gramsca
Bearded Dragon Egg
- Messages
- 3
Hi everyone,
I have a sweet 6 (almost 7) year old beaded dragon named Tommy. Tommy has been a great beardie with no history of health issues besides parasites. He loves superworms and spring lettuce mix with his calcium and D3 supplements. His 4x2x2 terrarium currently only has paper as a substrate.
Last month, out of the blue he vomited dark fluid and lots of worms, and was walking extremely weird not using his front limbs, like he was partially paralyzed. Immediately brought him to vet and they said he was dehydrated and constipated, and had lost a lot of weight. Was given IV, enema and laxative and pain meds for home. The following week I gave him daily soaks to help promote drinking water and passing poop, which he finally did and seemed to be doing much better.
He was not interested in eating at all, but I tried to give him a worm and as he went for it he puked again
. Brought him back to vet and this cycle kept repeating on and off – he would show signs of improvement, normally mobility and alertness, then the next day would be extremely lethargic, black beard and heavy breathing.
He's been on assisted feeding, pain meds and daily soaks which seems to help him stay hydrated and pooping most days. He hadn't puked in a while, until today where he was obviously in discomfort and I had to tilt him to get him to puke, which he let out a lot. He had a CT scan yesterday and are awaiting the results. His bloodwork shows significantly low chloride and some toxic cells. The adenovirus test was negative. The vet bills are in the thousands at this point (thank goodness for insurance), yet he still does not have a definitive diagnosis.
Since this has all started I've been super OCD about his lighting and UV, and bought one of those expensive reptile solarmeters and temperature lasers to make sure everything is where it should be – 95-105F basking spot with 4-6 UVI to be sure that isnt the issue. He definitely seems way more alert and active outside than inside, and is responding very sensitively to temperature changes. I also got a fogger to increase the humidity a bit (recommended by vet), given I live in Arizona desert and he is consistently dehydrated.
The vet said since the imaging isn't showing much, they would suggest surgery to look inside him to see if there is any obvious obstructions. But the surgery has inherent risks, and there's no guarantee it would give any answer on what could be causing this. I would be resistant to do it unless the CT shows something obvious. I'm thinking that it could be neurological, but am no expert so really have no idea. Anyone have any similar experience or advice? I would greatly appreciate it!
I have a sweet 6 (almost 7) year old beaded dragon named Tommy. Tommy has been a great beardie with no history of health issues besides parasites. He loves superworms and spring lettuce mix with his calcium and D3 supplements. His 4x2x2 terrarium currently only has paper as a substrate.
Last month, out of the blue he vomited dark fluid and lots of worms, and was walking extremely weird not using his front limbs, like he was partially paralyzed. Immediately brought him to vet and they said he was dehydrated and constipated, and had lost a lot of weight. Was given IV, enema and laxative and pain meds for home. The following week I gave him daily soaks to help promote drinking water and passing poop, which he finally did and seemed to be doing much better.
He was not interested in eating at all, but I tried to give him a worm and as he went for it he puked again
. Brought him back to vet and this cycle kept repeating on and off – he would show signs of improvement, normally mobility and alertness, then the next day would be extremely lethargic, black beard and heavy breathing.He's been on assisted feeding, pain meds and daily soaks which seems to help him stay hydrated and pooping most days. He hadn't puked in a while, until today where he was obviously in discomfort and I had to tilt him to get him to puke, which he let out a lot. He had a CT scan yesterday and are awaiting the results. His bloodwork shows significantly low chloride and some toxic cells. The adenovirus test was negative. The vet bills are in the thousands at this point (thank goodness for insurance), yet he still does not have a definitive diagnosis.
Since this has all started I've been super OCD about his lighting and UV, and bought one of those expensive reptile solarmeters and temperature lasers to make sure everything is where it should be – 95-105F basking spot with 4-6 UVI to be sure that isnt the issue. He definitely seems way more alert and active outside than inside, and is responding very sensitively to temperature changes. I also got a fogger to increase the humidity a bit (recommended by vet), given I live in Arizona desert and he is consistently dehydrated.
The vet said since the imaging isn't showing much, they would suggest surgery to look inside him to see if there is any obvious obstructions. But the surgery has inherent risks, and there's no guarantee it would give any answer on what could be causing this. I would be resistant to do it unless the CT shows something obvious. I'm thinking that it could be neurological, but am no expert so really have no idea. Anyone have any similar experience or advice? I would greatly appreciate it!
