Rescued a beardie and I need help

JulesD

Member
Beardie name(s)
Gruncher
Hi there. I am completely new to beardies but agreed to take a sweet 7 year old girl named Gruncher who was not getting proper care. The previous owner got her from PetSmart, didn’t get the right information, and didn’t do any research of his own. He thought Gruncher had died.

On day one (about a week ago) we took her to an exotic pet hospital. She has MBD, burns on her belly from a heat rock, a fractured hand and tail, and underweight. They gave her a bath, did a DNA microbe panel, prescribed critical care for nutrition, an anti inflammatory, and two antibiotics. They gave me a lot of guidance and paperwork to pore through as well. However, I sadly am still learning, and even though I gave her half the critical care recommended, I was not going slowly enough for her to consume what I syringed in her mouth. By day five she was throwing up, drooling out food, and turned very pale. I am sick about adding to her already unbearable pain. We got her back in to the vet a couple days later for subcutaneous fluids and a shot of Cerenia for nausea as it continued for a couple days. After the last vet visit, she drank water during her bath and threw it up afterwards despite the Cerenia. I have since made the bath high enough to cover her vent but without her head being in the water. The microbe test came back and we are now doing different antibiotics. She does NOT have yellow fungus which was suspected but she does have a few different bacterial infections.

Since the fluids/Cerenia, she’s been hardly able to move. She is opening her eyes though. A lot more. Especially when I play her music and talk to her. The first time I played her music she got really excited and crawled over and tried to get to it. It was the sweetest thing. I think it’s giving her hope and encouragement.

Here’s my questions….

I DO NOT want to make the same mistakes as I did before. I do not want her to aspirate. When I gave her the medicine yesterday, she swallowed the anti inflammatory but not the Umbrellin. Because of that, I didn’t try the second antibiotic prescribed. Do I give her the medicine anyway? I held her and talked to her and rubbed her head and tickled under her chin, but she didn’t swallow and was barely awake.

Today I took her out to try feeding her as it’s been since Monday (now Saturday) since she’s eaten and hasn’t thrown up in 24 hours. When I took her out she got really pale again. I gave her a quick bath and put her back under the basking light and her color got better.

Do I try to feed her? (I was only planning to try a 1/2 ml.) Or do I just keep giving her baths for hydration and wait until she’s more alert and moving?

I don’t see signs of aspirating now but she may have been before. I know I really need to get these antibiotics into her but don’t want to cause her more distress.

Please please help. I know I’m a newbie but I love her so much and want to do everything I can to get her in a better spot.

Thank you! 🙏🏻
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Hi there. I am completely new to beardies but agreed to take a sweet 7 year old girl named Gruncher who was not getting proper care. The previous owner got her from PetSmart, didn’t get the right information, and didn’t do any research of his own. He thought Gruncher had died.

On day one (about a week ago) we took her to an exotic pet hospital. She has MBD, burns on her belly from a heat rock, a fractured hand and tail, and underweight. They gave her a bath, did a DNA microbe panel, prescribed critical care for nutrition, an anti inflammatory, and two antibiotics. They gave me a lot of guidance and paperwork to pore through as well. However, I sadly am still learning, and even though I gave her half the critical care recommended, I was not going slowly enough for her to consume what I syringed in her mouth. By day five she was throwing up, drooling out food, and turned very pale. I am sick about adding to her already unbearable pain. We got her back in to the vet a couple days later for subcutaneous fluids and a shot of Cerenia for nausea as it continued for a couple days. After the last vet visit, she drank water during her bath and threw it up afterwards despite the Cerenia. I have since made the bath high enough to cover her vent but without her head being in the water. The microbe test came back and we are now doing different antibiotics. She does NOT have yellow fungus which was suspected but she does have a few different bacterial infections.

Since the fluids/Cerenia, she’s been hardly able to move. She is opening her eyes though. A lot more. Especially when I play her music and talk to her. The first time I played her music she got really excited and crawled over and tried to get to it. It was the sweetest thing. I think it’s giving her hope and encouragement.

Here’s my questions….

I DO NOT want to make the same mistakes as I did before. I do not want her to aspirate. When I gave her the medicine yesterday, she swallowed the anti inflammatory but not the Umbrellin. Because of that, I didn’t try the second antibiotic prescribed. Do I give her the medicine anyway? I held her and talked to her and rubbed her head and tickled under her chin, but she didn’t swallow and was barely awake.

Today I took her out to try feeding her as it’s been since Monday (now Saturday) since she’s eaten and hasn’t thrown up in 24 hours. When I took her out she got really pale again. I gave her a quick bath and put her back under the basking light and her color got better.

Do I try to feed her? (I was only planning to try a 1/2 ml.) Or do I just keep giving her baths for hydration and wait until she’s more alert and moving?

I don’t see signs of aspirating now but she may have been before. I know I really need to get these antibiotics into her but don’t want to cause her more distress.

Please please help. I know I’m a newbie but I love her so much and want to do everything I can to get her in a better spot.

Thank you! 🙏🏻
Please go over the surface basking temps and how your taking them - the uvb your using - these are critical for her health- try giving water thru a eye dropper - are you still syringe feeding?
 

JulesD

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Gruncher
She just got subcutaneous fluids on Thursday and I think it’s making her feel tight/immobile. She hasn’t moved much since. As of yesterday I’m only hydrating her through baths. I haven’t syringed food since Monday. She was throwing up Monday through Wednesday. I gave her a bath on Thursday and let her drink the bath water and she threw it up right after. I didn’t give her any medicine or food Tuesday through Thursday. Started medicine again yesterday but she didn’t swallow it and I’m worried it’s lying in her mouth. Tried to feed her critical care today but she turned pale so I stopped. I don’t know how to proceed with medicine or food because she's so sleepy and not swallowing.

