Help! Beardie is bloated and limping

[Beardiealice]

My original post is here: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=248814 and it has all of her detailed information but I put it in health not ER.

To sum it up, Alice almost died last week. She was unresponsive all for the tiny little flail she would do with her legs when I put her on her back. She’s doing better since I put her on reptaboost. She seems to have regained strength in her left arm (didn’t have any when she was super sick) but today she’s back to limping pretty bad. When you pick it up she sometimes tries to resist but it only shakes. She also has mucus coming from her nose that gets worse when I feed her. She does this laborerd breathing thing where she takes short breaths that completely deflate her sides and then she’ll pop her mouth open. She’s done this since I got her 2 years ago but it’s gotten a lot worse lately. She pooped a lot yesterday but she’s really bloated in her tummy area. Do I keep feeding her? The labored breathing gets really bad when I’m syringe feeding her and I’m scared she might aspirate or that she’s choking (she’ll puff her beard up and down sometimes)

 

[Drache613]

Hello Andrew,

Based on the symptoms that you have described, it sounds like your girl is pretty ill with a
respiratory infection, or possibly even pneumonia. Are you able to get her to a vet at all?
I feel that you should try to get her in, for an x-ray to determine whether or not she has any
fluid in her lungs right now.
Can you review your tank setup with us, such as the type/brand of UVB lighting, the foods &
supplementation given, temperatures & how they are taken, along with the type of substrate
used to line the bottom of her home, too. If you have pictures, please post them of her as well
as of her tank also so we can see light placement, etc for her.
I recommend keeping her tank around 80 overnight, to help boost her immune system.

Tracie

 

[Beardiealice]

Her UVB is a reptisun 10.0 (t5, I believe). She gets collard greens with carrots/peppers/butternut squash. Every other day she gets super worms to help with her weight and gets everything dusted with vitamins. Her basking area is 95-100 degrees and the cool side is about 70. This is measure with a stick on thermometer but I am in the process of getting a temp gun. She has newspaper for substrate.

I know this terrible to say, but if it was an RI wouldn’t she already be gone? She’s done the labored breathing since I rescued her 2 years ago. I was talking with AHBD and they said that her health problems are likely due to her severe neglect for the first 2 years of her life. Would you agree? Her story is on that post that I linked.

I am scheduling an appointment with the vet, but I don’t plan to do any aggressive treatment.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I do agree, initial neglect when she was younger definitely plays a role in her adult health.
They can harbour respiratory illness for quite some time but they will eventually develop
pneumonia & it is usually fatal.
Are you still hearing any breathing problems? You could consider using a nebulizer to help
out with any breathing issues. It is pretty effective actually.
I am glad you are getting a better thermometer because the stick ons are not accurate for
measuring the basking temperatures.
The Reptisun 10 T5 is a nice bulb, so as long as it is around 10 inches or so from her she
should be getting adequate UVB exposure also. It looks like it is mounted underneath of
the screen, correct?

Let us know how she is doing.
Tracie