I Think Baby Clover Is Dying :(

[ownedbyfina]

He is just laying around with his eyes closed most of the time. When I got him, he was 5 1/2 inches and weighed 7g. When I weighed him on Tuesday, he weighed 22g and was 8 1/2 inches. He all of a sudden stopped eating and I started feeding him a mixture of butternut squash and chicken baby food with calcium w/D3. Today he was just laying around with his eyes closed. I weighed him and he had lost 6g I called the herp vet around here and he said that with him being so weak that it would probably kill him to even take blood He had a BM earlier today before I noticed that he was going downhill and I cleaned it up and threw it away The vet wouldn't even give me critical care to give him NO ONE within 50 miles sells Repti-Boost so I had to order it. I paid more for the shipping than I did for the Repti-Boost and the earliest it will be here is Monday. I am terrified that he won't make it that long! He has a Reptisun 10.0 UVB tube bulb and a 75 watt heat lamp. His temps stay around 107 with a digital thermometer w/probe. He is on tile for substrate and only ate pinhead crickets and Phoenix worms. I have no idea what I've done or what I can do to turn him around until the Repti-Boost gets here. Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated! The vet said to give him applesauce baby food to get his blood sugar up and he has had 3 baths today. I am so very heartbroken!

 

[Esther19]

I am sorry Clover is ill. How old is he? It sounds like you are doing everything right. Does he improve any after a bath? You might try giving him oral fluids. Pedialyte would be good. Try using a dropper or syringe and dribble it over his nose to see if he will drink. Water flavored with a touch unsweetened juice would be okay, too, though the Pedialyte would have the electrolytes. Hopefully someone else can offer more help. Sending positive thoughts your way. Let us know how he does.

 

[ownedbyfina]

From what I can tell, he is about 2 1/2 months old. He is still holding own this morning. I forgot to mention that he is in a full body shed. The vet said that that's probably what caused him to stop eating and that he didn't have enough reserves to do that. I forgot about the pedialyte. I will get that this morning and give him that and applesauce until the repti-boost gets here. I just hope he hangs on for me until then. I have had him about 6 weeks and I love him tons! I won't give up on him as long as he continues to fight!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Could you post a few pictures of your dragon & the setup?
Where is the digital probe placed to read the temperatures?
Definitely try some pedialyte & dilute it to 3 parts water to 1 part pedialyte. If you get a non colored type you can also put a little bit in some warm bath water also to help with hydrated.
The 75 watt heat lamp, is it a red bulb or a bright white light?
Continue to give the baby food right now if he is not eating on his own to keep him from losing weight.
Also, you could get a fecal done on him, to be sure he doesn't have worms or parasites.
How often do you give calcium for him?
Keep his tank around 80 overnight to help with his immune system.
Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie

 

[ownedbyfina]

I will post pictures in just a little bit.
The digital probe is placed on the 2 spots on his basking spot where he lays the most. He was in a 10 gallon for a couple of weeks but he is in a big exo-terra. He has a 12" reptisun tube light that I transferred from the 10 gallon. I plan to replace it with a 24" when I replace the bulb. It is mounted inside his viv right below his basking light.
I gave him full strength pedialyte 4 times yesterday and he took it well. I also bathed him 3 times yesterday and fed him applesauce 3 times. I gave him water by syringe twice also. He seemed a little better yesterday. He still laid around all day but he was alert when we went into the room. He couldn't raise his head or open his eyes on Friday.
The 75 watt bulb is a exo-terra heat lamp....not red.
He gets calcium with D3 5 days a week and a multivitamin the other 2.
I will get a CHE today for him.

Thanks for your help!

 

[ownedbyfina]

Here are the pictures

Clover when he was healthier:


Clover now (I have a bad hand right now so that's why the picture isn't the best):


His Enclosure:


When I get the CHE for night time, can it be sat on top of the mesh top or not?

 

[ownedbyfina]

Here are 2 better pictures of Clover that my daughter took a couple of minutes ago:

 

[ownedbyfina]

I feel a little like I am talking to myself right now....but here is an update and a few questions about Clover's care.

He was bathed 4 times yesterday for 15 minutes each time. He also took some pedialyte each time. During 2 of those baths, I was able to get a little baby food into him. He isn't eating anything but the applesauce baby food at this point. His weight has been consistently 16g in the morning and 19g in the evening after his final feeding, so he is holding his weight. The CHE kept his enclosure temp at 82 last night. He did have enough energy to hang on his background to sleep last night, which I took as a good sign. He is still having daily BM's but they are a lot smaller than when he was taking feeders. I have Repta+Boost, Repta-Aid and Oxbow Carnivore Care coming. Now for the questions:

When should I add protein back into his diet?

Should I use just one of the products that I ordered or alternate between them?

Is there anything that I am missing in his care right now? He hasn't had any multi-vitamin or calcium with his baby food this weekend. I plan to get some liquid calcium today so that he will have that.

