Special needs

[malcularius]

We had smeone bring in a bearded dragon for us to rehome. (I work at a dog and cat clinic, Doc has no xp what so ever in herps) appears to be full grown (approx 16 inches snout to tip of tail), unknown sex. previous medical history is impaction and hind limb paralysis (i would say more of partial, if any, pet has good muscle condition for an animal wiht this condition. husband has seen him move hindlimbs, i have not .... yet), also has been steadily eatting less each time, per previous owner. BCS appears to be a 5-6/9. also appears to have the beginings of mouth rot. shows no interest in insects. i'm asssuming this is because of stress and a sore mouth. it will lap up a/d from a syringe. for an adult beardie how much slurry should it be recieving a day? in one sitting he ate roughly 12 ml of a/d. i am planning on intorducing more plant matter to the slurry when he perks up more, but would hate to put in harder to digest plants when he is feeling this dumpy. also would flushing his mouth with chlorhexadine soulution 1% be benificial? have been doing once daily warm water soaks. pet is staying hydrated, normal bm (formed light brown color feces, white urates semi soft consistancy) .

previous diet: adult crickets, previous o has offered meal worms but pet showed no interest in it. some plants, pet did not show any interest in it. o had used repeshy bearded dragon supplement since nov 2012

-should i keep higher tempretures going all day long? or should i allow him/her to experience a night time drop in temps?
-should i con't to use the repashy supplements. I currently have rep-cal herpative, and rep-cal calcium supplements for the herps i currently have.

i currently have the dragon in a 40 gallon breeder wiht under tank heat mat on during the night. during the day i have halogen lights to maintain day time temps. pet is currently not recieving supplemental UVB light.waiting for the uvb bulbs to come in. paper towels for substrate. pet has free acess to water at all times. no other accessories to add to the environment (bare bones QT set up).

 

[Lenewen]

Feed as much as he/she will eat. Stay away from mealworms and feed small superworms, dubia roaches and silkworms instead. I personally hate crix and find they are ideal for those lizards with the energy to hunt them. I'd probably stick to worms until he/she gets better.

Allow a nighttime drop in temperature. I usually have my thermostats set to around 78 at night on the warm side of the tank.

Your setup for him/her sounds sufficient to promote healing. As long as basking temps reach 102-107 during the day he/she should start eating better. A little trick for the mouth rot is to swab a very small amount of listerine mouthwash on it. Works well after a week or two.

I recommend warm soaks every couple days for the paralysis. I feel like it would help.

You're brave taking on such a battered beardie. It's a lot of work rehabilitiating them. On the plus side, plenty of time to bond.

 

[malcularius]

thanks for the input. i'll con't to post updates as the time passes on.

not my first crit care herp, but i'm no old pro either. he/she is my first beardie tho, last crit care was a sucessfully recovered leopard gecko from crypto. compared to that i hope this one is a piece of cake.

i'll give him/her a few days on the a/d then offer some supers. i'm with you on the mealies they're just about junk to feed to anything.

thanks again

Ashley

 

[Lenewen]

I'm an old hand to rehabing leos and I'm willing to bet your beardie will be a bit easier since I find they are not nearly as skittish.

I look forward to your updates!

-Cheyenne

 

[malcularius]

Update

Dragon is now more lethargic and is having diarrhea. talked with our more exotic minded vet at our sister clinic. our top differentials right now: coccidia, clostridium, and adenovirus. going to bring in a fresh fecal sample to clinic tomorrrow and i'm keping my fingers crossed that it is the first two. at least their treatment is relatively easy in comparison to the adenovirus.

going to con't with the a/d slurry with the addition of an electrolyte supplement. may start 10-15 cc NaCl 0.09 % SQ fluids once daily, with up to 50 ml if sufficient hydration is not made.

keeping our fingers crossed

 

[Lenewen]

A fecal was the best thing to do. Hopefully it's just coccidia, it's common and easily treated.

 

[malcularius]

Sadly looks like we will not be needing that fecal. Came home to find him deceased.

 

[Esther19]

I'm so sorry.