rescue with crushed lung

[khartley]

I drove 11 hours last night to pick this guy up. He is 6 years old, emaciated, and has what appears to be a crushed right lung. The owner said when they got him he was injured and nearly died, but they didn't tell me what happened and how old he was.

He was completely covered in feces. I thought his toes were rotten because they were black with feces. His food bowl and basking rock were covered in feces as well. He has pooped twice since last night, first was diarrhea, second was solid.

Owner said that he couldn't get him to gain weight, and that he was stunted due to his injury.

He appears to have bone deformity also. They gave me a uvb but the date was 2013 and it had a plastic cover on it. His basking light was too small and would only get his basking spot to 90, read by my infrared temp gun.

He is alert and somewhat active, got super excited for food and a little mischievous for bath.



I got him home at 6am, gave him a bath and scrubbed him with a toothbrush. Threw his disgusting substrate away, washed the tank and his things thoroughly and put in paper towel till I get new carpet. I took the cover off his uvb and ordered a new one. I got his basking area to proper temp. Taking him in to the vet for checkup next week if vet is back from vacation.

Now that you know the story, I'm asking opinions and advice on how to treat this guy. I thought it would be best to throw the 80% veggie diet out the window for now and just try and get him to gain weight. I have been giving him all the dubia and phoenix he wants, but still offering greens. I gave him some vitamin drops and probiotic. I'm nearly certain he has worms, based on being thin, covered in poo from dirty living, and having diarrhea. I have the mild worming med, I forget the name. I've already started him on acidophiliz. Should I worm him now or let him put on weight first?

Any other suggestions? My heart goes out to this sweetheart.

 

[Taterbug]

Personally I would get him looked at by a good exotics vet before treating things and feeding a lot. Work up slowly from what he's been eating but not let him binge. He's been quite neglected and worming or over feeding could be hard on his system. Focus on getting him hydrated - I'm sure he's dehydrated with all else.

 

[AHBD]

Tater was typing the same time as I was....I've written some of the same suggestions. Poor lil' guy with his huge underbite + skinny body but looking alert + sweet. So nice of you to go to such lengths to help him ! Right now it's best to let him settle in, don't feed him too much of anything at first, a nicely diced salad, a few medium sized bugs, preferably fresh molted in case he lacks jaw strength to properly chew and his body is not able to handle too much protein. Take it slow or you could shock his system. You're probably best off not giving any antibiotics either in his condition....just let him get used to new things + a regular diet [ which may cause diahrea no matter what you give him ] and see if he'll take water from a syringe for extra hydration. I hope for the best outcome for the little fighter !

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Oh my, the poor little thing. I am surprised that he is in this good of condition at 6 years old.
I agree, go very very slowly with the feeding & start with low protein, with a strong emphasis on hydration & greens first. Once he has gone to the bathroom several times you can determine how well his kidneys are functioning by the amount of urates excreted.
Which UVB are you going to be using for him?
Also, to help boost his immune system, be sure to keep his tank around 80 overnight for awhile. I am sure he is happy to have a better home now.

Let us know how he progresses.

Tracie

 

[khartley]

He looks so much better already today. His kidneys are fine, he is excreting soft white urates and semi solid poo. The uvb I use use its always a reptisun tube, and I hope to have it in a couple days. He devoured the dubia I offered this morning and dug into his collard, mustard, kale, celery, and apple salad.

What a fighter! I'll keep updating. He won't take fluid from a syringe, I don't think he has ever been given fluids that way, he doesn't understand what to do. So til I personally see him drink he'll be getting a daily soak. His temps have always been way too low I am amazed he doesn't have respiratory infections.

His new name will be Hercules

 

[AHBD]

Well, it sounds like he's doing very well and things couldn't be going any better for the condition he's in ! He's gone through years of malnutrition, with pronounced jaw and some leg deformity but is getting all the gusto that he can out of life, eating at the beardie banquet with relish. Good job, and the name Hercules suits this guy. Again, it's wonderful that he's eating well but resist the impulse to let him binge. You might even break up his dubia feedings in to 2X a day. And if the veggies are nice + wet when he eats them, he'll get extra hydration.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That is wonderful he is fighting & doing well all things considered.
Hopefully the daily soaking will help with hydration for him since he isn't accustomed to drinking from a dropper.
I am happy to hear that he has nice white urates that are soft. Is he excreting a good amount of them then? Is he eating his greens too?
Great, the Reptisun 10 tube will be terrific for him, he wont know what to do with UVB, finally!
It sounds like he is settling right in. Let us know how he progresses.

