Rescued female with injury and illness

[LizardKat]

Hi everyone,
I rescued a five year old female today who is in terrible health. "Tazzie" is very thin, has a partially paralyzed back leg and has a very large open sore on her back. She is also very tiny and lacks enthusiasm for eating. I repeatedly offered her calcium powdered crickets and some of the hard shelled "worms" (I hate those things!!!) but she had no interest. This evening, I was able to coax her into having some ground up fruit and veggies with calcium powder and reptile vitamin (spray mist) She also appeared to enjoy a warm 10 minute bath (I supported her head during the bath time) She enjoyed the UV lighting that I provided and is now fast asleep under a reptile nightlight/heatlamp.

I have an appointment in the morning with a reptile vet. I'll post some photos and could someone please tell me their thoughts as to how I can help her with her recovery?
Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Jiffy]

OMG, I dont even know what to say. Poor baby. Bumping up in case anyone can help

 

[spurlee01]

I'm also bumping. Wish I could help more. Do you have background information on her? How old is she, previous care, did she have UVB, etc?
Sara

 

[LizardKat]

Hi, I spoke with the owner and she is five years old. The owner fed her crickets and some vegetables. Light was used but she was not sure if it was UV or not.

Tazzie had her vet appointment today with a fabulous reptile vet. She received injections of antibiotics and also vitamins. She will be receiving injections of antibiotics every three days.

She really is a fighter and has a strong will to live. My vet was surprised that she was able to survive with all of her challenges. Do your beardies sleep a full eight hours? She fell asleep around 8 pm and I had to wake her up at 9 am to go to the reptile doctor. She was very groggy at 9 am and really wanted to sleep in. (My iguana sleeps 8 hours at night and naps during the day.) I know that each beardie is different but I am trying to figure out her sleeping and eating habits. It is difficult to know what is normal behavior because she is my first beardie.

Thanks to all for your help.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Oh my the poor girl. Do you have any thermazene to help with that wound? Was that a burn?
When was your vet visit?
I would proceed very slowly with feeding & start with mainly greens & veggies. See how her system is doing after a few days & how she is going to the bathroom. If her stools appear normal with a good amount of urates, then you can begin slowly adding some protein. Introducing too much protein too quickly will cause renal problems if she is dehydrated as she appears to be.
What type of lighting are you using?
What type of calcium supplementation will you be using?
You could get some bee pollen & brewer's yeast to mix with her food to help her immune system right now.

Tracie

 

[crickest]

Spark is sending lots of kisses for the poor baby. She would have to be a strong fighter to survive so far. Good luck to her. (Her pictures have made me cry. Bless you for taking her in.) Let us know how she is doing.

 

[zebraflavencs]

Told you I was calling in some serious help for her, Kat !
Yes, Tracie is right, that does look like a burn !
Keep me posted, I'll be right here the next two days.
(somehow I got the whole weekend off, and I'm not even sick !)
Janie.

 

[diamc]

So, you finally got her Kathy, bless you for rescuing her. The poor thing, looks like she has been through so much. We are here to help every step of the way. I'm surprised she even had the strength to hold her head up like she is in the pictures.

Did the vet think that raw area was a burn? Did he give you any type of cream for it? The vet appt must have been very hard on her. Was the vet shocked to see her in that condition? Did he recommend Repta-Aid to help boost her system or bee pollen & brewer's yeast as Tracie suggested? Do you happen to know the names of the injections she was given?

How did she handle being bathed? I also agree with Tracie on taking it real easy on the feedings, don't want to overtax her system. Feeding squash or mixed veggie baby food until she is pooping and doing better overall would be the best thing.

Hopefully she will start improving soon, it's going to be a long road. Please let us know if you come up with any questions.

 

[LizardKat]

Hi everyone,
Thanks for all of the suggestions. I have been taking it easy with her feedings-two feedings a day/small portions.

It was upsetting to learn today (during the vet visit) that the end of her tongue is necrotic (dead tissue) About 1/3 of her tongue is a clear white with a yellowish color. It must be painful for her to eat but she allows me to open her mouth and actually place food at the middle part of her tongue. She does not fight me at all and swallows the food right away. She also licks her lips! Tazzie really enjoys eating the Zoo-med box turtle food I use for my two box turtles. The ingredients are clearly listed and I received the "OK" for my reptile pet. There are primarily fruits and vegetables that are mashed much like baby food. There are also vitamins in the mixture. I mixed calcium powder and reptile vitamins in the food prior to feeding. I may need to open her mouth and hand feed her until she gets stronger.

