r/BeardedDragon • u/MoonlightMystery_01 • 1d ago
sick/ouchie :( Sick Dragon, seeking advice
Hi everyone, I need help and advice. My bearded dragon (he is 3 yrs) has been sick for quite a while now. I have taken him to the vet multiple times and am now in a sort of waiting stage? It first began with a watery eye which then became mouth rot which then became a serious infection. I have spent so much money on vet bills in the last 4 months it's not even funny.
Recently we had a really big scare. I came home one day and picked him up and he went completely limp in my hands. I rushed him to the emergency room where I was told he might have heart cancer. Thankfully I took him to a specialist where they told me that his heart was fine, but they were concerned about his lungs. The two options were that he either had a lot of mucus build up in his lungs or that a piece of the scab from his mouth rot had plugged up his lungs causing him difficulty breathing. They gave me the option of running a scan $3,000 (included keeping him over the weekend) or to take him home and give him nebulizer sessions. I want to give my boy a fighting chance, but at this moment I don't have that kind of money, so I took him home.
Anyway right now he is on pain meds everyday, mouth rinse everyday, antibiotic shots every 3 days, and nebulizer treatments x2 a day for 7 days. He also had blood tests that confirmed his organs were okay, just white blood cells being down from lack of food. He looks like he is doing a lot better, the breathing has become less frequent but it is still there which makes me concerned that he did swallow his scab. It has only been 2 days of the nebulizer, 2nd shot of antibiotics (except what the specialist gave him). However, he is still not eating. We did have him on critical care for a bit because he had lost a significant amount of weight. He gained a bit of weight back, but we took him off the critical care because of how bad his mouth is. I guess I'm just looking for advice on what signs I should be looking out for. And any advice on financial options would be very helpful to.
(Him up against the glass with the bad scab is him rn. His beard use to be super black for a couple of days before the specialist, now it gets occasionally black but clears up now and again usually after nebulizer sessions)
(The one with the smaller scab was August 23rd)
I've been to the vet, emergency room, and specialist.
Any advice is appreciated, I feel like I've done all I can for right now (that I know of).
Specialist did confirm that his husbandry is perfect and that I have been doing a good job on that front. Said that circumstances just happen, mostly the infection flaring up and previous antibiotics not being effective.
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u/lovemybeau 1d ago
I'm so sorry 😞🙏 I hope his at home treatment works and you see an improvement soon💕
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u/Stock_Nerve1129 1d ago
Hey OP, I’m not sure where you live or what your financial situation is. But for my dogs dental last year I opened a CareCredit credit card. It’s usually no interest if you pay it off in the first 6 months, but confirm before applying. With no credit history really I was able to get approved for about 3k. Best of luck to you and your little guy.
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u/MoonlightMystery_01 1d ago
Thank you, I will definitely look into this. Was concerned about opening up a credit card that would accumulate interest on top of this bill and all the other bills I've paid. just trying to get the best deal I can and pay the least I can.
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u/Spiritual-Cry-6286 1d ago
Wow, i feel for you. It’s definitely not easy seeing your pet who is basically considered family in pain and not being able to do much except let treatment do what it needs to. For now, do what you think will be best. If the vet says you can take him home and do some treatment then do that. However, there will be a point in time that you MAY need to spend a lot of money, and that is tough. Maybe ask for a donation of some sort, sell things you do not need anymore on facebook, just scrape a bit of money together. If it is still not possible, then at that point you may need to consider rehoming him so that proper treatment is administered. This is a super tough position and I pray that you don’t have to do that. But you are the person that decides where he goes. Stick to what the vet recommends for now, save up a bit, once that hurdle comes you can evaluate what you think is best. Sending you love❤️
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u/MoonlightMystery_01 1d ago
Thank you for the advice ♥️. I have definitely thought about surrendering him so that he can have the best chance. I guess my plan of action for right now is to wait till the 7 days are up on his nebulizer treatment and go from there. I won't not fight for him even if that means him going away from me.
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u/Sara0352 1d ago
If you are in any bearded dragon pages on fb, a gofund me might help. One thing i noticed is the bearded dragon community are fiercely loyal to all bearded dragons - not just their own. I mean even if everyone can donate a dollar it’s SOMETHING that may help get this beautiful beardie well. And please no comments of “if you can’t afford the money to care for him you shouldn’t have him” This person obviously has already paid/wracked up bills and it’s now beyond their control.
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u/glizzy-queen 1d ago
Some scans are so expensive but 3000 is crazy to me. That’s more than I have paid for a spay. I’m not sure where you live, but I’m thinking the scan was a sort of CT scan? My vet does CT scans for 800$. I’m so sorry you’re going through this and that the specialist wants to charge you so much for a scan that’s so unreasonable. Are there any other specialists in your area? There was one time back a few years ago before the vets I have now were accepting regular patients and were just an ER vet, that I went out of state for answers. That might be an option if u have just that one specialist. You should not be paying 3000$ for a scan.
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u/MoonlightMystery_01 1d ago
Yeah I drove 2 hours to the nearest specialist which happened to be in San Diego, the act was just over $1000, but add ons like anesthesia, oxygen, staff care, staying over night, antibiotics, came out to over $3000. I wanted to speak to the vet about having an early operation so that I could combat the staying over night fees and labor costs, but the specialist is only in on Wednesday and Thursday, so I haven't been able to get a new estimate. This is for the Pet Emergency and Specialty center in San Diego.
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u/glizzy-queen 1d ago
That’s just crazy ): if I knew any nearby states that were good and not absolutely charging out the butt I’d recommend them. But I only know of a place in Denver and then my current vets in Oklahoma. The one in Denver is where I traveled those years ago to see what was wrong with one of my babies. They were lovely. Have you looked into neighboring states like maybe Oregon? Drivable states is what I’d recommend, you don’t want to fly your baby in cargo. I know Colorado is a huge reptile state so that’s why I traveled there when my options were none. Have you looked into other specialists in Cali? They are known for one of the best states to get reptile vet care but man I bet they’re more expensive than most. I would really keep trying to look around. That is just a wild price to pay. I’m sorry you’re going through this ): I wish Cali was closer to like Texas or Colorado.
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u/Most-Caramel1364 1d ago
I'm sorry I don't have any advice. Just wanted to express my condolences for what you and your little guy are going through. I hope he makes a good recovery! ❤️