Vet trip/ulcer on tounge

[Shenron]

Well we took Shenron to the vet last night, due to him not eating. We found out that the tip of his tongue is white colored, and the doc said it is an ulcer. He asked us if he injured it (burn or bit or something), and said it may be due to kidney failure. He prescribed a Dex elixir to be given orally,and an antibiotic also orally. We start the treatment today, I just tried to give him his dose (but getting him to keep his mouth open is tough, I get it open, but as soon as I do he squirms backwards and all over making it nearly impossible to deliver the medication). My question is has anyone else had a similar problem, and how was the outcome? I'm just hoping he has an injury/infection that can be cleared up, and not kidney problems.

Any advice on the getting him to take his meds/the problem I describe would be greatly appreciated!

 

[dobiegil2000]

My two beardies tongues have white tips also and as far as I knew it was normal. Was your vet familiar with reptiles???? What kind of tests did he/she run? You might want to wait and maybe someone with more experience like Traci could help you.

robin

 

[Shenron]

Ya, they said he regularly handles reptiles, he ran a stool sample and it came back negitive, otherwise it was just a exam, looking at it etc. I just got him to take his dose of baytril(the antibiotic) and he managed to gulp it down, the plunger was touchy and it squirted on my hands(lol). He gulped down some water and now he is just basking.

 

[dobiegil2000]

I wonder then. My friend who has had several beardies says its normal, so maybe someone can help me too. As far as baytril, I thought it was hard on the kidneys? I don't mean to add to your confusion, just trying to learn. Hopefully someone will shed some light. I am glad he is basking and ok. Keep us posted.

Robin

 

[beardie parents]

I'm not a vet nor very experienced with beardie's health, but that sounds strange to me. It's o.k. to get a second opinion. I have noticed all my beardies (so far all girls) have had the same type of toungue, white with a little bit of a dent in the tip. I don't think vets should medicate unless they have done some blood tests first. Just looking at the tongue is not sufficient to medicate. It's like a MD giving you some antibiotics with out testing to see what sickness you have.

I will tell you, tho. We took one of our beardies to a vet in SV AZ where we live. This vet says that he knows reptiles because he's been a vet for 20 years and does treat reptiles. I have since found out that he doesn't know that much about beardies, even tho he says that he does.

BTW I would PM Drache613 This is Tracie and we go to her about all things medical regarding beardies.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Can I see a picture of your dragon's tongue? Sorry that just does not sound right.
He does not need to be medicated for no reason, & especially if the vet said he was having renal issues Baytril is not the drug to be using at the moment. It is harsh on his system. If he feels he could have renal issues a blood test is warranted before any medication should be issued.
All of our dragons have a white to greyish tongue tip. It is normal.
How old is Shenron?
Maybe we should go over your tank setup to determine if there is something missing in your husbandry that could be causing the decrease in appetite. How long have you had him for?

Tracie

 

[Shenron]

Well, we got him back in august from petco, and he was just about 4 inches then. So we are guessing about 4 months? If I can manage to get a picture of his tongue I'll try and post it. Otherwise his color has been abit off, like dull and lighter. As far as his set up is concerned it's a 20 gallon long I believe. I use a small flood light to get his basking temps up *they are normally between 100-106*. For uvb I use a reptisun 10.0 which is maybe 3-4 months old.(will be replacing at the 6 month mark). He always had fresh water, and twice daily (until he gave up eating his phoenix worms). I use a shelf liner for his substrate, and put a aquarium liner up around three sides of the tank to minimize him seeing his reflection.

I called around the area to find the vet, and was refereed by another vet to contacts this particular animal hospital (as they deal with reptiles). They only had one doctor who took care of reptiles. I've only given him(maybe im not sure if he consumed it or not as it was tough) dose of baytril...Is there a particular certification that denotes someone who is a 'reptile' vet? just curious.

 

[beardie parents]

How long every day is your reptisun 10 on for? I ask this because Speedy lost her appetite last month. I figured out how much use the reptisun 10 tube got and it was in use for about 4.5 months. The first couple of months it was on for about 4 or 5 hours every day. After that, it was on for 10+ hours every day. Since we have 2 beardies we did a test of sorts. I put Speedy's reptisun on Zoom Zoom. In a couple of days, Speedy's appetite increased and Zoom Zoom's (who had not had a decrease in appetite at that point) did decrease. Since Zoom Zoom was much smaller than Speedy then, we changed them back. Zoom Zoom's appetite increased and Speedy's went back down, until our new reptisun 10's came in. When we gave Speedy a new reptisun 10, her appetite went back up to what it was before. I have noticed that the longer the uvb is used during the day, the quicker it stops giving out sufficient uvb for the beardies to have a good appetite.

 

[Shenron]

Well, Shenron decided to eat today! He only ate 11 worms, well and counting hes chomping down more now. But thats more than he'd gulp down in the past 4 days. I'm not sure if it was the meds the vet gave (which i only got him to take once, and decided after reading some feed back to never mind giving them) or just hoping that he'd get better. Hopefully he continues to get his appetite back, and I won't be going to this vet again (after getting ripped off for about 80$ on medication without justification, and a weak examination, and his now glaring lack of knowledge about bearded dragons I'll be looking around again)

Thanks everyone!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Great to hear that he ate some worms today!
You mentioned that he has been dull or ligher? Could he be possibly going to shed soon?
Unfortunately, there are no "credentials" per say that state a vet is a reptile specialist. Experience & self education are how they do it. However, I believe that they can go extra time to specialize, but, most do not.
Try looking at this site: http://www.herpvetconnection.com to help find a vet in the future. People write feedback & reviews on that particular vet so you have more information on the vet.
I hope that he continues to improve for you. Good that you are using the Reptisun 10 flourescent tube bulb. Make sure you do keep up replacing it when it comes to the 6 month mark at the longest. You are using a bright white light that is placed directly beside the UVB correct?

Tracie

 

[Shenron]

Well he had almost a full body shed before the whole ordeal began, but he has started to darken back up again. Thanks for the link as well. As far as the other light source, I use a ge edison 35w bright white mini flood bulb to get the desired temps..etc.

Thanks for the well wishes, he's now up to about 15 worms! :mrgreen:

 

[K9KidsLove]

Hi...Good that he is eating again. What kind of worms is he eating?

How many hours daily do you have his heat/UVB on?
What do you use to take temps? stick on, temp gun, digital thermometer with a probe at the end of a wire?

Good luck
Patsy

 

[Shenron]

Phoenix worms, and about 14 hours of light, 10 hours of dark. I use a digi with a temp probe for his temps.