I have a ReptiSun T5 10.0 uvb bulb, a ceramic heater and a basking light that’s 75 watts. I had a UTH pad but unplugged it because other beardie owners said it could cause burns and she’s healing from burns. I am using a digital probe and getting readings of 93 degrees F on the surface of the warm side and 79 degrees F on the cool side. She’s sleeping on the warm side now but when she was throwing up she was moving quite a bit to the cool side.

Thanks!
 
Last edited:

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
She just got subcutaneous fluids on Thursday and I think it’s making her feel tight/immobile. She hasn’t moved much since. As of yesterday I’m only hydrating her through baths. I haven’t syringed food since Monday. She was throwing up Monday through Wednesday. I gave her a bath on Thursday and let her drink the bath water and she threw it up right after. I didn’t give her any medicine or food Tuesday through Thursday. Started medicine again yesterday but she didn’t swallow it and I’m worried it’s lying in her mouth. Tried to feed her critical care today but she turned pale so I stopped. I don’t know how to proceed with medicine or food because she's so sleepy and not swallowing.

I have a ReptiSun T5 10.0 uvb bulb, a ceramic heater and a basking light that’s 75 watts. I had a UTH pad but unplugged it because other beardie owners said it could cause burns and she’s healing from burns. I am using a digital probe and getting readings of 93 degrees F on the surface of the warm side and 79 degrees F on the cool side. She’s sleeping on the warm side now but when she was throwing up she was moving quite a bit to the cool side.

Thanks!
Please increase the surface basking temps to 95-100- where is the uvb? Inside the tank or on screen? I am flagging your post to our vet tech on the board @Drache613
 

JulesD

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Gruncher
It’s on top of the screen. I had just a few hours notice that she was coming and scrambled to get everything together. It was the best I could find. She had been living in a 20 gallon long her whole life. I moved the ceramic bulb right over her and it’s now up to 97.3. Thanks for your help.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
It’s on top of the screen. I had just a few hours notice that she was coming and scrambled to get everything together. It was the best I could find. She had been living in a 20 gallon long her whole life. I moved the ceramic bulb right over her and it’s now up to 97.3. Thanks for your help.
Screens block approx 30% of the rays please get it unblocked directly above the basking decor 12-15 inches - for her mbd- I would get around 13 inches
 

JulesD

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Gruncher
Okay. The vet wanted me to take anything she could climb out of her terrarium so that she wouldn't get any more fractures. I wonder if all the changes added to her stress. She had a wooden log she used to climb. Do you think I should add that back in?
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Okay. The vet wanted me to take anything she could climb out of her terrarium so that she wouldn't get any more fractures. I wonder if all the changes added to her stress. She had a wooden log she used to climb. Do you think I should add that back in?
You want things low for her-- you can use rolled up dish towels for her to prop herself up on-- the uvb is going to help w/ this so 13 inches from the floor of need be
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

Wow, I am so sorry about Gruncher! She definitely didn't receive proper care, bless her. I hope that
she makes it. As suggested, keep her basking on the ground level so she doesn't have to climb & get
hurt in case her bone strength is compromised.
The critical care can be hard to give, it is pretty thick. Are you keeping it relatively thin? Try dripping it
on the end of her nose to see if she will lick it off that way so you don't have to try & get her mouth open.
Keep her warm overnight, around 75-80F to help boost her system.

Let us know how she is doing.
Tracie
 

JulesD

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Gruncher
Hello,

Wow, I am so sorry about Gruncher! She definitely didn't receive proper care, bless her. I hope that
she makes it. As suggested, keep her basking on the ground level so she doesn't have to climb & get
hurt in case her bone strength is compromised.
The critical care can be hard to give, it is pretty thick. Are you keeping it relatively thin? Try dripping it
on the end of her nose to see if she will lick it off that way so you don't have to try & get her mouth open.
Keep her warm overnight, around 75-80F to help boost her system.

Let us know how she is doing.
Tracie
Thanks Tracie! I did make it thin on my last attempt but couldn’t wake her so I gave up. I can’t get her to do much more than open her eyes since the subcutaneous fluids. Wondering if that was too much for her.
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

Poor girl! Just how much subcutaneous fluids did they give her? Are her eyes sunken in any at all?
How is she doing today, any improvements at all?
We are all pulling for her, please let us know how she is doing.

Tracie
 

JulesD

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Gruncher
Hello,

Poor girl! Just how much subcutaneous fluids did they give her? Are her eyes sunken in any at all?
How is she doing today, any improvements at all?
We are all pulling for her, please let us know how she is doing.

Tracie
Thank you!!!

I had some glimmers of hope last night. A little more alert. Still barely moving but eyes open more than the day before. It doesn’t say how much fluid they injected but it had to be more than she could handle. I’m not doing anything more right now than letting her sleep, keeping her warm, giving her one or two baths a day with her head in no water (I’m tilting the tub slightly), and playing music to her. That’s when she opens her eyes. When I play her music. She’s on the warm side of the tank at around 95 during the day and about 85 at night. I don’t have her directly under the basking light and ceramic heater since she can’t move but I do have the UVB right above her. I’m looking at stands today that can hold the UVB so I can remove the mesh top. It’s going to be in the 90s here this week so I’ll take her outside for a bit each day as well.

Thanks for your concern and guidance.
 

JulesD

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Gruncher
Hello,

Poor girl! Just how much subcutaneous fluids did they give her? Are her eyes sunken in any at all?
How is she doing today, any improvements at all?
We are all pulling for her, please let us know how she is doing.

Tracie
Sorry! Her eyes do not look sunken in. And I just talked to her now and she opened her eyes. This is better than on Friday and Saturday when she was almost completely unresponsive.
 

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