Xray included on page 8.

[TheDragonKeepers]

Severely dehydrated and sick dragon!
Have warm bathed, she's had clear diarrhoea with bits of two nights ago's dinner in. Eyes heavily sunk. She's drunk a lot in bath, but still severely sunken round skull and eyes.


EDIT: update 15/08 - bringing you up to speed.
Was diagnosed dehydration sickness.
Rehydrated successfully, now need to recover lost muscle mass and fats.
Xray on page 8 if anyone wants to see/comment.

Any suggestions/info welcome.

 

[TheDragonKeepers]

Kyle's been off her food for a few days (which is normal for her) and we thought it was due to another beardie joining the family. They're all in separate tanks, but meet occasionally for a run around. Kyle and Sandy (the new one) now get on well and share each other's tanks.

Originally Sandy had worms, so ALL dragons were treated and quarantined successfully. Used avipro to help rebalance the tummies. Kyle fine thereafter - it's about two months on, Kyle's eating slowed (as is often the case with her). She's four, and her temps are 110 and 85F hot and cold ends.

Weirdly, she's started eating a LOT and I mean a LOT of calcium lately. The UV bulbs are 10.0 ZooMeds, approx 6 months old now, possibly a little more. Last night she was refusing her favourite foods, making funny faces and going "glack glack glack" so made her a paste of banana, vits and calcium with water like we usually do when she's being funny - that always perks her back up. (it didn't LOOK like beardie vomitting - I've seen that before.)

I came home from work to discover her VERY sunken eyed as described, small beige calciummy poop in one end, and a large, liquidy (now dried) puddle of what I can only think was vomit in the other.

Any ideas?

 

[AHBD]

Sorry to hear this problem with your girl ! Can you post a picture ? Good that she's drinking, keep that up. When you say she's eating a lot of calcium, what do you mean ? Is she on calciumsand ? That is really bad and causes impaction. Or do you have a bowl of calcium in the tank [ I've heard people do this ] If it is calcium powder with D3, it can be toxic if too much is ingested. She probably needs bloodwork if that's the case. Someone may chime in with other ideas. Oh, and it's time to replace the UVB bulb, but I don't think that's causing these symptoms.

 

[TheDragonKeepers]

She lives on astroturf, but she has a dish of calcium available for her recently as she's been going nuts on it. I also suspect D3 poisoning...

Will take pic in sec. 6pm here, might catch vet. Brb.

 

[TheDragonKeepers]

Soddit, vet says he'll stay late - I'm going there now.

 

[AHBD]

O.K., first thing would be to get the bowl of calcium out, also if you have bowls of it in other tanks for your dragons. Keep her hydrated and comfortable....if you have a reptile vet, explain everything that you explained here. Hopefully she will be O.K.

 

[TheDragonKeepers]

We're back now. Vet doesn't think it's D3, suggests it might be a kidney problem, but not sure without bloodworks. Have brought her back home and she's back in the bath - I'm advised to bathe her every 2-3 hours and my partner says he'll do that whilst I'm on jury duty. I'm picking up some critical care formula tomorrow morning on my way to jury service, and will supply as soon as I get home.

Other dragons don't have extra calcium, they just get their dustin's (or in Tsam's case, he snatches the lid of calcium off me and has a chew on a gloopy mouthful every couple of months or so. It's what he does!).


Any ideas why she's been eating SO much calcium? She's not eggbound, that's the first thing I checked (and she's uh, evacuating just fine) - but she has lost weight quite suddenly.

 

[AHBD]

Wow, that was quick ! Just curious as to why the vet would come to the conclusion that it's not D3 when no bloodwork has been done yet and you mentioned the dragon eating alot of it. If a child were to eat a mouthful of any vitamin, that would be the first thing suspected when he became ill. Same with animals, you look at what they have recently done differently [ in your case eating the powder ] Toxicity DOES affect the kidneys, so the 2 would, in most cases , be linked together. At any rate, something is up and hydrating will help flush out her system, so hopefully that can get her back on track. No telling why she started eating it, maybe she IS developing eggs but not laid them yet. Sometimes we don't know why people or animals crave thigs for sure.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

One main reason she could be eating a lot of calcium is either due to a nutritional deficiency, egg production or lack of calcium absorption.
I would try to change out the Reptisun 10 tube bulbs to see if that helps. Do not use any supplementation for a couple of weeks, to allow her to detox her system & give extra oral fluids right now to help her system clean out.
Are you going to be getting a blood test done on her soon also to confirm renal dysfunction?


Tracie

 

[TheDragonKeepers]

Will be getting blood tests done when I can - it's very difficult to get to the only specialist in Somerset, but she advised over the phone.

As it happens, I'm wondering if it's dehydration. It's been very very hot here, and I just realised I should have upped their baths - I realise Kyle's not been eating her misted greens and the dehydration would have made her vomit and evacuate her digestive tract.

She still looks rough, but is a little more responsive now. She's sat with her rear in a VERY shallow waterbowl, and the rest of her is relaxing up the side of her favourite hut under the heatlamp. I'm just hoping the shock of massive dehydration doesn't kill her. Most things I'm capable of treating, but sod's law, I don't have critcare the one time I actually I need it. *sigh* I've got every sodding thing else under the sun...

AHBD - I'm literally ten minutes away from my local vet, but hours from the specialist. :S

Sorry Tracie, I'm confused - I use Zoo Med 10.0... I'm hoping Kyle will perk up a bit, and will get bloodworks done as soon as I can.

 

[TheDragonKeepers]

Also, Kyle's over four years old - isn't it a bit unusual to be starting egg production now? She's never had any signs of it before... Vet did comment that low on her belly is a "bit thick", but he doesn't know much about beardies. (I should point out that she's currently - suddenly - very thin, no apparent fat deposits. I noticed her losing weight, well, armpit fat, over the last few weeks but figured that was due to her eating more greens and less bugs for a change.)

 

[AHBD]

I think Tracie meant change the UVB bulb because it's 6 months old [ I think you said ?] Hopefully she will rehydrate and get better, they all look terrible after they vomit, so maybe with the extra water it will get her through. Also, if the temps. are hotter than average, get a lower watt heat bulb, you can use a regular house bulb for that. And yes, they can develop eggs at 4 or even older, so that's not an impossibility, but usually you see weight GAIN, not loss, unless they are ill or eggbound.

 

[AHBD]

Do you have a picture of her right now ?

 

[TheDragonKeepers]

I have a pic from about two hours ago ish - hasn't changed much. Hold on... I'll load it.

She's picking her head up, but keeping her eyes closed, understandably. This was shortly after I took her out of the bath (thus the pink towel) and just before I rushed to the vets. I don't know how long she was like that, but I know Rich saw her about 4ish (thinks she was ok to his knowledge), and I got home about 5.30. The poop in the tank was very fresh I think, and the liquidy vomit dried traces were under the heatlamp so had clearly evaporated.

I can take a more up to date photo if you would like me to. Edit: soddit, have gone to take a pic now anyway.

 

[AHBD]

Yes, I meant of her body....to see the weight on her. Poor thing does look like a sad one.