Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello all,
I have a serious problem with my bearded dragons. To begin I have the temps set at 110-basking(big enough basking light areas and multiple basking sites and temps) 85-ambiant hot and 75-ambiant cool, i use 10.0 bulbs ten inches from the basking spot, clean the cage regularly, feed appropriate sized feeders(crickets,pheonix worms, and greens[mustard greens, mango, summer squash, apples, parsley], keep a journal of activity and food intake, my husband and I bought a microscope, do fecals on a regular basis with the help of a friend who is a vet tech, built our own enclosers, with tile as substrate, appropriately sized hides, and we still have seriously ill dragons! My husband has all but given up and we need help. we have 3 beardies, Ruby (almost 16 months old), Twizzler(7 months old), and Lela(6- 7 months old). We began having issues with our dragons after we bought twizzler from a pet store....turned out he was loaded with coccidia and pinworms, we had Ruby and him taken to the vets, and got them both clear of both parasites- fecal exams showed they were clear. After that experience, everything seemed to get back to normal.
Ruby went into brumation, for 3 months, came out ate like a hog, and shed, and was growing, gaining weight, digging in the nest box we made her, running around the tank trying to get out constantly,thermoregulating. All of a sudden yesterday she was not eating, not moving, not basking, not opening her eyes, appeared to be in physical pain, was spasming all over and frightning my husband. My husband took her to the vet fearing egg binding , spent $180 for visit, xray, physical exam and they told us no eggs, no ovulation, nothing wrong maybe parasites and gave him panacur and sent him home. She did eat crickets and was given panacur for evening meal but has still has not moved except to eat. Since yesterday, not one thing has changed!
Twizz has also perplexed us he has runny stool, eats like a horse, grows and sheds regularly, sleeps 5 hrs during the day, but is active during the morning and evening when food is around, and he is bloated. He does have clear fecals.
Then there's my Lela...came into our home and was extremely high energy, and obviously not handled ever! Other than that was a great eater, greens, crickets, pheonix worms, and now for no aparent reason, is not eating, has a hard mass in in stomach area but was still pooping regularly and normal feecies until 5 days after the lost appatite. She is scary skinny, refuses food , but is still high energy, actively basking and has normal perfect behavioral traits. We did find coccidia and pinworms in stool, treated her with ablon and panacur for that, lost appatite during treatment never got it back, tested fecal and found more coccidia and pinworms but beacause of her current state we are uncertain of what to do.
Tuesday I have an appointment with a highly recommended vet for Twizzler. At said appointment I am going to ask for bloodwork and every test under the sun be performed but I still feel I need help from people who may have come accross this in their own collection and are as meticulous as my husband and I are. please help us!!

Ruby

Twizz

Lela

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1.0.1 Bearded dragon (Ruby & Twizzler)
0.1.1 BRBs (Skittles & Kiko)

Do you have them all housed together or in separate cages?

It sounds like your newest dragon infected all the others with parasites and maybe other diseases. If housed together or close, you do have to treat them all to prevent cross contamination. It is also possible there may be a viral disease as well.

The one dragon with the hard mass in her stomach, should definitely be x-rayed or ultrasound to determine what that mass is. Be it impaction, calcification, an abscess or something else.

Your husbandry sounds fine, just don't know if you have them all in one cage or in pairs or separately. Also do you bathe them together? Use the same water or tub between them all without disinfecting between bathes?

Weights of your dragons before they started getting sick and currently will be beneficial to list too. it will give an indication of weight loss far better than visually looking.
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PHLdyPayne

Hello,

They are housed seperately but Twizz and Lela have had interaction together. Twizzler's weight has gone up but Lela started out at 84 g and is now at 80 g. It doesn't sound like much but she looks like hell. Ruby was 330 g after brummation and is currently 380 g, but seriously she turned dramatically ill overnight! And about bathing, they are bathed seperately and the tub they are soaked in is thouroughly cleaned and dried in between. Like I said we are meticulous we found that amonia was the recommended cage cleaner for parasites and we always soaked it down with water after and dried thouroughly. I also boil after cleaning food dishes, liquid med seringes, we bake their basking stones in the oven, and wash hands in between handling, feeding, ect.
I found an artical on adinoviruses and intranuclear inclusions (material characteristic of virus infections), do u have any info, know of a web site or have personal knowledge on these viral infections. Thanks for any information and help you can offer!
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2.1 Bearded dragon (Ruby & Lela & Twizzler)
1.1 BRBs (Skittles & Kiko)

A diluted bleach or Nolvasan should be used. Ammonia is a bad choice. I'll BC you my phone number. We need to separate if this is a coincidence that you are having a problem with all of your dragons at once.

I haven't done much recent research into the adenovirus but found this link which has some basic info and links to other sites with more. It does give a way to test for the virus at least, so its something your vet can look into.

www.dachiu.com/adeno.html

This may not be what is affecting your dragons though, just a possibility.

Has there been any environmental changes in your home? Any renovations, new carpet, new air freshener, spraying insecticides near your home or adjoining apartments/houses? (if you live in a condo, apartment building, duplex, triplex etc?).

Not sure if you have cats or dogs, if you do have you dusted them for fleas lately?

Any changes in diet? Source of insects?

Have you noticed any headaches, nausea etc? (if carbon monoxide levels are unusually high this can be a danger not only to reptiles but everybody in the house...not sure if low levels will hurt your dragons first before you feel the effects..but its a thought).
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PHLdyPayne