Our beardie is really sick

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Sriley

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I made a mistake in my question. Sorry. I meant to ask if it is normal that his beard doesn’t really ever turn black other then once or twice and even then it was not that dark?

Still no results from the vet they called back to tell me they are still being processed and that they are pushing the lab to get them done.

The vet did say I should put him back on the Baytril and Tramadol which I will do tonight.
 

Sriley

Member
Original Poster
I’m sorry for all the questions and I do really appreciate the advice and concern. I try to look up all the different things I have asked about before asking but there is so much info out there and I’ve been wrong more then a few times so it’s nice to have others opinions. Thank you

So just a few min ago I mixed up some of his food supliment. Emeraid 1 part powder and 2 parts water. Mushu has come out of his hide and was standing in the middle of his cage looking at his reflection (I think). I reached down and tried giving him some food with the syringe the vet gave us. His mouth was open a little so I tried to put it on his lip a little which sometimes gets him to start licking his lips and the syringe. This time though he stood up and walked towards me. I couldn’t tell if it was him liking it or being aggressive. I gave him a little more and he started snapping at the syringe and then he violently started shaking his head back and fourth and scratched at the side of his head 2 times and then started pushing the side of his head along the floor of his enclosure like he was trying to scratch or wipe away the food. I Don’t know what to do anymore I feel like I am doing things wrong. He stopped after about 15-20 Seconds. His mouth looks swollen on the left side.
 

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Shinryu

Hatchling Member
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Lead Writer
I'm just checking in on the little guy. Glad to hear he ate a little bit! (Although I just saw your latest post, and I'm sorry to hear you're struggling with his food supplement). I'll tag @Drache613 to make sure she also reviews your latest update when she's available. Also, I love his Halloween costumes!
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

The dose of .05ml is correct being dosed at a 10mg/kg. So, giving the .5ml is quite a bit.
Reptile's metabolic systems are slower than mammals' are so detoxing would definitely help out.
I am glad to hear he has eaten some but it sounds like he didn't like it very much! What did you mix together
for him?

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Poor Mushu, it's hard to say now if his reluctance to eat is from the problem that caused his head swelling or from the overdose of medicine. It's really just a guess as to whether or not he should be back on the meds. but his tummy is certainly upset still and he may not take any food. The other reason is because he might now associate the syringe with the nasty meds. Hopefully he'll start doing better though. Wer'e rooting for you Mushu !
 

Sriley

Member
Original Poster
Hello,

The dose of .05ml is correct being dosed at a 10mg/kg. So, giving the .5ml is quite a bit.
Reptile's metabolic systems are slower than mammals' are so detoxing would definitely help out.
I am glad to hear he has eaten some but it sounds like he didn't like it very much! What did you mix together
for him?

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie
I mixed the same food supplement that we had been giving him. Emeraid 1 part powder and 2 parts water. He has never much liked it. Even when my wife kinda holds him from moving.
 

Sriley

Member
Original Poster
Poor Mushu, it's hard to say now if his reluctance to eat is from the problem that caused his head swelling or from the overdose of medicine. It's really just a guess as to whether or not he should be back on the meds. but his tummy is certainly upset still and he may not take any food. The other reason is because he might now associate the syringe with the nasty meds. Hopefully he'll start doing better though. Wer'e rooting for you Mushu !
Just before we noticed the swelling he had kind of not been eating much so I’m not sure. The same time we noticed the swelling we also noticed his lip on the same side seemed to look bad like it was sagging. When I started looking online I thought maybe it was some sort of mouth rot but the vet didn’t say anything about it. Plus the sagging comes and goes. After the episode of him shaking his head and scratching it seems to look worse. Swollen a little but again I’m not sure because it had been saggy before that episode but I don’t know if it looked the same after.
 

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Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

How is your Mushu this evening? Does his jaw seem to have strength to it, or does his jaw strength appear to be weak? You can try using some raw, unpasteurized honey or manuka honey inside of his mouth to help with possible infection. It is very safe & tastes good so he shouldn't mind tasting it.
Is he basking all day?

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie
 

Sriley

Member
Original Poster
Hello,

How is your Mushu this evening? Does his jaw seem to have strength to it, or does his jaw strength appear to be weak? You can try using some raw, unpasteurized honey or manuka honey inside of his mouth to help with possible infection. It is very safe & tastes good so he shouldn't mind tasting it.
Is he basking all day?

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie
He isn’t doing any better. He has some days he moves around some and he still fights us when we try to feed him with the syringe. I’m starting to feel like we are failing him but not finding a way to quickly and completely get him the meds food and water. It stresses him out a lot after and we rarely get all of it in him.

