Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have alrady took him to the vet and he told me he has the beginnigs of mouth rot so he gave me 1% silver sulfadiazine cream. and told me to remove the film from the mouth and medicate with the cream twice daily. The sides of his mouth do look a little better but he is still not eating. he is starting to loose weight. He still looks healthy but I can tell he is loosing weight...Im really not sure how he even got sick. I have had him for 4 years and he has gotten worms twice and now this.....Before everyone jumps on me for poor husbandry, I have two BTS that I have had for 4 years and they are kept in differnt enclosures but with the exact same setups and the other one is as healthy and beautiful as they come. the only differences are, 1) the healthy one is captive bred and a northern 2) the sick is wild caught Irian Jaya...

the Irian jaya has also had a foot fungus and when I first got him he had a respirtory infection. oh ya one more thing he has a deformity in his nose that doesn't allow easy breathing.

easy way of describing noes deformity.. if you put him in enough cypress mulch to where he can burry himself, the next day his nose will be completey clogged with dust. which leaves me with one difference in cage setups, the Irian jaya has less mulch in enclosure........

any help would be much appreciated.
thanks Joey

joey, sorry to hear about your sick bluey. mine was just very ill also, she is on her last day of antibiotics. i would watch out for a respiratory infection, and definetely raise the temps in the cage so that even in the cool spot it gets no cooler than 85 during the day. it should get no cooler than 80 at night...remember, these are not the normal BTS temps, but rather elevated ones for when a bluey is sick. this will naturally stimulate its immune system. The basking spot should approach 105-110 degrees. if there is no way you can get it so that it is no lower than 80 at night unless you leave the daytime spotlight on, than go ahead and do that...your BTS will still be able to sleep. the temp is the important thing. raising the temps is good for anytime your bluey is sick, not just if it has a respiratory infection. also, offer fresh water daily. the heat increase may also stimulate appetite, just keep the elevated temperatures for as long as the bluey is sick. if you bluey continues to lose weight and not eat, i would take him back to the vet and ask the vet to administer metronidazole (Flaglyl), which will get rid of certain intestinal protozoa if present, but more importantly it will strongly stimulate his appetite. keep a very close eye on your animal. also, try baby-food. this is much easier for the bluey to both eat and digest than whole food. try to offer both a meat and a vegetable baby food at each meal (ie: turkey and sweet potato). hope this helps man. oh, and if you see him regurgitate anything, bag it and take it to the vet. i would also get a fresh fecal sample if you can and get it analyzed at the vet as well. good luck.

If it were mine and I had already taken it to the vet and it wasn't getting better I would start by keeping the BTS in a perfectly clean cage with PAPER TOWELS only as a cage substrate (along with a hide and water dish). Then any poop can be easily removed and if need be taken to a vet for examination. Second I would try some frinkies cat food such as chicken flavor mixed with hard boiled egg. Some bananna might also get it to start, though this would only be a very temporary food and in small amounts. Don't handle the BTS if possible and keep it warm with undertank heat pad.
If it still won't eat after a few attempts try holding it and placing the food mixture to its nose and holding it there till it licks and hopefully it will begin to eat. It may take a few minutes for it to start. Keep at this till it is eating, even if it takes day after day.
Good luck.