Possible RI and NO vet will take my baby...Nervous Wreck

[LunarTechAsylum]

This past few weeks my young male beardie who is about 3 months old has been coughing, first caught it when he accidently saw our big male (blanket fell off beardies tank when I was holding dova) and I thought it was just him hissing/being aggressive. A week later its still not gone, he doesnt do it all the time but once in awhile he will cough, it sounds like a wet cough. Yesterday I caught him gaping for about 5 seconds. I cant tell if his breathing is heavier than normal or hes just stressed from increased handling. I'm worried to death that its a respiratory infection. I've called every vet and local rescue I can find, and the ones that will take reptiles say they wont take a beardie, let alone one so young... He was still eating the day before yesterday, although yesterday he seemed hesitant to eat though he had a big belly so he is by no means starving. Will give him a bath, check his poop which has so far been normal, and see how he feels. He is alert, looking around so far. Only lethargy has been that hes slow to wake up, but my girl is sometimes too and shes perfectly healthy. I have a 55 gallo tank set up to the guidlines of Newbies lighting help, all the proper bulbs etc. I raised the temperature in his tank slightly to hopefully help dry it up as well as took out his bath/water dish. The nearest big city that would have a vet is 12+ hours away and our trucks heater went out in December...I think the long cold trip would just stress him out.

What can I do? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated...I dont know if I can handle loosing another beardie. Would rept aid or reptiboost help?


Update: Dova went poop in the bath as usual, and it was normal. still doesnt show interest in food. Bf is bringing me home some Repti boost.

 

[AHBD]

Hi there....is it possible for you to put up a video of the episodes ? One of the mods. or someone else who views it might be able to tell you if that's what it is. If it truly is an R.I, it may get better just by being sure that the temps. are warm enough at night [ around 80 ] and keeping him from getting chilled. A member on here , Cheryl from beardeddragon.co sells generic Baytril, that is what is used for R.I's commonly. You can order it , and she will enclose proper dosing instructions. You can also get probiotics along with it. Hopefully he will be just fine.

 

[LunarTechAsylum]

I will try to get it on video, but like I said he will only do it occasionaly unless hes upset. I gave him a tiny dose of reptaboost last night, and this morning he ate a worm! Thank you so much for replying, I will look into this immediatly and see if I can confirm it is definately a RI before ordering.

 

[Silas66]

Hey, I know what you are going through. My 5 month girly was doing the exact same thing. I know you don't have a vet but the baytril cleared hers right up. Its quite hard on their little bellies so she was very sleepy and wouldn't eat. I had to syringe feed her baby food and soy yogurt (baytril kills all!!) I bathed her often for hydration. I finished her treatment within two weeks. Now she is happy and plump!! I was afraid I was going to lose her and all this helped. Keep me updated as I am interested and hopeful that this works for you as well as it did for me.!

 

[Loz333]

Oh my! I'm so sorry about your dragons illness. Your reptile vet doesn't see bearded dragons? Bearded dragons are the most common reptile pet, I can't imagine what reptiles he DOES see! He needs his licence taking away. Hopefully you can find the help you need on here. Hopefully one of the members with a lot of experience can tell you what medication to get. I know you can get some medications online at beardeddragon.co