Reptile & Amphibian Forums

A beardie I rescued a year ago (Lizzy) has always had watery eyes when he ate or tried to hunt something down. It's like when he wants to concentrate on something his eyes water up. Months ago, the vet thought it was an eye infection and Lizzy was treated with eye drops. It didn't seem to help. Now another symptom has developed... Once in a while (and become more and more frequent) I will notice some dried stuff in his nostrils. Not a lot, but enough to notice. But it doesn't appear that his nose is clogged or blocked. One time I even saw a droplet of something on his beard. It was clear and sticky. I though he was drooling or something. Now I wonder if that droplet could've come from his nose.

Does anyone have any experience with respiratory infections? None of my beardies have ever had one and I've only read what the symptoms are. He's not wheezing, he is breathing just fine. Should I be concerned? Should I get him on antibiotics for a resp. infection just in case because the reptile vet in my town is stumped.

Oh yeah, his temps are 100 - 105 basking and 80 - 85 cool side. And his appetite has gradually decreased over the past few weeks. He used to chow down on his salad, now he eats maybe a quarter of what he used to. But he goes nuts for live prey (supers). I'm keeping him well hydrated and he gets plenty of natural, unfiltered sunlight. I give him a multi vitamin once a week (injected in his supers) and I also inject supers with acidophilus, calcium and vitamin B.

Thanks for any ideas.

Veronica
Beautiful Dragons

a few years ago. granted they were water dragons but i hope this will help..ok i had two water dragons sharing a cage and one started to get watery eyes, gape and what i call nose plugs.. i took him out and upped the temps until the vet could see me.. shortly after that my young female who was in the same room but not the same cage came down with the same thing.. i took them to the vet and they both had upper ri.. they also gaped for long periods of time but i couldn't hear any wheezing either..from what you describe he could have it.. is he sleepy, lethargic..is it constant watery eyes and nose.. how are you temps, humidity...if the symptoms that you described are fairly frequent i would take him to the vet and get him on meds...my male water dragon meako.. the one who got it first took a long time to recover...beardies or other dragons shouldn't get RI usually unless there is humidity problems or heat problems.. when my water dragon got it i was struggling with not enough humidity.. whats the weather been like in you area lately???

ok enough rambling...hope it helps

alissa

Veronica,
I bought a dragon from a kingsnake classified about a year & a half ago, opened the box and the dragon was in miserable shape. Gasping, gagging, flaring her beard & having to use all her chest muscles with each breath. She went straight to the Herp hospital and was found to have a respiratory infection, coccidia, worms, parasites, you name it! She spent days in the hospital but survived and was sent home of 5 different treatments. She has survived with only one relapse but will never be the breeder we had hoped for. She is spending the rest of her life warm, happy & well fed!
Her infections were determined via cultures done on her secretions and blood. I wonder if your Vet cultured your dragons nasal drainage to see if it is infected? if so with what? His need for treatment will depend on what the culture shows.
Also, if your dragon were a human, it would sound more like a sinus infection, then respiratory especially since you don't describe any of the type of symptoms that my girl did. I don't know how a "sinus" infection relates to a dragon but it sure doesn't sound like it's in his lungs.
I would suggest culturing the discharge he has and try to put a name to the bacteria/virus. That will lead you to the proper treatment.
If he is infected, that may be contributing to his loss of appetite. If they put him on antibiotics or even if they don't you may want to try a course of Parazap tea, it also stimulates the appetite. I feel it's really what has helped bring my sick girl around. The Vet's treatment saved her life, but the Parazap has given her a good quality of life.
Talk to your Vet about a culture of the secretions if they haven't done one already. It certainly doesn't sound like the lower respiratory infection that my girl had.
Best of luck with him! I went to your site and saw his pic....poor little thing, SO glad you've got him now
Sharla