Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So I took in a beardie a while back, had a clutch to young, thin, and really bad eye infections
I usually quarantine for 6 months, but right now the only place I can keep her is in my dining room, no real good way to get her husbandry great there (its OK, but not great) she has improved a bunch, but I know she would do better if I could get her into a "herp room"
From those of you who have done this for a while(14 years for me but still willing to take advise from others), would you risk it and move her with other lizards/beardies? or let her make a slower recovery in a ~85% husbandry situation?
BTW, the biggest issue with getting husbandry to 100% is that the dining room is cat accessible and I'm paranoid about them messing with lights and starting a fire
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hanging out under heat lights burns up my brain cells!!

Quarantine is always an issue of risks. While being placed into the herp room might save this one animal, it could be the end to your entire collection. Probably not, but the risk is there. Just think, inclusion body disease in boids, herpes virus in tortoises, rana virus in amphibians... what's going to pop up in lizards?

Alright, now that I've reminded you to be paranoid, how long have you had this new dragon? If it's only been a week, then the risks are going to be higher than if it's been a few months. If everything is looking great, I'd feel okay bringing him into the herp room after 3 months; some people even do so after one month.

Since coccidia is so prevalent in bearded dragons, get a few fecals done prior to considering an end to quarantine.

Good luck,

Ian

I am always confused by a quarantine. My issue arises from some folks saying...blah blah long ....while others say it must be longer, shorter, further separated. That and then you get into carriers that may be totally asymptomatic but still be a 'typhoid Mary' you are basically screwed.

I had an Amazon parrot. (yes, I know birds are not herps but it is relevant) I quarantined for six months at a friends, brought the bird home, had it 18 more months. It dropped dead. Fun thing....okay, it did NOT have anything my other birds got. But in discussing with the cornell pathologist I learned that unless you ran a crapload of tests (yes, many expensive ones) you would not be assured a bird was healthy, even after years. He had seen psitticosis in apparently healthy birds. Heck of it too is that after months of necropsy all they could tell me was that it was beginning to develope a cancer...but not life threatening, and that it did NOT have anything I should worry about.

I personally would test and treat for obvious stuff...mites, coccidia etc. Handle that animal last each day and wash thoroughly after. At some point when you have more than one pet you run the risk of sharing oookys.
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Sonya

I'm not mean. You're just a sissy.
Happy Bunny

thanks Ian (& Sonya too)
I have had her ~2 months now, besides being thin (hard to eat when ya can't see) her only issue at this time is the eye infections, thinking of putting her in the "beardie" room but on a opposite wall and she will always be the last handled and cleaned last (very good at keeping each animals stuff apart after an IBD scare). If I was still working at a clinic I would have cultured the eye discharge, but after being laid off ~11 months, $ is tight, yet people keep dumping animals on us. I have tried to adopt her out to people begging for a beardie to adopt, but they are not willing to get her fully vetted, and so she is with me and my texting to a retired herp vet and my friend who is a cat/dog vet who grabs "good sam" meds for me when they are needed...
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hanging out under heat lights burns up my brain cells!!

I personally would not bring this guy into the beardie room. Unfortunately eye infections are a common side symptom to other disease. It very well could be harmless and uncontagious, but the point of quarantine is to observe an animal for a quantity of time disease free. The longer the time, the less of a chance that the animal is diseased. If they cannot hold that status then the risks are high.
Sonya brings up a very good point, and this is the quality of the quarantine period. Not that this pertains to you particular, but there is a big difference between an animal looking healthy and being checked on once a week, and an animal looking healthy and being checked daily. Further, there is a big difference between an animal that looks healthy from a distance, to one that is regularly examined with diagnostic tests backing up a disease free status. On that note however, we are talking about reptiles. There are more diseases unknown than known, and even less tests that can be run antemortem. So for now, I'd say that the more tests done, the less the risk; just as with increased time. Practically however, this is usually limited to a pair of fecals. This might include a culture of the eye discharge you are seeing, however recall the limited use of such cultures; the results are likely to contain a million and a half species of bacteria and it's only a best guess as to which one is pathogenic, if any.

Yes, there will always be some risks with healthy looking animals, but they are much, much lower. Further, asymptomatic animals "usually" are not shedding virus' or other pathogens (or at least in high quantities); thus the need to remove any animal back into quarantine should it ever get sick.

I do agree that husbandry correction is your best direction towards helping this dragon. I would do all that I could to try to troubleshoot this while keeping it outside of my herp room. Doing as you say, bringing it into your dragon room, on the other side, handling him last ect is the next best; but a distant second IMO.

Good luck,

Ian

ps, are there other rescues, herp societies etc that you are able to direct some of these incoming animals too? It's no fun being so spent-out on something that is essentially volunteerism. Are you able to accept donations/ fundraise for treatments and equipment? I know the IRS down there is much different than our Canadian counterpart up here.

I'm going to suck it up, realize that it may take loner for her to heal, but not risk putting her upstairs, besides the beardies there is a tegu and few other reptiles. I will just try to get her husbandry the best I can where she is!

as far as other rescues, there are not many near by, I am very friendly with animal control, but they are so wishy washy on reptiles I can't risk asking them for help (I will not get on to the stupidity I have seen from them, I would be here typing all night)
I do get some help from local vets and "good sam" meds and our tax guy is very good about getting us what cuts he can find. would be much better if I can get non-profit status, but that A LOT of paperwork
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hanging out under heat lights burns up my brain cells!!

Do you have a local herp society? They probably are a non-profit status, and may be able to help you out through the paperwork.

Further, they may be able to work with you from everything from financial support, extra supplies, adoptee connections etc.

The society that I work with (as member and president, I don't have my own rescue)has it's own official rescue. This rescue is run by two members from their home. The society pays for all expenses, and it has become the largest herp rescue in the province; perhaps in the country.

I'm just providing this as an example of what is possible with such a partnership.

Good luck with everything,

Ian