PastelBeardie
Juvie Member
A few years ago I came in here to learn all I could about beardies before taking the plunge. I bought Baldric from Blood Bank Dragons and had fun posting pictures of my new little guy. I saw his face listed on their ad and knew he was the one for me.
Baldric’s hatch date was approx. July 1, 2012. Last fall he quit eating and became too lazy to catch crickets, which he used to love. I had someone with over 10 years of experience raising and caring for beardies look at him, and he said he looked like a normal, healthy beardie and his weight was good. Over time he became lazier and lazier. Next it was too much work to catch dubia, then he gave up on superworms. I had other people look at him, and he seemed fine to them. He’s my first beardie and his weight was good, so I thought maybe adult beardies are normally this way, but something just didn’t feel right. His appetite kept decreasing, but his weight was still good.
Then in May a wildfire was bearing down on us. The smoke was so bad I had to use both my mouth and my nose to breathe, and when we evacuated I used a plastic tub to house him in because his viv would not fit in my vehicle. I took him outside for UVBs until the evacuation was over. When we got back the danger was over, but the smoke was still bad for about a week. It was during the evacuation time that I noticed a little kink in his tail. When I moved him it went away. Still, this did not make me happy.
Since then, he’s been looking worse and now he’s started passing small bloody stools, nostly blood with a tiny bit of leaf from greens. He eats almost nothing. I took him to my reptile vet today, and he felt something large in his abdomen. He took and x-ray and found a large mass that should not be there. He thinks it’s part of his liver and that it might be huge, but can’t really tell for sure from the picture. Baldric’s mouth is yellow on the inside, and his tongue is yellow, not pink. He’s not dehydrated or showing any signs of MBD. The vet said that one possibility for causing liver problems would be exposure to toxins. Could the fire have done that?
We went over and over my husbandry procedures and what he eats, but could not find a problem. He has never been overweight to where he would get fatty liver disease, and the only foods I give him are on Beautiful Dragon’s beardie food list. He is not dehydrated. I've been putting Pedialyte in his beardie baths.
Two days ago when I came home from work I checked him and thought he was dead. I hardly slept, thinking about his being gone and intending to bury him in the morning. In the morning I looked in his viv and he opened an eye to look at me. His eyes have sunken in and the fat pads on top of his head are not longer there, it’s indented.
The vet and I discussed euthanasia if it gets to the point where it looks like he is suffering, although I really don’t want to ever lose him. That decision would be awful, I’d always worry if I’d done it too soon.
The vet gave him an antibiotic in his cloacal area after hydrating him the same way to try to help him in case the blood is caused by something that wasn’t showing up in the fecals. Nothing is really adding up, except that he seems to be going. I came home from the vet’s and put him in his viv, then took some pictures to remember how good looking he is in case he’d be gone when I came home. He’s still hanging in there.
I’ve been raising and keeping geckos for some time, and tried a beardie because everyone says what fun pets they are. He was just that until last fall, and if he goes, I don’t think I’ll get another beardie. It’s been a sad trip with him, one that seems to be ending too soon.
Here are the pictures I took before going to the store. As you can see, he’s not emaciated. The vet says his weight is good. But that mass is taking him down.
Baldric’s hatch date was approx. July 1, 2012. Last fall he quit eating and became too lazy to catch crickets, which he used to love. I had someone with over 10 years of experience raising and caring for beardies look at him, and he said he looked like a normal, healthy beardie and his weight was good. Over time he became lazier and lazier. Next it was too much work to catch dubia, then he gave up on superworms. I had other people look at him, and he seemed fine to them. He’s my first beardie and his weight was good, so I thought maybe adult beardies are normally this way, but something just didn’t feel right. His appetite kept decreasing, but his weight was still good.
Then in May a wildfire was bearing down on us. The smoke was so bad I had to use both my mouth and my nose to breathe, and when we evacuated I used a plastic tub to house him in because his viv would not fit in my vehicle. I took him outside for UVBs until the evacuation was over. When we got back the danger was over, but the smoke was still bad for about a week. It was during the evacuation time that I noticed a little kink in his tail. When I moved him it went away. Still, this did not make me happy.
Since then, he’s been looking worse and now he’s started passing small bloody stools, nostly blood with a tiny bit of leaf from greens. He eats almost nothing. I took him to my reptile vet today, and he felt something large in his abdomen. He took and x-ray and found a large mass that should not be there. He thinks it’s part of his liver and that it might be huge, but can’t really tell for sure from the picture. Baldric’s mouth is yellow on the inside, and his tongue is yellow, not pink. He’s not dehydrated or showing any signs of MBD. The vet said that one possibility for causing liver problems would be exposure to toxins. Could the fire have done that?
We went over and over my husbandry procedures and what he eats, but could not find a problem. He has never been overweight to where he would get fatty liver disease, and the only foods I give him are on Beautiful Dragon’s beardie food list. He is not dehydrated. I've been putting Pedialyte in his beardie baths.
Two days ago when I came home from work I checked him and thought he was dead. I hardly slept, thinking about his being gone and intending to bury him in the morning. In the morning I looked in his viv and he opened an eye to look at me. His eyes have sunken in and the fat pads on top of his head are not longer there, it’s indented.
The vet and I discussed euthanasia if it gets to the point where it looks like he is suffering, although I really don’t want to ever lose him. That decision would be awful, I’d always worry if I’d done it too soon.
The vet gave him an antibiotic in his cloacal area after hydrating him the same way to try to help him in case the blood is caused by something that wasn’t showing up in the fecals. Nothing is really adding up, except that he seems to be going. I came home from the vet’s and put him in his viv, then took some pictures to remember how good looking he is in case he’d be gone when I came home. He’s still hanging in there.
I’ve been raising and keeping geckos for some time, and tried a beardie because everyone says what fun pets they are. He was just that until last fall, and if he goes, I don’t think I’ll get another beardie. It’s been a sad trip with him, one that seems to be ending too soon.
Here are the pictures I took before going to the store. As you can see, he’s not emaciated. The vet says his weight is good. But that mass is taking him down.
