New rescue needs help.

[sjcksnmnusa]

I went to the monthly Herp. Soc. meeting and brought home Beauty. All the surrendered and found reptiles in our area are adopted or fostered out through our Herp. Soc. She is an adult, looks like older rather than younger, and she is almost comatose. She is about 18 inches and very dark. Her eyes appear to be gummy, almost like pink eye in a human. She is beathing but very slowly. The adoption person did not give me much background only that she should not be put with another beardie and needs lots of TLC. She was very cold and stinky and seemed dehydrated so I bathed her in 85 degree water when we got home. She appears dehydrated but did not try to drink any bath water. I did get a little into her mouth with a syringe but only enough to wet her mouth. I gently cleaned around her eyes. She raised her head and front legs briefly after the bath. Last night I put her in a temporary tub with bottom heat, very low and this morning she was raised up on her front legs. Right now I have her under uvb lights but not heat. I will have her in a 3' x 2' poly house later today with brown paper substrate, florescent lights, and all the rest of stuff she needs.
Right now my question is, how do I tell the difference between her being sick and brumation? I have not had a dragon in brumation but from the discription, she seems like she might be. Her eyes and only slits and her breathing is very slow. How or should I treat her eyes? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[sjcksnmnusa]

Update: Since putting Beauty under UVB and heat, she is more responsive but still breathing slowly. Both of Beauty's eyes appear to be infected and painful. Will take her to the vet on Monday but what should I do between now and then?

 

[Lenewen]

Heat is going to be her best friend right now. Get her in a 90-95 degree area of the tank near the 105 degree basking spot during the day.

Is she eating? If not, syringe her food. Extra calcium will be vital to recovery too, give her drops of liquid calcium if you have it or make a solution with the calcium powder, some water, and chicken baby food.

Her eyes will def need the attention of a vet, I can't help there. I have had a few reptiles with eye infections and it sounds like she has one. I hot compressed the eyes on them to work the gunk out and they were put on oral and sometimes injectable antibiotics from the vet so that is likely what your vet will do.

Keep her as hydrated as possible, try to syringe her a few ml's every few hours.

She sounds terribly sick. Just love her, that is the best you can do until a vet can prescribe the necessary antibiotics. I also suggest getting a probiotic or feeding her SOY yogurt-her system is probably already messed up from her ordeal and antibiotics will be very harsh on such a fragile lizard.

Best of luck

 

[sjcksnmnusa]

Thanks. I have been giving her pedealite and apple juice, 3:1, the last few hours and she seems to be perking up a little. I have dry eyes and have been giving her my eye drops and I got some drops for pink eye at Walmart. I tried them on myself and they did not burn or sting so I figured they might help. She seems a bit easier and has opened her eyes a little a few times. Have not moved her to the big viv yet. She seems too fragile for such a large space. I am regulating her temp home digitally and she is basking at 90 and moves to around 85 when she gets too hot. The fact that she is moving at all is a major improvement from this morning. Her breathing is a little more regular but sometimes when I check on her I have to wait awhile before I see her sides move. Her nostrils seem very small. Is it possible that her face is swollen because of her eyes? My other dragons seemed to have bigger openings. Thanks for the info, I will get some baby food tomorrow. I will try some squash too; Cera can't get enough of it so maybe Beauty will like it too.

 

[Lenewen]

Does she have raspy breathing? It sounds like she might have an upper respiratory infection. I had a rescue last year with a URI and she had plugged nostrils and a slightly swollen snout. Antibiotics, especially baytril, will help with that. I must warn you though, in my experience baytril can be *really* harsh on their system. SOY yogurt, acidophilis or a probiotic powder will be imperative for health while she is on such a harsh regimen. When you give her baths, be careful she doesn't aspirate any water while she is sick like this.

Gosh she sounds sick, she's in our prayers. You're very brave for taking her in, you may be in for a long road to recovery for her. She's lucky she has someone who cares enough to do this for her.

 

[Lenewen]

I know she's fragile but if it is indeed a URI, you're going to want to up that basking temp to 110 degrees, the heat will help dry her out.