He has a Repti-Sun 10.0 UVB tube. The calcium that I use is Repti-Cal with D3. I use that with all of my dragons 5 days a week. They all have the Repti-Sun tube. Could this be an overdose of D3?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[AHBD]

Hi there....I hope you can get baby Clover back to health. He may have a virus or issue that is in his genetics, since he went downhill so quickly, and there are still unknown health issues with beardies since there are few vets that actually specialize in them. But he may still bounce back so it's good to try. He does need protein now, so if you haven't already, get some chicken baby food [ the most organic kind you can find ] and squash baby food. Cut out the applesauce, that has way too much sugar and is usually given to dragons that are impacted because it acts as a laxative. Clover doesn't need that.[ you say he ate only very small crickets + Phoenix worms so it doesn't sound like any chance of impaction ] Will he eat any feeder insects ? Try squishing a small cricket + rubbing it lightly on his nose. Sometimes that will work. Hopefully when the Carnivore Care comes in he'll readily take that. Also, 4 baths is way too many a day and may be stressful, one bath is fine at the most because he is still getting hydration from any syringe feeding. It's nice to see how dedicated you are to getting him better, and he may turn around for you when the good supplements come in.

 

[ownedbyfina]

I have tried squishing dubias and hornworms but he won't even recognize that it's there when I rub it on his snout. I was feeding him squash and chicken baby food before he took a this serious downturn but the vet said that the chicken may be too harsh for him and to give him applesauce. I have some chicken and squash heating up in hot water for him right now with water and pedialyte mixed in. The reason I am bathing him so much is because he looks so dehydrated when I check on him and it worries me. I will stop that now. I want so much for him to live! I have spent a fortune this weekend just on this tiny little boy and I will continue to do so unless he gives up. He's fighting as hard as I am.

 

[AHBD]

It's true that you don't want to give too much protein, but he is a baby so he does need some or he'll have zero energy. Just use a very little bit at a time mixed with the squash, and add only the tiniest pinch of calcium powder. So you had been feeding him dubia and hornworms as well ? In your first post it said just pinhead crickets [ those wouldn't be true pinheads, they are the size of a pencil tip ] and Phoenix worms ? It's good to list every single thing he was eating because there's a chance that he MAY have become impacted from a too large dubia or hornworm. Hopefully if that's the case then he will pass it soon. If I misunderstood then I apologize, just trying to figure out any possible scenario.

 

[ownedbyfina]

I never fed him hornworms before.....I just squished one up to try to get him to eat it. I have fed him dubias but they were very tiny and he wasn't used to eating in his enclosure so he only ate a few. He isn't impacted, he is still having daily BM's with good urates. He did eat the squash and chicken mixed this morning with pedialyte and water. I will feed him that again this evening. Thanks a ton for your help. Anything else you can think of, I am open for! I will do whatever it takes to get him better!

 

[haXxize12]

hi my 2 beardies are around 2 months old also. my female got sick and was upon death literally alot skinnier then yours but was also smaller. it was very frustrating and would do anything to keep her alive. soooooo shes doing alot better now...looks good and is starting to get brighter after being dark for so long. if u wanna keep that little bugger alive you can no problem just get that reptiboost. it comes with a syringe mixed with water and also mix the calium in with it but it provides all the nutrition the little guy needs for the day and also give him some baby food also like chicken or something for protein as im not sure if it provides protien. but its excellent and hopefully he will pick up eating again... mine did once i pulled the baby food away because it seemed to just be spoiling her cuz she loved it lol so just reptiboost and hell hold on till he feels like he wants crickets. but they will eventually lick it off their nose! there to small to pry mouth open so young as i tried cuz mine wouldnt lick at first but i know this is horrible but i really had to get something in her it was sooooo bad so i kind of plugged her nose abit with baby food so it forced her to lick! worked for me!

 

[ownedbyfina]

I can honestly say that I have never felt so helpless before! I didn't get an email that the Repti+Boost was shipped so I chatted with a representative from Petco and was told that it will ship today and should be here tomorrow. It was 5:30 when I chatted with them! I paid 11.99 for the product and 13.99 for the shipping!

Clover seems to have gone downhill today after holding his own for 2 days. I only bathed him 2 times. I gave him squash and chicken baby food mixed with calcium, water and pedialyte twice which he took a tiny bit of both times. I also tried to give him pedialyte and water 2 more times and he took very little. I am terrified that he won't still be alive when I wake up in the morning. His lights go off and his CHE comes on at 7:30. I don't think I am going to bother him anymore for the night. Not doing anything for him right now feels like I have given up. I stood at his enclosure and cried like a baby begging him to just hang on He did have a BM again today and I would take that as a good sign if everything else didn't look so bad.

Please keep baby Clover in your thoughts (if you don't pray) and your prayers (if you do) because he needs all of the intervention he can get at this time!

Thank you all!

Susan

 

[Esther19]

My prayers are certainly with you. It's okay to take him out and hold him for a while.