Scorch is really sick! :(

[riceko]

My baby Scorch is sick with something, I'm almost sure... She didn't eat anything yesterday (she usually eats about 30-40 crickets a day plus tons of salad... she loves her salad) until I made a run to petco and got her some medium superworms, which she ate four of. She ate one cricket this morning and two superworms. And her poo this morning consisted of basically no solid matter and a bit of urate... very runny (but it dried up quick).
The herp vet in my town doesn't return to work until tomorrow (at least I hope monday, thats when the clinic opens, but I'm not sure the herp vet works all week. So I am hopefully going to get a fecal done tomorrow to rule out (or find out) if she has parasites. I have a feeling that might be whats wrong... except her poo doesn't smell worse than any other beardie poo I've smelt. So I am not sure...

I know she can't be brumating because I'm keeping her conditions the same... Jeff (the intelligent reptile store owner in my town) said that beardies dont brumate unless you turn their light down or off... then they will burrow under something and sleep all day.

I had posted a topic the other day about the popping/clicking noise she is making... very VERY faint sound, she does it only now and then. Jeff doesn't think she has a URI because I am VERY careful about humidity... She has a water bowl but its on the far end from her lamp, and I NEVER mist her EVER. The humidity never gets high in her viv... the humidity in my room right now is 24.2. I do bathe her however (I am going to today incase she is impacted).

So... I really dont know what to do :\ I'm really scared that something might make a turn for the worse at any moment, while I'm waiting for the stupid clinic to open (sorry, I didn't realize that pets dont get sick on the weekend! :roll: )

Here I want to post some information about Scorch so you guys can help me help her...
Age: 7 months (bday is easter, April 12).
Size: 15 inches nose tip to tail tip (she has no nips)
Viv: 30 gallon (portioned off until she gets bigger. so the length is like -10in.)
Light: TREX MVB 100w (12 inches from her bask log)
Substrate: Newspaper (I want to completely clean her viv today)
Temps: About 75 on cool side, 95-100 on bask spot.
Salad: Collard greens, mustard greens, squash
Live: Medium crickets which I dusted 5x a week, but starting tomorrow dusting every other day. I feed them cricket food (flukers) with carrots for water ( I was using water cubes, ran out).

Thats all I can think to put up. Thanks for reading this... I'm super worried about Scorch

EDIT: I also noticed she is closing her eyes more lately. LIke for 5-10 seconds at a time every minute or so (she is doing it alot today...). Like she is sleepy... not that her eyes hurt (trust me, she had PKC and I know what her pained eye closing looks like). And her beard isn't black at all... she had a few stress marks a while ago when she was waking up, but shes creamy white now.
And I JUST NOW noticed she has some fecal smearing around her vent... wow I'm almost positive it is parasites. I wont be able to do anything until tomorrow though I hope that isn't too long to wait...

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Your tank setup looks fine to me, no problems there.
It is a possibility that you picked up some bad crickets if you got them from a petstore. They are notorious for having dirty feeders a lot of times. Were the superworms possibly to large for her? I normally don't recommend a dragon eat them until they are at least 16 inches in length because they are a little harder to digest than crickets.
Getting a fecal tomorrow is your priority just so you know what is going on. So for now, I would continue to feed her if she will eat, & try to give extra oral fluids as well. Overnight, if possible, try to keep her tank around 80 to help out her immune system as well.
I would use a ceramic heat emitter but no light.
They will brumate whether the light is on or off. When they are ready to brumate, there is not a whole lot that you can do about it as nature always wins out.
Please keep us posted on Scorch.
Let us know how the vet visit goes tomorrow.

Tracie

 

[riceko]

Thanks for the wonderful info Tracie!
I got her to eat some organic squash baby food during her bath just a few minutes ago, and watched her slurp up some water. The super worms weren't too big... she's eaten mealworms before and didn't get impacted so I figured heck why not... since i'd rather see her eat something than nothing. But yea she usually (like 98% of the time) eats crickets. I think the dirty feeders is my fault... I've been slacking off cleaning their container lately, but I'm planning on keeping it pristine from now on. Full cleaning between each batch. Same with the viv. I've been slacking changing the newspaper and her water everyday, since it looks clean but apparently it may not be.

