Very sick beardie!!!

[Olive1251]

I've had Smaug for a little over a month now, he/she started out very active with a very big appetite. This past week he has been very lethargic, no appetite and eyes closed most of the time, also very pale. When his eyes are open they look very wet and filmy. I've been to 2 different vets this week and haven't really gotten anywhere. They told me that he could either have pneumonia, parasites, vitamin deficiency's, or an infection. They gave him a Vitamin A shot and gave me an antibiotic for him, it's not really helping him. I've been giving him warm soaks in order to get a stool sample to take to the vet, finally got that sample this evening(which was very runny) but can't take it in till Monday, I'm worried he won't last that long. By reading other posts I've realized that I have been doing a few things wrong, I have one of the coiled lamps(which may be ok) but the basking light is a reptiglo, same with his night light. I had him in a 50 gallon tank but it didn't seem to be getting hot enough in there so I moved him to a 20 gallon tank(I do have the stick on thermometers though). Before he stopped eating he was eating mealworms and crickets dusted with calcium powder. Do you think that the bulbs are mainly the issue? Or any other ideas? I really want to try and help him as much as possible.

 

[Jiffy]

I really would switch the bulb and see if that helps. The Reptisun 10 is the best.
The stick on thermometers are very inaccurate. A temp probe or gun is best. You probably want to get one of those as soon as you can.
Good luck and hope that your beardie is feeling better soon.

 

[LilahFaye]

Being that you had a coiled bulb, I'd switch that off for awhile until you can get a new ReptiSUN 10.0 TUBE bulb (http://www.petmountain.com/product/reptile-fluorescent-bulbs/504983/zoo-med-reptisun-10.0-uvb-bulb.html) that is safe to use on beardies. If you are able to find that kind of product, you can put drops in your beardie's eye every day until you see improvement.

How high do the temps get in your beardie's tank? Try and get an accurate thermometer because stick-on's can be up to 20 degrees off (at least in my experience.) You can try getting a AcuRite thermometer at somewhere like walmart. I opted to getting a Coralife thermometer, which seems quite accurate as well (http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=12090).

If the temps are too low/high or the humidity is too low/high in your tank, your beardie might have a Respiratory Infection.
Are you giving your beardie a multi-vitamin? If not, than you should get one to help him out: http://www.petmountain.com/product/reptile-supplements/105550/rep-cal-herptivite-multivitamin.html

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Did they do a fecal, or do a bloodtest? I was just wondering how they determined he had an infection of some sort?
Which medication was he given & what was the dose he has been given?
I would be giving extra oral fluids right now to help him since he has been on antibiotics. Did you get any probiotics to give to him while he was on the medication?
For now, as instructed, just use a bright white basking light while you are ordering the Reptisun 10 tube light. His eyes do need some rest from UVB for a little while & he should be fine shortly.

Tracie