Hey guys. I have a central bearded dragon (pogona vitticeps) at home which is around 6 years old and has been ill for atleast 2 months. So far I have been to a reptile qualified vet a number of times and they are stumped and cannot come up with answer. After a shot of antibiotics, calcium, several stool samples to check for parasites and xrays to look for internal problems there is still no answer to her strange behaviour. Anyhow I thought that maybe if I posted on enough forums somebody may be able to give me some help and has perhaps seen these symptoms in their lizards. so here goes.
firstly when she walks she will walk for maybe a few feet and then have to squat down as though to rest her belly on the floor. she will do this repeatedly and seem to get tired and try to find a place to sleep.
secondly she is uncoordinated. When trying to feed her with any sort of food crickets or vegies etc she will open her mouth and reach for it but completely misses to one side or the other. with vegies she will basically try to eat them but repeatedly misses trying to pick them up and then loses interest.
next symptom is the one that has me most puzzled. when she does have food in the mouth she trys very hard to swallow. she seems to have trouble chewing her food and chews in a slow manner. she used to really crunch the crickets up and now im surprised if she will kill them before she swallows. also even after she has swallowed her food she will continue opening and closing her mouth and swallow even though nothing is there.
she doesnt like to lift her head up much. she will lift her head and then lower it slowly to the ground while half closing her eyes as she does this. it isnt like the headbobbing i have seen in other dragons its completely different. it seems like she does not like to keep her head elevated because of some sort of strain on her neck perhaps?
eating is very irregular. she has a loss of appetite and wont eat for weeks and then out of the blue will eat a couple crickets (ofcourse needs assistance due to uncoordination).
Her weight is steady despite her not eating much. currently 250grams which is quite a healthy weight for her size.
next thing is mouth gaping. she will sit on her log with her lower jaw hanging open sometimes for as long as an hour without closing it. I know this is what they do in hot conditions but her cage is 5 by 3 foot long and has plenty of cool areas away from the light. also she will do this mouth gaping regardless of whether it is hot or cold. also she seems constantly tired and doesnt come out much.
my cage setup is to standard also. I am using reptisun fluorescent lights replaced every 6 months so she gets enough uv for vitamin d3 and I have basking temperatures up to spec as well as a cool spot (about half the cage) and water dish she drinks out of. The lights run on a timer which is set according to natural light hours here in oz. I should mention that she refused to drink aswell. unless forced she will not drink for soemtimes a week or two. she currently spends most of her time in the cool end of the cage. I have checked thouroughly for anything in her cage that could cause her to be stressed but I dont think stress is the cause of her problems. I hope I can get an answer before it is too late as her condition seems to be stable but she is certainly unwell. The vet requested if she die they disect her beacuse they are really interested in finding out the problem as they have no clue and it may help them diagnose this problem with other peoples lizards however I dont want to think that far ahead now. any help or comments would be greatly appreciated. thanks in advance
