Rescue Beardie Mouth Breathing

[bleav913]

Hi!! Backstory… So, I rescued 2 bearded dragons that were abandoned in a basement at the beginning of February. They were in a small 20g tank together with no lighting or food.

I rehomed the male the same night as he seemed to be in decent condition, still in need of a vet, but was doing okay. I kept the female since she was pale, severely underweight, dehydrated and kept gasping for air with mouth sounds that sounded like an old man snoring or trying to clear your throat with your mouth open.

She was put on 8 different medications plus syringe feeding. She was having terrible spasms and we thought she passed multiple times. Miraculously, she turned around and she’d been doing fantastic for about a month. In the last 24-48 hours, she’s declined quickly again out of nowhere and has been having trouble breathing and doing that same scraping, cough/choke noise. I contacted the vet right away, and I took tomorrow off so I’ll call them again as soon as they open so I’m available for anytime they can squeeze me in.

Her original bloodwork showed 2 infections and 1 chronic infection, her x-rays had a black thing covering the view of her heart, but it looked normal from the side. She was on antibiotic injections and we stopped a few weeks ago as she was doing great.

We estimated her to be 5+ years. She came to me at 220g, whereas now she’s above 400g. She eats greats and has lots of energy and curiosity.

My question is, has anyone had any experience with something like this? Will she probably always have some sort of residual issues?

Another thing I’m nervous and feel terrible for, I read that spinach is one of those things where it’s a myth that they’re bad. Could she be getting bad again because she was getting spinach everyday for the last 2 weeks??!!!

*Soft things were in her enclosure because of her thrashing so we didn’t want to injure herself. *

I’ll include photos and a video if I can below. I posted a lot, but some files said they were too large. Just any advice or guidance is welcomed. She’s come so far already and I’m so proud of her. I will do whatever it takes.

 

[KarrieRee]

Hi!! Backstory… So, I rescued 2 bearded dragons that were abandoned in a basement at the beginning of February. They were in a small 20g tank together with no lighting or food.

I rehomed the male the same night as he seemed to be in decent condition, still in need of a vet, but was doing okay. I kept the female since she was pale, severely underweight, dehydrated and kept gasping for air with mouth sounds that sounded like an old man snoring or trying to clear your throat with your mouth open.

She was put on 8 different medications plus syringe feeding. She was having terrible spasms and we thought she passed multiple times. Miraculously, she turned around and she’d been doing fantastic for about a month. In the last 24-48 hours, she’s declined quickly again out of nowhere and has been having trouble breathing and doing that same scraping, cough/choke noise. I contacted the vet right away, and I took tomorrow off so I’ll call them again as soon as they open so I’m available for anytime they can squeeze me in.

Her original bloodwork showed 2 infections and 1 chronic infection, her x-rays had a black thing covering the view of her heart, but it looked normal from the side. She was on antibiotic injections and we stopped a few weeks ago as she was doing great.

We estimated her to be 5+ years. She came to me at 220g, whereas now she’s above 400g. She eats greats and has lots of energy and curiosity.

My question is, has anyone had any experience with something like this? Will she probably always have some sort of residual issues?

Another thing I’m nervous and feel terrible for, I read that spinach is one of those things where it’s a myth that they’re bad. Could she be getting bad again because she was getting spinach everyday for the last 2 weeks??!!!

*Soft things were in her enclosure because of her thrashing so we didn’t want to injure herself. *

I’ll include photos and a video if I can below. I posted a lot, but some files said they were too large. Just any advice or guidance is welcomed. She’s come so far already and I’m so proud of her. I will do whatever it takes.

Please no spinach!!! Next please get the UVB into a fixture w/ a reflector and move it off the wall - if its a T 5 it needs to be directly over her 12-15 inches --- do this right away!!! This is extremely important!!!!!! Next get her surface basking temps to 95-100 during the day taken w/ a digital probe thermometer I see only stick ons in the tank -- the probes are the most accurate and you want the temp taken from where she sits to bask ---- I would suggest getting a CHE and place in the middle of the tank w/ temps at night around 80-- w/ her being ill its going to help the immune system-- please get all this adjusted and I am hoping she will bounce back again but everything I posted here needs to be on par

 

[xp29]

Oh that poor baby, bless your heart for trying to save her. I hope you are successful. Karrieree is absolutely correct on her suggestions, please follow her advice. If you work with her she can help you get your lighting and diet spot on. Both are going to be critical to your beardies health and chances of survival.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Bless her, she has definitely been through a tough ordeal!
Many times when they have developed respiratory infections, they can become chronic for
whatever reason. Have you ever tried using a nebulizer to help increase the effectiveness
of medicine delivery?
She has good size to her right now. I would also recommend keeping her a little warmer
overnight, usually around 75-80F to help keep her immune system boosted.

