Possible Respitory Infection... something weird.

[Pravius]

Hey guys,

Normally I am the one looking through here trying to give advice but today is something different. I have a female (about 3mths old) that recently has stopped eating, it's been about 4 days now and today is the day I took action. She is basking and seems active but just will not eat for anything... I forced her to eat a few Phoenix worms this morning gently opened her mouth and put the worms in about half way and she chewed them up and swallowed. Stopped by Walmart on the way home picked up some chicken mixed with apples baby food and some squash.. mixed them together and she ate about 1 ML of it. I also cut a cod liver pill open and gave her about 1/4 of that because I have not seen her poop recently I was thinking she may be impacted... until I noticed as I was giving her a bath today she was really flaring out her beard more than usual and it seems she was really pushing hard to breath, she was also gaping.. I looked in her nose did not see any discharge but it does look like there may be an obstruction or swelling in there.

Little info about her setup. She has two basking areas both hit 110. Basking area number 1 is a MVB from Reptile UV and the other is a regular halogen. Dust crix 5 times a week with Rep cal w/o D3 one for one feeding and twice with herptivite.

Really ultimately my question is what do you guys think is the best treatment for this? I know keeping the heat on her and make sure the humidity levels stay down will help the immune system fight it off. I also have some probiotics on the way from beautiful dragons. Any other suggestions? Like I said I normally try not to ask for advice but this one is scaring me a little bit. I have a dragon the same age or within a few weeks and he is about twice her size now they used to be almost identical sizes.

 

[Aznrainbowdime]

Im no expert when it comes to diagnosing something.. but do you hear like a clicking sound coming from her throat ? If you do hear it it might be respitory infection and I read on here its best to keep your beardie warm and raise the basking temp, and eventually take to the vet. Someone with more knowledge on this will respond... no worries hun... I hope your beardie gets better. Keep us updated k

Hugs

 

[Pravius]

Thanks for the kind words... she is doing a little better this morning feeling much fatter after I fed the baby food to her I just have never in my years of doing this seen a baby this fickle on food.. she will not eat anything willingly, and her growth seems to have stopped she has not grown at all in about 2 weeks which is really scary considering she should be growing like a weed. I had to give her some greens this morning, she was in the past eating fine. I would take her to a vet but there is none anywhere close to where I am located so that is out of the question right now until I can get back into the city.

Hopefully the probiotics will kick her into gear, I was thinking about getting Rept-Aid from NW chams to see if that will help in conjunction with the probiotics. I guess only time will tell..

 

[Aznrainbowdime]

How's your baby doing today =) ?

 

[Pravius]

Still not eating but I have been forcing her to eat. We will see, I plan on going home tonight and seeing if she will eat something on her own..... crosses fingers!!! (It's been 5 days now)

 

[Aznrainbowdime]

and you said you've tried baby food right ? Has she pooped today ? Gosh I wish I could tell you what was wrong with your baby. Any word on the vet ?

 

[Pravius]

Vet is wayyyy to far away, I mean I would need to take a few days off work to get there and right now that is not possible. I have raised quite a few babies never one this fickle... weird thing is physically she looks good, little slim and way small for her age but is not lethargic, pretty active for the most part, she just will not eat anything... I have not seen poop yet I am at work now but for sure will be checking once I get home.. and if no poop then I am going to be doing some more cod liver dosing for sure just incase.

 

[Aznrainbowdime]

I heard mixing olive oil and baby food.. then feeding it to your beardie with a syringe works like magic. Maybe you should try that. I just went through a scare with my baby as well... so I know how you feel. Have you gone through all the old posts in bearde E.R or the health section ? Maybe you can find a similar problem....

 

[Pravius]

Oh yea. I work in IT so the scientific method is in my blood! Anyway update as of today is she is still not eating.. been force feeding got her to eat (by opening mouth and forcing her to chew) 3 crickets this morning and some greens with some Butternut Squash.

Going to keep giving the baby food with the calcium at night and we will see once the probiotcs get here maybe that will help her out a bit.