Sick Bearded Dragon

[Badwolfe]

Are you just monitoring his temperature / humidity levels with just those stick on dials in the viv? You are best to remove them and replace them with digital ones with probes. The stick on ones are notoriously inaccurate and could be giving you a totally inaccurate reading when it comes to temperatures inside the vivarium.

Beardies normally glass surf like that when they are stressed by something inside the viv. That could be something either envirnometal or physical.

The eating could be a combination of what he's gone through lately and the meds. It does sometimes take them weeks to settle down after a major disruption to their life.

The black bearding outside the tank could also possibly be as a result of the recent changes you've made. Now his lighting conditions have improved he might be feeling a lot more alert and he could be getting stressed as a result of being more aware of where he is when outside of his viv.

All you can do for now is continue with your vets advice and make sure your dragon feels as secure as possible. Make sure he has plenty of hiding options, places to climb, etc so that his life is as enriched as possible.

A lot of what's going on could be as a result of him now starting to feel a lot better and being more alert. Once he feels more secure then a lot of the troubles you are experiencing could stop. Stress will stop him eating and cause the glass surfing. Once you are sure everything in his viv is optimal it could very easily just be a case of giving him time to adjust and settle down.

 

[Chris92]

Are you just monitoring his temperature / humidity levels with just those stick on dials in the viv? You are best to remove them and replace them with digital ones with probes. The stick on ones are notoriously inaccurate and could be giving you a totally inaccurate reading when it comes to temperatures inside the vivarium.

Beardies normally glass surf like that when they are stressed by something inside the viv. That could be something either envirnometal or physical.

The eating could be a combination of what he's gone through lately and the meds. It does sometimes take them weeks to settle down after a major disruption to their life.

The black bearding outside the tank could also possibly be as a result of the recent changes you've made. Now his lighting conditions have improved he might be feeling a lot more alert and he could be getting stressed as a result of being more aware of where he is when outside of his viv.

All you can do for now is continue with your vets advice and make sure your dragon feels as secure as possible. Make sure he has plenty of hiding options, places to climb, etc so that his life is as enriched as possible.

A lot of what's going on could be as a result of him now starting to feel a lot better and being more alert. Once he feels more secure then a lot of the troubles you are experiencing could stop. Stress will stop him eating and cause the glass surfing. Once you are sure everything in his viv is optimal it could very easily just be a case of giving him time to adjust and settle down.

Thank you for the response!

For my temperatures, I mainly check using an IR gun. I occasionally do put a digital humidity probe in there to verify an accurate reading. After contacting the breeder, she recommended that I use a halogen bulb as one of my lights instead of overloading with the ZooMed. She said that ZooMed bulbs are notorious for dehydrating dragons? I did run to the store last night to grab some of those just in case. I am currently working on a good light combination to get the appropriate temperatures with these new bulbs.

Last night I was also able to get a good amount of slurry in him via dropping it on his nose. The slurry was made up of many of the things the vet recommended (water, baby chicken food, critical care, liquid calcium, calcium w/d3, and herptivite). As of this morning, he is definitely more alert (his tail is frequently up and he is sitting upright). He is still having these random energy bursts where he runs back and forth and glass surfs (his beard and tail are NOT black so far though). He doesn't seem interested in basking right now.

 

[KarrieRee]

Thank you! I will record it later today when I am home from work...

In the meantime, I have the blood results. Would someone be able to take a look at these and see if they catch anything (outside of the calcium/phosphorus issue). I still question whether this is the cause of ALL of his issues Results are attached.

All the bad care this dragon is the cause of this dragons issues I am flagging to Tracie

 

[KarrieRee]

Thank you for the response!

For my temperatures, I mainly check using an IR gun. I occasionally do put a digital humidity probe in there to verify an accurate reading. After contacting the breeder, she recommended that I use a halogen bulb as one of my lights instead of overloading with the ZooMed. She said that ZooMed bulbs are notorious for dehydrating dragons? I did run to the store last night to grab some of those just in case. I am currently working on a good light combination to get the appropriate temperatures with these new bulbs.

Last night I was also able to get a good amount of slurry in him via dropping it on his nose. The slurry was made up of many of the things the vet recommended (water, baby chicken food, critical care, liquid calcium, calcium w/d3, and herptivite). As of this morning, he is definitely more alert (his tail is frequently up and he is sitting upright). He is still having these random energy bursts where he runs back and forth and glass surfs (his beard and tail are NOT black so far though). He doesn't seem interested in basking right now.

