DurbinKW":2yqlke43 said:Hello all, I am new here and have some concerns with my ~1.5 yo male beardie. I've had him for about 4 mos and all was good in the world until about 3 weeks ago when he suddenly stopped eating/having bowel movements and his eyes began to swell. I took him to the vet about a week after this started and following a physical examination the vet suggested that it was likely a neurological problem. From there he prescribed prednisone, tribrissen and a probiotic which seemed to help initially but things reverted from there. I've started soaking him 20 mins at least every other day and have gotten 3 bowel movements from him as result with urates seeming normal in makeup (white and soft) but getting smaller, until the last movement where they were yellow and crumbly which I thought might have been result of the medications. The other portion of the last movement was bright green (looked like the probiotic) and didn't appear to have any actual greens or insects in the makeup. His last bite of food was about 3 weeks ago today. He was eating mustard, collard greens and kale daily + 4-5 superworms every other day. He's in a 40 gallon zoomed glass enclosure with zoomed 100w basking lamp (replaced a week ago) and reptisun 10 (compact) uvb. >>> not the best
Basking temps are 105F and cool side around 78F. He drinks water from a dropper daily and is misted on days he doesn't get a soak. His weight at the doc 3 weeks ago was 216kg and he is 213kg today.>>>> 3 g loss is not significant but he needs to eat at least once per day as a juvenile and still needs some insects each day.
My biggest concerns at this point is his eyes (they look pitiful) and not being able to get him to eat. Anyone experience anything similar and/or have any pointers? He's a sweet boy and I hate to seem him suffer. I might also add that when I first got him, he was starting to shed and has done so about 2-3 times in some areas in the first 2 months I had him.
destiny1998":1jv4wjd8 said:Hi. Poor guyI would change the uvb bulb. Those cause eye problems. A reptisun 10.0 t5 tube is what you want. Also I'd have the vet do a blood test and check his kidneys. Swollen eyes like he has can mean trouble with the kidney's.
kyleena29":1a9ba5ke said:Swollen eyes can also mean too much vitamin A. How often are you giving him calcium and vitamin supplements. How many days for calcium, how many days for vitamins. List everything you have been feeding him as well.
I would also get him started on some turkey and squash babyfood mixed up together. He is going to need to eat.
I think I agree here. The vet he was at already seemed pretty knowledgeable and had seen many dragons in the past. Said aside from his eyes he appeared to be one of the healthiest dragons he'd seen in a while. But was a generalist technically. Found an exotic (reptile/avian) vet I'm going I try next. Thank you for your advice.kingofnobbys":fck40ums said:Need a vet to assess this , might need bloods taken to check her bloodwork and to determine exactly why she has such swollen eyes , maybe nothing to do with VitA toxicity or the existing UV source, might be fluid buildup due to a more serious underlying condition.
I think an trip to a reptile vet is urgent. Otherwise you and we are all flying blind and only making guesses.
DurbinKW":21fnskwc said:kyleena29":21fnskwc said:Swollen eyes can also mean too much vitamin A. How often are you giving him calcium and vitamin supplements. How many days for calcium, how many days for vitamins. List everything you have been feeding him as well.
I would also get him started on some turkey and squash babyfood mixed up together. He is going to need to eat.
He will not touch anything with vitamins/calcium dusted on them.
<<< I recommend perhaps try some good quality vet grade liquid calcium (ie CalciVet see http://vetafarm.com.au/product/calcivet/ ) and liquid vitamins (ie HerpaVite see http://vetafarm.com.au/product/herpavite/ ) these may be a solution for him once the vet works out what is going on. Chances the vet will prescribe something similar if he thinks it's needed.
Tried gutloaded freezdried crickets which lasted a week. Ended up with just gut loading the superworms.
Started with just collard greens and crickets but he lost interest in crickets early on. Up until this episode I was offering (he was eating) kale, collard greens and mustard greens daily; cooked yellow squash, sliced carrots, grapes and strawberries occasionally; and 4-5 superworms a day (he would actually stop himself at that point). Since then I've tried all the above + papaya, grapes, bananas and flukers dragon diet without any success. If it makes it in his mouth he spits it out.
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