Seizure, black beard, black tail?!

[Zaphyrus]

Today after giving Niko a bath, he spent a good hour or so basking and warming up when suddenly his beard got black and he started having a seizure. He franticly was spinning in circles and bending backwards. He's been eating normally and going to the bathroom too. I've given him a bath afterwards to see if a warm soak would calm him down/hydrate him if he was dehydrated. He's about 4 years old and I've never seen him do this before and it's worrying me to death!

Two hours have passed and he seems to have a hard time balancing and he's still got a black beard/half a black tail. His belly seems to be going back to white slowly though and his beard isn't quite as dark as it was earlier. I'm very concerned since I'm unable to get him to a emergency vet until morning.

A little info on his cage:
40g breeder
Basking temps 100-105
UVB tube rate for 10.0 runs along the entire length of the tank
Carpet substrate
Eats mainly greens and occasionally crickets/grasshoppers

 

[Zaphyrus]

Oh, and his head is also twitching form side to side.

 

[Esther19]

I'm sorry. I should remember something about this, but I can't. I will ask a few questions that will help those that come along soon, though.

Did he get water in his ears?
Was he around anything poisonous?
What is the brand of the UVB tube and how old is it?
What are you using to measure temps?

I hope your boy feels better soon, and that the vet can determine the cause of this. Hang in there!

 

[Zaphyrus]

Thanks Esther. It's definitely been a nerve-racking past few hours. Just hoping my little boy is okay.

He may have gotten water in his ears but it's hard to say. Maybe some splashed in his ear during a bath but I usually fill it up to about forearms length just to be safe. And as far as poisonous objects go, not that I know of. He spends most of his days in his habitat and I'll take him out to play but it'll be in a controlled, indoor environment when he's always in arms reach. As far as the tube, it's a Reptisun 10.0 and I'd say it's roughly 2-3 months old. I'm using a ZooMed digital thermometer along with an infrared heat gun. And as of now his beard is still pretty dark like night. The strange thing is that the rest of his body is pretty bright which is weird I've always known his color to tone down if anything is wrong or if hes cooling off.

 

[Zaphyrus]

Also realized his tongue is slowly swelling!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

You mentioned his tongue is swelling?
What foods has he eaten, the hoppers? Could they have been bad?
Is his beard still black?
It almost sounds like he is or had a reaction to something though but not sure. It doesn't sound like the typical low calcium issues.

Tracie

 

[Zaphyrus]

You mentioned his tongue is swelling?
What foods has he eaten, the hoppers? Could they have been bad?
Is his beard still black?
It almost sounds like he is or had a reaction to something though but not sure. It doesn't sound like the typical low calcium issues.

Tracie, his tongue was swollen last night but as of this morning it's decreased and looks like normal now. Normal size, white spot on the tip and everything. He seems to have more energy though he still seems off-balance and his beard and tail are still black. He won't eat any food either. I guess bad hoppers and a bad reaction could be plausible. I also gave him a morning bath and this time he got as low as he could and started 'diving in it' as if he wanted his entire body covered by water.

 

[Zaphyrus]

Hey guys just an update:

Took Niko to the vet today and they've fortunately ruled out MBD and Respiratory Infection. So I must be doing something right with his lights/habitat. His blood looked fine after they ran tests. They ran x-rays and his bone density and muscles look good but they did find a little calcium build up in his digestive track/intestines. According to the vet, this could be due to calcium build up in the water he's bathed in or maybe just food that never digested (since I've never used sand as a substrate) and I should probably use faucet tap water or filtered water instead of bath tub water. Along with that, they gave him a thiamin injection because they suspected the seizure,muscle spasms and swollen tongue could be caused by a vitamin B1 deficiency.

I guess the big thing to get out of this was be wary of the water source you use when you bath your dragon and make sure he's got a wide range of vitamins and supplements.

Since bringing him home a few hours ago, I've given him his prescribed medicine and fed him his powdered soup mixture and he seems to be doing a little better. The black beard is gone and he's been more responsive. His tongue is back to normal size and his balance is a lot better than what it was early this morning or late last night. He's got strength to keep himself up for the most part though he's still a bit week which is expected after a long day and night for the little guy. Hopefully this all blows over in time and my little Niko will be running around like he was a few days earlier.

I really appreciate everyones help and I know Niko appreciated it too!

 

[Esther19]

Wow. I'm glad you were able to get him to the vet. It will take me a couple readings to thoroughly process all that info, but I am glad that he is improving. Please keep us posted on his progress.