Please help respiratory infection in 1 1/2 yr old veiled.

[Ryleyflynn]

You said..."Really desperate for some help with my guy gangus. Seen 2 different “exotic” vets in the past few weeks because he has been gaping at the mouth constantly. As in he has his mouth open more than closed- as of today. I assumed a respiratory infection. Brought him in and they said to give him a bath and increase humidity. Can you hear my eyes rolling? Also gave him 2 doses of panecure."...why a bath? Did they say he has a respiratory infection? Why panacure? Did they do a fecal test? Did they say anything about his obesity?

You said..."Finally got them to prescribe baytril 2 weeks later after they gave me CARNIVORE CARE to keep his weight up."...he should be eating something but he needs to be on a diet. Did they do bloodwork?

You said..." In the mean time, I gave reptaid a shot for the 14 days. Saw no improvement in appetite or the gaping. He won’t eat or drink ANYTHING. Today is the third day of Baytril along with benebac and I’m seeing no improvement. I know baytril is strong, and a broad spectrum antibiotic that may not work. I don’t know what else I should be doing to aid in recovery"...what's the antibiotic for? Why not just give him the water?

You said.... "I mix bee pollen and water and use a syringe to help his immune system"...are you careful that he doesn't aspirate it?
How often have you been feeding him and how much do you feed him at each feeding? I wouldn't be using too much bee pollen. Too much of anything isn't good.

You said..."I used a fogger overnight (which I never use) to hopefully aid in hydration"... Are you using the fogger or not?
What color have his urates been? Has he been pooping before he stopped eating? Is he nibbling the plants? Please remove the fake plants. Do you have a substrate in the cage?

You said.... "Today I have him outside in his old cage so he can get some natural light and fresh air"... That's good.

You said..." Please, any advice would be appreciated. Background- Been in my care around 6 months, he is in a 2x2x4 screened cage. 5.0 T5 HO UVB and a 60 watt incandescent frosted bulb for heat. Basking temps 85-87."...I would lower the temperatures to the lower 80'sF.

You said..."He has a pothos, dragon tree, bird of paradise and a croton. And a couple small fake leaves in the corner. I spray his cage down twice a day for a minute at 8 am and 8 pm. He used to drink from a water bowl"...water bowls can be full of bacteria and are not recommended.

You said..."I handle him once a week at most. But, administering the medication has been hard when he’s in the cage so I have to get him out for that"...not a problem.

You said..."He usually eats gut loaded Dubai’s, super worms, horn & silk worms. The past month, he would only eat hornworms. Now nothing at all"... How much does he eat in a week? How often have you been feeding him?

You said..."His poop looks very normal as well as urate"...white urates?

You said..."I supplement calcium 4x a week w/o d3 and with d3 once/month with no phosphate. Reptivite once/month."...should be twice a month with the phos free calcium/D3 powder and vitamin powder. Does the vitamin powder have prEformed vitamin A in it? D3?

So, he is wheezing when he breathes? Excess stringy saliva in his mouth?

Please be aware that I'm not a vet....I can only give my opinion

The vet didn’t think it was a respiratory infection because there was no crust around his nose or excess saliva. They recommended the panecure after his fecal came back negative for parasites and said that there are times where it may not show up because of a shed cycle? They actually gave me carnivore care, and told me he was underweight! I did not give that to him. They wanted $600 for the bloodwork and I could not come up with that on the last visit unfortunately. Do you think the antibiotic is doing more harm than good? I haven’t seen drastic improvements but his colors looked great all day today. Fake plants are removed and I try to do a dusting of pollen on a couple feeders/ week. I feed him once a day but he has only been eating 2 or 3 worms max. Some days he doesn’t eat at all. No more fake plants and no substrate in cage. Temp lowered to 80! What do you recommend for drinking? The first time I put a water cup in his cage he ran to him and drank for a minute. I don’t see him drink from leaves ever. He will eat around 9-10 horn, silk, or wax worms in a week. He won’t eat crickets or Dubai’s anymore unless I hold them up to his mouth and he opens it. Urates are white, reptivite does have vit a, no d3. Also, thank you for your time and replies. It is extremely appreciated. I would really like to prevent this from happening again and give this guy a long happy life.

 

[kinyonga]

You said..."The vet didn’t think it was a respiratory infection because there was no crust around his nose or excess saliva"....I see.

You said..."They recommended the panecure after his fecal came back negative for parasites and said that there are times where it may not show up because of a shed cycle"...it's true that it might not shedding right now....but panacure only treats some parasites...so they're shot gunning it. (guessing/hoping)

You said..."They actually gave me carnivore care, and told me he was underweight! I did not give that to him."... If he's not eating they likely figured he should be eating if they thought he wasn't overweight. Thy should have known the difference between overweight and skinny enough to need carnivore care.

You said..."They wanted $600 for the bloodwork and I could not come up with that on the last visit unfortunately"... That's a lot I think.