 

[sjcksnmnusa]

The first day she seemed to gasp infrequently but has not done that since. I lost my Roxy to a URI so I am on the look out for the same symptoms. Her breathing keeps improving. Her face in general looks more normal and her nostril openings have gotten a little bigger so I think she had swelling from her eyes. I am keeping her eyes hydrated. She is taking the pedialyte and apple juice well and had 6 cc of squash and pedialyte this morning. She responded like she is hungry but did not like the syringe. I will give her more squash later and chicken later this afternoon. I am trying to keep to a schedule of puree alternating with liquid about every two hours and drops in her eyes at least once an hour. She has not pooped but I don't know when she last had any food, so it might be a day or two before the squash works through. I will increase her temp and see how she tolerates it. She had 14 hours of light yesterday. What temp do you think she should have overnight? We still have snow on the ground here so I have to use heat at night as well but I don't want to have it too high or too low. You are right in that it will be quite awhile before she wants to run around the house like Cera. Thanks to everyone for all the concern and great advice.

 

[Lenewen]

When my Danika had a URI I was instructed to keep night temps at 80 using a ceramic heat emitter. It took a couple weeks but she healed. Sounds like you are doing a really good job, keep us posted on her progress

 

[sjcksnmnusa]

Good to know, I can do that. She does not like day temps above 95-tops 100. Her eyes are probably sensitive. She gave me the stink eye when I was cleaning her good eye lid. Finally seeing more of the eye. Her eye area was really dirty. I am wondering how much of her dark color is natural and how much is just dirt. I have never tried ti wash a dragon before. What cleaner is safe to use on her, when she gets a little better, of course. I'm still wondering about her nostrils; could they be small do to incomplete shedding? How do you tell for sure? She ate more squash and more juice but I think she is still dehydrated. She is basking under 100 right now, so I hope she can tolerate that temp for awhile.

 

[sjcksnmnusa]

Beauty took about 3cc of pureed chicken with calcium and pedialyte tonight. She actually opened her mouth several times and she licked it off her nose as well. Her breathing is bothering me as she was gaping and taking deep breaths after eating. I could tell that eating really wore her out. I put her on a pair of rolled up socks to raise her front up and hopefully make it easier for her to breathe. Going to the vet as soon as I can get in, hopefully tomorrow.

 

[Lenewen]

You can wash her with warm water and either reptile soap that beardeddragon.co has or a few drops of lemon essential oil. It's all I ever used, I am not sure what else is safe. A toothbrush helps get a lot of the dirt off with or without soap.

If the nostrils are plugged up with dead skin, you know by hotpacking the area and trying to work the gunk or skin off. I am betting you are seeing mucous, not skin. Sounds like she has a URI :/

You should wrap her in a blanket at night. I find that little gesture of affection helps immensely when they don't feel well and everything hurts. My ella is having her first pregnancy and she hides her face in the blankets at night.

 

[sjcksnmnusa]

Beauty Update: Just got back from the vet. This is a first time to this vet and he was very knowledgeable and the calmest vet I have ever gone to. He was very realistic about her chances of survival and said it could go either way but he thought it more likely that she would die, given that he did not know her age or the state of her internal systems. He did not do invasive tests or exams but was very gentle with her. Since she is still dehydrated, I would not have let him anyway but it was reassuring that he ruled it out. The good news is that her heart is strong and her lungs are clear. Without the blood draw he could not really tell too much about the internal systems like kidney and liver. He also did not try to exam her bad eye. He did not find anything impacted or feeling wrong in her gut, just that it was basically empty. We are starting her on enrofloxacin, 20/ml a day and ringers lactate injected twice a day. He wants her to maintain a steady temp between 85-90 day and night. I am to keep up with the eye drops when needed, baby food chicken with calcium and reptivit added, and warm soaks, being careful not to leave her alone. She is a hundred times better than Friday night so I am cautiously optimistc about her chances. Barring kidney or liver disease and extreme old age, she can recover from past neglect.

 

[Lenewen]

That sounds great, glad to hear it! She's still in our prayers over here. Ella and Georgette send their best

 

[JulieGeek]

Good job, sj. Keep up the good work!

We're all pulling for you,here.

 

[sjcksnmnusa]

Beauty update: Yeah! Beauty opened her bad eye a little yesterday and she has a clear eye. She is improving and holding her head up for longer periods of time. She is taking more chicken and squash, still by syringe, but getting the nutrients she needs. I talk to her when I feed her and give her my estimate of how many crickets are in each syringe. Her head color is getting lighter but the rest of her still looks like dirt which may be real or camo. Her lips and mouth are getting pinker and not the pale yellow of before; breathing is quiet and regular. I think it will be awhile before she leaves my little ICU for the big viv but I am still optimist that she will get there eventually.