My beardie is deathly sick

[kingofnobbys]

At this point I don't see how you can save him without spending money and bit of it.

He NEEDS to be taken to a good reptile vet ASAP else he WILL DIE.

If you STILL decline to take him to a vet , you have no choice but to try to get some food DIRECTLY into his stomach and the gear and special intensive care food is not going to be cheap to get started with
You will likely have to force feed him if he continues to refuse food and the only way YOU can do this is via a large bore feeding syringe and a large bore crop needle (threaded down his throat into his stomach) since he spits out all food placed or forced into his mouth and is getting zero food and zero calcium now , see
viewtopic.php?f=45&t=232687 .

Likely costs
> 30ml reuseable large bore feeding syringe $24
> 8Gauge STRAIGHT crop/feeding needle needed for the thick slurry $40
> 12Gauge STRAIGHT crop/feeding needle needed for the oral dosing of medicines and liquid calcium and liquid reptile vits into his mouth (FROM THE SIDE to avoid his aspirating these) $25.
> 340g packet of OXBOW CARNIVORE CRITICAL CARE (food) about $27
> is available in 70g bags (about $12 each)
but I suspect he'll use a bag per feed and you'll be feeding at least once per day until he has recovered enough to feed without help.
all up plan on between $130 and $180 JUST TO GET STARTED.

If you take him to the vet and they advise keeping him at the clinic for lifesaving treatment, you will only be paying for the treatment and the OXBOW stuff as vet will have all the equipment already.

If you say that is not an option .
Then if you are serious about saving his life , you have no other option other than surrendering him to a local reptile rescue group (who will do everything possible to save his life and rehabilate him).

There are NO OTHER realistic options that will be beneficial to your bearded dragon.

 

[PrettyinPurple]

I think pictures would be very important just so everyone can get an idea of what's actually going on. I would invest in a scale so you can weigh your beardie and make sure they aren't losing weight. If they're not, then they are likely in brumation but if they are, then there would be reason for concern. It could also be that maybe they just don't like the type of food you're trying to feed them. Sometimes if a bug gives my beardie an upset stomach they'll refuse to eat it.
As another user said, greens are also very important at this time - they're also MUCH cheaper. I just went and bought mustard greens, kale, and another green (that I can't quite remember the name of) at my local grocery store and probably spent around $3 on food that'll last both my beardies a couple of weeks! Of course, they still get their protein but they don't need nearly as much when they have calcium-powdered greens as well.

Edit: I totally didn't see that there were other pages to this conversation. It sounds much much more serious than I had originally thought! You definitely should try to find some way to get your bearded dragon to a vet or else it doesn't sound like he'll make it.

 

[EllenD]

Okay, so the reason he is very sick is just what you said, you only fed him 10-15 times last month...And I don't know what or how much you fed him during those days, but I'm sure that you know that he needs to be fed every single day, and at least twice a day. So that's over 60 feedings a month...I mean, he should be fed as many insects as he can eat in a 10-15 minute period every single day, plus offered fresh greens and veggies every day. So he's sick from malnutrition and I'm assuming he's very, very skinny, probably emaciated at this point (I'm assuming that last month was not the only month he hasn't gotten food every day, or even every other day). He's most likely also very dark in color with a black beard, which means he's in a lot of pain. I'm not saying this to make you feel badly, but to make you understand that there is nothing that you can do at this point at home to help him.

Feeding your beardie 10 times a month is not acceptable, and I'm sure you already know that, and obviously now you're seeing the effects of long-term starvation. If you cannot afford to feed him every single day, then he needs to go somewhere that can...But now it's far past just rehoming him because you can't afford to care for him. You've really only got two options now, because there is nothing that we can help you to do at home to save him, he is shutting down due to starvation and dehydration. Bearded dragons typically don't drink water from a bowl, they get their hydration from their live insects and their veggies, so he's both severely dehydrated and malnourished. If there is any chance of saving his life, he needs to be admitted to a reptile vet and kept in the hospital to be fed through a tube and given fluids under his skin, as already mentioned. And even with this treatment he may still die. He's suffering and in a lot of pain, starving to death is a horrible way to die. So you either need to take him to a reptile rescue immediately, like today, and surrender him to them so that they can take him to their vet immediately and try to save him, or euthanize him. Either way it must be done immediately, because he's suffering greatly. I'm not trying to be harsh to you or make you feel badly, I know financial issues arise and there's nothing you can do, but I do have to say that you should not have let him gone on so long this way, only feeding him 10 or so days a month, he should have been rehoming or surrendered a long time ago, as it takes a long time to get to the point where they are actually dying of starvation and dehydration. I'm only saying this to #1 impress upon you how serious his condition is and how urgent it is to get him to a vet today. If that means surrendering him to a rescue then so be it, you cannot continue to keep him like this.

