Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Sorry but this is long-
My beautiful beardie (1.5 years old)is in a comatose like state after he was apparently traumatized by my miniature poodle. I was cleaning his cage out and he jumped down on the floor and was checking things out when my dog came in and got in his face, he opened his mouth and showed his beard and then ran. When he ran she pursued him and I got him up right away (the dog never actually touched him, she's just playful and no, I don't allow this it just happened quickly) but apparently she terrified him and I put him back in his cage. Later that day I noticed he was in the same position sort of looking down as when I put him up. This is wierd for him b/c he moves alot. He is a hyper, high strung little guy.

Anyway, to make a very long story short, the next morning when I put his lights on I noticed him in a strange position sort of looking down, when I picked him up he scurried back into his cage and began having a terrible seizure (eyes rolled back, tongue came out, just awful!) and I thought he was dead. When I picked him up I could still feel him pulsating and then his eyes came back down and opened but it was like he wasn't there.

We took him to the emergency reptile vet in our area and they said he had myostitis trauma which causes terrible cramps and a huge amount of lactic acid to be released into the body.

They put him on fluids and meds and kept him overnight and told us to pick him up this morning. When we picked him up this morning he is alive but looks dead.

His limbs are curled and stiff along with his tail and his head is aimed down and his eyes have not opened. He is alive and is responsive (by breathing heavily) when touched but I can't imagine that this is going to have a good outcome.

The vet said to just bring him home and keep him in 90 degrees and just give him time. No meds nothing.

Anyone have anything like this happen? Any advice or expertise would be appreciated. I can't stand seeing him like this, I almost wish he would die if he is in pain. This has been so emotionally draining, I just don't want him to suffer.

Thanks if you made it this far.

never seen this happen or heard of it happen personally but I think the best thing to do is put him back in his cage and leave him alone for a few days. Use a few towels or black construction paper to block off the sides and most of the front of the cage. This will make your dragon feel more secure. Leave on area open to view, so you can make sure your dragon is fine every couple hours or so. I wouldn't try to handle or interact with your dragon for awhile but leave fresh water in the cage and fresh greens, just in case he does decide to eat. When he starts to become more active, then you can slowly remove the black paper but do so at night, instead of during the day when he's awake, less stressful to see a huge section become revealed while you are awake then waking up and noticing the change. Dragon may not completely remember it was blocked off before and not take it as hard.

Keep the dog away from the dragon's cage completely from now on. Though the dragon may not seee the dog, it can hear it and even smell it if it's near the cage.

I have not seen this but have heard of the problem before...

Croc Hunter (Steve Irwin) has mentioned it in dealing with his Crocs.

what I understand from what I recall on his show is like this:

lizards do not breath when they run. it's due to the way the lizard / croc body is built. the side to side motion when they run. also I think when stressed and doing the agression / threat display they also are not breathing normally.

when this happens lactic acid can reach toxic levels and kill them.

in humans we too can have a (less severe) problem - if you work out hard and do not breath right; or do a lot of non-arobic excerzise you can induce the same toxic buildup.
it is part of what gives runners painfull cramps in the legs.
the muscle becomes oxygen starved and needs to release the waste from the work it has done.

I hope this sheds some light on what the bd is going thru.
basiclay he is "Scared stiff" and is sore and feels lousy as heck. he probably used up a weeks worth of energy in his fight / flight mode wanting to get to a safe place away from the big bad mean dog. (his point of view)

if the vet checked him out time should bring him out of it.
but he may be put off to all future dog encounters...
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He finally opened his eyes this morning and moved around a bit today. I fed him some pedialyte and babyfood with a syringe and he seems much better but not 100%. I think you are right, time will heal him and I will make sure there are no future encounters with the dog.

Thanks so much for your time and input.

I'm sorry that happened to your bearded .

That must've been a very scary experience for both of you.

I hope he gets better soon!
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2 mali uro's-Ares and Apollo
2 saharan uro's-Orion and Iris
2 bearded dragon-Hades and Draco
1 leo gecko-Kalypso
1 tokaye gecko-Sid Vicious
1 tarantula-Peter Parker
1 dog-cheeka
1 zebra finch-beeps
1 african gray parrot-keya
1 red headed parrot-pancho
And some fish