Postby Susann » Sat Jul 17, 2010 2:07 pm
Joey has pneumonia.
Wow! What a couple of weeks it's been. And I'm thinking it's far from over.
Again, here are his symptoms: one eye would build up dry, crusty discharge now and then, and he would get what looked like spit-bubbles in the corners of his mouth--but only when his tongue really got going. THAT'S IT!
Now, I'm very new to BTS, only dealt with Boas prior to this, so chances are great that I missed some signs. But as far as I could tell--and I first noticed symptoms last part of May--there was no discharge or bubbles from his nose, there were no sounds nor appearance of difficulty with breathing, no significant decrease in eating or activity.
I took him to the vet two weeks ago when he got up one morning and his eye was crusted shut. And, like I mentioned before, the vet at that time could see nor hear anything to be concerned about--other than the discharge from the eye. Got an antibiotic that, just in case, would deal with any respiratory infection as well as an infection of the eye.
I posted to the forum again yesterday as I was waiting for the vet--off duty--to give me a call back as I was fearing that Joey was not getting any better but rather worse. Vet never called back.
As I got Joey out for his evening dose of antibiotic his eye was crusted shut again--which was unusual as this was just a morning ocurrence. As I was soaking his eye with a Qtip I noticed he was breathing faster than usual. Figured he was a bit nervous, as I imagine any animal would be not being able to open an eye. But as I observed him I quickly noticed that his lungs were not expanding with his breaths! There immediately was not a question in my mind that he had pneumonia.
Had to call 5 different "after hours" ERs before finding a vet who would see a reptile. It was a pet hospital an hours drive away.
Didn't take long to get the diagnosis. Pneumonia.
I now have to give him antibiotic shots for a month.
Yes, I know that I tend to be very overly cautious (my husband--lovingly mind you--calls it paranoid, but whatever!) when it comes to my children or pets having any kind of problem. (I've even taken newborn hamster babies to the vet!) But, HOW did this happen??? How did he get pneumonia? And what do I do now?
I know what you're going to want to know: he lives in a large reptile terrarium, aspen shavings, large water dish and plants to hide under on cool side, basking rock on warm side, good sized hide between warm and cold sides, warm side consistently 95-100 degrees, cold side about 75 degrees, 12 hr lightcycle. I cook up chicken or turkey that I moisten with HALO brand catfood, mix that in with chopped up greens and veggies, give him about a tablespoon every 2-3 days depending on how much of the tablespoon he eats, plus he gets a little bit of our Crested geckos mashed fruit, and a chunk or two of snail (Can 'O Snails) as a treat about once a week.
Do we have him out of his cage too much? Does he get too cold when he's out? We live in Utah (106 out yesterday!), keep our house cooled to 78-80 in the summer, warmed to 70-72 in the winter.
HELP!! What can I do differently now to make sure this does not happen again?
Breeder and keeper of Meraukes from 2010 to 2022.
If the eye is stuck shut then you can use tear gel (a saline gel sold at any pharmacy) to help moisturize and open it. This was recommended by my vet and work well - you can use as often as needed.