I have not heard of Zoo Med causing dehydration - this is the first I have heard of it - dehydration is caused by not offering water to the dragon- where do these vets come up w/ this stuff -- I have been using Zoo Med for years and have not had a issue w/ them causing dehydration - what halogen did she recommend? I have sent Tracie a email about your post - the behavior is I am sure all the things posted from Badwolfe- its going to take some time w/ everything that has changed - you have moved him into a bigger tank so relocation stress is going on as well -- he will adjust just keep your basking temps good and the UVB - and keep feeding him - watch his poop its going to change w/ the diet and the temps and the UVB -- if concerned please post a pic of it

 

[Chris92]

All the bad care this dragon is the cause of this dragons issues I am flagging to Tracie

I have not heard of Zoo Med causing dehydration - this is the first I have heard of it - dehydration is caused by not offering water to the dragon- where do these vets come up w/ this stuff -- I have been using Zoo Med for years and have not had a issue w/ them causing dehydration - what halogen did she recommend? I have sent Tracie a email about your post - the behavior is I am sure all the things posted from Badwolfe- its going to take some time w/ everything that has changed - you have moved him into a bigger tank so relocation stress is going on as well -- he will adjust just keep your basking temps good and the UVB - and keep feeding him - watch his poop its going to change w/ the diet and the temps and the UVB -- if concerned please post a pic of it

In this case, it wasn't the vet who said it... rather the breeder. It was a strange conversation that stemmed from me asking if they test for atadenovirus before breeding. Also, the size of the tank actually hasn't changed.

 

[Badwolfe]

Thank you for the response!

For my temperatures, I mainly check using an IR gun. I occasionally do put a digital humidity probe in there to verify an accurate reading. After contacting the breeder, she recommended that I use a halogen bulb as one of my lights instead of overloading with the ZooMed. She said that ZooMed bulbs are notorious for dehydrating dragons? I did run to the store last night to grab some of those just in case. I am currently working on a good light combination to get the appropriate temperatures with these new bulbs.

Last night I was also able to get a good amount of slurry in him via dropping it on his nose. The slurry was made up of many of the things the vet recommended (water, baby chicken food, critical care, liquid calcium, calcium w/d3, and herptivite). As of this morning, he is definitely more alert (his tail is frequently up and he is sitting upright). He is still having these random energy bursts where he runs back and forth and glass surfs (his beard and tail are NOT black so far though). He doesn't seem interested in basking right now.

Just be careful how much calcium and D3 you are pumping into your dragon at the moment as him getting too much can be just as bad for him as not getting enough. Remember now that his UVB is set up as it should be your dragon should start metabolising his D3 and calcium but him returning back to normal won't happen overnight. As with anything else it will be a gradual return to proper health.

UV lighting is probably the most important thing with Beardies but it is not the only thing that causes them problems and neither is it a 'cure all' for anything that goes wrong. Your dragon has been through a lot lately and with the hand feeding he will still be subject to a certain amount of stress. As you know he is also underweight and all of these things will tie in together to impact on his health.

The good news is you have gotten him to a vet and all the checks have been done and you've identified and corrected any problems with his care. The only thing you can do now is give nature time and maintain everything to the standard you now know to be correct. His recovery wont happen over night but hopefully things now should gradually improve.

 

[KarrieRee]

In this case, it wasn't the vet who said it... rather the breeder. It was a strange conversation that stemmed from me asking if they test for atadenovirus before breeding. Also, the size of the tank actually hasn't changed.

So he's in a 40 gallon? I misread and the beginning then I thought he was in a 20 gallon

 

[Chris92]

So he's in a 40 gallon? I misread and the beginning then I thought he was in a 20 gallon

Nope, he has been in a 75 gallon for most of his life.

 

[KarrieRee]

Nope, he has been in a 75 gallon for most of his life.

Ok good size tank- well all the changes going on it's gonna take time for him to adjust- if he had adenovirus he would be showing different signs

 

[Chris92]

Ok good size tank- well all the changes going on it's gonna take time for him to adjust- if he had adenovirus he would be showing different signs

That is great to hear, I am hoping it is not that virus Also, the panic attacks stopped... I think they were caused by the mercury vapor bulb.... he hasn't really freaked out since I removed it.

I couldn't convince him to eat anything today, even from the syringe. He spent the whole day basking, but he wasn't his "perky" self. He just laid with his head down and eyes open. Has anyone had a chance to look over the blood results to see if something was missed? I just worry that there is something else I should be doing.

Chris

 

[KarrieRee]

That is great to hear, I am hoping it is not that virus Also, the panic attacks stopped... I think they were caused by the mercury vapor bulb.... he hasn't really freaked out since I removed it.

I couldn't convince him to eat anything today, even from the syringe. He spent the whole day basking, but he wasn't his "perky" self. He just laid with his head down and eyes open. Has anyone had a chance to look over the blood results to see if something was missed? I just worry that there is something else I should be doing.

Chris

Not yet I sent Tracie a email w/ a link to your post I am hoping she responds tonight- did you put the zoo med back in

 

[Chris92]

Not yet I sent Tracie a email w/ a link to your post I am hoping she responds tonight- did you put the zoo med back in

Yes, the ZooMeds are back in and temperatures are perfect. The main basking spot is showing 99F, but there are some areas slightly higher and lower if he wants. To get the optimal temperature ranges, I have two ZooMed 50W bulbs on the warm side and a 75W halogen bulb on the cool side.

 

[KarrieRee]

Yes, the ZooMeds are back in and temperatures are perfect. The main basking spot is showing 99F, but there are some areas slightly higher and lower if he wants. To get the optimal temperature ranges, I have two ZooMed 50W bulbs on the warm side and a 75W halogen bulb on the cool side.

What is your cool side temp during the day?

 

[Chris92]

What is your cool side temp during the day?

A good portion of it is 78F

 

[KarrieRee]

A good portion of it is 78F

Ok good