How to Resuscitate a dragon & how Humidity can Kill!

[greathouseFarm]

So we all know that bearded dragons are susceptible to Upper Respiratory Infection when kept in housing with humidity higher than 40% and for whatever reason having a compromised immune system. I had been experiencing higher than normal humidity here in Long Beach and in my dragon room but it wasn't rediculous. One of my females "Shasta" who was recovering from laying this year started showing signs of URI just two days ago. She was gagging and doing that thing they do and I saw some mucus in her throat when she opened it. I immediately started her on Baytril, Probiotics and increased liquid vitamins etc... Yesterday I knew the humidity outside was the driest so I put her out to bask. I came back an hour later and she was flat out and not breathing at all. I panicked! Started shaking her and crying of course, no come back! I opened her mouth and started blowing in but could tell the air wasn't going in. Her throat was closed. OMG what to do what to do. By this time I had Cheryl (Rio Reptiles) on the phone keeping me calm and telling me "don't stop trying" She was telling me that she has heard stories of reptiles being down for a long time and coming back. I knew I had to get her airway open so it dawned on me to try her glottis. The Glottis is the airway opening in the back of the tongue that were always trying to avoid when feeding slurries or water. It's a direct line to their lung. So I found a pipette that we use for Aquarium water test that is like one of those baby booger suckers only thin. I'll post a pic of it if anyone is interested. I started using it to try to vacuum the mucus away from the glottis and throat but it just had no suction really. So I cut the end off and put the larger end in my mouth and started to suck trying to clear any mucus I could. But I wasn't really getting anywhere. So I gently inserted it about 1/4" into her glottis and started to suck. Nothing. Okay time to blow. Her body (chest cavity) inflated like a little balloon. I thought oh gawd what have I done did I blow too hard? I spent what seemed like the next ten minutes blowing a small breath in (very lightly) and then sucking back whatever mucus would fill the tube and then blowing it out on the towel next to me. Did that several times... (Cheryl still in the background telling me not to give up) HUGE GASP!!!! She breathed... and then nothing... kept doing the same thing. Breath in and then suck and clear mucus. She slowly but surely started to come around and I am happy to say she is breathing normally and even holding her head up today. She ate some slurry I made her but I expect her to make a full recovery.

The moral of this long story is don't be afraid to try anything and don't give up! You never know! And watch those humidity levels...

** Side note to prevent any secondary infection in her mouth I rinsed her mouth and the pipette with Colloidial Silver several times during and after the whole ordeal**

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

Oh my! What a frightening experience that must have been for you. I am so glad that you were clear headed enough to do what you had to do and save Shasta's life. That is wonderful that Cheryl was there to give you support and help you through the ordeal.
I hope Shasta continues to get better. Thanks for sharing your story with us. It may very well help save another beardie's life.

 

[greathouseFarm]

LOl! I was not calm at all at first... I do hope that sharing this story helps anyone. I think it's a good idea to know the beardies anatomy as well. The only reason I knew about the glottis was because I was told a long time ago to watch for it when I had to force feed a sick dragon.

 

[Chair76]

omg that was awsome! :mrgreen: you did it! could you tell us what are the signs to look out for a respartory infection? anything you know would help alot. thanks (srry for my bad spelling)

 

[TASTIGER]

oh wow! that must have been really scary. im so glad she is ok you guys are in my prayers

 

[greathouseFarm]

Thank you so much. Shasta ate on her own today and got her second dose of Baytril and is well on her way to a full recovery. A friend of mine Josh D who I consider an expert in bearded dragons, shared with me that URI can also be caused by sand that they kick up in the enclosure (another good reason not to use sand) and also dried feces. Some very good points that are related to the causes. As for symptoms, it's funny you ask because as I said I never saw any real signs until the day I started her treatment. Gasping, Girgling, gagging, any sort of black beard & tail accompanied by a loss of appetite is of course cause for concern. I have been told to look for mucus in the nose but have never seen any. I am an asthmatic so I think I recognize the subtle signs of labored breathing. You have to really look for it but you may notice deeper breathing than usual or a kind of uncomfortable looking way of holding the upper body up. My mom used to tell me she could tell I was short of breath because I'd raise my shoulders ever so slightly. I guess you know your dragon the best and if anything seems off you should investigate further. Unfortunately it seems that X-Rays can't detect early stages of URI.

 

[Drache613]

Hello Beth,

That is awesome, great job with Shasta! No, you should never give up, because you never know how things will turn out~!
I am sure that she is eternally grateful for your help. How is she doing today?

Tracie

 

[greathouseFarm]

I didn't do anything but decide I had nothing to lose and try something that luckily worked. She is doing well. Eating a small bit on her own maybe a med size dubia but not interested in anything else. I haven't given her a third dose yet I was kinda holding off as not to overdo it. She has been getting probiotics 3 times a day and liquid vitamins too. I'd hate for it to come back though but as I understand it Baytril kills everything! But so far she has only had 2 half doses. I gave her 20 units so thats .20ml? Forgot Cheryl did the calculation for me because I only had an insulin syringe.

 

[diamc]

What a great job on saving her. So happy that you stuck with it and didn't give up. It must have been a very terrifying experience for both of you.

One of my beardies just got over an URI and was given a Baytril injection every 5 days, a total of 5 injections. We used insulin syringes too. I wanted to mention that not only was he not eating in the beginning, he was stargazing (had his whole upper body pointed to the light but his eyes were tightly closed) and I also noticed mucous on the side of his mouth. He was also very tired so thought I would mention these signs.

I'm happy to hear that she is eating a little now. Strange, but Gizmo is only wanting to eat small to medium dubias too. Hopefully they will both start eating their greens and other feeders very soon.

Congrats again on saving your girl!

 

[Chair76]

can you show me a video of you feeding you beardie through the syringe please?