Possible follicle stasis or liver failure? Please help

EmmaL

Member
Hi! This is going to be a very long post i apologize in advance.

I have a 4-5 year old beardie who’s always been a handful! She was bought from PetSmart (terrible I know) she always had digestion issues and has had to be treated for parasites multiple times throughout her life. Most recent (around March) fecal test came back saying she had isospora oocyts and she was treated and was tested again and came back saying they were gone. I had gotten her blood work done while she was there also because she was extra lethargic and I just felt like something was off, but everything came back normal (even though they suspected liver disease because her plasma was very yellow when they spun the blood), besides her white blood cell count being slightly off, they suspected an infection from the parasites so they had us give her a round of antibiotics aswell.
She was much better after the parasites were gone. She’s always been very lazy but she seemed to be doing better than ever and had a lot of energy and very normal bowel movements and no constipation, which she’s struggled with alot throughout her life. I changed a few things in her diet as well. Everything was going good until I noticed about two weeks ago she started pooping less often and seemed to be a little lethargic. I wasn’t too worried because this has happen many times before and her appetite was still good. I started to worry when it seemed like she was barley moving around all day and bloated from constipation but I thought maybe she was going to brumate or possible be egg bound. Mind you she has never had eggs before but I suspected this because she started digging and hiding more. Anyway, my mom is a vet tech at the place we take all our pets so I had her ask our vet and she recommended we treat her for the parasites again since this has happened many times before. Aswell as another round of antibiotics. She was doing okay but still constipated and bloated.

Things seemed to get worse around last Sunday I noticed she was very lethargic and her eyes were sunken in and her eyebrows had gone flat which has never happened and was very scary to see. She was also visibly very dehydrated. I’ve been soaking her daily since then and they do perk up a little after but go back to sunken in after a while. :( we also went in vacation and I didn’t plan on bringing her but i couldn’t leave her with my grandparents like that. She did seem to be doing alright in the hotel, her appetite had decreased slightly but she was still eating and wasn’t constipated any more. She started pooping daily again. She showed much less interest in her veggies though mostly just her feeders.

Got her home yesterday and she had a lot of energy and got her to eat some greens and she was very excited for her bugs. But still sunken eyes and very dehydrated. I had my mom take her to work with her today to get an X-ray and blood work redone and to get fluids.

They found fluid in her abdomen which I know is not good at all :( I will attach her X-ray and a picture of what the fluid looked like after we drained some of it. Very very yellow. I’ll also attach a photo of her eyes and belly.

They said this could mean a number of things possibly liver failure, heart failure, even cancer. I started doing my own research because they’re knowledge with reptiles is limited because they don’t specialize in exotics. I read about yolk peritonitis and pre ovulatory follicle statsis which I was concerned about because of the color of the fluid almost looked yolkish. And since there was fluid in her belly they couldn’t really see her organs and what was going on beneath the fluid. It’s very strange because she still has an appetite and now pooping normally and has more energy than before it’s just the dehydration and sunken eyes that won’t go away. And they didn’t give her fluids because they thought it would just add to the fluid in her belly. Im now waiting on her blood work to come back, we’re also testing the fluid in her stomach, but I’m just hoping it doesn’t take forever because I’m scared she will take a turn for the worse if it is something to do with her ovaries.

So I guess my question is, is it possible for her to have these issues if she never laid eggs before? Or should I be worried about her liver ? And should I wait for her blood work and fluid test to come back before going to see a specialist or should I just go now? Regardless I was planning to go because she’s never been tested for adv and that’s definitely another possibility. I’m just hoping someone can give me some information I feel like I’m going crazy, I don’t want to lose my girl:( any advice would help thankyou for reading this veryyyy long post.
 

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xp29

BD.org Addict
Photo Comp Winner
Beardie name(s)
Zen , Ruby ,Snicker Doodles, Sweet Pea, Sinatra
I don't about the medical stuff, but i do know a little about hydration. Just soaking them absolutely does not hydrate them. If they don't drink in the bath it's pointless. The myth about them soaking it in through their skin or vent is one of the worst and most dangerous pieces of misinformation out there. They absolutely have to drink orally to be hydrated. If your dragon won't drink on her own use an eyedropper to drip it on her snout. If she still won't drink you can add a little none citrus juice or fruit punch for flavor. Make sure it's not citrus. Use an eyedropper not a syringe, you can control the amount better with the eyedropper. If you use juice or punch make sure to take a wet cloth and wipe away any that runs down her chin. The sugars in the juice could cause bacteria or fungus to start in her scales.
Also be patient and go at her pace, it can take a few minutes for her to understand she wants it. Never try to rush or force the water in her mouth, it could aspirate her. I hope this helps 🙂 also keep us posted most all of us worry about ever single beardie here.
 

