Hollizard
Member
- Beardie name(s)
- Gypsy, Delilah, Topaz, and Jade
- Age: 5-6 years old. (Been with me for approx. 9 months)
- Size: 18-19 inches.
- Size of the enclosure: 40 gallons/36"x18"x18"
- Temperatures: Usual is 75F cool side, 85F hot side, 100F basking spot. Since being on antibiotic, at advice of vet, cool side raised to 85F.
- Type of substrate: Non-adhesive shelf liner.
- Diet: Usual is salad every day (collard greens, dandelion leaves, kale, butternut squash, etc.) and superworms every other day. Has never had a good appetite for the time I've had him. Barely ate salad, sometimes 5 superworms per meal. Currently not eating on his own.
- Lighting/heating: 100w basking bulb, 10.0 Reptisun tube UVB (2 months old), usually one, currently two ceramic heat emitters (one for each side of tank at night).
Hi everybody, I need some help, or advice, or just support.
I have a beardie named Chance. He's 5 (maybe almost 6) years old and I've had him since April. For the entire time I've had him, he's had neurological-like issues. He has always drifted to the left and has a head tremor and terrible aim when eating. According to his previous owners, he's had the tremor since he was 2. Back when I first got him, I took him to the vet because he wasn't eating great, and he was treated for a slightly high count of pinworms. Regarding his neurological signs, the vet didn't offer any explanation other than a possible brain aneurysm, but apparently that will kill them within a week and he's still alive, so it's probably not that. I wasn't very impressed with that vet and have not taken him back there. I had to insist on a fecal test and when the results came back, I had to insist on treatment.
Okay, now that you have his background... He recently went through brumation and was doing well and keeping his weight on. However, when he woke up, he wasn't interested in eating and has lost weight. His drift to the left has also slowly gotten worse over the time I've had him and he can now only turn in tight circles to the left. I took him to a different vet on the 3rd and this vet was amazing compared to the first one. He said Chance's symptoms of only turning one direction, nystagmus (or involuntary eye movement), and thick, sticky saliva show that he's having balance issues and that could point to an infection of the inner ear. He said it could be viral, in which case there's nothing we can do, or it could be bacterial. Hoping it's bacterial, he put Chance on a two week round of antibiotics (Baytril), which he will be through with on the 16th (tomorrow). He also gave me some Hill's Prescription Diet Urgent Care for dogs and cats, but he said it's good for recovering beardies as well. I started off syringe feeding him a mixture of the Urgent Care with a homemade slurry, but after a little digging, I'm not sure the Urgent Care is what's best for him. I have since gotten him some Reptaboost and Critical Care and continued syringe feeding with that. I also have Bene-bac on the way. At the vet, I had also brought in a fecal sample for testing, and a few days after starting on the Baytril, I heard back from the vet that he also had pinworms. He just completed 5 days of Panacur for the pinworms and I was advised to wait two weeks and then do another 5 days.
Recently, I noticed he has been doing this sort of gasp/cough, and it got worse two days ago. During the night, he would continuously wake up, "cough" for a few minutes, and go back to sleep. I started worrying that he may have aspirated his food and now I'm scared he has a respiratory infection. After doing some searches on this site, it sounds like it's very easy for beardies to aspirate during syringe feeding. Had I known this before, I would have been more careful. His saliva has also increased to the point where every morning his mouth is all crusty. During syringe feeding, I had noticed an area of his gums at the front of his mouth had become puffy and reddish. That combined with the crusty mouth also has me worrying about mouth rot.
So, at the moment, I'm snowed in with no way of getting to the vet. Is there anything I can do to ease his discomfort for the time being?
Also, just so everyone knows, I was fully expecting to have him put down on the 3rd when I first brought him in. His quality of life is terrible right now, but after hearing that the answer could be a simple round of antibiotics, I wanted to give him a chance. However, with his antibiotics finishing tomorrow and no sign of improvement, I'm wondering if I should still consider having him put down. Or should I wait until the next round of Panacur in case it's the pinworms causing problems? I don't know if I want to put him through another round of antibiotics for a possible respiratory infection and mouth rot. He's black-bearding almost constantly and just looks so miserable. He also occasionally flips on his back and cannot get himself upright. I don't want him to suffocate upside down if I don't notice. I don't have a job and I'm currently watching him pretty much 24/7, but there's still a possibility of something happening. What should I do? I feel terrible for having possibly caused him more problems than he started with.
