Fecal Samples

About a year into rescuing, I got a microscope and supplies to do fecal float tests. I know-- weird, but very cool. 

Now I'm able to do quick fecal tests on my rescues who appear to have parasite overloads. Lots of experience and a sensitive nose has been the best guide for parasites though. Parasitic poop stinks! And it's runny & sticky. 

Normal poop is solid and has a distinct white urate (looks like chalk). Half of the poop below is good & solid. The other half is unformed and blob-like (due to feeding this guy baby food). 

When I get a new beardie I usually wait a week or two to conduct a fecal test. Most poop issues correct themselves with good diet, proper temperatures, and clean enclosures. I can a beardie with a parasitic overload on day 1 that has a clean fecal sample two weeks later. 

My vet doesn't treat parasites if the beardie is asymptotic since the majority  of beardies have a small amount parasites without an issue. 

Symptoms include- diarrhea, strong & foul odor, weight loss, lack of appetite, lethargy, etc. If there are coccidia & pinworm eggs, a week of dewormer is given. 

My big boy Max always has a few pinworm eggs. It doesn't bother him so I don't worry about it. 

Here's a screenshot of some digested food from Spike the 3rd's fecal sample. I found no eggs at all which leaves me wondering why he keeps bleeding when he poops. Time to chat with my vet. 

Spike's Legacy

Spike was my male German Giant repeat rescue that ended up with a systemic infection I couldn't cure. Last year, I chose to donate him to a local University reptile research project instead of simply putting him down and burying him in my backyard. 

Today my back up vet (who helps run these projects) told me that through the images taken during their research on Spike (after he'd been humanely euthanized), vets have discovered a major artery running alongside a beardie's ribs that makes the perfect injection site for a catheterizing. Its revolutionary! No vets had known it was there before the new imaging data. 

I'm so proud. And grateful. Spike was a tough rescue, but his life is leaving a legacy that will help many future bearded dragons. And that makes my heart happy. 

Sweet Spike

Spike became another beardie angel for me today. His systemic infection returned last week with a vengeance and I didn't want him to suffer any more than he had to. 

My fabulous vet, Dr Echols, has been conducting research studies at the University of Utah on exotic animal respiration & circulation. His team had just started a new project and Spike became the first lizard they were able to study. I trust Dr Echols and know that Spike was treated with kindness & care as he was put down. His body will then be used to expand reptile knowledge that will be used in the future to treat other bearded dragons and lizards.

Spike, for all the crumminess in his early life, is leaving a mark on this world in my heart and in science. It's a bittersweet moment for me.

Update on Spike

Last fall, I learned that Spike had yet another major infection in his body in less than a year. Because each of the infections we treated before were in different extremities of his body, it was obvious that his infection was systemic (or widespread) and there was nothing to be done. Instead of opting for a major surgery (removing his foot), I chose to bring him home and let him enjoy his life with all his limbs.

Within the past few days, Spike's infection has returned again to his throat. He has stopped eating well and is beginning to gasp like he did last October. Based on the progression last fall, I know it's only a matter of a few weeks before he is gravely ill. I don't want him to suffer again like that.

Dr Echols, one of my amazing vets at Parrish Creek, is conducting two incredible research projects on reptile circulation and respiration at the University of Utah. I had discussed donating Spike to the project a few weeks ago. So, if all goes well, Spike will become part of this amazing study and will be humanely put to sleep this week. If, due to his illness, he is no longer a good candidate for the study, then I will pay for Dr Folland to put Spike humanely to sleep. He has had a super good life here for the last 5 months and I hope that makes up for the fact that his life beforehand stunk.

Poor Spike. He's been bounced many, many times in his 6 years of life, but here he has been loved and cherished. I am sad that there is nothing to be done to remove the infection from him, but happy that he can (as my beardie friends say) "cross the rainbow bridge into beardie heaven."

Update on Spike: "there you see it, now you don't"

I took Spike in for a follow up this morning. He's back up to 500 grams (when he was super sick he dropped down under 400) and looks great! He was so happy that he left the vet a present on the floor! ;) 

Dr Folland said the beard looked good and, at this point, the tube was doing more harm than good. So he snipped it out and now Spike's a free man!

Beardie Roll Call or Our House feels Slightly Empty

Toothless

Spike

Max

Hurley (who is leaving Monday)

SweetPea- the lone female

Our boy named Lizzie

Down to only 6. Raji got adopted out last night. Yeah! All the others have gone home or been adopted. Dr Folland was teasing me that if I'm down to 8, I'd better load up! ;) I think we're okay with just a few for now.

P.S. taking pics of the beardies in their tanks showed me how dirty the glass has gotten! whoops! Time to wipe some glass down.

Sickly Spike and his Adventures in Veterinary Medicine

Three weeks ago I took in Spike because he was struggling to breathe. We discovered he had two big abscesses in his throat that were constricting his airway. We put him on antibiotics and the abscesses cleared up. But then the infection spread to his beard. I tried treating him at home for the past two weeks, but the infection was more than I could handle. I even attempted to make an incision to drain the fluid & pus, but it needed more aggressive surgery. 

