BeardedPancake
New member
I have a 4 year old male beardie that has been having seizure-like behaviour for the past 5 or so days that I'm trying to figure out.
I'm posting this video because I'm wondering if someone has had this experience with their beardie.
https://youtu.be/18eZ2IJa4i0
4 Years Old, never any problems. Docile, sweet, lazy reptile. Heat/Cool Side/UVB etc is all set perfectly. Doesn't want to bask, eat, move, or do anything. Then breaks out 3-4 times a day in these sudden bursts of seizure-like behaviour, stiff and tense, totally zoned out, then when stopping he freezes in a tense position breathing heavily for a few seconds before going back to napping position.
Trying to figure out what it is. Took him to the University of Guelph clinic yesterday. They don't know what it is. They got blood test results today and everything is normal, calcium levels are good, etc. Couldn't get a fecal done because he's been starving himself for almost 2 weeks now (initially assumed brumation as is the case every year around this time). Cholesterol is a little on the high side, but I imagine that isn't out of the ordinary when essentially fasting for 2 weeks - the fat stores are all being released to keep him nourished, which I believe can raise cholesterol.
They gave me injectable antibiotics just in case there's a bacterial infection, and we inject IV fluids subcutaneously once a day as apparently he was dehydrated when we took him in yesterday, even though he's had like 4 baths and a 1cc syringe of water squirted into his mouth half a dozen times in the 2 days leading up to the appointment.
Have an appointment with another vet on Monday afternoon to see if he might have some ideas.
The only way to get him to eat is by opening his mouth and putting a cricket (Zoo Med, canned) into his mouth. Once it's in, he'll happily chew and swallow, and even makes it easier to open his mouth the next time. No hunting instinct, no motivation to reach for the food, but will eat when "force fed."
We gave him 5 crickets yesterday and another dozen crickets today. I'm hoping some of the lethargy is because of the lack of appetite. I'm hoping to load him up with food before Monday afternoon and be able to get a stool sample to check for parasites.
If anyone has ever seen this kind of symptom in a 4 year old (no contact with other reptiles, neither us nor him, and no exposure to the outside world, yard, toxins, wild bugs, etc), I would love some input.
At this point I don't know if it's fixable, or if we should start thinking about putting him to sleep. As-is, this is no quality of life for him. But I also know how I feel when I'm sick, and I'd hate for someone to put me to sleep because I feel like crap for a couple of weeks LOL. So I want to exhaust my alternative options first - within a reasonable time frame, as I am sure that this is no fun for him either.
And no, it's nothing to do with the substrate. We only just put the substrate in after all this started because he was digging and seemingly trying to brumate, so we got him something to dig in. He never eats his substrate either - not a very "licky lizard."
The vet is saying the next diagnostic steps would be either a CT Scan ($650) or biopsy ($550 and invasive). I don't really think I want to do either of those at this stage. I was hoping that someone at the vet clinic would say "oh yes, this is a classic symptom of...." and confidently tell me the likeliest cause.
I don't doubt that they know what they are doing - they're one of the top vet schools and top vet clinics in the country - but I am hoping that talking to another reptile vet on Monday might yield some result from personal experience on their part, or perhaps some clarity on what the right decision is at this point.
I'm posting this video because I'm wondering if someone has had this experience with their beardie.
https://youtu.be/18eZ2IJa4i0
4 Years Old, never any problems. Docile, sweet, lazy reptile. Heat/Cool Side/UVB etc is all set perfectly. Doesn't want to bask, eat, move, or do anything. Then breaks out 3-4 times a day in these sudden bursts of seizure-like behaviour, stiff and tense, totally zoned out, then when stopping he freezes in a tense position breathing heavily for a few seconds before going back to napping position.
Trying to figure out what it is. Took him to the University of Guelph clinic yesterday. They don't know what it is. They got blood test results today and everything is normal, calcium levels are good, etc. Couldn't get a fecal done because he's been starving himself for almost 2 weeks now (initially assumed brumation as is the case every year around this time). Cholesterol is a little on the high side, but I imagine that isn't out of the ordinary when essentially fasting for 2 weeks - the fat stores are all being released to keep him nourished, which I believe can raise cholesterol.
They gave me injectable antibiotics just in case there's a bacterial infection, and we inject IV fluids subcutaneously once a day as apparently he was dehydrated when we took him in yesterday, even though he's had like 4 baths and a 1cc syringe of water squirted into his mouth half a dozen times in the 2 days leading up to the appointment.
Have an appointment with another vet on Monday afternoon to see if he might have some ideas.
The only way to get him to eat is by opening his mouth and putting a cricket (Zoo Med, canned) into his mouth. Once it's in, he'll happily chew and swallow, and even makes it easier to open his mouth the next time. No hunting instinct, no motivation to reach for the food, but will eat when "force fed."
We gave him 5 crickets yesterday and another dozen crickets today. I'm hoping some of the lethargy is because of the lack of appetite. I'm hoping to load him up with food before Monday afternoon and be able to get a stool sample to check for parasites.
If anyone has ever seen this kind of symptom in a 4 year old (no contact with other reptiles, neither us nor him, and no exposure to the outside world, yard, toxins, wild bugs, etc), I would love some input.
At this point I don't know if it's fixable, or if we should start thinking about putting him to sleep. As-is, this is no quality of life for him. But I also know how I feel when I'm sick, and I'd hate for someone to put me to sleep because I feel like crap for a couple of weeks LOL. So I want to exhaust my alternative options first - within a reasonable time frame, as I am sure that this is no fun for him either.
And no, it's nothing to do with the substrate. We only just put the substrate in after all this started because he was digging and seemingly trying to brumate, so we got him something to dig in. He never eats his substrate either - not a very "licky lizard."
The vet is saying the next diagnostic steps would be either a CT Scan ($650) or biopsy ($550 and invasive). I don't really think I want to do either of those at this stage. I was hoping that someone at the vet clinic would say "oh yes, this is a classic symptom of...." and confidently tell me the likeliest cause.
I don't doubt that they know what they are doing - they're one of the top vet schools and top vet clinics in the country - but I am hoping that talking to another reptile vet on Monday might yield some result from personal experience on their part, or perhaps some clarity on what the right decision is at this point.
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