nortyblonde1
Member
Hi
I have a 3 year old beardie that has always been a picky eater.
He was given the wrong UVB light by the pet shop and developed MBD which is being treated by .1ml calcium syrup every day (before that he was on calcium powder but due to the wrong light being supplied by the pet store, this would have been ineffective). He has been on the calcium for 3 months now and has a much more healthier stance and is growing much stronger.
My beardie eats very little and can't keep his food down. For the past 3 months I have been at the vet's weekly.
He has had two x-rays, 2 courses of antibiotics (one course with 5 injections and another with 8 every three days apart), worming and parasite treatment, a barium dye to check if there is any blockage or internal problems and a blood test for any other problems as well as a mouth swab and now he is on Metoclopramide (a muscle relaxant to help pass food through). All came out normal.
The vet is absolutely lost for what is causing his problems.
He is not gaining weight. he wants to eat, but when he does, it stays sitting in his throat. I have processed his food so it is not in big pieces, I have tried baby food, live food and a variety of food. Its not a problem of just being a picky eater, the problem is, he can't keep it down. He eats and then 20 minutes later he is thrashing his head around vomiting it up again with an excess of saliva. I bath him daily but due to not eating much, he also does not poop much (but will do every time he has a bath). He likes to drink in the bath but can 'overdrink' and again, goes completely pale but with a deep black beard and thrashes his head around spitting out the water/saliva mix.
He sits on my shoulder and I can hear noises in his breathing, which is very laboured. he also gapes a lot.
I have researched everything I can in the past 3 months (and then some) and it sounds like a respiratory infection BUT the vet says its not. She has also given 2 courses of antibiotics by injection, so if it was an infection like this, then they should have helped.
She has put his symptoms on a vet forum (not open to the public) but still no clues as to what is wrong.
I know someone will ask what is his enclosure like and I assure sure, everything is right. Lights, temps, humidity, newspaper, cleaned out with bleach solution and he enjoys being out of his enclosure wrapped in my scarf on my shoulder. The vet says everything is right - but we still don't know what's wrong with him.
Living in NZ, we don't have many reptile vets, and she is the only one in our city (although she is doing everything possible to ask others advice overseas) so I can't get another opinion even if I wanted to. Reptiles are very rare where I am, so its not something vets see all that often.
If anyone has any help as to what may be causing this, I would greatly appreciate you input!
When he is not gaping and vomiting, he is a very happy dragon and loves being with me. He can be quite active running around in his enclosure. But after spending $1000 at the vet and not getting any progress, I feel like its almost mean to keep him alive if he can't eat properly and is just going to 'waste' away starving to death. I'm really conflicted in what I should do and I want to try everything possible first before I make that decision.
I have a 3 year old beardie that has always been a picky eater.
He was given the wrong UVB light by the pet shop and developed MBD which is being treated by .1ml calcium syrup every day (before that he was on calcium powder but due to the wrong light being supplied by the pet store, this would have been ineffective). He has been on the calcium for 3 months now and has a much more healthier stance and is growing much stronger.
My beardie eats very little and can't keep his food down. For the past 3 months I have been at the vet's weekly.
He has had two x-rays, 2 courses of antibiotics (one course with 5 injections and another with 8 every three days apart), worming and parasite treatment, a barium dye to check if there is any blockage or internal problems and a blood test for any other problems as well as a mouth swab and now he is on Metoclopramide (a muscle relaxant to help pass food through). All came out normal.
The vet is absolutely lost for what is causing his problems.
He is not gaining weight. he wants to eat, but when he does, it stays sitting in his throat. I have processed his food so it is not in big pieces, I have tried baby food, live food and a variety of food. Its not a problem of just being a picky eater, the problem is, he can't keep it down. He eats and then 20 minutes later he is thrashing his head around vomiting it up again with an excess of saliva. I bath him daily but due to not eating much, he also does not poop much (but will do every time he has a bath). He likes to drink in the bath but can 'overdrink' and again, goes completely pale but with a deep black beard and thrashes his head around spitting out the water/saliva mix.
He sits on my shoulder and I can hear noises in his breathing, which is very laboured. he also gapes a lot.
I have researched everything I can in the past 3 months (and then some) and it sounds like a respiratory infection BUT the vet says its not. She has also given 2 courses of antibiotics by injection, so if it was an infection like this, then they should have helped.
She has put his symptoms on a vet forum (not open to the public) but still no clues as to what is wrong.
I know someone will ask what is his enclosure like and I assure sure, everything is right. Lights, temps, humidity, newspaper, cleaned out with bleach solution and he enjoys being out of his enclosure wrapped in my scarf on my shoulder. The vet says everything is right - but we still don't know what's wrong with him.
Living in NZ, we don't have many reptile vets, and she is the only one in our city (although she is doing everything possible to ask others advice overseas) so I can't get another opinion even if I wanted to. Reptiles are very rare where I am, so its not something vets see all that often.
If anyone has any help as to what may be causing this, I would greatly appreciate you input!
When he is not gaping and vomiting, he is a very happy dragon and loves being with me. He can be quite active running around in his enclosure. But after spending $1000 at the vet and not getting any progress, I feel like its almost mean to keep him alive if he can't eat properly and is just going to 'waste' away starving to death. I'm really conflicted in what I should do and I want to try everything possible first before I make that decision.