Oh my gosh!! Heart rate at 200 beats per min

[minipumpkin]

Our very poorly dragon Benson, started to breath rapidly, go all black, start coughing and pass out when the basking light went out the other day
He seems fine during the day when he is lovely and warm although often his breathing gets seriously fast.

We took him to the vets this evening and it was not good news...
The vet listened to his breathing and heart rate for a while and commented on how fast it was, a dragon should only have a heart rate of 40 beats per min and our Benson has a heart rate of 200 beats per min, the most she had ever heard of was 80... and theres a possiblity that he has gathered fluid on his lungs...
Unfortunatly she said theres not much she can do without doing some research first, he has to go for an xray and ultrasound on monday to check his heart and lungs. Then see where to go from there, she believes he could have been born this way and has just got worse the older he has got, although he is only still 11 months (Not very old)
This is causing him to stop eating and not be very motivated

Has anyone ever come across this or have any suggestions?

Any info will be appreciated as we want Benson to get better..

 

[athenacp]

WOW, I am bumping this up, I wish I could help

 

[Kaiser]

That is a huge difference in rates... I'm sorry, but I haven't heard of this before, nor do I know what to do. But you mentioned the basking light went out yesterday? Has it been fixed or replaced? If there is fluid in his lungs, you need to make sure he relatively warm throughout the day and night (try raising the enclosure's temperatures a few degrees, within safe ranges, of course) to keep him from getting a respiratory infection. I don't quite know what could be causing the fluid buildup, or the increased heart rate, however.

I hope someone can provide answers or better suggestions. I also hope your bearded dragon gets better.

 

[minipumpkin]

hi Kaiser, the light went out as planned as its on a timer so it was turned off, it isnt broken.

 

[Livey]

Oh my! Im going to bump this as well,
try PMing a MOD, They might be able to help..
Im sorry i couldn't be more helpful...

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That is a very high heartrate indeed.
Did she do any blood work on him?
Could he be severely dehydrated by any chance? Do you have any pictures of him?

What type & brand of UVB light are you using, a fluorescent tube bulb or a compact/coil light? What type of basking light are you using right now?
Is he losing weight, or maintaining his weight right now?
Has his beard been black lately for long periods of time?

Tracie

 

[diamc]

Wow, what a shocking heart rate! How is Benny doing now? Had his breathing always been fast as long as you've had him? How is the humidity in his tank? Could he have aspirated on something?

What are the temp during the day and what type of thermometer are you using? I also think it would be a good idea to keep him warm at night, like about 80 degrees. Have you been using a CHE?

Is he housed with another beardie or in view of another?

I hope you can get some answers from the ultra sound and xray, hopefully it's nothing serious.

 

[minipumpkin]

Hi Drache613 and diamc,
thanks for taking the time to read this, she didnt do any blood work on him, i dont think hes dehydrated but i will try and get a little bit of water in him and see how he does. ill post some pics later today.

his uvb is a repti glo 10 probally 3-4 months old, when it gets to 6 months i will be changing to arcadia 12.
his basking light is a 100w sun glo bulb.

he is maintaining his weight but hes underweight for his length i think.
his beard goes black when stresses or when hes cold like a normal drogon apart from when hes coughing he also has a black beard.

his breathing hasnt always been fast, i first noticed it last week and i posted on here in the health section to try get some ideas on what it could be. the humidity is about 40%-50% depending on the time of the day.

Could he have aspirated on something? i dont know to be honest.

the temps are basking 40-43c and the warm side is around 25c it changes durning the day. i have the exo terra stick on things but i also have a digital probe which i use from time to time just to check everything is working right.

he has a heat mat to keep him warm over night. not sure what the temp is at night i will check it tonight. CHE is heat mat right?

i was housed with another dragon but seporated them 2 weeks ago they are in the same set up and the other one is doing fine, it bigger fatter and just more healthy. they cant see each other as the tanks are on top of each other.


the vet said the ultra sound would be abit hit and miss as as their hearts are so small. so tomorrow ill post and tell you all what the vet found or didnt find

today i have seen him a small cough durning the day which i hadnt seen before.