Today I took Spike back to Parrish Creek and Dr Echols used his surgery tools to clean out Spike's beard as best he could. Then he created a flushing tube out of a feeding tube that I could use to keep his beard open to flush it out twice a day for the next 4 weeks.

Spike is NOT thrilled with the new device. He keeps eyeing it warily. It will help me keep the area clean though. Poor beardie. He's had a tough life this year. Hopefully we can get him all healthy by the end of the year and let 2014 be a good year for him. 

Our House of Sickie Pets

Our house feels like a pet hospital right now. 

#1 is Mr Nubs. He perks up after I give him the saline injections. Tomorrow will be his last day of injections and then we'll move to food.

Nubs this morning, 11/5/13

#2 is Nigel. His amputation wound is doing great and looks good, but the stubborn beardie is still not eating. Silly boy. 

Nigel likes to sleep under his tank covering

#3 is Spike. He is still fighting a pretty bad infection caused by an untreated bite wound from another male beardie. He's on antibiotics and twice a day I have to clean out his wound.

Spike is plugging along 

#4 is my dog Kip. He's old, he's grumpy, and he's determined to eat nasty things that make him ill. Twice in the last month, he's had a horrible night where I've wondered how much longer he'll be alive. Currently he's wheezing and whimpering when he breathes because of his collapsing trachea. His eyes are cloudy and weep all the time, but he won't let me clean them any more. His teeth are gross but I can't touch his mouth without him biting me. His heart is bad, his knees are bad, he's covered with liver spots & warts, and his ears bother him. He can still smell (and he smells! ;) ), but that's about it. Silly dog. I've had him for over 8 years and we are guessing he's at least 13 years old. This may be his last autumn.

Kip is happiest when he's snuggled up in my blanket

#5 is Lil Foot, my tiny tortoise. He has grown from 99 grams to 150 grams over the past 4 months, but he is still tiny and rather sickly. He shares his tank with my Russian tortoise Oogway because they both are happier with a friend. Lil Foot eats more and is more active with his buddy.

He's palm-size!

This is what a very sick Beardie looks like

I took Spike to the vet. The infection from two old bite wounds spread into his jaw bone and into the rest of his body. He has two tonsil-like masses in his throat that are so swollen with infection that they are making it harder for him to breathe. We started him on antibiotic injections immediately. If that doesn't work, then my vets may surgically remove the abscesses. Hopefully all of this will be enough to save his life. :(

Just one more reason male beardies should NOT be put together when they are adults. If they grow up together and are related, that is one thing. If they are not-- DO NOT PUT THEM TOGETHER.

Feeling heartsick over this.

Update on Spike

I discovered yesterday that Spike has two infections in his beard from old injuries and so I did an "I&D" procedure-- incision & dissection to remove the pus. His beard looks dreadful. I'm hoping to treat his wounds locally with a topical antibiotic so I won't have to take him back to the vet to get antibiotic shots. We'll know in a week. Until then, I have to clean out the wounds in his beard twice a day, remove the pus, and pack the wounds with cream. He hates it. I don't blame him. 

I had to squeeze out Spike's wounds tonight and then pack them again with cream. He hated it! Poor guy! So I kept him wrapped in his towel and put him on a heated up corn bag so he'd be nice & warm & wrapped up. He's much happier now.

Spike, rescue 3.23

Spike has come back to me again.

Poor guy. He just wants a good, permanent home and he keeps being bounced. :(

He's temporarily in Master Oogway's tank while I clean the 40 gallon tank I just bought for him. His mouth & face are wounded too because he got into a fight with another male beardie.

So sad.

Sun Time!

My favorite vet, Dr Doug Folland, likes to say that the single best thing you can do for your reptile is to give it sun time. Especially this time of the year when it is warm outside, sun time is a great way to make your beardies healthy.

I have two males, Max & Spike, who have their own cages outside, and they both believe they should NEVER have to be inside in a tank. As soon as the sun rises past my neighbor's trees, I take my big boys outside and they spend the day in the sun/shade.

Their set ups are simple: a rat/guinea pig cage with leftover pieces of astroturf on the floor. Max's cage has a shelf on it; Spike's cage has a tree branch. I use astroturf or reptile carpet to cover part of the top of the cage so there is always shade.

Today I put my old parakeet cage on the table on it's back so I could sun Toothless for awhile. Because he's so small, he could fit through the bars on the other cages. A parakeet cage is perfect. He has a rock to perch on.

When these guys are outside, I check them hourly to make sure they have sun & shade. In the heat of the day (between noon and 3) when the sun is at its highest, I put up my patio umbrella and position it so it shades their whole cages. Even with the umbrella up, they get plenty of heat and UVB reflection. Also when it is hot, I'll spray down the astroturf with a water bottle to keep them from overheating.

