Please Help, Inhaled Water

[newreptile]

Norton inhaled water in the bath, had water dripping out of his nose. He keeps puffing like he's going to vomit, but can't seem to get it out. His beard and tail are turning black. He will spark up for a minute, then close his eyes and stop moving again. What do I do?

 

[AHBD]

Hold him at a slight angle with his head pointing down. You might even wave him back + forth gently as you do that. Tip him over several times....tonight keep his tank just a bit warmer [ around 80 ] and try to set him down in the position where his head is lower than his body, maybe put a towel under his body.

 

[newreptile]

Hold him at a slight angle with his head pointing down. You might even wave him back + forth gently as you do that. Tip him over several times....tonight keep his tank just a bit warmer [ around 80 ] and try to set him down in the position where his head is lower than his body, maybe put a towel under his body.

I tilted him down slightly multiple times, and fluid dripped out a little each time. I've put him back in his tank under the basking light to keep him somewhat hot. He just keeps puffing his beard like he's trying to vomit but he isn't. He just started climbing in his tank; does that indicate that he's starting to feel better? At first he wasn't moving and his beard and tail both turned pitch black. He's still breathing a little heavy but his tail and beard are slowly fading down and he's climbing now.

 

[newreptile]

He just keeps trying to swallow but seems to not be able to? He's alert and he's not black anymore, but he was just shaking his head a second ago. Does he just need a little time to clear it out of his throat? I know they can't cough really but I figure he'll eventually just vomit up the water if he's uncomfortable enough.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Poor guy, he is just trying to get it cleared out of his system. If he is starting to climb a little bit then he sounds like he is feeling better. Since he is puffing/pushing his beard out, that is his way of trying to clear any other fluids.
For now, keep his tank a little warmer at night, around 80 to help boost his immune system & help ward off any respiratory issues that could occur from this episode.

Tracie

 

[newreptile]

Hello,

Poor guy, he is just trying to get it cleared out of his system. If he is starting to climb a little bit then he sounds like he is feeling better. Since he is puffing/pushing his beard out, that is his way of trying to clear any other fluids.
For now, keep his tank a little warmer at night, around 80 to help boost his immune system & help ward off any respiratory issues that could occur from this episode.

Tracie

Every couple minutes he'll sort of violently jerk up like he's going to vomit, but then nothing ends up happening. Is that just a natural way of everything settling?
He's vomited from drinking once before, but it never came out of his nostrils or affected him this severely. I just don't know how to prevent this from continuing to happen? It terrifies me that it will severely harm him. The water level is kept low, I don't leave him alone in the bath. I've tried just dropping water on his nose but the only way to get him to drink is an actual bath. I just don't want this to keep happening.

 

[newreptile]

Hello,

Poor guy, he is just trying to get it cleared out of his system. If he is starting to climb a little bit then he sounds like he is feeling better. Since he is puffing/pushing his beard out, that is his way of trying to clear any other fluids.
For now, keep his tank a little warmer at night, around 80 to help boost his immune system & help ward off any respiratory issues that could occur from this episode.

Tracie

Every couple minutes he'll sort of violently jerk up like he's going to vomit, but then nothing ends up happening. Is that just a natural way of everything settling?
He's vomited from drinking once before, but it never came out of his nostrils or affected him this severely. I just don't know how to prevent this from continuing to happen? It terrifies me that it will severely harm him. The water level is kept low, I don't leave him alone in the bath. I've tried just dropping water on his nose but the only way to get him to drink is an actual bath. I just don't want this to keep happening.

 

[newreptile]

Violently through his head up, I don't know why that keeps getting bleeped out.

 

[newreptile]

He's a little shaky when he walks as well, although I don't know if it's just from the stress of what happened.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

How is he doing today, any improvements? Is he still shaking his head around?
You may need to keep him from dunking his head in his bath water to avoid this from happening in the future. He must be swallowing too much at one time.
Did he bask for the majority of the day?

Tracie

 

[newreptile]

Hello,

How is he doing today, any improvements? Is he still shaking his head around?
You may need to keep him from dunking his head in his bath water to avoid this from happening in the future. He must be swallowing too much at one time.
Did he bask for the majority of the day?

Tracie

He hasn't been shaking today, but every few hours he opens and closes his mouth several times, like he's burping almost maybe? He's been running around like crazy today actually, much more active than he's been before. He did poop one time and it was very watery, I think he's just "filtering" out all the extra moisture from the incident yesterday. He ate a couple worms this morning just fine, so I think he's recovering okay.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That is promising news he has been more active today!
At least he hasn't been shaking anymore either. It sounds like his appetite is slowly coming back also.
It may take him up to a week or so for his system to get back to normal. Were you able to keep him at a warmer temperature overnight too? That will help to ward off any potential respiratory issue hopefully & boost his immune system, too.
Let us know how he is doing! I think he will be just fine.

Tracie

 

[newreptile]

Hello,

That is promising news he has been more active today!
At least he hasn't been shaking anymore either. It sounds like his appetite is slowly coming back also.
It may take him up to a week or so for his system to get back to normal. Were you able to keep him at a warmer temperature overnight too? That will help to ward off any potential respiratory issue hopefully & boost his immune system, too.
Let us know how he is doing! I think he will be just fine.

Tracie

I have an under tank heating pad which puts some heat in overnight, so he was probably around 75-80 last night. I don't have a ceramic heat emitter, so I don't want to keep his basking light on 24/7. Thanks for checking back on him! I still need to figure out about the bath situation, he has never actually put his head underwater so I don't know how it even ended up going as far into him as it did. Hopefully in a few days he'll get the rest of it cleared out and be back to normal!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That is good he is staying warm, it should help him out until he is back to normal.
You are right, you wouldn't want a basking light on all day/night so an undertank heater is fine.
Even if he didn't dunk his head under water did he drink quite a bit? Sometimes it just goes down the wrong way & they can aspirate too much liquid.
I hope he is feeling much better!

Tracie

 

[newreptile]

Hello,

That is good he is staying warm, it should help him out until he is back to normal.
You are right, you wouldn't want a basking light on all day/night so an undertank heater is fine.
Even if he didn't dunk his head under water did he drink quite a bit? Sometimes it just goes down the wrong way & they can aspirate too much liquid.
I hope he is feeling much better!

Tracie

He gets a bath about every other day, yet each time he still manages to drink what feels like a gallon and I'm not sure why! It's not like he's dehydrated, he's in the bath so often. I've just been trying to keep the water levels much lower to tempt him to not drink AS much as before, if that makes sense. Thank you for all your help!