RIP Sweet Pogo; Welcome Home Happy Go LUCKY

Has anyone used/had problems with the magic mushroom basking ledge? It attaches to the cage with magnets and can be used as a platform for basking.

There is something wrong with my beardie. I have ruled out just about everything, so now I am checking particular cage furniture. Pogo goes back to the vet on Tuesday (and I am surprised I have been able to keep her alive this long). She has serious eating problems and now she has eye problems too. No signs of respiratory infection, though - like no mouth opening, weird breathing, crusties, mucous, etc. (I use a Reptisun 10.0 T8 Tube - not coil, so that should not be the problem.) I actually turned off the UVB today to see if it would help her eyes - it seemed to help at first, but now tonight, they seem worse again. Her temps are right. I have had two reptile vets (and people here) tell me that my husbandry is fine, but I am taking her back to the vet on Tuesday with multiple stool samples to see if maybe parasites just aren't showing up in every poop, but are there. And now the eye problem, which I thought was just shedding at first but seems to be getting worse . . .

 

[sweetiepie9]

I know what you mean, it does seem like torture, but it's for her own good. Keep me posted, I'm worried about her, too.

 

[PogoLover]

Soooo, got back from the vet. They do their fecals in house, so she was able to report back while we were still there. First, Pogo has some blood in her stool (I brought five days' worth with me). I had seen something and assumed it was what she was eating, but it wasn't (vet told me to watch for it in the urate portion, so now I know). She also has some crypto in there (but not a ton). I can't remember everything that was said, because it was a lot (she did three types of tests on the stool). But the basic conclusion was that she has a GI tract infection, which is why she is not eating normally. It's serious enough that she might not survive since she is already so small. They can't do blood work, because she is so small they can't take enough blood to test.

On the bright side, the eye problems are not a big deal (her actual eyes are clear and fine and there is no infection). Vet told me to leave the eyes alone for now.

So, we are basically going to clean out her system - two types of antibiotics and a de-wormer (and bene-bac to help with the side effects of the antibiotics). Vet said she has seen some little ones make it through this type of thing, and she thinks Pogo has a good chance because she is still active, alert, curious (and puts up a huge fight at the vet!). It's amazing how strong her little 9 grams are. She said that fact that Pogo is still eating (from the eyedropper) and not lethargic is really good (she expected her to be in much worse shape after not having been on "real" food for three weeks). She said that she has dealt with some that have gone months eating out of the eye dropper and then one day decided they were ready to start eating real food again and just did it.

Vet said that having them moved around a lot when they are this little (meaning from breeder to pet store and then from pet store to me) can really stress them out and some don't come back from the stress because it crushes their little immune systems. She recommends that they be at least 30 grams before they are moved around like that.

We gave Pogo her first doses of meds today. I think it tasted yucky, because she was happy to eat a lot of the food mix right afterward.

If I can keep her alive, it is likely going to be a long road to "normal", but I love her so I am in for the trip.

 

[AHBD]

Wow, that's a lot to take in but I can imagine that it's a relief to now know what the battle is and how to deal with it. Thank goodness you have a vet that seems to know what to do. I agree that Pogo has some good things going for her and the fact that she ate right after the meds. is great !!

Go Pogo !!

 

[onceblue]

I've been following Pogo's journey and I'm so happy to hear that you have answers and that she has so much energy and fight in her. I'm pulling for her!

 

[PogoLover]

Thanks to the people who have been following this and helping keep my spirits up! I really was not so sure when people said that you could develop a relationship with a lizard . . . but now I get it. They really do have personality and ways of letting you know what they want! I know little Pogo wants to live and I am hoping that the medicine kills the baddies that are in her, so that she can thrive again.
If she is this friendly and funny when she is sick and grumpy, I am almost scared what she will be like at full heath - I might have to just make a whole room for her! Even in the car (my husband drove) she was on my hand trying to get higher up so she could see out the window - I could see her head moving as she watched things go by. She is so sweet.

I will keep posting with updates!

 

[sweetiepie9]

I am just SO glad that you know what's wrong with her and it makes total sense as to why she stopped eating. The vet is right, breeders don't keep dragons long enough to make sure they're healthy before selling them to pet shops and sometimes the little ones just don't thrive. Your Pogo is full of personality, curiosity and a huge will to live, plus she loves you and that makes all the difference.

I'm glad she eats her Carnivore Care, it's a meal supplement. If you can find some bee pollen in a health food shop, you can add it to the carnivore care mix. That's what I do, it's a great immune booster and is full of good things. 1/4 tsp in her mix. So feed her 3x a day if you can & give her the benebac about 6-7 hours after the meds, as much as she'll eat as you can't overdo probiotics. I know this from dealing with alot of sick dragons over the last 9 years.

I'm glad you're keeping me updated, as I've really enjoyed reading on how Pogo is fighting for her life. If you're ok with it, I'll change the title of your thread to "Pogo, the fighting beardie" or something like that, let me know and I'll change it for you.

