So, I feel a bit like a "fair weather friend" on these forums. I haven't been on in months (new job and lots of other things taking up time), but I could really use some help if anyone has any insight.
In May my 13 year old beardie ate a 1.5inch piece of aquarium tubing (long story, I posted about that when it happened lol) and had to have it surgically removed. They attempted to remove it by endoscopy, but that was not successful and she required surgical removal. It was successful, and she was put on 2 oral antibiotics just before/after the surgery (ciprofloxacin 4mg/2ml, 4mg every 2 days; and metronidzole 6mg/2ml, 6mg once daily). The cipro was a substitute for baytril, which I could not find in town. Around this time, before her surgery, she was given a wormer as wel(just in case) and her stools have always been great (large, though infrequent poops, well formed, not particularly smelly, good urates).
After her surgery I was instructed to feed her a slurry (increasing in volume and viscosity over a period of 2 weeks) in lieu of solid food to ensure the incisions healed well. She ended up taking this great and looked forward to her slurries near the end of the 2 weeks.
After this period I noticed that her appetite remained good; she would eat bugs well, but her interest in salad has decreased slowly and dramatically since June. She was eating greens and repashy gel if I held them in front of her face, but now she will only eat bugs (with vigor, off tweezers), and will not touch anything else.
She spends her day laying in a corner of the tank (currently the warm side under her basking light, but a few weeks ago she was holed up in her hide on the cool side).
I replaced her UVB in May for her surgery (zoomed powersun), and 3 weeks ago replaced it with an arcadia 12% tube. This does not seem to have made any difference in her behaviour. The day we put the arcadia in she seemed perky and happy, but has since resumed her lethargic behaviour. She has adequate temps within the range that she likes, basking spots with and without UVB exposure, but she just seems to be gravitating towards corners.
Her beard is not black, and she has no stress spots. She will lick baby food off her nose if I drop it on there. I've been syringe feeding her small amounts of slurry/baby food with her supplements (liquid calcium/multivit/serrapeptase).
I've noticed that after I've syringe fed her she will do this thing where she swallows repeatedly (sometimes I can hear a clicky sound) and/or will exhale audibly. I haven't noticed her doing this with bugs, but maybe I just haven't noticed.
I don't think she's eating enough, but I'm having a hard time getting her to take food. She isn't fast enough for crickets, unless I fridge them for a long time and supervise until she's found all of them. Honestly though, I haven't even tried crickets in over a month because it's so tedious. At this point I'm not even sure if she would chase them.
Vet: Took her to the vet a few days ago (a different vet, since the one who did the surgery relocated). He is not an exotic vet, but does have a decent amount of experience so I thought I would try it (there are 2 exotic vets 2 hours away, so I thought I would try the local vet first).
He examined her very thoroughly. After I told him about the clicking/breathing he examined her heart/lungs and said they sounded clear. He opened her mouth to check if there was an obstruction, and there was nothing. He said the back of her throat looked slightly enlarged, but not red or infected or anything.
She was X-rayed to check for any asymmetry around the head/neck and there was nothing that stood out, although he is going to get copies of her pre-surgery x-rays to see if there are any differences.
He also gave her a vit. D shot just in case. He was wondering if her eyesight might be going, but I'm not sure. Anyone know how to test their eyesight?
Could it be a URI even though the vet doesn't think so?
I understand that she may be declining due to her age, but I love her and want to do anything I can to help her, whether that is treating an illness or making sure she's comfortable
On the bright side the vet was very surprised with her good bone density/age and told me I must be doing something right lol!
I'm sorry if this is a disjointed post! I don't know if I've missed anything. I have a lot on my mind these days, and it's hard to remember every little thing as this has been a slowly progressing situation! If anyone has any insight, I'd be delighted to hear it Thanks for reading.
In May my 13 year old beardie ate a 1.5inch piece of aquarium tubing (long story, I posted about that when it happened lol) and had to have it surgically removed. They attempted to remove it by endoscopy, but that was not successful and she required surgical removal. It was successful, and she was put on 2 oral antibiotics just before/after the surgery (ciprofloxacin 4mg/2ml, 4mg every 2 days; and metronidzole 6mg/2ml, 6mg once daily). The cipro was a substitute for baytril, which I could not find in town. Around this time, before her surgery, she was given a wormer as wel(just in case) and her stools have always been great (large, though infrequent poops, well formed, not particularly smelly, good urates).
After her surgery I was instructed to feed her a slurry (increasing in volume and viscosity over a period of 2 weeks) in lieu of solid food to ensure the incisions healed well. She ended up taking this great and looked forward to her slurries near the end of the 2 weeks.
After this period I noticed that her appetite remained good; she would eat bugs well, but her interest in salad has decreased slowly and dramatically since June. She was eating greens and repashy gel if I held them in front of her face, but now she will only eat bugs (with vigor, off tweezers), and will not touch anything else.
She spends her day laying in a corner of the tank (currently the warm side under her basking light, but a few weeks ago she was holed up in her hide on the cool side).
I replaced her UVB in May for her surgery (zoomed powersun), and 3 weeks ago replaced it with an arcadia 12% tube. This does not seem to have made any difference in her behaviour. The day we put the arcadia in she seemed perky and happy, but has since resumed her lethargic behaviour. She has adequate temps within the range that she likes, basking spots with and without UVB exposure, but she just seems to be gravitating towards corners.
Her beard is not black, and she has no stress spots. She will lick baby food off her nose if I drop it on there. I've been syringe feeding her small amounts of slurry/baby food with her supplements (liquid calcium/multivit/serrapeptase).
I've noticed that after I've syringe fed her she will do this thing where she swallows repeatedly (sometimes I can hear a clicky sound) and/or will exhale audibly. I haven't noticed her doing this with bugs, but maybe I just haven't noticed.
I don't think she's eating enough, but I'm having a hard time getting her to take food. She isn't fast enough for crickets, unless I fridge them for a long time and supervise until she's found all of them. Honestly though, I haven't even tried crickets in over a month because it's so tedious. At this point I'm not even sure if she would chase them.
Vet: Took her to the vet a few days ago (a different vet, since the one who did the surgery relocated). He is not an exotic vet, but does have a decent amount of experience so I thought I would try it (there are 2 exotic vets 2 hours away, so I thought I would try the local vet first).
He examined her very thoroughly. After I told him about the clicking/breathing he examined her heart/lungs and said they sounded clear. He opened her mouth to check if there was an obstruction, and there was nothing. He said the back of her throat looked slightly enlarged, but not red or infected or anything.
She was X-rayed to check for any asymmetry around the head/neck and there was nothing that stood out, although he is going to get copies of her pre-surgery x-rays to see if there are any differences.
He also gave her a vit. D shot just in case. He was wondering if her eyesight might be going, but I'm not sure. Anyone know how to test their eyesight?
Could it be a URI even though the vet doesn't think so?
I understand that she may be declining due to her age, but I love her and want to do anything I can to help her, whether that is treating an illness or making sure she's comfortable
On the bright side the vet was very surprised with her good bone density/age and told me I must be doing something right lol!
I'm sorry if this is a disjointed post! I don't know if I've missed anything. I have a lot on my mind these days, and it's hard to remember every little thing as this has been a slowly progressing situation! If anyone has any insight, I'd be delighted to hear it
Thanks for reading.
