Respiratory Infection.....

[Shakti75]

Ok, so a few weeks ago, my poor Zuma started making this hiccup type sound and motion. Puffs her beard out, opens her mouth and snaps it back shut, gulps a time or two and then back to normal for a few minutes, before doing it again. Suspecting a respiratory infection, I took her to the vet THAT day and he confirmed RI. He said her lungs sounded fine but that the back of her throat was a bit red. Otherwise, he said she is in awesome health. Said her husbandry was perfect, so I know that didn't cause it. He gave her baytril, which she took for about 10 days. She seemed to be getting a bit better, but after a few days, started doing it more again. The vet had said she might need a second round of the baytril, so I called and he gave me another vile, which she is on now. She is still eating, though not quite as much as she was before. She is a pretty good eater, which is apparent from her 500g weight at the vet, lol. Other than the noise she is making, she seems perfectly fine. Not lethargic and still active and alert. My question is, are beardies like humans with a cold, where we sometimes take weeks afterwards to get over the cough completely and maybe that is all she needs is more time?

 

[ataraxia]

yes she will need some time to heal.

i would suggest taking zuma into the bath room turn the shower/bath to steaming hot and sit in the bathroom (not in the shower or bath, just in the room) with them a couple times a day for about 30 minutes each session.

make sure you have proper temps.

some say baytril kills a lot of the natural flora within the digestive system. some say it does not. some side effects of baytril are diarrhea and vomiting. to me that sounds like it can mess with it. i would suggest purchasing some benebac and smearing a little bit on the back of a feeder while on baytril. i would think this could also be the reason for appetite loss.

 

[Shakti75]

I would think that much humidity would be bad for her, given that in most cases, humidity is a leading cause of respiratory infections in beardies, wouldn't it?
Also, her temps are good. Cool side is normally around 85 and warm side is 95 with a basking spot between 105-110. Since she got sick though, I put a warming bulb on the cooler side to bring that up to about 90 and her basking spot to between 110-115, to make sure the humidity stayed lower and to keep her warm. At night, her viv is around 80, and since she has been sick I have been covering her with a blanket for a bit extra warmth. We live in Florida, so it doesn't get too cool in my house ever. I turn the ceiling fan off when I take her out also, to make sure she isn't getting a cool draft on her.

 

[Mach10X]

I agree with ataraxia. I always supplement probiotics whenever I have any living thing (dog, cat, human, lizards) on any type of antibiotic. I continue probiotics for at least a week after treatment to replenish the beneficial flora.

 

[diamc]

For a respiratory infection, you should actually raise the tank temp up a few degrees and keep a temp of about 80 at night. It's also a good idea to cut back on bathing, etc to help keep humidity to a minimum.

Using Benebac would be a good idea.

Guess we were posting at the same time. I would be careful though about temps as high as 115 because you wouldn't want her to get dehydrated and antibiotics are very drying. Great that you have a night temp of about 80 degrees.

 

[Shakti75]

Mach10X, I have ordered acidophilliz (sp) and am waiting for it to arrive.

 

[Shakti75]

For a respiratory infection, you should actually raise the tank temp up a few degrees and keep a temp of about 80 at night. It's also a good idea to cut back on bathing, etc to help keep humidity to a minimum.

Using Benebac would be a good idea.

I did raise the temps and have cut down her baths to once every 4-5 days instead of every 2-3 days. It's made for more cleaning in her viv since she normally goes in the tub, but I'd rather that than make her worse.

 

[Mach10X]

Acidophiles is great and should work fine even if it is only 1 strain of probiotic. How many strains are there in that supplement? I personally prefer probiotics with multiple strains to diversify. Ultimate Flora and iFlora have lots of strains and a high count of organisms per capsule (you have to take these apart or crush them to administer to your dragon). I've used both of these products on myself. Find good prices on both Ultimate Flora and iFlora on Amazon.com.

I would stay away from probiotics marketed for reptiles. A study in 2010 tested 15 reptile targeted probiotics and found that none of them had all the strains listed on them. And that the numbers of viable organisms were far below what the label states. Additionally they found lots of harmful gram negative bacterias in them.

 

[diamc]

The Acidophilis should work fine. Benebac is another good probiotic.

 

[ataraxia]

I would think that much humidity would be bad for her, given that in most cases, humidity is a leading cause of respiratory infections in beardies, wouldn't it?

if the cause of the ri is humidity. it is because of long term high humidity and usually improper temps.

in the case with humidity treatments. it is to help thin the mucus/infection.

 

[Shakti75]

Ah, ok. Humidity and improper temps are definitely NOT the cause. I am actually kinda perplexed about what the cause was, tbh. Her humidity never goes above 30-35ish. Her viv is ALWAYS clean (side effect of my OCD, lol), and I don't take her to bask outside on really humid days. I guess sometimes, ya just get sick. *shrugs*

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

There can be many causes for respiratory infections. It is like humans, some have stronger immune systems than others. What type of substrate are you using?
The acidophiliz should help out quite a bit with her being on the Baytril.

Keep us posted on her.

Tracie

 

[Shakti75]

I use stone tile for both of my beardies' vivs. Before that, she was on the repti carpet stuff.

 

[Shakti75]

Well, looks like Zuma is slowly getting over her RI. Still making the little hiccup noise, but not as often. She hasn't been eating too much lately and has been kinda lethargic, so I had the vet run a fecal to be on the safe side. He called a bit ago and said it was negative, so that is good. She'll eat a tiny bit here and there, but not much and has fallen asleep a few times during the day over the past week. The vet and I both think it may be one of a few things. Her UVB was due for a change (new one should be here tomorrow) so I got her outside as much as I could, though that didn't seem to make much difference. Possibly its just an after effect of being sick with the RI, just being run down like we get after being sick. Or maybe, she is trying to cycle into brumation. She is just a year old, so it would be her first time (if that is the case). The vet said that may well be the cause, since she was recently introduced to our male when I took them outside to bask.

Otherwise, she seems fine, though she did scare the bejeebuz out of me the other day. I have a sand box that I use to take them outside for basking. She normally just sits up on the rocks and is fine. The other day though, I think the neighbor starting their lawnmower scared her, because she jumped up and bolted, flew over the wall of the sand box (she's a lot bigger since the last time I had her out there) and hauled butt around the side of my house, with me in pursuit. Thankfully, she got distracted by some pvc pipes laying on the side of the house and was trying to get in one, though she was too big. I grabbed her and her poor little heart was racing, lol. After that incident, I went and bought a big 40 gallon sterilite tub to use for outside basking. We won't be having that problem again. <.<

Anyways, she seemed to enjoy basking with my male. I think she may have a crush on him, but we won't be breeding them because he was a rescue with MBD, and on the off chance there is anything genetically wrong, we don't want to take a chance. Plus, he was bred to a female once with the people who had him before and the female died due to binded eggs. Poor thing went into a depression and refused to eat for months. I don't think he can survive another heartbreak if something were to happen.

Ok, enough of my rambling, just wanted to update on her condition and tell of our little adventure. Oh, and a pic of my two little monsters basking together. She decided to "hold Lefty's hand", hehe.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That is a cute picture!
Since she has been introduced to the male, it is a possibility of developing follicles which can cause lack of appetite if later in the development, or lethargic behavior. How is she doing today?
Wow, that can happen, the loud noise of the lawnmower scared her so badly! I am glad that you saw her take off, or it would have really been challenging to have found her!
Her respiratory is clearing up now I hope?

Keep us posted on her!
Tracie