My beardie is very sick, throwing up

[saskiat]

Hello everyone,

Some really weird things have been happening to my bearded dragon lately, and I just don't know whats wrong with her.She is very sick. I hope you might have some suggestions on whats wrong..

About two weeks ago my bearded dragon, stopped eating completely. She won't take crickets, grasshoppers or strawberries, which she usually enjoys. at first I just thought it was because the winter started, but she still wont eat. I gave her a bath about a week ago, and she suddenly went with her face underwater! (about 3 seconds) she probably got some water in her lungs, because she started making a horrible gorgling/coughing sound. (she started breathing normally again 30 min after)

After about 4 days I started force feeding, she really hates it. I also went to my local vet, who did a fecal exam, but coudn't find anything wrong, the urate looks good. she did find some Flagellattes, but not enough to be the cause of all this. she also found that he mouth looked pale, and the dragon looked a bit dehydrated. she gave her a injection with water and medicine for the flaggelates.

I give my dragon baths about twice a week, she will only poop in the bath. Now, as soon as I put her in the water, she starts pushing and pooping, but only very little comes out (also very slimy). she seems to have a lot of pain in her stomach, and i think she is not digesting her food very well.

Today I also gave her a medicine to Coccidiosis, but after about five minutes she started to throw up, very slimy white medicine. she is very black bearded, but she is still very active, about the same as before she stopped eating..
Something I also noticed was that she breaths very deep and irregulary..
Has anyone ever seen anything like this? I thought is might be renal failure, or maybe just old age?


Sorry if I make mistakes in my english, it is not my native language

List::
How old is your dragon? 11 years old, maybe even older, but probably 11-14. so she is an old lady
How long have you had your dragon? I've had her for 6 years.
How long is your dragon? from head to tail about 45cm (17 inch)
What is the sex of your dragon? female
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in? terrarium, 120 cm L x 60 cm W x 50 cm H ,or 50 inch by 23 inch by 20 inch
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank? i use calci sand, but she doesn't eat or poop in her terrarium (I feed her in a plastic bin, so the crickets won't escape)
Do you use UVB lights? Yes
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb? tube
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)? Arcadia 10.0 Desert 18 watts
How old is your UVB bulb? 4 months
How close can your dragon get to the UVB? she can get to 15 cm from the light, but mostly stays at about 25cm from the uv ight
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? Is it a white or colored bulb? Yes I have a basking lamp, zoomed repti basking lamp 60 watt, white color
What are the basking temps? hottest spot of all is 33 c, or 90 F
What is the cool side temp? 20 c or 68 F
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun? temp gun
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad? there is a large rock where she can bask
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific. I try to give her veggies, strawberries, banana apple, salas, but she doesn't really eat a lot of them. usually she eats about 10 crickets a day. sometimes the gets grasshoppers, which she aslo really likes.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)? veggies available all day, crickets or insects afternoon, in a plastic bin
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc? Yes they get vit-all ,fruits, vegetables, oatmeal and fish food
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them? every day calcium (zoomed repti calcium) once a week minerall outdoor, once a week reptivite
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)? right now the feces are very slimy, but still on regular times.
Do you bath your dragon? How often? yes, twice or three times a week
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath? no, i have tried a water bowl, but she doesnt do anything with it. she hates misting
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done? yes, nothing was found, only a few flagelattes
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon? no


Maybe its just old age, but maybe there is something i can still do?

 

[AHBD]

Hi there.....poor girl, I hope she recovers from her bad episode. You can stop the medicine, that's what made her throw up. If she doesn't have a high count of parasites and the med. made her sick, then definitely don't give her anymore. You've taken very good care of her , 11 years old is a senior dragon. This all may have taken a toll on her at her age, but see how she does, offer water via syringe and cut the baths out for a while to see how she does.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That is a great age, 11 or older!
The Arcadia 10% desert light, does it have screen/mesh or plastic in between her & the light?
The temp gun should be fine for measuring the temperatures with. The basking spot really should be a little warmer, around 36-38C or a range of 96-102F with a cooler spot/end of around 25-27C or a range of 78-82 roughly.
Which medication was given to her for coccidia, as well as the amount?
The supplementation of calcium 5 times per week is ok, are her urates soft & white?
Since she may have gotten some water in her lungs accidentally I would recommend keeping her warm in her tank overnight, around 26C or 80F or so to help boost her immune system.
The only way to determine what her liver or kidneys are doing would be to get a blood test done to see how they are functioning.
Is her beard still black?