I am going to pick up some raw unpasteurized honey today as you suggested. If he seems to like the taste I was thinking would it hurt if I dip the end of the syringe in the honey before giving him the meds and food so it tastes better?

I’m not sure about his jaw strength because I don’t have a real good idea of how strong it was before. He does bite down on the syringe and it kind of marks the plastic. It’s only a brief bite because he starts shaking his head to get the syringe out of his mouth.

He will get on his basking rock occasionally but he usually sits on the ramp he has to get to his rock with his noise kind of touching the rock. That puts him still directly under the basking lamp and the UVB bulb around 8 inches away with nothing between him and the bulbs. He will sit there most of the day.
 

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Sriley

Member
Original Poster
Hello,

How is your Mushu this evening? Does his jaw seem to have strength to it, or does his jaw strength appear to be weak? You can try using some raw, unpasteurized honey or manuka honey inside of his mouth to help with possible infection. It is very safe & tastes good so he shouldn't mind tasting it.
Is he basking all day?

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie
Two quick questions regarding the use of honey.

I watched some videos I found the links on this site about honey and from what I gather the manuka honey seems to be best. Is there a specific brand that is recommended?

Also in the video it
Hello,

How is your Mushu this evening? Does his jaw seem to have strength to it, or does his jaw strength appear to be weak? You can try using some raw, unpasteurized honey or manuka honey inside of his mouth to help with possible infection. It is very safe & tastes good so he shouldn't mind tasting it.
Is he basking all day?

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie
A few questions about the use of honey.

So I searched this site and found an interesting post about honey It was titled

Honey - Bacteria's Worst Enemy!

The video is short and very informative

It also sounded like the manuka ho ey is the best type.

1. Is there a recommended brand name?

2. How should it be applied? With a Q-Tip?

3. Would it hurt to dip the end of the syringe in the honey to kind of entice him to open up and then squirt the meds in?

I’m hoping Mushu likes the taste of it and it will help us to get him to eat.
.
 

Sriley

Member
Original Poster
Thought I would post an update. Some sort of good news.

So he is back to not moving much at all. He crawled into his hide and stayed there for must of the day today. The sort of good news...We were finally able to get him a full dose of his meds at the correct measurements. Pain meds and antibiotics. We also managed to get him half of his food supplement also. He fought us but not as much as usual. Kind of felt like he has gotten to week to fight much but it also could of been the manuka honey I put on the swollen part of his lower lip and dipped the tip of his antibiotics in the honey to try to make the test better. We had to use a very thin popsicle stick to hold his mouth open just a little bit. Next time I think we will be better at it and get him everything he is supposed to get in a much quicker and less stressful manner. Less stressful for him I mean. Hopefully he will start to get some strength back soon. In a few days when I get paid I want to see about taking him to a beardie specialist. There is supposed to be one in Yorba Linda kind of close to where we live and another in Fontana. Just want to research them a little tonight.
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

Thanks for the updates. Hopefully he starts to feel better. At least you were able to get some fluids, foo supplements, & meds, into him
also. I'm sure that using the honey to mask a bit of the taste helped out immensely. Most taste pretty bitter.
I'm sure that helped out quite a bit.
I hope he is feeling better, keep us posted on him!

Tracie
 

Sriley

Member
Original Poster
Vet results finally came in. Not sure what it means but sounds like they do t know what it is.
 

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Shinryu

Hatchling Member
Staff member
Lead Writer
Hmm, it looks like this report eliminates infection and tumors (both cancerous and benign) as possibilities. I looked up macrophages and it appears there is a link between those and inflammation. Did the vet recommend any further treatment? Something to reduce the inflammation? The report says that biopsy is the next step if treatments are not working. What did you vet say about his/her thoughts? Have you seen any improvements? @Drache613, would do you think?
 

Sriley

Member
Original Poster
Hmm, it looks like this report eliminates infection and tumors (both cancerous and benign) as possibilities. I looked up macrophages and it appears there is a link between those and inflammation. Did the vet recommend any further treatment? Something to reduce the inflammation? The report says that biopsy is the next step if treatments are not working. What did you vet say about his/her thoughts? Have you seen any improvements? @Drache613, would do you think?
So the first thing they sent was the following...

We have our cytology results back from the lab from Mushu's aspirate we performed on 10/17. The sample contains bloody fluid with no evidence of infection or cancerous cells.
If Mushu has not shown improvement on our tentative treatment plan at home, please call our office at (714) 899-1100 to schedule a recheck.

I had to call and bug them for the actual results that I posted first. My wife was told if we had any questions to call and set up another appointment.

If I can figure out the financial part and get an appointment there is a Vet in Yorba Linda, Ca named Greek and Associates that is supposed to Know a lot about Bearded Dragons
 
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