Update on my Sickly Beardies

Fat Lucy is doing great!! She's eating & pooping normally. Plus she's getting ready to shed which will make her look so much better.

MuShu finally is eating and pooping on her own! She started shedding yesterday and her colors are so pretty. Right now her old scales are stained from the sand she was on and she looks dull. 

Moose is about to get his last antibiotic shot and will be ready for adoption. This boy *loves* to be held! He loves to be wrapped up in his blankie too. 

The babies are doing okay. The smaller one eats on his own and is more active. The larger one gets force fed Critical Care daily. His jaw is so soft that he can't chew well. I still fully expect them to make a full recovery. They will probably just be stunted and "pocket size." 

Update on my Sicklies

Lucy had a pretty down day. She didn't move much and didn't eat. It's just a waiting game with her to see how she does.

MuShu still is not eating much and so she's not pooping enough for me to do a fecal test on her. We still don't know why she had a prolapse in the first place. So we're just waiting for her to start eating normally. 

Moose was quite active today. He didn't want to sit in a sunny window like everyone else. We'll have to train him to do that. He showed some interest in food, but I don't think he ate. Usually within two or three shots, beardies with respiratory infections feel & act better. 

Finally Some Poop!

MuShu has not been pooping normally and started throwing up when I force fed her. So she was headed back to the vet tomorrow. She's only given me tiny poops that are mostly water. See?

Tonight I found her like this: 

As I tucked her leg under the paper towel, I noticed a big & normal looking poop on her hide. 

Yippee!!! 

Finally, her guts are working. 

Now I need another couple poops and then I'll test her for worms. She had a really bad prolapse which is normally caused by an infestation of parasites. Her poop doesn't look like she has pinworms or coccidia. I wonder if the sand she was on made her prolapse. 

Anyways, she's getting a pass for the vet trip and can stay home. It'll just be Bugsy for his X-ray and Roscoe for his tail treatment (an amputation).  

Some times poop is really good news! 

a Mini Donation Campaign for Roscoe & Friends

I've debated doing this and even now I'm agonizing over creating another GoFundMe campaign but my rescue is stretched past its financial limits right now. Between Roscoe, MuShu, and Bugsy-- and now the dying monitor-- I am not bringing in enough money through my Etsy shop to pay for all the vet bills I'm sticking on my credit card last week and this week. I've even been selling off stuff in an attempt to make extra money.

Will you consider helping me? Either through PayPal (link on the side bar of the blog) or through this GoFundMe link. Even a couple dollars will help make sure I am not so wiped out that by this week's vet bills that I can no longer take in rescues.

gofundme.com/zt9s2ss

Quick Update

Of my 3 sicklies, Roscoe is doing the best. He's such a sweetheart.

Bugsy still has fluid in his lungs and blood when he poops. 

MuShu has stopped pooping all together and actually started throwing up today. :( That is very bad. Her intestines are not working normally since her prolapse was fixed. Back to the vet we go. 

Critical Care Mornings

Once or twice a day I force feed my 3 sickly beardies: MuShu, Bugsy, and Roscoe. Bugsy and MuShu are both sick and not eating well on their own so they get the morning Critical Care (CC). Roscoe gets it twice a day plus a dose of calcium syrup.

I mix the CC with homemade Pedialyte for extra hydration. Each beardie has their own syringe. 

MuShu and Bugsy hate me pushing the syringes in their mouth and fight me. Roscoe doesn't fight but I have to be really careful since his bones are so fragile. 

He hates the calcium syrup so I usually give him some water to flush it out. 

He's got a cute tongue! 

The Sick Room

My bedroom has become the "Hospital Ward" for my rescue. 

Here's an Update on my Sicklies: 

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Turbo is doing okay. He has good days and bad days. The swelling in his arm & spine has slowed. On good days, he eats and is active. On bad days, he doesn't want to be pet and he sleeps all day. This pic shows how he sleeps. It's adorable!! 

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Bugsy is not doing well. He's on antibiotic shots but he still sounds like a whoopee cushion sometimes when he breathes. He stopped eating too so I started force feeding him today. He just mostly sleeps a lot. 

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MuShu is still having a hard time with her guts. I'm waiting to make sure she can poop normally after such a major prolapse. Some days she's really lethargic and hardly moves; other days she's very alert. It's just a slow recovery process. And she still won't eat on her own so I'm force feeding her too. 

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Roscoe is now the newest member in the ward. His tank is where Ginny's tank used to be. He's got a long hard road ahead, but I expect him to eventually recover. His whole cage is covered with polar fleece so he can't get his nails stuck and everything is low so he can't fall off. 

MuShu went back to the Vet

In the past two days, MuShu has been bleeding less, but she also stopped pooping. Instead of taking her stitches out myself, I took her back to my vet today. 

Dr Folland was able to probe her vent and see that the prolapsed tissue looks great. The swelling has gone down and it looks healthy. With a prolapse, you always worry that the tissue has decreased blood flow for too long and it will just die once it is pushed back in. 

While he was probing her, MuShu was able to push out a blood covered urate plug. I think the stitches were too tight to allow her to push the urate out. 

When Dr Folland tried to pry her mouth open, MuShu tried to take a bite out of his finger. Her mouth & tongue are pale meaning she is low in iron from all the blood loss and trauma. 

At least for the next week, I'll be force feeding her Critical Care to get her nutrition levels up and to get some weight back on her (she lost 14 grams).  I'll keep doing the antibiotic shots for her and she'll have another follow up next week. 

Within an hour of being home, MuShu pooped a little bit. Slowly but surely, we should be able to get her back to being healthy. And once she really poops, I'll be able to test her for parasites to see if that's why she prolapsed. 

MuShu Update

So far today I have only found a little bit of blood in MuShu's tank. She's been eating well and still active. 

Tonight I let her run around for awhile on the floor before bed. 

My vet thinks the bleeding will decrease over time and she'll be able to poop normally. I hope so. 

MuShu, rescue number 90

My vet's office called today and asked if I could help with a female beardie who had a pretty severe prolapse. Her owner needed to surrender her because he didn't have the money to get her treatment.

Of course, I said "Yes." 

Dr Folland got her all fixed up and I brought her home. She'll be on pain meds for a few days and antibiotic shots for three weeks. As soon as I can, I'll do a fecal test on her to see if she has parasites that caused the prolapse. If she does, I'll treat her for that. Luckily for me, I have all the supplies & shots necessary to treat her. 

I did find out that she was on sand in her previous tank and had no UVB light. Sand collects in bearded dragon guts and eventually forms a blockage that causes a prolapse and/or death. 

SAND IS BAD!!!! I don't care what the pet stores tell you!!!!! The sand does not pass 100% out of a beardie's intestines. Over time it collects and collects particles of food. 

DO NOT USE A LOOSE SUBSTRATE!!! Paper towels, paper, newspapers, AstroTurf, tile, linoleum, fleece, Repti Carpet. You have lots of options besides sand.