I feel so bad I'm going to treat Scorch like a princess from this point on, just what she deserves...

Thanks everyone. If I didn't have this forum to turn to for information, I would have gone crazy by now! :notworthy:

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That is great you got some organic babyfood into her! So did she like it then?
Well, hopefully she will just pass everything through her system. Sometimes too, when you introduce a new food, it takes a little time for their system to get used to it so it might not digest 100%.
Keeping the cricket bin clean is important. What do you use for their water source? Do you use a watering tray/device? If so, just make sure to keep that cleaned out too. It happens. Though it might not even be the crickets, anyway but just a slight change in diet that did that.
It isn't your fault, but maybe just wait another couple months on the superworms until she is at least 16+ inches & a little older. That should make a big difference. The intestines start straightening out at around 10 months to a year which helps things move through their system easier.

Just give her some extra kisses & I am sure that she knows you are doing your best!! Let me know how she is doing.

Tracie

 

[riceko]

Yea, I've been showering her in love! I used to give the crickets flukers water cubes (the blue ones, not calcium enriched). Now I am giving them fruits and carrots, with flukers cricket diet for extra food. I use little dishes to put everything in.
I'm not sure how much she liked the baby food... It was quite cold so I think I will warm it up next time and see if she likes it more then. I would drip it onto the tip of her mouth and she'd lick it off a bit. She really didn't have that much, but anything is better than nothing!
I'll post what happens at the vet tomorrow!
Goodnight bd.org

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

How is Scorch doing?
Yeah it is best to give dry food to the crickets too, along with a water source & you can give fruits & veggies too if you want.
Warming up the babyfood slightly would probably help her like it more.
How did things go at the vets today? I hope it all went well.

Tracie

 

[riceko]

Well the vet wasn't going to be able to see her until today at 4:30, so I'll update afterward... she hasn't eaten in 36 hours though! And I'm stranded at school, unable to try feeding her baby food...
So I hope the vet can find out whats wrong and get her feeling better. And teach me how to clip her nails! Because the appt is an hour long lol and I will be milking it for all its worth!

Thanks Tracie for all the wonderful and helpful information Hopefully once life gets to be not so hectic, I can spend more time on this site! And more time working to buy awesome things for my baby! :3

 

[Drache613]

Hello!

How is your girl doing, so she has not eaten in a day or so? How did the vet's visit go? I am sure you tried to get as much information out of him as possible.
Did he do a fecal today?
Oh, clipping the nails is very easy, too. You can just use nail clippers, & they normally don't mind having it done at all. Please keep me posted on her.

Tracie

 

[riceko]

Yep we went to the vet today! She was very nice and knowledgeable about beardies... I'm definitely going to her as Scorch's vet from now on! It was Jodi Kettering at the Deschutes Veterinary Clinic by the way.
Well, she examined Scorch and declared everything to be okay... her weight is normal and everything looked good. She examined Scorch's poo and found an overwhelmingly large amount of pinworms. So she sent us home with some Panacure in syringes. It wasn't fun trying to give it to her lol... I had to force the tip gently through her clenched teeth and squirt it in before she flailed too much. Eeek. Anything to get her feeling better though... T_T Poor baby...

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Ah, that is too bad. The pinworms will be easy to knock out though. She will only have to get the Panacur once weekly, for a 2-3 week cycle, & the levels should be greatly decreased.
I think she will be just fine though. Remember to keep her hydrated as well, just to help her while she is on meds.
Did she eat today? I am glad that you had a good visit with the vet, they all don't go that smoothly.

Tracie

 

[riceko]

I'm really glad the vet visit went well Yea I gave her one dose today and another in two weeks! I was planning on bathing her tomorrow, cause she has had some poo smudging around her vent and tail Poor baby.
Its so funny, I knew pretty much immediately it was parasites because of the poo residue just barely around her vent. Its an amazingly accurate indication!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Yes, that just indicates that it is a bit too runny & something is bothering their GI tract. Great job. I am sure that she will improve quickly for you & start feeling better soon! Let me know if you need anything at all.
I hope that she enjoys her bath time today.

Tracie