he's still weak I don't want to move him and stress him out further.

Any advice on what to do next?

 

[KarrieRee]

Hello!

I have another update. Last night at about 5:30 out of nowhere again he got a grey beard and suspended his tummy off the ground, looking very painful. He tried to poop a couple times, but only urate and clear liquid came out. He got worse, fully black beard and very yellow, sunken eyes and fat pads. At around 8 he pooped out some very smelly diarrhea. I have attached a pic of it here. Right after that he calmed down but still looked tired.

He is up and awake this morning but his eyes and fat pads are still sunken, and he's still tensing his stomach. I'm not sure what to make of this, he's been eating veggies everyday and back to eating black soldier fly larvae for a month now with no problem. I've been keeping up with Reptiboost everyday with probiotics mixed in. The only this I can thing of is that I gave him Patty pan squash for the first time in a long time the day before and yesterday. Maybe that was too hard on his system.

Aside from all this I was actually planning on taking him to the vet today! He has taken a dip in energy lately and I heard him wheeze a couple times so I decided to take him to a vet to check him out for respiratory infection. I was also going to take a stool sample with me to do a parasite check.

But now that this tummy issue is back again I don't know what to make of it. Maybe there's something bigger going on? I'm hoping he will look better by the time I got to take him, but if he's still weak I don't want to move him and stress him out further.

Any advice on what to do next?

I'd say lay off the squash you gave and see if that straightens out the poop - take a fecal in w/ you and get a parasite test just to rule that out - the sunken fat pads could be a kidney issue going on but I am not sure - Tracie would need to address that issue - maybe have a blood test done for liver and kidney function tested -
@Drache613

 

[pogonavitticeps]

I'd say lay off the squash you gave and see if that straightens out the poop - take a fecal in w/ you and get a parasite test just to rule that out - the sunken fat pads could be a kidney issue going on but I am not sure - Tracie would need to address that issue - maybe have a blood test done for liver and kidney function tested -
@Drache613

Thanks Karrie! Just came home from work and he looks better, eyes not as sunken, stomach not as painful, but still low energy and flinches when his stomach is touched.

I am going to cancel the appointment today because I don't want to stress him out anymore at the moment, will reschedule in a couple days when he's recovered a bit and get stool sample test, blood draw and a physical look over. Hope it's not his kidneys! He had a blood test last November and everything looked normal and his urates look fine, but this whole ordeal back in May could have messed some things up

 

[pogonavitticeps]

Mini update: Got an appointment scheduled for tomorrow. Just gave him some watered down apple sauce with probiotics which he seemed to perk up and like. Shortly after he pooped some soft stool and an urate that didn't smell as bad or as watery as last night. Hoping this is the last of what ever was bothering him and its up from here.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Poor guy, I am not sure what could have upset his tummy to that extent. Has he ever had that
type of squash before?
The applesauce & probiotics sound like they are helping quite a bit. Hopefully he is feeling better.
Let us know how the vet visit goes. You can continue on with the probiotics for awhile longer since
they help balance out the GI tract.

Tracie

 

[pogonavitticeps]

Yes he has had the squash before, and I remember him really liking it, but it's been over a year since he last had it. Supermarkets rarely carry it, but I went to a farmer's market over the weekend and snagged one. I had another thought! He tried a couple pieces of cherry for the first time on Monday, would that cause an upset stomach?

The vet went well yesterday, when I came home to take him, he looked better. Putting weight on his stomach again, more alert and eyes looked normal and not sunken in.

The vet had a feel of his stomach and she agreed that he feels tense and painful which is definitely not normal. I explained the throwing up event and his history since then and she thinks his stomach issues could be that the hornworm did some damage to his digestive tract. She also mentioned because of his age, there could also be a tumour or growth in there that's preventing proper digestion.

She agreed with me that a blood test and fecal is a good idea to see if there's any clues in there. She also recommended an x-ray to see if can see any obvious growths or damage to his digestive tract. For medications she suggested some pain medication and something that can coat his stomach lining to protect his stomach while he heals. I have forgotten the name of that medication! I haven't heard of it before, but it intrigued me.

So after all that, I decided to go ahead with the fecal and blood test and the x-ray. I am hesitate to just jump into medication as it can be hard on dragons and I am hoping for some clues in these tests to move ahead with any medications if he needs. The results for the blood and fecal should come early next week. Unfortunately, their x-ray was being worked on when I was there so they were unable to do it yesterday, I am making another appointment for Saturday to get him x-rayed.

I will keep you folks posted!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That's great the vet visit went well & that he's looking better right now. I like that the eyes aren't
sunken in anymore. It's important that the eyes are alert, too.
I certainly hope there isn't any type of tumor or anything causing trouble. If the hornworm was too
large then it could have caused some GI tract problems.
When the blood test results come in be sure to post them here & I'll take a look at them too. I agree
automatically putting him on medication isn't necessary right now until it's justified.
Did she give the metacam or meloxicam or something else?

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie

 

[pogonavitticeps]

Hello!

Sorry for the delay, the results took a while and we went on vacation for a few days.

Calcifer is doing alright, gaining weight, and eating fine. His energy has been down though. Not completely lethargic, but not running around as much as he used to.