Upstairs in our south facing window is Lizzie. He's the little bump on the right side of the window. The window filters out the UVB light, but he still enjoys have the sun & warmth.

Downstairs in our south facing window is SweetPea. She is too timid to be outside, but she loves being on the window ledges in the sun. Here her head is up, but most of the time she looks like this:

So here's my helpful hints for outside sun time:

1-- NEVER EVER EVER use a glass tank. You will kill your reptile quickly!! Use an old bird/ferret/rat/small animal cage.

2-- Check on your beardies hourly to make sure they have plenty of sun & shade. Put them in a location where they won't be bothered by neighborhood animals.

3-- Windows filter out UVB (that's their job) so the only natural UVA & UVB light is direct sunlight. So get them outside when it's warm or consider opening up your windows when it's not as hot.

4-- Always keep water in their cages. When they spend a lot of sun outside, bathe/soak them more often to keep their hydration levels up.

5-- Beardies like the heat. It may be too hot for you, but it is perfect for them. In the wild, beardies sun themselves in temps up to 110 degrees. As long as they have both sun and shade and water, they should be fine with the heat. But that goes back to rule number 2-- check them a lot. If they are gaping consistently, or hiding, or trying to get out, it may be time to move them back to their tanks.

6-- Start off small. Try 30 minutes a day until they get used to being outside. SweetPea is too freaked out by alone outside time. She'll stay with me on my lap, but can't handle being outside. Most other beardies will adjust quickly to being outside with new sights & smells & sounds. But you can build them up. Until you are sure they can handle the new environment, give them short segments of time during the day (maybe once in the morning and once in the afternoon).


Anything else? Leave a comment below!

Spike, rescue number 3.13

One of the agreements I have with my adoptive families is that if they are ever unable to take care of their beardie that they bring him/her back to me.

Last week, Spike, my 3rd rescue, came back to me. He's a sweet boy, but a tad stand-offish (I think it's because of his German Giant boy genes). We've made good progress with him in the last few days and I'm hopeful we can place him soon.

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At his previous owners house

Warning Signs of Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD)

MBD is a terrible, slow, tortuous way for a bearded dragon to die. Without the right nutrition, their bodies rob their bones of calcium and vitamin D. Slowly the bones become soft and brittle. Seizures can start. Beardies can lose their coordination and muscle tone. They slowly & painfully die.

My first beardie, Nigel, has an underbite because of poor nutrition and lighting when he was young (they had a plant grow light on his tank). My rescue Spike had an underbite too from early malnutrition. I suspect that Midgee's broken tail was brought on by her eating garbage salad mix daily. And now we can all see the severity of Squiggy's MBD. All of these problems were totally & completely & easily preventable!

I showed up at my herp vet months ago with my rescue Spike who had an infection in his toe. Next to me was a teenage boy who had rescued a sickly beardie from his friend's house. This beardie was curled into a sideways ball, his beard was black, and his eyes were closed. I tried to touch him and he had just enough energy left to flail his mouth towards me. I was horrified. I have never, ever seen a beardie *that* sick before. The vet ended up putting the beardie down because he was too far gone to be saved. It broke my heart. That poor beardie suffered needlessly for years before he died.

So how do you prevent MBD? It's actually pretty easy.

1. Get a good UVB light for your tank and keep it fresh. Replace it every 6 to 8 months.
2. Gut load your feeder insects with calcium and dust them with calcium before giving them to your beardie.
3. Offer them a healthy mix of greens-- GOOD greens, not junk greens like spinach & iceberg lettuce.
4. Keep their tank at the right temp. Every beardie needs a basking spot of 90 to 100 degrees with a cooler side of the tank that is around 80 to 90. Beardies digest properly when they are warm enough.

It's really not that hard to prevent MBD. Sadly, most of the beardies I see for sell on our local classifieds have a heat lamp and no UVB. I wish pet stores did more to educate people on the need for UVB in beardies. They will NOT get UVB rays through the windows-- your windows job is to filter out the UVB. They need their own lights.

Light, heat, calcium, & nutrition. It's that easy to keep a beardie healthy and happy.

Here's another article with good MBD info.

Spike, rescue number 3

Spike came to me off of an ad I placed on KSL to take in unwanted beardies. He had been bounced around during his 4 year life and had an underbite due to malnutrition and lack of UVB as a juvenile. He also was the most aggressive beardie I've had. A few days after I got him, I discovered he had an infection in one of his toes. Thanks to my experience with Nigel, I was able to take care of the infection on my own. I did take him to the vet so he could get some antibiotic shots, but I took care of him the rest of the way.

I placed him with a family who fell in love with him. I got a picture of him resting on their cat a few months after he went to his new home.

Spike in the car on the way home

He didn't really like to be held, but he LOVED to snuggle after his baths

King of the vacuum! 

Spike was a big beardie!

Spike with his underbite