Lots of snuggles and love to Pogo and hugs to you, it will be a long road but so worth it in the end. :love5: And I'm glad that you know what it's like to love a dragon. They all have very distinctive personalities and are all so different!

 

[PogoLover]

I am just SO glad that you know what's wrong with her and it makes total sense as to why she stopped eating. The vet is right, breeders don't keep dragons long enough to make sure they're healthy before selling them to pet shops and sometimes the little ones just don't thrive. Your Pogo is full of personality, curiosity and a huge will to live, plus she loves you and that makes all the difference.

I'm glad she eats her Carnivore Care, it's a meal supplement. If you can find some bee pollen in a health food shop, you can add it to the carnivore care mix. That's what I do, it's a great immune booster and is full of good things. 1/4 tsp in her mix. So feed her 3x a day if you can & give her the benebac about 6-7 hours after the meds, as much as she'll eat as you can't overdo probiotics. I know this from dealing with alot of sick dragons over the last 9 years.

I'm glad you're keeping me updated, as I've really enjoyed reading on how Pogo is fighting for her life. If you're ok with it, I'll change the title of your thread to "Pogo, the fighting beardie" or something like that, let me know and I'll change it for you.

Lots of snuggles and love to Pogo and hugs to you, it will be a long road but so worth it in the end. :love5: And I'm glad that you know what it's like to love a dragon. They all have very distinctive personalities and are all so different!

Yes - you can definitely change the title of the thread. I was wondering if there was a way to do that since other people with little ones might be able to learn something from Pogo's journey (but not if the title is about the magic mushroom ledge . . . LOLOLOLOLOL).

 

[sweetiepie9]

So is this title better?

 

[PogoLover]

So is this title better?

AHAHAHAHA - I love it. She's doing OK today. Got another round of meds in her successfully - she wouldn't eat until 4 pm, but she finally succumbed to the eye dropper. I will try again in an hour or so (her light goes out at 9).

 

[sweetiepie9]

Glad to hear she's still eating. Don't forget to give her lots of benebac in the evening. When I first found Gabriel at the petshop, he was in very bad shape. On top the Carnviore Care mix (he couldn't eat anything, he was full of parasites and dehydrated and skinny), he got benebac daily & it really did help him get better. He'd been abandoned by his owners at the pet shop where I get crickets. I took him straight to the vet where she only gave him 1/2 dose of the normal meds because he was in such bad shape (luckily he pooped on me on the way so she was able to do a fecal). It took 3 mo to get rid of the parasite load, until he was clear. I was fortunate that was all that was wrong with him and he's now 4 1/2 yrs old (he was about 1 1/2 yrs old at the time) and doing well. He's a very different looking beardie, that's for sure!

 

[PogoLover]

OMG - Now I want to hug Gabriel. He is so plump (to my eyes - I see beardies that I think look fine and then I see all of the comments about how skinny they are)!

 

[sweetiepie9]

He is now a plump boy, he's 562g but he was only 280g when I got him. I'm sure he'd love a hug from you, he's a snuggle bug for sure.

 

[PogoLover]

Pogo Update (Friday August 28)

Pogo would not eat at all yesterday - not eyedropper mix, not bene bac. We forced the antibiotics, though. I spent hours in there seeing if I could get her to eat at three different times, but no luck. However, one of the dubia in her non-escapable bowl went missing (so, maybe, she ate it). Not sure whether she just assisted it out of the bowl, though. I have caught her watching the food in her bowl, so I know she knows its there. I couldn't find it anywhere in her cage, so here's to hoping!

This morning I decided that I would have a stronger will than her . . . it took over an hour, but I finally got her to take some bene bac and a decent amount of the mix. She went running across the floor . .. she would stop every foot or so and let me give her some food, then jog along, then more food. This went on pretty much all the way across the room (after we had sat for an hour staring each other down). I am going to give her the nickname Pogo poop-head soon since she is being so obstinate.

Her eyes are definitely improving - she is still keeping them closed a lot, but she opens them more and wider.

Poop still not great - noticing a little pink in the urates still.

If it's nice out this weekend, I plan on taking her outside a good bit. I have a little fence circle (made for small rodents) - I put it on a towel on my deck with a water tray and a cage-furniture tree that provides shade. Then I can sit in the shade, while she sits in the sun.

This is her sleeping standing up (before the lights came on) - the picture is sideways - I still don't know why that happens:

 

[onceblue]

I think some sunlight is a great idea. Even if you have perfect lighting, there's really no substitute for the real thing! And since she seems to have such a curious personality, she'll probably like being out there a lot.

Love the picture! I'm glad you aren't losing hope - keep up the good work!

 

[sweetiepie9]

Oh my stubborn girl. Keep doing what she's doing, it's going to take time to get over the meds but on the other hand she needs them. As much Benebac as you can manage, too, she needs it for her tummy. Glad you're not giving up on the food either & she might have eaten a roach? You'll have to put another one in there to see what she does. Baby steps...and sunshine, that would be great!