Tracie

 

[bleav913]

Please no spinach!!! Next please get the UVB into a fixture w/ a reflector and move it off the wall - if its a T 5 it needs to be directly over her 12-15 inches --- do this right away!!! This is extremely important!!!!!! Next get her surface basking temps to 95-100 during the day taken w/ a digital probe thermometer I see only stick ons in the tank -- the probes are the most accurate and you want the temp taken from where she sits to bask ---- I would suggest getting a CHE and place in the middle of the tank w/ temps at night around 80-- w/ her being ill its going to help the immune system-- please get all this adjusted and I am hoping she will bounce back again but everything I posted here needs to be on par

Hi!! Thank you for getting back to me. The UVB is on a reflector - it’s a Reptisun T8 10.0 since it’s a smaller tank, but mounted on the inside. The digital stick ons have just been on there forever and I can’t get them off I use digital standing and then measure basking temp with a surface temp gun. I also do use a CHE at night.

Had the vet visit yesterday. Did x-rays, ultra sound, bloodwork and fecal test. Gave her another antibiotic shot. Her guts just aren’t working to help her retain her weight. If the blood work shows nothing super alarming, then she will go into a $1500 surgery, but with a 50/50 chance she’ll survive it. She has mushed up eggs and fluid inside of her and/or a potentially cancerous mass to remove during surgery. Todays appt was $500, and then she gets seen again in 10 days or another injection.

 

[KarrieRee]

Hi!! Thank you for getting back to me. The UVB is on a reflector - it’s a Reptisun T8 10.0 since it’s a smaller tank, but mounted on the inside. The digital stick ons have just been on there forever and I can’t get them off I use digital standing and then measure basking temp with a surface temp gun. I also do use a CHE at night.

Had the vet visit yesterday. Did x-rays, ultra sound, bloodwork and fecal test. Gave her another antibiotic shot. Her guts just aren’t working to help her retain her weight. If the blood work shows nothing super alarming, then she will go into a $1500 surgery, but with a 50/50 chance she’ll survive it. She has mushed up eggs and fluid inside of her and/or a potentially cancerous mass to remove during surgery. Todays appt was $500, and then she gets seen again in 10 days or another injection.

Oh dear I am rooting for you --- please get the T 8 directly above her 6-8 inches --- how hold is the T 8? They expire in approx 6 months but I always recommend 5-- if you would like Tracie to look at the x rays bw and ultra sound she can chime in on her medical condition -- shes our vet tech on here -- please post them - you do want digital probes for the surface basking temps- the ones sitting in there are only giving ambient temps --

 

[bleav913]

Oh dear I am rooting for you --- please get the T 8 directly above her 6-8 inches --- how hold is the T 8? They expire in approx 6 months but I always recommend 5-- if you would like Tracie to look at the x rays bw and ultra sound she can chime in on her medical condition -- shes our vet tech on here -- please post them - you do want digital probes for the surface basking temps- the ones sitting in there are only giving ambient temps --

The T8 is 8-ish weeks old. I don’t have pics of them, but I can get them. Yeah I have the digital for ambient and a surface temp gun for basking. Thank you!!

 

[xp29]

I can't add to what Karrieree and Drache613 has told you, but i am rooting for her and sending prayers her way

 

[bleav913]

Oh dear I am rooting for you --- please get the T 8 directly above her 6-8 inches --- how hold is the T 8? They expire in approx 6 months but I always recommend 5-- if you would like Tracie to look at the x rays bw and ultra sound she can chime in on her medical condition -- shes our vet tech on here -- please post them - you do want digital probes for the surface basking temps- the ones sitting in there are only giving ambient temps --

Lab work showed her white blood cell count is way lower than Dr. expected, and is lower than the first time - so, that’s amazing! Her liver, kidneys, etc. all look to be functioning normally, which is a miracle. Her fecal showed Coccidia, so I picked up Baycox today to administer every 48 hours for 3 weeks. For now, we’re going to just focus on treating the parasites and continuing the antibiotics and see where those take us before we consider surgery. Vet said there’s a chance the ovarian follicles could shrink/reabsorb and wouldn’t need to be removed, but that it usually doesn’t happen.