Let us know how she is doing. Do you have any pictures of her?

Tracie

 

[saskiat]

Hey,
Thank you for your reply.
It turns out we overdosed the antibiotics a little bit. this made her nauseous, and after we gave her food she threw up, which is normal because she got too much antibiotics. so that's one problem less
I peeped the temperatues up a little bit, se now has 2 basking spots.

There is no screen between her and the light. Her urates hare white, but they are a bit hard.

I stopped giving her the coccidia stuff, because it makes her more sick and she didn't have diarrhea in the first place. Her beard is black now and then, but not the whole time.
She was very active today, running around like crazy in the morning, and in the afternoon she was sleeping the whole time? i think it's a good sign that she's active, but now the sleeping afterwards . Maybe it's just old age

I'll continue giving her antibiotics (but not overdosed) since she was so active today. we'll see how she does..

Here is a picture of her (at the vet). you can also see that she is shredding her skin very badly (around her neck and tail is new skin, the rest is old). she looks a bit blue because of the blue sand in her terrarium

 

[AHBD]

Glad to hear that she's recuperating + active again. I'd still be leery of the antibiotics, they are dehydrating and cause more harm in an elderly beardie and will put her off her food. Hopefully she'll be with you for a few more years.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That sounds good then, if it is just the antibiotics. They can definitely cause reactions!
Perhaps you should give her a day or two off of them, to recover & gain more hydration, just to help her out.
How is she doing this evening? Has she eaten anything?
I hope she is feeling better soon.

Tracie

 

[saskiat]

Today she pooped, it was a lot of thin urate with a orange end to it.. the urate was very watery, so i think we either gave her too much water, or she isn't taking in the water anymore (digesting the water, I don't know the English word)
there was no poop, only two tiny pink/brownish(?) pieces, the size of a green pea.. I think the pink thingies might be bowel tissue? that her bowels arent working anymore and are falling apart?
Or is it something else? I read that pink poo is also caused by giving too much calcium?

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

No, that would not be any tissue. It sounds somewhat normal, for the urate description. Sometimes they have stringy urates, with pinkish tinges or orange tinges to them. Plus, the medication can change the consistency & color also.
How are her colors today, does she seem to be feeling better?

Tracie

 

[saskiat]

Hey,
Just wanted to post a little update about my beardie.
Her poop is sometimes normal and sometimes still the weird tiny pink part in it.
But the good news: she started eating again!
I stopped giving her antibiotics and kept force feeding her for a while. after about a week she ate a grasshopper on her own again! she doen't eat as much as usual, but it is very good that she eats something . she still won't eat crickets or veggies, but small grashoppers and wax moth larvae are tasty again
She still sits under her rock most a lot of the time, in the cold. I think that's winter behaviour.
So I don't know what caused her to stop eating, but maybe the winter has something to do with it.

Thank you for all your help and advice!!

 

[AHBD]

Aw, I'm glad to hear it, glad for her and for you. She deserves some stress free " golden years".

 

[saskiat]

I know this is a really late update, but I just wanted to let you know,

All that she had, all the problems, were due to impaction
She suddenly started pooping out mountains of poo, for 3 days straight, and now she is doing great again! she is also shedding right now, which is a good sign.

I hope she gets 20 years old like this

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That is great news she has gotten better & is eating again.
So she was impacted?
Shedding is a very good sign, absolutely. I am very happy she is doing so much better now & back to her old self.

Tracie

 

[Fauzt0]

Get rid of that dusty sand but shes a cutie

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That is wonderful! I am happy to hear she is doing a lot better but unfortunately sand & most loose substrates eventually do cause impaction at one point or another.
Be sure she is receiving adequate calcium, as that have been one reason she was ingesting sand looking for calcium sources.

Tracie

 

[saskiat]

Yes, I am verry happy too
She was very impacted, but when she was constipated, she still pooped a little, which is why we all didn't notice
I changed the substrate to new sand, with no calcium, like natural sand
Here is a pic of her on her favorite branch again

And she still hates salad XD (this is the old sand)