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

[pogonavitticeps]

So an update,

He has been going downhill since the last update. He is refusing solid veggies, and his fat pads on his head are getting really sunken. I have been keeping up with liquid food twice a day, which has been sweet potato, pumpkin, pea, and prunes. He is still pooping in the bath once a day, but still feels backed up.

I have started a Gastro Protection last Wednesday as recommended by the vet during our last visit to help settle his stomach. It is Sulcrate Suspension, and he is getting .6 ml twice a day. I haven't seen a difference with the medication, the instructions on the bottle says to do it for a week so in a couple days he will be done and I will see if theres a difference without the medication.

Despite his weight loss, he still has energy. He is alert and likes to run around when I take him out. But I am getting worried, I can't seem to get his weight back up! I have been adding a scoop of Repti-boost in his liquid veggies to get more calories in him. Worms should be in this week so I will offer those soon and see if he is into it.

I am so tired. It has been three months of him being on the mend/being sick. Is there anything else I can do for him? Is there a chance of him recovering fully from this?

 

[KarrieRee]

So an update,

He has been going downhill since the last update. He is refusing solid veggies, and his fat pads on his head are getting really sunken. I have been keeping up with liquid food twice a day, which has been sweet potato, pumpkin, pea, and prunes. He is still pooping in the bath once a day, but still feels backed up.

I have started a Gastro Protection last Wednesday as recommended by the vet during our last visit to help settle his stomach. It is Sulcrate Suspension, and he is getting .6 ml twice a day. I haven't seen a difference with the medication, the instructions on the bottle says to do it for a week so in a couple days he will be done and I will see if theres a difference without the medication.

Despite his weight loss, he still has energy. He is alert and likes to run around when I take him out. But I am getting worried, I can't seem to get his weight back up! I have been adding a scoop of Repti-boost in his liquid veggies to get more calories in him. Worms should be in this week so I will offer those soon and see if he is into it.

I am so tired. It has been three months of him being on the mend/being sick. Is there anything else I can do for him? Is there a chance of him recovering fully from this?

I would stop w/ all the laxatives and get him on oxbow critical care omnivore/ herbivore- you can try your vets office or amazon

 

[pogonavitticeps]

Ok will do! I have some Oxbow Herbivore already, I will start on that today. Thank you!

 

[AHBD]

I agree with Karrie and it may also be that he will perk up when he sees the worms. What live food are you offering ? Can you post a few pics to show his body condition ?
BTW, 8 yrs. is not real old but he's getting up there so with older beardies it can take a little bit longer to bounce back, get their appetite right, etc.
Some will sleep longer as well, just like some older people become much less active.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

How is your boy doing? If he is starting to go potty on his own more, if you wanted to use the laxative
a couple of more times, it probably wouldn't hurt. Though, the sweet potato & applesauce, etc are very
good & they are healthy also. You canuse small amounts of the Herbivore too just for nutritional support.
As suggested, he may really get excited with live feeders. Definitely try a few smaller worms for him.

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie

 

[pogonavitticeps]

I agree with Karrie and it may also be that he will perk up when he sees the worms. What live food are you offering ? Can you post a few pics to show his body condition ?
BTW, 8 yrs. is not real old but he's getting up there so with older beardies it can take a little bit longer to bounce back, get their appetite right, etc.
Some will sleep longer as well, just like some older people become much less active.

His main staple is black soldier fly larvae, and my local petstore has started offering Silkworms too so he's been having that lately too. I have attached some pics of him showing his head fat pads which I'm worried about. His fat reserves in his tail is also very low.

Thank you for the reassurance, it's scary to see him this sick for this long! I do have to remind myself often that his reptile system is slow and he's getting old on top of that.

 

[AHBD]

His body condition looks pretty good, tail still has decent thickness. The thought that all beardies have to have puffy fat pads on their head is not really correct. They all have different head shapes, some have a chunkier head, others have a smoother, almost flat head. Yours looks healthy + natural.
BSFL is a good part of the diet but may take a lot of them to fill up a dragon. Can you get dubias ? Silkworms are good too if he eats enough of them.

 

[pogonavitticeps]

Hello,

How is your boy doing? If he is starting to go potty on his own more, if you wanted to use the laxative
a couple of more times, it probably wouldn't hurt. Though, the sweet potato & applesauce, etc are very
good & they are healthy also. You canuse small amounts of the Herbivore too just for nutritional support.
As suggested, he may really get excited with live feeders. Definitely try a few smaller worms for him.

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie

Hello Tracie!

He seems to be doing a little better. I think the Sulcrate Suspension was not doing any good for him, so I stopped giving him his doses on Monday. He seems less painful and more comfortable since I stopped. Too bad I was really hoping that the medicine would help, but beardies are so sensitive to change so I wasn't worth it.

Yesterday he pooped in the bath as usual and it looked not as hard and bigger than ones previous, so thats good! Hopefully that keeps going.

Ok I will alternate between laxatives and Critical Care and see how that goes for him. Worms should be in today so I will offer some when I get home from work. Thank you for all your continued help!

 

[pogonavitticeps]

One more update for today, I was able to get some black soldier fly larvae and a couple wax worms. He was into the black soldier fly! I only let him have 3 medium ones today to see how his stomach responds.

He also had a huge poop in the bath! The biggest I have seen for a long time! Yahoo! Felt his tummy gently and the lump felt smaller after that enormous poop, he must feel loads better. Really hoping this trend continues.

It's been so much up and down, he would get better then something new pops up, and goes back down. Fingers crossed that he stays up this time

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Ok, that is perfectly fine to discontinue the Sulcrate then, those agents can be a little hard on their
systems anyway.
That is a great sign he did go to the bathroom, finally, so he should have a cleaned out system. I
hope he continues to do better. They definitely give us a lot of stress & grief sometimes. It does
seem he is slowly improving right now! Keep us posted on him..

Tracie