Thanks for reading this long-winded, rambling post. Please send Chance some love.
- Size: 18-19 inches.
- Size of the enclosure: 40 gallons/36"x18"x18"
- Temperatures: Usual is 75F cool side, 85F hot side, 100F basking spot. Since being on antibiotic, at advice of vet, cool side raised to 85F.
- Type of substrate: Non-adhesive shelf liner.
- Diet: Usual is salad every day (collard greens, dandelion leaves, kale, butternut squash, etc.) and superworms every other day. Has never had a good appetite for the time I've had him. Barely ate salad, sometimes 5 superworms per meal. Currently not eating on his own.
- Lighting/heating: 100w basking bulb, 10.0 Reptisun tube UVB (2 months old), usually one, currently two ceramic heat emitters (one for each side of tank at night).
Hi everybody, I need some help, or advice, or just support.
I have a beardie named Chance. He's 5 (maybe almost 6) years old and I've had him since April. For the entire time I've had him, he's had neurological-like issues. He has always drifted to the left and has a head tremor and terrible aim when eating. According to his previous owners, he's had the tremor since he was 2. Back when I first got him, I took him to the vet because he wasn't eating great, and he was treated for a slightly high count of pinworms. Regarding his neurological signs, the vet didn't offer any explanation other than a possible brain aneurysm, but apparently that will kill them within a week and he's still alive, so it's probably not that. I wasn't very impressed with that vet and have not taken him back there. I had to insist on a fecal test and when the results came back, I had to insist on treatment.
Okay, now that you have his background... He recently went through brumation and was doing well and keeping his weight on. However, when he woke up, he wasn't interested in eating and has lost weight. His drift to the left has also slowly gotten worse over the time I've had him and he can now only turn in tight circles to the left. I took him to a different vet on the 3rd and this vet was amazing compared to the first one. He said Chance's symptoms of only turning one direction, nystagmus (or involuntary eye movement), and thick, sticky saliva show that he's having balance issues and that could point to an infection of the inner ear. He said it could be viral, in which case there's nothing we can do, or it could be bacterial. Hoping it's bacterial, he put Chance on a two week round of antibiotics (Baytril), which he will be through with on the 16th (tomorrow). He also gave me some Hill's Prescription Diet Urgent Care for dogs and cats, but he said it's good for recovering beardies as well. I started off syringe feeding him a mixture of the Urgent Care with a homemade slurry, but after a little digging, I'm not sure the Urgent Care is what's best for him. I have since gotten him some Reptaboost and Critical Care and continued syringe feeding with that. I also have Bene-bac on the way. At the vet, I had also brought in a fecal sample for testing, and a few days after starting on the Baytril, I heard back from the vet that he also had pinworms. He just completed 5 days of Panacur for the pinworms and I was advised to wait two weeks and then do another 5 days.
Recently, I noticed he has been doing this sort of gasp/cough, and it got worse two days ago. During the night, he would continuously wake up, "cough" for a few minutes, and go back to sleep. I started worrying that he may have aspirated his food and now I'm scared he has a respiratory infection. After doing some searches on this site, it sounds like it's very easy for beardies to aspirate during syringe feeding. Had I known this before, I would have been more careful. His saliva has also increased to the point where every morning his mouth is all crusty. During syringe feeding, I had noticed an area of his gums at the front of his mouth had become puffy and reddish. That combined with the crusty mouth also has me worrying about mouth rot.
So, at the moment, I'm snowed in with no way of getting to the vet. Is there anything I can do to ease his discomfort for the time being?
Also, just so everyone knows, I was fully expecting to have him put down on the 3rd when I first brought him in. His quality of life is terrible right now, but after hearing that the answer could be a simple round of antibiotics, I wanted to give him a chance. However, with his antibiotics finishing tomorrow and no sign of improvement, I'm wondering if I should still consider having him put down. Or should I wait until the next round of Panacur in case it's the pinworms causing problems? I don't know if I want to put him through another round of antibiotics for a possible respiratory infection and mouth rot. He's black-bearding almost constantly and just looks so miserable. He also occasionally flips on his back and cannot get himself upright. I don't want him to suffocate upside down if I don't notice. I don't have a job and I'm currently watching him pretty much 24/7, but there's still a possibility of something happening. What should I do? I feel terrible for having possibly caused him more problems than he started with.
Thanks for reading this long-winded, rambling post. Please send Chance some love.