EmmaL

Member
Original Poster
I don't about the medical stuff, but i do know a little about hydration. Just soaking them absolutely does not hydrate them. If they don't drink in the bath it's pointless. The myth about them soaking it in through their skin or vent is one of the worst and most dangerous pieces of misinformation out there. They absolutely have to drink orally to be hydrated. If your dragon won't drink on her own use an eyedropper to drip it on her snout. If she still won't drink you can add a little none citrus juice or fruit punch for flavor. Make sure it's not citrus. Use an eyedropper not a syringe, you can control the amount better with the eyedropper. If you use juice or punch make sure to take a wet cloth and wipe away any that runs down her chin. The sugars in the juice could cause bacteria or fungus to start in her scales.
Also be patient and go at her pace, it can take a few minutes for her to understand she wants it. Never try to rush or force the water in her mouth, it could aspirate her. I hope this helps 🙂 also keep us posted most all of us worry about ever single beardie here.
Hi! Thank-you for the help!! I will definitely try that when I get home from work. That’s crazy, I mentioned that to the vet, that I thought they can’t absorb water through their skin and they said they absorb through their vent. That is very dangerous to be spreading misinformation like that. I also put some little pieces of meal worm in a water dish this morning and she definitely got a good amount of water from chopping at the water. I think her eyes have perked back up maybe a little from how they were last night. I’ll attach a before and after. Still waiting on the rest of her blood work but I did ask if they got any of it yet and was told it’s looking like kidney failure :( but they don’t know what’s causing it yet until they get the rest back and consult with a specialist. Thanks again for your help :)
 

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xp29

BD.org Addict
Photo Comp Winner
Beardie name(s)
Zen , Ruby ,Snicker Doodles, Sweet Pea, Sinatra
I think your right, she does look a little better. Keep up with the hydration, chronic dehydration can lead to kidney problems.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Hi! Thank-you for the help!! I will definitely try that when I get home from work. That’s crazy, I mentioned that to the vet, that I thought they can’t absorb water through their skin and they said they absorb through their vent. That is very dangerous to be spreading misinformation like that. I also put some little pieces of meal worm in a water dish this morning and she definitely got a good amount of water from chopping at the water. I think her eyes have perked back up maybe a little from how they were last night. I’ll attach a before and after. Still waiting on the rest of her blood work but I did ask if they got any of it yet and was told it’s looking like kidney failure :( but they don’t know what’s causing it yet until they get the rest back and consult with a specialist. Thanks again for your help :)
If you have your blood work post it on here and Tracie can take a look -- she is the vet tech mod on here and can give her input --
@Drache613
 

EmmaL

Member
Original Poster
Hi! This is going to be a very long post i apologize in advance.

I have a 4-5 year old beardie who’s always been a handful! She was bought from PetSmart (terrible I know) she always had digestion issues and has had to be treated for parasites multiple times throughout her life. Most recent (around March) fecal test came back saying she had isospora oocyts and she was treated and was tested again and came back saying they were gone. I had gotten her blood work done while she was there also because she was extra lethargic and I just felt like something was off, but everything came back normal (even though they suspected liver disease because her plasma was very yellow when they spun the blood), besides her white blood cell count being slightly off, they suspected an infection from the parasites so they had us give her a round of antibiotics aswell.
She was much better after the parasites were gone. She’s always been very lazy but she seemed to be doing better than ever and had a lot of energy and very normal bowel movements and no constipation, which she’s struggled with alot throughout her life. I changed a few things in her diet as well. Everything was going good until I noticed about two weeks ago she started pooping less often and seemed to be a little lethargic. I wasn’t too worried because this has happen many times before and her appetite was still good. I started to worry when it seemed like she was barley moving around all day and bloated from constipation but I thought maybe she was going to brumate or possible be egg bound. Mind you she has never had eggs before but I suspected this because she started digging and hiding more. Anyway, my mom is a vet tech at the place we take all our pets so I had her ask our vet and she recommended we treat her for the parasites again since this has happened many times before. Aswell as another round of antibiotics. She was doing okay but still constipated and bloated.

Things seemed to get worse around last Sunday I noticed she was very lethargic and her eyes were sunken in and her eyebrows had gone flat which has never happened and was very scary to see. She was also visibly very dehydrated. I’ve been soaking her daily since then and they do perk up a little after but go back to sunken in after a while. :( we also went in vacation and I didn’t plan on bringing her but i couldn’t leave her with my grandparents like that. She did seem to be doing alright in the hotel, her appetite had decreased slightly but she was still eating and wasn’t constipated any more. She started pooping daily again. She showed much less interest in her veggies though mostly just her feeders.

Got her home yesterday and she had a lot of energy and got her to eat some greens and she was very excited for her bugs. But still sunken eyes and very dehydrated. I had my mom take her to work with her today to get an X-ray and blood work redone and to get fluids.

They found fluid in her abdomen which I know is not good at all :( I will attach her X-ray and a picture of what the fluid looked like after we drained some of it. Very very yellow. I’ll also attach a photo of her eyes and belly.

