Pretty sure he's gonna die soon....help please!

[TarynRN]

We brought our lizard Sammy home about 1 month ago. He's approximately 3 months old(about 8 inches long). He was doing amazing from day one. Ate about 10 small crickets with each feeding. We dust with calcium 5x a week and repti vitamins 2x a week. We use Repti carpet, Reptisum 10.0 UVB and a 75watt halogen bulb for basting. We have a temp probe thermometer that reads 107 in his hottest spot(he does not like this basking spot) He almost always sits directly under the UVB which reads about 94-95 in that spot. The cool end of tank is 80. It's a 30 gallon tank and has tree branch for basking. He can get about 5-6 inches from the lights.

We bath him daily and give him water from a dropper daily.

About 3 days ago, he stopped eating all of a sudden. He was a pig before...ate everything(except his veggies) that we put in his tank. We do not give him any worms as he is too young. We've noticed that every now and then he opens his mouth and it sounds and looks like he is trying to get something up. Today when I was bathing him he gasped a couple times and then closed his eyes a laid in the water. When I picked him up, he was lifeless. I though he had died...I went to put him back in his tank and he opened his eyes. Now he is basking with his head held high in the air. Not sure what is going on. Anyone who has suggestions of things we can try...maybe something more tempting for him to eat(as I want him to gain some strength back. Any suggestions to help me keep him alive would be greatly appreciated. We already lost one baby right before we got him and don't want to lose Sammy as well.

Thanks so much!

Taryn

 

[Esther19]

My advice would be to take him to an experienced reptile vet. In the meantime, have you tried giving him baby food with a dropper? Get stage 1 turkey or chicken and mix it with squash or green beans. Get some Reptaboost at the pet store to mix in, along with the calcium powder. They usually like to lick up the baby food. If you need to, add a bit of water to thin it. Hope this helps!

 

[Menolly07]

Does it seem like it's coughing or vomiting?

Coughing:
Could he have ducked his head under the water/breathed in water from the dropper?
When was the last time you cleaned/changed the carpet? If it's been awhile it may be due for a rinse out. If it looks clean it's easy to forget that stuff drops through. Sometimes they can get irriations, like use with allergies.

Shed:
You didn't mention if Sammy was close to a good body shed. I know our Odahviing usually really falls off eating if she's about to shed, sometimes as long as five days. Of course, that doesn't explain the other behaviour, but it may be part of the issue.

Not coughing/shed?
Vomiting:
Is it like Sammy is trying to throw up? That's something I'm not sure about. Hopefully somebody else can give you some help on that.

Nutrition:
Try syringes of baby food to tempt him. Our Odahviing loves squash and sweet potato. I add a little ReptaBoost (protein rich) to thicken it up a little. She laps it off the end of the syringe.

Obviously, a reptile vet would be the very best qualified to help you with anything illness related. It might be worth looking into having Sammy seen.

 

[ChrisMiller]

Hmm... all was normal, but then he stops eating for 3 days and now you think he's going to die?

I don't want to downplay the situation, but most of what you have posted sounds normal to me. Gaping (holding the mouth open) is completely normal. My guys all breathe heavy when I bathe them and they get mad. Basking with his head held high... yea they do that too when taken from a bath and chilled from the surrounding air.

Keep us posted, but I am not alarmed by anything you've posted?? :study:

Can you give us details on his setup? Good Reptisun 10.0 tube for UVB? Good spot / basking light for the basking spot that brings it to 100-105 degrees? Regularly supplemented with calcium?

 

[Drache613]

Hello Taryn,

Just checking to be sure the Reptisun 10 is a tube bulb, correct & not a compact/coil light?
The basking temperatures do need to be in a range of 95-110 for him with a cooler end of around 78-82. He may not be warm enough to digest properly. You could get a slightly higher wattage of basking light but you don't want to have the basking light closer than 6 inches.
The supplementation schedule looks fine to me. When you feed him, do you allow a couple of hours before bedtime to give him time to digest his food before his light goes out?

How do his eyes look, are they bright or sunken in?
The 30 gallon tank is a good sized tank for him, he should have plenty of room to move around in for him right now.

Tracie

 

[TarynRN]

Hi guys, thanks for responding. If he doesn't eat today, I will definitely try the baby food!

I'll try to answer all of your questions:
The Reptisum light is a tube bulb.
He has been shedding here and there....there are a little shedding on the ground everyday.
The mouth opening is more a cough as he is not vomiting anything up. He actually only does this every now and then now. It was pretty constant when it started...now it is occasional.

This morning he's alert and standing in the bottom of his cage. He watches the crickets but doesn't go after any of them. He's still pooping and peeing...so I guess that's a good sign.

Guess we will try the baby food and see. We will also clean out his cage and see if this helps. We usually clean it once a week.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Please keep us posted on how he is doing. The baby food would work really well if & when you decide to use it.
That is good he is alert though, it is a good sign.
The Reptisun 10 tube bulb is a great bulb, so that is good you are using the tube bulb.
I hope that he continues to improve for you. How are his temperatures now in his tank?

Tracie

 

[TarynRN]

Tracie,

He is eating about 10 drops of baby food each time. Still refuses his crickets so far.
Temps are100- 105 at his basking spot. 80 at the cool side but he almost never goes there.

Will keep you posted...when you have done baby food in the past, how many days has your Beardie gone without eating his regular food?

 

[KBenker]

Is there anything between the ReptiSun and Sammie - like a screen? Made that mistake with my first beardie, I had placed the UVB on top of the screen, not knowing it filtered out about 50% of the UVB.

My Topaz went off food in January. I happened to still have carnivore care, so gave him that for 6 days, then his appetite returned.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Usually, they get their appetites back fairly quickly as soon as they are feeling better.
If he is basking normally, he must be feeling a little better now. How are his colors now?
You can continue to offer insects to him to see if he is interested, but supplement with the baby food as needed so he doesn't lose too much weight.

Tracie

 

[TarynRN]

Thanks for the help guys. We did actually have the UVB on a screen. We cut out the screen where it is a little while ago. Thx for info...hopefully it will help.

Tracie...his coloring is still a little off. I will post pics in just a sec.

 

[TarynRN]

Above are the pictures of him now! Below are when he was healthy and pics of his set up.

 

[Menolly07]

Are his underside and chin white or patterned?

 

[TarynRN]

His underside is the same as usual I believe.....white with a grey pattern. I actually think he's doing a little better. He went after 2-3 crickets today. Didn't eat all the ones in his tank...but I guess that's a start!

 

[Menolly07]

Maybe he did just accidentally breath in a little water. You're obviously doing an awesome job keeping a close eye on him and trying to make sure he's ok. I asked about his belly because beardies can get stress marks when they're not feeling well or are stressed out. The babies can get them for seemingly no reason, but it's worth being mindful of them.