Sick bearded dragon

[Stewie150]

About three days ago my 9 inch bearded dragon started breathing heavy, swallowing a lot, leaving mouth open (not gaping) and is very tired almost all the time. He also stopped eating 3 days ago. He had been eating crickets and mealworms. He has vegetables out most all the time and he does have fresh water all the time and drinks when we mist him with a mister/squirt bottle. His temps are good and just got back from the vet yesterday who thought it might be a respiratory infection and prescribed him “Enroflox” for 10 days, 1cc each day with a syringe. I got butternut squash baby food today and have been placing it on his nose and he’s been licking it off. He did go to the bathroom today for the first time in the past 3 days of not eating. I don’t know how much baby food to give him and if I should force feed it to him through the syringe the vet gave me for the medicine. Also, should I be bathing him or handling with him being sick like this? Any other tips would be helpful as well, thank you.

 

[AHBD]

Hi Stewie, sorry your baby is sick. The Baytril may or may not do the trick but hopefully it will. Can you post a video of him breathing ? And post a few pics of him + his set up if you can't do a video. Here's how to post pics :

https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload them

Beardies can lose their appetites when sick and on Baytril so keep offering the baby food and you should ask your vet for Oxbow critical care [ nutritional supplement ] Be wary of mealworms with a 9" dragon, a few here + there are fine but crickets + soft body insects should be the staple. Try Phoenix or calci worms [ BSFL, black soldier fly larva ] to entice him. You can also squish an insect and lightly rub it on his snout, that can spark the appetite sometimes. He may also benefit from a probiotic to settle his tummy.

Don't handle him any more than you need to and no baths , he could aspirate water or get chilled. Just drip water on his snout and be sure he's not wet in the evening before lights out.

Can you list the exact type of lights you have as well as what the temps. are ?

 

[Stewie150]

Hi Stewie, sorry your baby is sick. The Baytril may or may not do the trick but hopefully it will. Can you post a video of him breathing ? And post a few pics of him + his set up if you can't do a video. Here's how to post pics :

https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload them

Beardies can lose their appetites when sick and on Baytril so keep offering the baby food and you should ask your vet for Oxbow critical care [ nutritional supplement ] Be wary of mealworms with a 9" dragon, a few here + there are fine but crickets + soft body insects should be the staple. Try Phoenix or calci worms [ BSFL, black soldier fly larva ] to entice him. You can also squish an insect and lightly rub it on his snout, that can spark the appetite sometimes. He may also benefit from a probiotic to settle his tummy.

Don't handle him any more than you need to and no baths , he could aspirate water or get chilled. Just drip water on his snout and be sure he's not wet in the evening before lights out.

Can you list the exact type of lights you have as well as what the temps. are ?

I have just uploaded the images to this website: https://www.beardeddragon.org/media/59988/full
https://www.beardeddragon.org/media/59989/full
https://www.beardeddragon.org/media/59990/full
https://www.beardeddragon.org/media/59987/full

I can't seem to get the video to work I will continue to try. His basking area side ranges from 95-105 and his cool side is 75-85. The lights he has are a 150 watt "Nite-Brite Red Exotic Pet Bulb" and the other is a 160 watt UVA/UVB/Heat bulb. His stomach area is starting to also feel a little softer than normal. I'm not sure if thats due to the fact that he is not eating.

 

[AHBD]

What a cutie, he looks pretty good but just a bit woebegone. Your set up is beautiful , nice basking log should always be the centerpiece. One problem there is the sand....is it playsand or calcium type store sand ? That is pretty dangerous and can cause impaction so although it's a drag it's best to take it out and put down non adhesive shelf liner or paper towels temporarily. The sand can also impact his breathing since it can be dusty.

Have you tried feeding him again ? And BTW, how often was he doing the heavy breathing, is it pretty constant ?

 

[Stewie150]

Thank you for the reply, I will definitely try and do something with the sand, I just tried feeding again and he still licked the baby food off of his snout and while he was doing that I put a smashed cricket up to his mouth and after a while he chewed that up as well. He only ate one and showed signs he was done with the baby food as well. When I did the medication today he seemed to have spit most of it out while shaking his head. He did this when the vet gave it to him yesterday as well. The breathing is pretty consistant along with the puffing the beard in and out

 

[AHBD]

Maybe post the video to vimeo or youtube and link it here. Poor baby, they really don't like meds. If she isn't too sick she might not even need them.

 

[Stewie150]

Maybe post the video to vimeo or youtube and link it here. Poor baby, they really don't like meds. If she isn't too sick she might not even need them.

Here is the video on vimeo: https://vimeo.com/248611126
Thanks for the suggestion!
I have the viv floor as paper towel now too.

 

[Stewie150]

Maybe post the video to vimeo or youtube and link it here. Poor baby, they really don't like meds. If she isn't too sick she might not even need them.

Here is one more image I just took, I thought this might be helpful to see how skinny he is.
https://www.beardeddragon.org/media/59986/full

 

[AHBD]

Yea, poor guy is having a hard time breathing. And it's like that all the time ? Definitely thin as well, keep offering smashed crickets several times a day, the food via syringe is good as well if you can be sure he doesn't aspirate/choke on it.

 

[Stewie150]

Yea, poor guy is having a hard time breathing. And it's like that all the time ? Definitely thin as well, keep offering smashed crickets several times a day, the food via syringe is good as well if you can be sure he doesn't aspirate/choke on it.

Okay thank you, and yes the breathing is like that constantly. if I do decide to feed him with the syringe how much should I give him at a time and how much each day?