They said this could mean a number of things possibly liver failure, heart failure, even cancer. I started doing my own research because they’re knowledge with reptiles is limited because they don’t specialize in exotics. I read about yolk peritonitis and pre ovulatory follicle statsis which I was concerned about because of the color of the fluid almost looked yolkish. And since there was fluid in her belly they couldn’t really see her organs and what was going on beneath the fluid. It’s very strange because she still has an appetite and now pooping normally and has more energy than before it’s just the dehydration and sunken eyes that won’t go away. And they didn’t give her fluids because they thought it would just add to the fluid in her belly. Im now waiting on her blood work to come back, we’re also testing the fluid in her stomach, but I’m just hoping it doesn’t take forever because I’m scared she will take a turn for the worse if it is something to do with her ovaries.

So I guess my question is, is it possible for her to have these issues if she never laid eggs before? Or should I be worried about her liver ? And should I wait for her blood work and fluid test to come back before going to see a specialist or should I just go now? Regardless I was planning to go because she’s never been tested for adv and that’s definitely another possibility. I’m just hoping someone can give me some information I feel like I’m going crazy, I don’t want to lose my girl:( any advice would help thankyou for reading this veryyyy long post.
Hi! This is going to be a very long post i apologize in advance.

I have a 4-5 year old beardie who’s always been a handful! She was bought from PetSmart (terrible I know) she always had digestion issues and has had to be treated for parasites multiple times throughout her life. Most recent (around March) fecal test came back saying she had isospora oocyts and she was treated and was tested again and came back saying they were gone. I had gotten her blood work done while she was there also because she was extra lethargic and I just felt like something was off, but everything came back normal (even though they suspected liver disease because her plasma was very yellow when they spun the blood), besides her white blood cell count being slightly off, they suspected an infection from the parasites so they had us give her a round of antibiotics aswell.
She was much better after the parasites were gone. She’s always been very lazy but she seemed to be doing better than ever and had a lot of energy and very normal bowel movements and no constipation, which she’s struggled with alot throughout her life. I changed a few things in her diet as well. Everything was going good until I noticed about two weeks ago she started pooping less often and seemed to be a little lethargic. I wasn’t too worried because this has happen many times before and her appetite was still good. I started to worry when it seemed like she was barley moving around all day and bloated from constipation but I thought maybe she was going to brumate or possible be egg bound. Mind you she has never had eggs before but I suspected this because she started digging and hiding more. Anyway, my mom is a vet tech at the place we take all our pets so I had her ask our vet and she recommended we treat her for the parasites again since this has happened many times before. Aswell as another round of antibiotics. She was doing okay but still constipated and bloated.

Things seemed to get worse around last Sunday I noticed she was very lethargic and her eyes were sunken in and her eyebrows had gone flat which has never happened and was very scary to see. She was also visibly very dehydrated. I’ve been soaking her daily since then and they do perk up a little after but go back to sunken in after a while. :( we also went in vacation and I didn’t plan on bringing her but i couldn’t leave her with my grandparents like that. She did seem to be doing alright in the hotel, her appetite had decreased slightly but she was still eating and wasn’t constipated any more. She started pooping daily again. She showed much less interest in her veggies though mostly just her feeders.

Got her home yesterday and she had a lot of energy and got her to eat some greens and she was very excited for her bugs. But still sunken eyes and very dehydrated. I had my mom take her to work with her today to get an X-ray and blood work redone and to get fluids.

They found fluid in her abdomen which I know is not good at all :( I will attach her X-ray and a picture of what the fluid looked like after we drained some of it. Very very yellow. I’ll also attach a photo of her eyes and belly.

They said this could mean a number of things possibly liver failure, heart failure, even cancer. I started doing my own research because they’re knowledge with reptiles is limited because they don’t specialize in exotics. I read about yolk peritonitis and pre ovulatory follicle statsis which I was concerned about because of the color of the fluid almost looked yolkish. And since there was fluid in her belly they couldn’t really see her organs and what was going on beneath the fluid. It’s very strange because she still has an appetite and now pooping normally and has more energy than before it’s just the dehydration and sunken eyes that won’t go away. And they didn’t give her fluids because they thought it would just add to the fluid in her belly. Im now waiting on her blood work to come back, we’re also testing the fluid in her stomach, but I’m just hoping it doesn’t take forever because I’m scared she will take a turn for the worse if it is something to do with her ovaries.

So I guess my question is, is it possible for her to have these issues if she never laid eggs before? Or should I be worried about her liver ? And should I wait for her blood work and fluid test to come back before going to see a specialist or should I just go now? Regardless I was planning to go because she’s never been tested for adv and that’s definitely another possibility. I’m just hoping someone can give me some information I feel like I’m going crazy, I don’t want to lose my girl:( any advice would help thankyou for reading this veryyyy long post.
@Drache613
 

EmmaL

Member
Original Poster
If you have your blood work post it on here and Tracie can take a look -- she is the vet tech mod on here and can give her input --
@Drache613
Okay I definitely will, my mom works at the place where I had her blood work done so I was able to get her to peek at what came back so far, still waiting on the rest and I was told the fluid testing for her stomach usually takes longer than the blood unfortunately but I will post everything once I receive it!! Thanks
 

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