I got a hatchling a few months ago, and several issues have developed along the way to now. Pepper is a 3mo old who's mother was a blue bar and his dad was a citrus. I poured a lot of research into his husbandry and have been very thorough, it's been complimented by both of the doctors at his vet and I follow their dietary recommendations, routine, etc. which is honestly, standard with what I see online. In normal circumstances, I should have a healthy little beardie... but I don't. My guy's right eye is larger than the other and you can tell there's pressure due to how it stretches his eyelid more than the other. Our vet recommended we wait on testing that for a few reasons: 1. He is on meds to treat a URI we can't figure out how he got, and 2. he is severely undersized for his age and breed despite a variety of foods, feedings and methods offered. That being said, if it's something requiring surgery, we likely wouldn't be able to do so at his size that close to his brain. That was 3 days ago, and when we arrived home from the vet he passed undigested cricket and refused more than 2 for his only meal that day. I get him to drink and take his liquid meds but for the past 48 hrs he barely eats slurry and only takes meds and water. He tries to pass a movement but each time only a little urate or a tiny amount of brown comes out, I'm afraid he has an impaction- despite having no substrate or cage décor to cause it and a diet of proper sized insects and veg. He has a little hard spot in his belly and strains to go frequently without passing anything the past 24ish hours. His uvb and heat are ideal and both new bulbs. He is not lethargic and acts perfectly fine, however he went from pooping 4x a day to nothing for over 2 days, and a suppressed appetite following the start of the BM issue. I gave him 2 drops of olive oil last night, and I will be calling our vet after typing this for further advice.
Additionally, I'm afraid of what life will look like for this dude long term. He barely eats freshly killed prey fed with tongs, and the bulging right eye is very alarming and I am terrified we'll have a lot of heartbreak down the road. I love having a beardie as most of you can understand, and I have bonded with this special nugget from day one. If anything were to happen to him I intend to do my best to care for him, but I'm feeling really overwhelmed by the outcomes. I really want a healthy lizard and I feel like I'm at a point where it is not in our control. I feel like if he were to decline I would want to try again with a healthy juvenile, but I don't want to imagine losing little Pepper. If anyone has any experience dealing with an enlarged eye condition, juvenile impaction or juveniles that will only be tong/force fed and don't gain fast enough, please let me know. For those that will ask my husbandry is below..
20 gallon starter tank
untreated brown paper or paper towels when out of paper, sides covered to avoid reflection stress
a staircase rock hide on the hot side, a tube hide running from mid-cool side of tank, leaves to be under or on top of on the hot side, a vine that he climbs 2" off the ground running length of tank and a wicker material hammock I hang in a way that he can just crawl directly from the ground onto it, sort of like a ramp in the middle of the tank. He can hide under it towards the cool side if he wants.
Hot side temp 102 - 110 F day, 69ish every night
Cool side temp 78 - 85 F day, there is a measurable gradient in tank temp along the middle area and he's always seemed comfortable basking.
UVB is 2 month old Reptisun 24" 10.0 UVB
basking bulb is 150 watt flukers, just replaced it a week or so ago when temps started dipping a few degrees, no dips since.
Humidity never goes above 10% on the hot side, if I leave a shallow lid of water on the cool side it might reach 15% but that's rare and I prefer to directly give him water from the dropper and know he's hydrated.
Veg is offered in his tank, but he prefers to poop on them and ignore them. I've tried adding smushed berry goo, I've tried bright colored foods, always offered in the light, with or without calcium- never touches it.
He eats crickets and Mazuri beardie diet regularly, and he gets a teeny tiny worm or two following his crickets. He's never had issues digesting and passing them until now, but no changes have been made to diet.
He drinks well and I avoid his nostrils when dropping water on his nose. Soaking was more frequent during his first shed, but now maybe 1-2x a week if he's dirty. luke warm water, always brief, only enough to reach the top of his "knuckles", and always supervised next to me while I clean up his tank.
He explores his tank confidently and rarely glass surfs. He did it once recently but it was right when we got home from the vet.
If I forgot anything please ask. I'll try to post pics of his eyes/size/tank as well.
Additionally, I'm afraid of what life will look like for this dude long term. He barely eats freshly killed prey fed with tongs, and the bulging right eye is very alarming and I am terrified we'll have a lot of heartbreak down the road. I love having a beardie as most of you can understand, and I have bonded with this special nugget from day one. If anything were to happen to him I intend to do my best to care for him, but I'm feeling really overwhelmed by the outcomes. I really want a healthy lizard and I feel like I'm at a point where it is not in our control. I feel like if he were to decline I would want to try again with a healthy juvenile, but I don't want to imagine losing little Pepper. If anyone has any experience dealing with an enlarged eye condition, juvenile impaction or juveniles that will only be tong/force fed and don't gain fast enough, please let me know. For those that will ask my husbandry is below..
20 gallon starter tank
untreated brown paper or paper towels when out of paper, sides covered to avoid reflection stress
a staircase rock hide on the hot side, a tube hide running from mid-cool side of tank, leaves to be under or on top of on the hot side, a vine that he climbs 2" off the ground running length of tank and a wicker material hammock I hang in a way that he can just crawl directly from the ground onto it, sort of like a ramp in the middle of the tank. He can hide under it towards the cool side if he wants.
Hot side temp 102 - 110 F day, 69ish every night
Cool side temp 78 - 85 F day, there is a measurable gradient in tank temp along the middle area and he's always seemed comfortable basking.
UVB is 2 month old Reptisun 24" 10.0 UVB
basking bulb is 150 watt flukers, just replaced it a week or so ago when temps started dipping a few degrees, no dips since.
Humidity never goes above 10% on the hot side, if I leave a shallow lid of water on the cool side it might reach 15% but that's rare and I prefer to directly give him water from the dropper and know he's hydrated.
Veg is offered in his tank, but he prefers to poop on them and ignore them. I've tried adding smushed berry goo, I've tried bright colored foods, always offered in the light, with or without calcium- never touches it.
He eats crickets and Mazuri beardie diet regularly, and he gets a teeny tiny worm or two following his crickets. He's never had issues digesting and passing them until now, but no changes have been made to diet.
He drinks well and I avoid his nostrils when dropping water on his nose. Soaking was more frequent during his first shed, but now maybe 1-2x a week if he's dirty. luke warm water, always brief, only enough to reach the top of his "knuckles", and always supervised next to me while I clean up his tank.
He explores his tank confidently and rarely glass surfs. He did it once recently but it was right when we got home from the vet.
If I forgot anything please ask. I'll try to post pics of his eyes/size/tank as well.
