On his last legs..

[Emma33]

My little guy is 6 years old. His name is Jesse. Two weeks ago he started refusing to eat and when I would get him to eat some liquid repta boost he would throw up. He also developed a violent cough. I took him to the vet and they diagnosed him with an intestinal parasite and gave me antibiotics and protein powder to give him. Two days after taking the medicine and having the protein liquid every day, he had a constantly black beard, but his cough was slightly better. Since then he's still been inhaling loudly (it sounds like he has flem, but a lot of it), had a super black beard, and has thrown up food from days ago (I can tell, because there's a bit of meal worm in it that I gave him like 3 days ago). I made sure to amp up his lighting so that his basking spot was in the high 90s and he has access to Fluker's buffet blend, but refuses to eat anything. I even have to semi-force feed him the liquid protein powder. I've never had a pet die on me before and I don't know what to do, especially considering that he's nowhere near his life expectancy of 10 years. He's jaundiced around his eyes and the vet wants to do a blood test (which will cost over $100) and they said that if the antibiotics don't kick the parasites, then I'll have to purchase a much more expensive medicine. I'm a college student and I'm not made of money. I tried to find another home for him somewhere where they can afford to care for him, but also am worried that if I move him to a new environment it might stress him out even more and I honestly don't know if the little guy could take it. I just don't know what to do.

 

[Silver dragons]

I'm so sorry for you and your dragon, there's not really any advice I can give you. Maybe try telling the vet that you are having some difficulties paying, a lot of vets will try their best to take down the price. And maybe try going online to find the medicine that he needs and asking reddit vets what the dosage you need is? I'm not too sure on that last one but again I am sorry that there's nothing I can do.

 

[BeardieT]

My little guy is 6 years old. His name is Jesse. Two weeks ago he started refusing to eat and when I would get him to eat some liquid repta boost he would throw up. He also developed a violent cough. I took him to the vet and they diagnosed him with an intestinal parasite and gave me antibiotics and protein powder to give him. Two days after taking the medicine and having the protein liquid every day, he had a constantly black beard, but his cough was slightly better. Since then he's still been inhaling loudly (it sounds like he has flem, but a lot of it), had a super black beard, and has thrown up food from days ago (I can tell, because there's a bit of meal worm in it that I gave him like 3 days ago). I made sure to amp up his lighting so that his basking spot was in the high 90s and he has access to Fluker's buffet blend, but refuses to eat anything. I even have to semi-force feed him the liquid protein powder. I've never had a pet die on me before and I don't know what to do, especially considering that he's nowhere near his life expectancy of 10 years. He's jaundiced around his eyes and the vet wants to do a blood test (which will cost over $100) and they said that if the antibiotics don't kick the parasites, then I'll have to purchase a much more expensive medicine. I'm a college student and I'm not made of money. I tried to find another home for him somewhere where they can afford to care for him, but also am worried that if I move him to a new environment it might stress him out even more and I honestly don't know if the little guy could take it. I just don't know what to do.

Hopefully the little guy is still going strong because I see this is an old thread but definitely post this question on a plethora of beardie forums and Facebook groups to get as much insight as possible. Find some beardie Breeders or exotic vets on Instagram or what have you and DM them. I’ve had to do that a few times in the past. Unless you have a dedicated exotics vet locally, most won’t really know the ins and outs of a reptile and how to handle their wellbeing. Not to say they do a bad job, but it would be like taking a sick bird to a livestock vet. One important piece of information though I was hoping to get across is his basking spot should be about 105-110 degrees Fahrenheit. High 80’s/low 90’s should be their cool side. Hope all is well!