I talked with the vet over the phone last Saturday and she says that his x-ray looks great, good bone density and his digestive tract looks normal, but she did note that he looked "backed up." This makes sense as I've noticed he's not been pooping on his own lately. Unless he gets extremely warm in the sun or I give him a bath. I remember this happening after he threw up in May and it went away after a couple weeks, so I'm hoping this will too, keeping an eye on it at the moment.

His fecal came back negative for any parasites.

She mentioned his blood test looks pretty good. No indication of kidney troubles thank goodness! She noted that his potassium levels are very low, and coupled with the fact that he threw up in May is not surprising. I asked if there is anything that I can do to help with that and she said that it is not low enough to warrant doing anything but give him time to recuperate and keep an eye on him. I have attached the blood results, so @Drache613 let me know what you think!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Not a problem! How are things going today?
Has he been eating anything recently? If he still seems to be a little blocked up, you can add some
canned pumpkin, sugar free applesauce & sweet potato for some fiber into his system.
His calcium levels do look fine right now, which is always positive.
The AST, (liver enzymes) & Uric acid (kidney values) both look in range. As far as the potassium, it
is a bit low. Usually that can be brought up with various foods. The sweet potato or squash can help
to bring those levels up some. Or you can also give some liquid minerals a couple of times per week,
to see if that helps out.
I agree though, it really isn't out of range much at all. I'm glad his fecal test was clear as well!
He definitely doesn't have any kidney or liver issues that show on the blood test values right now.

Keep us posted on him!

Tracie

 

[pogonavitticeps]

He's been eating lots of squash, endive, radicchio and safe veggies I know his stomach can handle. He still seems really backed up though I have been giving applesauce and drops of olive oil and he is pooping but not as much as I know he should be. For example, I gave him black soldier flies on Tuesday then his poops for three days after that had black soldier flies in them. It's like his system is behind! I have held off on the worm since Tuesday and have stuck to veggies, applesauce and watered down repti boost with probiotics.

When I give him baths to help him poop, I gently feel his tummy and I feel a firm lump up near his stomach and I am guessing it's the back log of food. I am getting concerned though, the past two days his poops been smaller. I am feeding less just cause I don't want to overwhelm his system, so maybe that's why it's smaller.

Other than being a little constipated, he is acting normal, alert and wants to run around in the mornings. So I am kinda stuck at the moment. Should I take him back to the vet? Or try to stick it out and see if this can be resolved at home? How often can I offer olive oil as a laxative?

 

[KarrieRee]

He's been eating lots of squash, endive, radicchio and safe veggies I know his stomach can handle. He still seems really backed up though I have been giving applesauce and drops of olive oil and he is pooping but not as much as I know he should be. For example, I gave him black soldier flies on Tuesday then his poops for three days after that had black soldier flies in them. It's like his system is behind! I have held off on the worm since Tuesday and have stuck to veggies, applesauce and watered down repti boost with probiotics.

When I give him baths to help him poop, I gently feel his tummy and I feel a firm lump up near his stomach and I am guessing it's the back log of food. I am getting concerned though, the past two days his poops been smaller. I am feeding less just cause I don't want to overwhelm his system, so maybe that's why it's smaller.

Other than being a little constipated, he is acting normal, alert and wants to run around in the mornings. So I am kinda stuck at the moment. Should I take him back to the vet? Or try to stick it out and see if this can be resolved at home? How often can I offer olive oil as a laxative?

Feed some baby food pumpkin see if that pushes it out - make sure he's hydrated

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That is great to hear he is improving, they do take awhile to get better overall when they have
been ill. As Karrie suggested, try some pumpkin or sweet potato, those are higher in fiber so
maybe that will help with bulk & getting things moving through better.
You can try to get him to swim around supervised of course, to help promote his digestion process
some. Since he is already getting baths maybe he will swim around a little more.
It sounds like he has a good appetite right now so keep encouraging him to eat & eat more greens
also.

Tracie

 

[pogonavitticeps]

Sounds good! Thank you for all the suggestions, I found some sweet potato baby food so I gave some of that yesterday and he seemed to enjoy it. I also got some pureed prunes as I've heard that can help with constipation. I offered that a couple days ago and he wasn't as keen on it. I'll keep looking for pumpkin baby food, couldn't find anything yesterday.

I'll keep going with the veggies and baby food, do you think it's safe to offer black soldier fly at this time? Or wait until his poops become more regular?

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

You could probably give him a few soldier flies for him along with the veggies & baby foods. That's
great you found some sweet potato baby foods for him. Does he seem to like it I hope? The pureed
prunes are usually pretty good. If you can't find pumpkin baby food you can simply get some canned
pumpkin which is essentially the same thing. Be sure it doesn't have any spices in it.

Tracie

 

[pogonavitticeps]

Great news! Yesterday he pooped on his own! I think the sweet potato has been doing its magic

The downside is that his tummy seemed upset after. Puffed up his belly and had a grey beard and stayed like that for the rest of the evening. His system is still so sensitive. I might call up the vet and see if they can prescribe a medication that she suggested the last time we were there. She described it as something that coats the digestive tract to help protect it as he heals. I have forgotten that name, have you folks heard of anything like that for beardies?