You said..."Do you think the antibiotic is doing more harm than good? I haven’t seen drastic improvements but his colors looked great all day today"...I'm not a vet...but it can be hard on the kidneys. Make sure he drinks well.

You said..."Fake plants are removed and I try to do a dusting of pollen on a couple feeders/ week. I feed him once a day but he has only been eating 2 or 3 worms max. Some days he doesn’t eat at all. No more fake plants and no substrate in cage"...he's old enough to be fed only 2 or three times a week and 4 or 5 crickets is enough at each feeding.

You said..."Temp lowered to 80!"... Good.

You said..." What do you recommend for drinking? The first time I put a water cup in his cage he ran to him and drank for a minute. I don’t see him drink from leaves ever"... A DRIPPER is a good option or a mister twice day for long enough to wet the leaves well and stimulate drinking. Since his urates are most white he's hydrated enough normally. When on antibiotics I'd encourage a bit more drinking.

You said..."He will eat around 9-10 horn, silk, or wax worms in a week. He won’t eat crickets or Dubai’s anymore unless I hold them up to his mouth and he opens it. Urates are white, reptivite does have vit a, no d3."...9 insects in a week might be ok.

You said..."Also, thank you for your time and replies. It is extremely appreciated. I would really like to prevent this from happening again and give this guy a long happy life"...I hope it all helps.

 

[Beman]

Wow. I feel stupid. I meant 230. I assume you are correct about him being overweight then?

yes depending on his total length is how you would get an approximate for a healthy weight. For example a Male veiled from tip of nose to tip of tail that is 15-16 inches should weight 125-140 to be considered healthy. He does not look very long. I can tell with how swollen his limbs, casque, and cheeks are that he is obese.

I am willing to bet this is all linked to his weight. Should be getting no more then 3 medium feeders 3 days a week and you can use silksworms. These are actually very healthy. The problem is when they are obese like this the fat encapsulates their organs. This is where the issues come from. The fat takes up the room that the organs should have to work properly. It can also create issues with the kidney function. Then quite a few issues can stem from this.

Are you using any form of a multivitamin?

 

[Ryleyflynn]

yes depending on his total length is how you would get an approximate for a healthy weight. For example a Male veiled from tip of nose to tip of tail that is 15-16 inches should weight 125-140 to be considered healthy. He does not look very long. I can tell with how swollen his limbs, casque, and cheeks are that he is obese.

I am willing to bet this is all linked to his weight. Should be getting no more then 3 medium feeders 3 days a week and you can use silksworms. These are actually very healthy. The problem is when they are obese like this the fat encapsulates their organs. This is where the issues come from. The fat takes up the room that the organs should have to work properly. It can also create issues with the kidney function. Then quite a few issues can stem from this.

Are you using any form of a multivitamin?

That makes plenty of sense and also explains many of the issues- at least the ones I can see. His casque and cheeks are very swollen. I am going to cut back on the food. I use reptivite w no d3 and with vit A.

 

[Beman]

That makes plenty of sense and also explains many of the issues- at least the ones I can see. His casque and cheeks are very swollen. I am going to cut back on the food. I use reptivite w no d3 and with vit A.

Ok really important I want to confirm what your saying for supplements... You are using the reptivite with D3 version and without D3 version? These two bottles below?

If this is the case this is incorrect. Both of these are multivitamins with vitamin A. The only difference is one is with D3 and one is without D3. But both of these if used daily can cause an overdose due to the fat soluble vitamins in it like the vitamin A.

What you would want to do is get a phos free calcium without D3 for all feedings then use the reptivite with D3 version two times a month say the 1st and the 15th. You would not use the without D3 version.

 

[Ryleyflynn]

Ok really important I want to confirm what your saying for supplements... You are using the reptivite with D3 version and without D3 version? These two bottles below?

If this is the case this is incorrect. Both of these are multivitamins with vitamin A. The only difference is one is with D3 and one is without D3. But both of these if used daily can cause an overdose due to the fat soluble vitamins in it like the vitamin A.

What you would want to do is get a phos free calcium without D3 for all feedings then use the reptivite with D3 version two times a month say the 1st and the 15th. You would not use the without D3 version.


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My bad! I meant the general reptile vitamin that I use is the reptivite with no d3 but does contain vitamin A. I give this once a month and repticalcium with no d3 4x/week or all but one feeding a week and fluckers repticalcium with d3 once/month

 

[Beman]

My bad! I meant the general reptile vitamin that I use is the reptivite with no d3 but does contain vitamin A. I give this once a month and repticalcium with no d3 4x/week or all but one feeding a week and fluckers repticalcium with d3 once/month

ok so supplementation needs to be changed just a bit. You want to rotate between the reptivite and the calcium with D3 every week at one feeding. So that each are given two times a month. Then any other feedings you would use the calcium without D3.