If you let us know where you live we can help you find a reptile rescue that can get him to an emergency animal hospital that is open 24 hours. There is nothing else you can do, there are no steps to instruct you on, as if you could afford to purchase the supplies to be able to tube feed him and give him subcutaneous fluids at home, then you could afford to just take him to an animal hospital as that would be less expensive. So please make a decision right now, he's suffering greatly and it's not fair to him. I'm assuming you can't even take him to a vet to have him euthanized if you can't afford to feed him, so you need to get him to someone who can immediately.

Please don't hesitate on this, he's dying and in pain. And I want to say that I'm sorry you have to go through this, it's a terrible situation for all involved. I know that you would have fed him if you could have afforded to and it was not an intentional thing, but please, for future reference, if you can only afford to feed a pet 10 times a month, then please don't bring the pet home, not until you're in a position to care for them properly. I'm not scolding you, but this one is tough to handle for me, as I'm passionate about animals, and the thought of not feeding a beardie to the point of starvation is very upsetting, regardless of the situation. So at this point please do the right thing for him.

 

[AHBD]

Just want to mention that if the dragon is 2 years old then feeding it every other day would have been fine. This is a long thread so someone may have missed the beginning where Mav [ the o.p ] mentioned that he's 2 years old.

But if this post is truly about a sick dragon, there is something that needs attention ASAP.

It may be a troll......o.p., if not then I apologize DEEPLY, 100% and offer all my sympathy as well as urge you to get the dragon care by giving it to a rescue.

 

[Mavthebeast]

I don't know how to post pictures on a mobile phone.

 

[AHBD]

Can anyone help the o.p to post pics from a phone ?

 

[EllenD]

If you hit "post reply", then when the reply page shows up hit the "XIMG" button. A message will pop up saying "use the image uploader" so hit that, and the image uploader will show up, then it's pretty self-explanatory, you hit "upload new image" and then choose the photo from the location on your phone. Then go back to posting a reply, and hit the XIMG button again, and the photos you uploaded will show up for you to choose.

 

[Mavthebeast]

[/XIMG]91247 5554162003[/XIMG]

 

[AHBD]

Again, I apologize for doubting....anyway, poor guy is very ill. You might be able to help him [ vet treatment ] but there's no way to know how ill he is at the moment so he may or may not make it. For now try dripping water on his snout for a drink . Be patient....drip, stop, repeat. Hydraton is very important for a sick dragon.

But he needs an experienced reptile vet to see what's happening.

Best wishes to you, and I'm sorry he's so sick.

 

[AHBD]

Another thing, you mentioned that he had been impacted in the past. Maybe he is again > Did you see him struggle to poo before this happened ?

 

[Reptilelady]

Also, I see the pellets as substrate. Any chance you can remove that and lay paper towels down for him?

 

[Mavthebeast]

He barely moves. He moves about a foot every day. I'll give him a bath because he loves to drink out of the bath

 

[AHBD]

Oh good if he drinks.....just be careful to watch him in his condition.

 

[neilkd21]

He really doesn't look good and will be suffering a great deal. As has been previously said he needs immediate vet treatment. You need to either get the money somehow to pay for this or surrender him to a reptile rescue centre who can get him the help he needs and deserves.

I know that's not what you want to hear and it will be difficult for you to do but he is suffering and needs help right away. The longer you leave it the less chance he will have and the more he will suffer, which he really doesn't deserve.

Please do the right and responsible thing for him and get him help now.

 

[EllenD]

Oh my, poor little guy, I'm sorry but he's in a horrible amount of pain, the blackness from his entire beard down is because he's suffering and in a very great amount of pain. You need to get him to a certified reptile vet immediately, you need to get moving on surrendering him to a reptile rescue like right now. He's not going to live much longer this way.

Please, as already said you need to step up and do the responsible thing right now. I'm not sure what you're thinking or what you're waiting for, you yourself just said "he doesn't move, he moves about a foot a day", so that should tell you it's time to give him to people that can either get him professional help or at the very least put him out of his misery and euthanize him. Not knowing everything that is wrong with him I don't know if he'll even survive with proper vet care and hospitalization, but what I do know is that he's dying and he's suffering badly, and it's your responsibility to get him to someone that can stop his suffering. You cannot let him keep living like this, it's hard I know, you don't want to let him go, but he's not living life like this anyway, he's laying in one spot all the time with his eyes shut, and he's actually cringing he's in so much pain. I don't know why you're not doing anything about this, but it's time for you to man up now.