Bad Eye and Bad Shed

[SerpentLust]

Ugh, yep, I pick the Beardies from now on. My male is superb, but my boyfriend's female needs some work. As soon as I got them home and they pooped I brought it to the vet for a fecal like I do with all my reptiles. Hers came back positive and she's now getting syringe fed meds. Once yesterday and once again in two weeks. So that's ok, she hasn't lost any weight, still eats beautifully.

But...

1st problem: Her full tail needs to shed and she doesn't seem to do it herself. The breeder had told me that she would shed it within two days or so. She didn't. I personally think there are a few layers on there...now I'm used to helping snakes shed when I need to, and it's easy. But I can't help her. As the breeder recommended, I gave her a warm bath, and then with a soft toothbrush, started brushing her tail. Nothing. I did it for 30 minutes. By that time my hand was scratched to S*** and frankly I was no further than where I left off.

2nd problem: About two hours after I got her, she closed her right eye and now refuses to open it unless I stand ONLY on that side of her, then when she DOES open it. It's black. The eye is black. It's like it's ONLY pupil. The breeder told me that she probably got sand in it or something (from him, I use paper towel) and to lightly Q-tip her eye with the same solution you use to clean contacts, this stuff doesn't hurt me, so I figured it's ok for her. So I did that, and she'll keep her eye open a bit more now, but it's still black. I asked the vet and he didnt know what it could be and advised me to finish up the parasite treatments and we'll take care of one thing at a time.

*sigh* Any advice?

Jenn

[SerpentLust]

*bump* No one has any suggestions/thoughts/ideas? I find that hard to believe

[Manitoban Herps]

Maybe she is not ready to shed, maybe the breeder made a mistake, with all of the probelsm this girl is having I would talk to the breeder about a refund...

[Matt_K]

I want to ask who you bought the Beardies from, but im not going to bother because it's not fair to them... What I WILL ask, is why did you go out and purchase them on impulse before having all your info?? You have to realize that YOU purchased these animals, there were MANY Beardies at the show to chose from, you had time to look them over and make sure they were HEALTHY and what you were looking for...

As far as the problems you have mentioned.. What's making you think that the female has a few layers of shed on her tail that needs to come off??? As far as the eye goes, im not sure what that would be, maybe it's time for you to bring the Beardie to the vet and not just a sample of feces..

-Matt..

by the way, please don't 'bump' threads.. If people have info to share or ideas to help you, they'll post them...

[SerpentLust]

Matt: I did check her over and she was FINE. The shed was the only thing, and he said all his younger beardies were in a shed and should be done within a day or so. As I previously stated, this was approximately two hours AFTER I left the show, before then she had clear eyes, very active, no signs of anything wrong with the mouth, toes, tail, etc. (other than an incomplete shed on said tail). No feces or other objects stuck to her cloaca. No signs of troubled breathing. To all appearances she was perfectly fine. Two hours after, she went to the washroom, so I pulled over at a friends house in Barrie, changed the inside of her deli cup-like holder, ran warm water over her legs as she got some on her, and we were off again. At that point I noticed that her eye wasn't open but didn't want to stress her by "poking and proding" so I left her be as the drive must be stressful enough. Got them home, put them in their enclosures, and all was well.

She went to the bathroom again and I decided to get a fecal done because she was looking a bit off in comparison to my male who was doing perfectly and also, as I previously mentionned, all my reptiles get fecals done. The fecal came back positive. So I brought her in to be weighed and given medication.

And I did NOT "impulse" buy. I had actually researched approximately 5 different snake species and 3 different lizard species (beardies among those) before I went to the show knowing I was getting something but not knowing what exactly. I have been keeping reptiles long enough to know that impulse buying is never a good habit to get into.

And I have already contacted the breeder and you're correct, it wouldn't be fair to him to talk about it here. My male is perfectly fine and he has been nothing but helpful. This is my responsibility and I was just asking for input.

Furthermore, I already have gone to the vet however he seemed rather inadequate in his knowledge of reptilians beyond simple fecal testing. He said that I should wait for the parasite medicating and then we'll talk about the eye. But in all honesty, he didn't even give the eye a second glance. The closest reptile veterinarian to me that I personally know of is 4 hours away.

What makes me think that the female has a few layers on there? Primarily that it's getting discolouration and I did get a second opinion on that one from a fellow ssnakess member who agrees.

And I do apologize for bumping, I was unaware that this practice was frowned upon...

-Jenn

[Matt_K]

If you did do that much research prior to your purcahse, I do apologize.. However, if you read THIS (http://www.ssnakess.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=57954), you can understand why one would assume that you didn't..

I think it's time to pack up the beardie and take it for that 4 hour drive...

-Matt

[SerpentLust]

That post was at the request of the boyfriend who is a beginner reptile keeper. He wanted to know if anything was dangerous to feed them and when I looked it up all I saw was fireflies, I was simply getting a confirmation on that. It turns out, my beardies don't like much variety in their veggies anyways. No apples. No carrots. Etc. And as for the temperatures, I was just clarifying as it made me a bit worried to bring the temps over 100 without comfirmation, I didn't want them to overheat and you can never trust caresheets on the net and even most books, so I was looking for personal experience.

I may have to take her for that drive...I could swear I heard something once about a reptile vet in Sudbury, I'll probably look into that first. These roads are getting dangerous. And a 1.5 hour drive will be alot better than a 4 hour, for her and I.

-Jenn

[Matt_K]

Okay, im not trying to sound like an as$hole or anything, but just for clarification.. THIS is what made me think this was an impulse purchase..

Fell in love with them at the show, ended up picking up 1.1 6 month old Beardies.

Nothing more, nothing less..

On a lighter note.. I think it's time you start keeping your animals in a bubble, you're having NO luck these days.. :p

-Matt

[SerpentLust]

*pout* You're telling me! No friggen luck.

Sorry, here, this'll help. When Jenn says "fell in love with them at the show" it means I was already looking at beardies as an option and I fell in love with THOSE SPECIFIC TWO. lol

Well actually I fell in love with my perfect male. The bf fell in love with the "special needs" child.

-Jenn

[boidlover]

*giggles* I love how you put that.. "special needs" child. As for a herp vet in sudz.. I know the one I used to use just up and moved.. I'll call around and see about a few others if you'd like.

[SerpentLust]

The would be superb, I'm in Sudbury two times a week.