Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello

My sister called me in a frenzy about her dragon - last night he was fine - has been hibernating for awhile and came out for water and to eat yesterday - looked and acted quite normal.

This evening she called saying that his eyes are very watery/runny and he seems to be unable to focus ahead (eyes are rolled to the outside)...

We do not have any exotic vets within five hours of where we live and will be taking her to a cat/dog/bird/equestrian vet tomorrow, but in the meantime are hoping to get some advice/insight from some of you as to what could be happening and what we could do to help remedy the problem.

There are no other symptoms to mention - breathing is normal, bone structure feels normal, environment has not changed...

Thanks in advance,

Leslie

The symptoms sound like an URI (upper respiratory infection). I would probably bring the dragon out of brumation by elevating the temperatures gradually to normal preferred optimum temperature zone for Bearded dragons. If it's determined to be an URI, raise the ambient temp 10-15 deg. higher. Your best bet is to get the dragon to a vet soon.
Goodluck.

Forgot to mention: you should quarantine your sick dragon if it's being kept with other dragons.

Thanks for the information - he is a single dragon.

As far as taking him to the vet - one who is not all too familiar with reptiles - how can he check for a URI - is this something 'standard' that he may know about and be able to treat?

Thanks,
Les

One symptom for an URI that you may be able to check for is excessive/foamy mucosa within the dragon's mouth. Generally, most vets will check the oral cavity when there is a probability of an URI. You may want to check with the vet by asking if he/she will take a culture from the mucosa. If the mucosa is negative for pathogens, then a blood panel &/or fecal analysis may be needed. If you are very unsure of the vet's qualifications, you may want to ask the vet/staff for a local referal. Goodluck & please post any updates.

I was thinking that this can also be: an intra-occular or peri-occular eye infection. Again, a vet should be able to make a diagnosis. Please update your dragon's status & I hope he recovers.

Hey there

Just got back from the vet - she was actually pretty good for someone with very little exotic animal experience. She did a full examination - notice he was flat out on his belly (where he usually will sit up on his legs with his head up and observant) - checked breathing sounds, palpated his body for organs and other things..and did swabs of both eyes. There was "very little bacteria" on the swabs - but she did prescribe an antibiotic for him to combat a potential infection that was as yet, undiagnosed.

She has a subscription to an internet site for "reptile experts" in the medical field that she can post queries to and will receive some hopefully sound advice on what could possibly be happening. We'll hear back from her tomorrow or the next day.

By the end of the visit he was sitting up and was trying to look around - more observant than earlier, which is a good sign...although his eyes look dreadful.

Are we able to post pics here? I"m going to try to take a pic with my digital for other people's reference - I think the more info we can post at various places the better off future dragon owners will be.

Thanks again lizardman for all of your help - it is so appreciated. I will let you know what happens over the next couple days as the antibiotics start working and we hear back from the doc.

Les.