We Have a Case of Pneumonia

[izzbo]

My male bearded dragon Kalude coughed after a bath a few days ago and I noticed a few small things so I brought him into the vet. He passed all tests but they said if you want to be 100% sure do the X-ray. So we did it and it turned out not so good. He never gaps, has no mucus, and doesn't have a black beard so I was surprised but I did hear an occasional click when he was breathing and noticed one morning when he was laying on my stomach and I was flat he was puffingup his throat and stopped doing that when I elevated myself at an angle.

The vet gave me Enrofloxacin 22.7mg/ml Suspension. We have to give him that daily for 3 - 4 weeks. It's .16 ml a day.

I asked her about Bene Bac and she said it wasn't needed but I still picked some up.

A few questions. All the pet store had was Bene-Bac Plus for Small Animals not for Birds and Reptiles. Is there any difference? They said there wasn't but I don't trust them.

And other than keeping temps warm and using the Enrofloxacin any things I should know about that can help?

Thanks in advance,

- Jason

 

[Taterbug]

Check the ingredients i thknk its the same with the exception of one strain of bacteria and probably the flavor. It was all I could find too - was told on here it should be ok.

 

[izzbo]

I ended up ordering the gel online b/c I didn't realize the powder was designed to be top dressed on the food. He isn't eating that well and tbsp I'd just too much.

Anyone have any hints or suggestions on what I'm dealing with in terms of the pneumonia and the medicine they gave me?

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I am sorry to hear your dragon has pneumonia. The Baytril (enroflaxin) is normally the drug of choice for this ailment.
Try to keep the humidity low in the tank & the overnight temperatures around 80 as well. If he will tolerate the basking temperatures to be 105-107 during the day, that would be helpful.
He isn't eating very much right now?

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie

 

[izzbo]

Thanks for your kind words.

If he stops eating are there threads on making slurries or should I give him repti aid instead? Anyway he ate 3 supers yesterday but that was before I started the anti biotic. This is his slow time of year due to brumation. He never sleeps but always slows down his eating so that doesn't help.

First day on Baytril was yesterday. He hated it. Literally ran away from me at light speed when he tested it.

A few black beards came out yesterday a few hours after I have him the Baytril. Maybe it upset his stomach b/c he didn't do that until yesterday. The Bene-Bac gel should be here today so that is good.

 

[izzbo]

One more question. Should I be giving him daily baths due to the dehydration or just give him water orally? If not daily baths the how often? I'm asking b/c of the humidity of the bath.

Also I forgot to tell you about him. He is a 3 year old male and weighs 709 grams.

 

[Taterbug]

If he takes the water orally that's always the best way to go.

 

[izzbo]

I can get him to dunk using an eye dropper. As for baths should I stop giving him them? He likes to pop in the bath and won't do it in his tank.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

The baytril doesn't taste all that great which is most likely why he ran off.
If he wont go to the bathroom any other way you can give him a short bath & get him dried off quickly & warmed up so he doesn't get chilled.
Using a dropper for oral fluids is always helpful when on medications.
If he stops eating you can give baby food to help maintain his weight if he started losing some & to be sure he gets enough nutrition while on meds, too.

Tracie

 

[izzbo]

If he won't eat which is the case since I started him on the meds what do you recommend for nutrition? Should I do repti-aid and baby food or just the baby food?

 

[Taterbug]

If he won't eat which is the case since I started him on the meds what do you recommend for nutrition? Should I do repti-aid and baby food or just the baby food?

Baby food is easy to get, there are also support formulas (critical care) that will be more balanced - vets sell it, and so does amazon.com and beardeddragon.co. I've never used reptaid.. so not sure bout that one...

 

[izzbo]

I meant to say Repta-Aid not Repti-Aid. It's a critical care formula from Flukers. It's now called Repta-Boost but same product. I picked some up today with the baby food.

Another issue that is he basks for an hour then goes crazy (glass dancing), gets a really black beard and wants out of the tank. It takes multiple attempts to settle him down. Eventually he'll settle down and I'll place him in the basking area but it repeats again. None of this until I started the meds on Thursday. Is this reaction normal?

Sorry for all the questions but I don't quite know how to deal with all this. I am going to call the vet on Monday to let her know what is going on but I know he won't get better without the meds.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Great, that product is fine to be used in combination with the Baytril. He just doesn't like the Baytril because it doesn't taste well & may be upsetting his tummy, too. How long does his beard stay black?
The critical care is very good also. You could use any of those for food options. Baby food is good mixed with either one.
Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie

 

[izzbo]

His beard only turns really dark when he wants out which is usually 4 times throughout the day. The rest of the time his beard isn't its normal bright white but various shades of black. The latter it gets the better he is but his beard color still has some black in it. Usually from 2 pm on he seems more comfortable which makes since b/c I give him his meds at 8 AM. And he loves bed time. He snuggles with me and a heat pad for a half hour and majority of the black in his beard goes away and then I put him to bed with the temps around 80. But it the morning (before his meds) his beard isn't darker until he starts to bask.

As I said this behavior just started with the meds so my best guess is his stomach is bothering him.When I give him water I can see he is kinda flexing the stomach muscles and releasing them. He was having no real signs of being uncomfortable before. The vet actually thought he was fine until the xray.

Anyway thanks for all the response. They really help me both with how to treat him and is wonderful emotional support. This is very stressful for me so talking via the post help.

- Jason

 

[Esther19]

Edit: Oops! I see you have Bene-bac. Sorry.