Tazzie has not yet pooped today but I am hoping that she will tomorrow. She had two warm/10 min. baths today and I also gently massaged her belly.

She was drinking quite a bit of water during the bath time (opening her mouth and dipping her mouth in the water/licking the water) I have water for her in her aquarium but she does not appear to be interested in drinking from the water container. (This might be her strategy to get more baths!! LOL!)

I spoke with the previous owner today and she said that the sore began as a very small spot and grew bigger with time. Right now I am applying "Mupirocin" 2xs a day on the external area of the wound and she had an antibiotic injection today at the vets office. She will be getting antibiotic injections every three days for a month.

She is in a 30 gallon aquarium with a 75 watt UV light. At night, I am using a red reptile heating light (75 watt) Tazzie sleeps in a little house I made out of a empty granola box.

Ok, I'll keep all of you posted on her progress. I do believe I am a "foster parent failure" because I always keep all of the pets I take in.. :lol:

Believe it or not, I do believe that she feels better today. She was able to walk/crawl for about 6 inches. I really want her to rest so I am not encouraging her to move around alot. I did do some gentle massaging of her legs and arms.
Can anyone share their sleeping habits of beardies with me? Do many beardies sleep all through the night?

Thanks to all for your suggestions. I will be following up on the bee pollen and brewer's yeast.
Kat and Tazzie

 

[zebraflavencs]

Kathy, place a thick towel in the "hide" for her to lay on, this will help her to relax more and rest.
Keep up with the baths, I think she really will benefit from those, due to her dehydrated condition.

Great that the vet was on top of everything ! Do keep us posted !
Janie.
Oh and a big HUG for you both, and the others

 

[spurlee01]

My girl does sleep all the way through the night and will still "rest" for a couple hours after lights on. My boyfriend's will wake up before his lights sometimes. I think sleeping through the night is pretty common. Hope that helps. I'm glad she's feeling a bit better. We're all pulling for her.
Sara

 

[crickest]

It might take her body a couple of days to get used to having food in it and in her condition it would be expected that her body will retain more of the nutrients. At this point, I would think that no poops are less worrisome than diarreia (sp).

You might try a ceramic heat emitter rather than the colored night light. The red and blue night lights can keep the beardie from sleeping through the night and if Tazzie has been on it for a while, it might explain why her sleep schedule seems messed up. Well, that and the fact that she's so sick and malnorished.

Quick question for you about the UV - what kind of brand and bulb is it? Is it a flouresant tube or a coil type bulb? The reason I ask is that a lot of the UV bulbs out there are not very good. A lot of people have had issues with their UV, and we lost our first beardie, in part, because of bad UV.

Last question, is there a basking bulb (bright white light) in her tank?

Again, bless you for taking her in. I'm sure that she's already feeling better and will recover - we're all pulling for her.

 

[LizardKat]

Hi everybody!
My human mom placed a soft towel in my aquarium and I napped all afternoon because it was so soft and comfortable! Mom also set up a basking light in addition to my UV light. (UV light is zoo-med brand, not a coil but a little flat topped bulb-75 watt)

I did a big poop today and MomKat danced around the room! It had quite a bit of milky water in it but the poop was like a bird poop. I never thought a poop would make my Mom so happy!

Thanks to all of you for helping me. My Mom said she would post some "day three" pictures of me. I think she is posting in the "rescue area" of this website to leave the ER open for emergency cases. Please come and see my new pictures in the rescue area. I really want my new friends to keep in touch with me!

Ok, I am going to take a nap. Please look in the rescue area of the website this evening to see some new pictures of me.
Love,
Tazzie

 

[crickest]

It is really important to provide UVB in addition to a bright basking light. The UVB allows the development of bone and the processing of calcium/D3. The bulb that is most recommended on this site is the Repti-Sun 10.0. It is a floresant tube bulb and should stretch the length of the viv. Additionally, you want Tazzie to be able to bask within 6 to 8 inches from the bulb. If you need more information you can search UVB on this site, there are a lot of threads talking about UVB.

Can't wait to see more pics of your baby.

Karen

 

[LizardKat]

Hi Karen,
Ok, thanks for the info. The day bulb I am using is a zoo-med 75 watt UVB bulb. I just added the basking light. Thanks for your help.
Kat