Tracie

 

[khartley]

Vet appt at 4 today, fingers crossed.

 

[khartley]

I ended up taking both my rescues in to the vet, even tho the little one is almost fully recovered from her impaction at this point. They both LOVED the car ride to the vet!

But my little girl got angry that she couldn't see what was going on, so I ended up letting her out and she stayed on my arm watching traffic the whole way, it was the cutest thing.

Anyways, the vet I go to is my business partners father, he was a herp vet in CA for something like 20 years and he worked with Thomas Boyer for a long time, he's the guy who wrote a practitioners guide to the husbandry and care of herps. I am very confident with him, he's a super guy.

He said he has never seen a 6 year old beardie that small. He noted that he has absoluetely no muscle mass either. Noticed obvious rear leg joint swelling and front leg deformities. He thinks the ribs could actually have been a deformity from being malnourished. But said his mouth looked fine, respiratory is fine, kidneys functioning perfectly well, and we are going to do a fecal exam in 2 weeks to see if he needs to be wormed. His biggest concern was with the growths, he has one on his head, one on a rear leg, and a large one on his tummy. They look similar to if someone had put a cigarette out in those spots (just a comparison, no one actually did that). But they are darker color with a brown ring around the outside. We are going to watch the growths, and if they don't get worse I think we'll just leave them alone. His only advice for now was keep him warm and hydrated, offering small snacks of bugs and greens several times a day. He was equally amazed that he is still alive and has as much spirit as he does. He is so thin, its like picking up just a flat piece of rough, dry beardie skin

But on a good note he said he could feel a small hard poo in my little girls tummy still (which she passed today, yay) but other than that she was in tip top shape. I was so happy to hear that.

That is where we are now. I honestly don't expect to get to have much time with Hercules, but I'm going to love him and make sure he happily lives out the rest of his lizard years. I will continue to update. He finally drank water in the bathtub last night, and his color looks better. Everybody think encouraging thoughts for Hercules, my little fighter!

 

[CooperDragon]

These little guys can be really tough! Sending best wishes for a quick recovery.

 

[AHBD]

That's great , I'm glad that your little one is in good shape and Hercules is holding his own. Nice that the vet is knowledgeable and didn't want to pump him full of meds. for this or that but just let him cruise through his last years in comfort, unless of course, his mystery " bumps" become a problem.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That is wonderful Hercules is doing pretty well now & is such a fighter, too. I am glad that the vet didn't give meds when he doesn't need them. The growths are likely due to calcium deposits from lack of UVB & poor nutrition. Hopefully they wont become a problem for him.
He is a lucky little fellow, he will have a great retirement with you.


Tracie

 

[khartley]

The bumps on his leg looks like this one also. But the one on his tummy looks a little different, and the skin around it is yellow. I hope it isn't yellow fungus, but the one on his tummy does look suspicious

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Is it kind of like a wart or mole somewhat?
You can definitely treat it with a anti-fungal cream now to see if that will help out right now.
You might consider an unpasteurized honey also to put on the head area, in case it is just a bacterial lesion which is possible, too.
Watch the areas to see if they spread also, that is a huge indicator also of fungus.

Tracie

 

[khartley]

He has one on his head, a couple on the legs, and one on his tummy. They haven't changed that I've noticed, but I've only had him for about a week. I weighed him yesterday tho and he is only 196g.

He is eating good but I have only got him to actually drink water once, other than that he may get a little hydration from the few greens he eats, and he'll lick a little off his nose. Healthy urate and poo daily tho.

I've been working on trimming his nails, but he'll only tolerate a couple at a time.

I forced some jump start in his mouth and he hated me for a bit afterwards lol. Would it work to put a dab on each roaches back or would they taste funny and make him lose his desire for dubia?

Overall I think we are making slow progress. But mostly I think he is happy to be finally getting the love and attention he should have had his whole life.