Another New Substrate

The biggest symptom of Adenovirus is diarrhea which means frequent cleanings of the tanks. Some of my guys are popping multiple times a day, and I've been blowing though paper towels quickly. 

I decided it was time for a substrate change. At my local home improvement store, I bought a roll of linoleum and cut it into tank size pieces. Today I'll buy a club warehouse size box of flushable moist wipes to use to wipe up the poop. That will save me tissues too since I flush all the beardie & tortoise poop. 

For my two 55 gallon tanks, I used 4 tiles on the bottom. I tried, but couldn't find tiles that would fit in the bottoms of my many 40 gallon tanks without cutting edges. 

Hopefully a few well-places paper towels will give the babies something to burrow in and an absorbant material for the really runny poop. 

I've used so many different substrates-- ReptiCarpet, tile, AstroTurf, paper towels, fleece-backed vinyl, shelf liner, and now linoleum. There's no one right substrate; use whatever works for you. Just AVOID sand and crushed walnut shell. 

A Quick Note on Adoption

Just to clarify-- 

At this point, my rescue is still on lockdown and no beardies are coming in or going out. 

Healthy beardies that are adenovirus positive (AdV+) can be adopted out, but they become a special needs and high risk placement. Preferably, they would be the only beardie in the house. And they can only go to someone who understands AdV+ and can watch for AdV+ sicknesses and help boost normal health. 

Until now, most of my adoptions have been to first time beardie owners. Obviously that can no longer happen.

 I'm still wrapping my brain around what it means to support 12 AdV+ positive beardies. Some of my beardies show no signs of having any sicknesses; others are not eating or moving much. All will get extra supplements to help liver function, etc, but I'm still not sure which ones. It's a work in process. 

Another Positive

Baby Remy who came back to me was tested on Monday. He/she is positive too. 

11 of my 12 beardies are now adenovirus positive (AdV+). :( Ziggy is my only negative one, but I can't rehome him. I once moved his

tank and it freaked him out. He'll just stay put. 

I had two of my recently adopted beardies tested and one of them was positive. I need to track down a couple others from this year just to be safe. 

While several AdV+ beardie owners are assuring me that this is not catastrophic, I'll be honest -- it feels that way! I'm still wrapping my head around it all. I'm in triage mode and dealing only with the crises in front of me. Tiger & Milo have severe diarrhea; Dex is still recovering from surgery; several of my tortoises are being rehomed within the next week (since I can't rehome beardies, I can only lighten my load by rehoming some of the other reptiles). 

Ah. I'm sure I'll get over the sense of panic soon. Until then I have 12 beardies that I can't place easily. And I may end up with a few more if my previously adopted beardies need to come back. 

Oh boy!! 

Second Batch of Test Results

I wasn't expecting the test results from the 8 adenovirus cultures to come back until Wednesday, but I got the call today. 

Only Skye, Nip, and Ziggy are negative. 

Of 13 beardies (12 still living), 10 are positive for adenovirus: Max, Flame, Dex, Tiger, Smaug, Lil Bit, Clack, Dragon, Nova, and Milo. 

Remy, who was returned on Saturday, was tested today. 

Skye & Nip will be removed from my house by this evening as a way of protecting themselves. 

Ziggy has never been able to adapt to change and will stay here. I'll just work hard to keep him isolated. 

My brain is still struggling to make sense of all this so I don't know how I feel yet. Plus with T-Bear still missing, I'm in overload mode. I just can't cope with it all. It feels like a nightmare that I can't wake up from. 

I'll post more later. 

Sickly Dex

In the last few weeks, Dex has been very lethargic. I took her in yesterday for bloodwork and got the results back today. 

Dex has a very high white blood cell count (sign of an infection) and a high calcium level (possibly eggs). 

My guess is that I have another female with undeveloped eggs that are starting to be toxic. :( I'm taking her in for an ultrasound on Monday and we should be able to see if she has eggs. 

Dex tested positive for adenovirus (ADV+) and so the idea of surgery becomes a complicated option. ADV+ beardies are much more susceptible to infection and stress. I'm not sure she can handle the trauma of having her eggs, ovaries, and oviducts removed. 

I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it next week. 

Adenovirus Adaptations

Here's some of the changes I've made (and will continue to make) since my rescue has gone on lockdown. 

Every beardie has their own broom and dustpan which gets put in the dishwasher to be sanitized after every use. 

All the tanks will get tile instead of paper towels or ReptiCarpet or anything else. 

All 13 beardies are going to be given meds to treat them for Coccidia. 

Most beardies have coccidia and/or pinworms and never show symptoms. With adenovirus positive (ADV+) beardies, coccidia and pinworms can kill the beardie. 

Every beardie I have has 3 things now: a blankie, an emergency hearing pack, and their own dustpan & broom. 

Other rules-- no sharing food. Only touch one beardie at a time. Wash hands all the time. Sanitize tanks with bleach water monthly. 

I'm still trying to figure out what it means to have so many ADV+ beardies. Some moments I think "yeah, I can handle this" and at other times I freak out. 

It's all about the baby steps. 

Excellent Info on Adenovirus/Atadenovirus in Bearded Dragons

This is the best article I've found so far. I recommend it to all beardie owners.

CLICK HERE! 

Note: Adenovirus is the broad name for the virus. There are variations of adenovirus for many animals and over 50+ for humans. Atadenovirus is the specific name of the bearded dragon virus.

"Biting the Bullet" or "Trying not to Bawl my Eyes Out" or "I can't even Cope"

The Atadenovirus test results came back today for four more beardies (Dex, Flame, Nova, & Dragon).

They are all positive.


My brain can seriously not even process this right now.

Since my kids are home from school, I'm going to take in all the remaining beardies today for swabbing. I suspect they will all be positive too. But I need to know.


Ugh.

So my rescue is in further lock down than before. I'm not even sure what to say or do or anything.

It feels like the end of rescue for me.


I'll keep you posted.

Poor Baby Nubs

Nubs is my favorite beardie. He's the one that got the closest to death but still managed to live. He's such a sweetie. 

And now he's got a new problem. :( 

Nubs tested positive for adenovirus. His poop had been liquid for a week or two so I did a fecal sample. Came back totally clean. Another week or so passed and he started having bad in his liquid poop so I took him to the vet. 

Oh all the crummy luck. I've always been careful with sterilizing and such, but now I'm even more careful with Nubs. Adenovirus is transmitted through poop-- poop to mouth contact.  Even my kids know now to be ultra careful. 

The problem is that Nubs is still doing poorly. He's very lethargic and his beard is always black. His eyes are sunk in and he's not much into eating. 

We had him on antibiotics and he perked up for a week, but then went back downhill. I need to see if there's another treatment plan for him now. 

Nubs is young-- only 2 or 2 1/2. But the adenovirus may be the end of him. I may opt to let him be put down so he's not continuing to suffer. Whenever he goes, I'll choose to have him cremated. He's one of my very special ones.