Thank you for any help, he is back off to the vets tomorrow for an xray and ultrascan on his heart.

 

[discojan]

A CHE
is a ceramic heat emitter (looks like a lightbulb, but produces heat adn not light), not the same as a heat pad. One thing I noticed is that the humidity seems a little high, maybe you could reduce it somehow? I'm sorry your buddy isn't feeling well and I don't have other ideas, but hope someone else does!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

How is your dragon doing today?
Please let us know the results of the ultrasound & the x-ray.
Bloodwork could determine if there is any infection he is fighting, along with the calcium levels, kidney & liver enzymes as well.
If he has fluid in his lungs or around them, then, he may have pneumonia which is serious & will need to be treated.
For now, if you can I would try to lower his humidity to 10-20% if at all possible. Do you have a water dish in his tank? Try to keep his tank a stable 26 for ambient temperatures but maintaining a basking spot of around 40.
It is possible that he could have aspirated something at some point that might have caused this or at least contributed to this problem.

Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie

 

[minipumpkin]

ok update time,
so i droped benny off at the vets today and went back to work, the xrayed and the ultra sound have been done( i dont know the results yet). i asked them to do bloods she agreed to do them and i asked if he could be dhydrated the vet said no. i got a phone call a few hours later asking me to take my other BD in as they had never done an ultra sound on a BD and wanted to compare them both, so i agreed to take my other BD in but they are both going to be there over night and they are going to do the ultra sounds tomorrow so ill pick them both up tomorrow. so we should have a better understanding of whats going on tomorrow

also could anyone help out, could you try measure your BD's heart rate's if you can and let me know what they are. this would be a big help. thanks
(they should be 40bpm from what i have been told by the vet, but yet both of mine are alot higher even the health one i have :s im so confused and its making me worrie about my set up's)

thanks.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

The main thing would be just to change the UVB light as this can cause undue stress with not having adequate UVB lighting to help promote the uptake of the calcium & other vitamins & minerals as well.
They have a 3 chambered heart & their heart rate increases when their respiration speeds up along with their body temperature. So their heart rate decreases once their respiration slows & their body temperature cools down.
It is very hard to get an exact heart rate at rest, because of all of the variables. Somewhere between 30 to 40 would be a good estimate for a resting heart rate.
Are they getting a good gradient of temperatures in their tanks to thermoregulate?

Please let us know the results of the ultrasound, & the blood tests, too.

Tracie

 

[minipumpkin]

update time,

so we picked benny up yesterday and the ultra sound looked fine, the xrays where cloudy over where his lungs areand i had alook at the xrays myself as well. some of the the bloods have come back 'normal' i should find out the rest of the bloods today. hes been started on some antibiotics as the vet thinks its a RI not sure what antibiotics it was as im at work now ill post what hes on later and also try get some pics as i said i would but forgot :s his heart rate was 130bpm at 32 degrees celsius (89.6f)

when we got him home he ate a super worm.. one tho so still not good, im worried that he might not be getting the calsium and nutriments he needs so should i use the baby food with calsium/nutrobal in it? (i have some already made up and frozen just need to take it out the freezer and warm it a little)

thanks a bunch for the info so far.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Ok, well that is normal for the heart rate to be higher at 90 degrees & it should drop according to the body temperature, etc.
Was any fluid found around the heart then, or just the cloudiness appearing? That could be a respiratory issue.
Which antibiotic was given?
Yes you can go ahead & give him the baby food that you have made up for him to help him out right now.
I hope he is feeling better & starts eating more real soon. Please keep us posted on him.

Tracie

 

[minipumpkin]

ok the antibiotic is baytril which is given once a day. (0.02ml)

i dont know if there was fluid around the heart just that when i looked at the xrays with the vet his lungs looked cloudy.

gave him some baby food he also ate 2 maybe 3 super worms today... (i put them in as i left for work and he ate 2 when i put them in but forgot how many i left in with him so not sure if he ate another but at least he ate by himself right..)

i ordered a new light today as well which will get here in a day or 2. i dont think it is that which is the problem but just to make sure.

thanks Tracie