Water Dragons - Respitory infection

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87rx7chick 87rx7chick Minya Minya Cphill58 87rx7chick Minya 87rx7chick 87rx7chick Minya Clouddancer22 87rx7chick Clouddancer22 87rx7chick Clouddancer22 87rx7chick Minya 87rx7chick Clouddancer22 87rx7chick

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#2089215

87rx7chick
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Respitory infection

well.. poor lady, my ausi water dragon that i found on her back, i found her on her back again 2 days ago. she was fine and responding to me... so i just placed her in her water and left her enclosure uncoverd so i could keep eye on her.

today i look in and i saw her with her mouth slightly open.. i picked her up and sure enough she has some saliva in her mouth, more so then normal. i noticed this the other day too but thought she was just spitting up from stress.

i held her nose up to my ear and listend and it sounded like she had the sniffles.

she is in early stages of RI, i am goingg back to giving her baytril daily (as i was just doing it once every 3 days prior)

i am not sure if its because of the cooler weather we have right now or if she got water in her lungs or what. but i have baytril and i will be moving her into a 20 gallon long tank with a lil more focused heat. not quite hot, i am thinking 80 degrees to 85 basking.

other then this she is doing fine. she’s been climbing up her branch. and climbing ontop of her half log and also has gained some more weight. her back legs have more muscle to them aswell

10/27/09 10:44pm

#2089254

87rx7chick
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Message To: 87rx7chick In reference to Message Id: 2089215

Respitory infection

on another website some one said my temps were to low......

edit to above post. my temps ARE currently 80 but i wanted to bring them up to 85. of course my day temps arnt lower then 80.... they are about 83ish threw ought the day depending on room temp.

80-85 ambient with a 90 max basking i was thinking but ... uhg there just isnt much information on these guys. i have been told before that 90 is to warm. they are not tropical i hve been told. and the other females are doing JUST fine. still stressed but they are very active alert, using there water and eating now. and they are not even at as warm of a tank temp as this trouble female i have named Lady.

i sent an email to agama international. i want to make sure temps are not my issue for ri but my idea of the syringe feeding vs weak swallowing muscles may be the cause.
i have set a vet appointment for monday. but i doubt he’ll be able to tell me anything i dont already assume... i will have to pay for a culture and pay for injections....

10/28/09 03:08am

#2089286

Minya
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Message To: 87rx7chick In reference to Message Id: 2089254

Respitory infection

Temperature

Temperatures should be kept at 84° - 88° F during the day with a basking temperature of 90° to 95° F. Night-time temperatures should be kept at 75° - 80° F but they will tolerate temperatures a lot lower, particularly during winter months.

Link

Link

some links are broken, but it would be good to get involved with Australian herp societies and maybe post your questions.

Link

10/28/09 07:35am

#2089291

Minya
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Message To: Minya In reference to Message Id: 2089286

Respitory infection

sorry to double post, but this site has a really nice long care sheet for the aussies.

Link

if you can’t download the pdf, let me know and i will email it to you.

10/28/09 07:58am

#2089306

Cphill58
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Message To: Minya In reference to Message Id: 2089291

Respitory infection

You can ask questions on a website in AUSSIE .... but don’t expect any kid glove treatment...I have been told what we call mean here, is just patty cakes to them ...different sense of humor I suppose.

http://www.aussiepythons.com/forum/

Good Luck

10/28/09 09:43am

#2089332

87rx7chick
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Message To: Cphill58 In reference to Message Id: 2089306

Respitory infection

wow thanks. i have to check those links out. im getting ready for work now so i cant just yet

i did get an email from agama and they said my temps were ok. but i’ll be reading up and following the links and advice here. cuz i know u guys know whats up

burmation

timo said that they should be wanting to burmate right now. but aside from bearded dragons and simply turning off the lights when you notice stress and them laying on the floor durring day trying to sleep....

i wanna know how to burmate these guys too.

my male spends most his time in a dark corner after his morning bath and bask. and i have noticed one other female has been spending time under a cork log instead of wandering and basking like she ususally does (she cant see out of her enclosure so stress shouldnt be the cause )

10/28/09 01:19pm

#2089357

Minya
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Message To: 87rx7chick In reference to Message Id: 2089332

Respitory infection

okay. start giving the baytril every day for 10 days. how are you giving the baytril? oral? if so, you should do that everyday. injections are usually every 3 days and in the front legs. if you were administering oral baytril every 3 days then you didn’t really do anything to help, which is why she’s getting worse. you have to be careful with antibiotics, reptiles develop a resistance to them quickly and its hard on their kidney’s. they can get dehydrated on antibiotics and lose their appetite. make sure she’s drinking enough. you should get some pedilyte for her. her electroytes are probably way off.

10/28/09 02:24pm

#2089440

87rx7chick
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Message To: Minya In reference to Message Id: 2089357

Respitory infection

the vet gave her baytril a few weeks ago as a preventitive since i didnt do blood work. hence y i wasnt giving it daily but on a schedual. now that i know this i will definantly administer it orally daily for 10 days.

i still believe she aspirated and thats how she has this problem now. she was fine a few days ago. she isnt horrible either. so yep!!!

thanks for all the tips. i wish it wasnt so difficult for sick reptiles. but i am just grateful my other girls are doing good

10/28/09 06:14pm

#2089586

87rx7chick
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Message To: 87rx7chick In reference to Message Id: 2089440

Respitory infection

Minya i read the links. thank you so very much. makes more sense now to me.

just sucks that all of my other reptiles are doing great but this one female fell behind :(

10/29/09 01:24am

#2089614

Minya
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Message To: 87rx7chick In reference to Message Id: 2089586

Respitory infection

i know its so hard to deal with a sick reptile. you feel so helpless, but hang in there. they are strong fighters.

10/29/09 07:32am

#2089663

Clouddancer22
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Message To: Minya In reference to Message Id: 2089614

Respitory infection

Hmmmmmm, after contemplating the problems you have encountered over time, I am wondering about the ventilation in your enclosures. Aussies cannot take much humidity, which differentiates them from the care of Cwd’s. Too high of a humidity level will indeed cause RI’s.

I only have one Awd, Lola, who has been thriving since the day she arrived. She did have a parasitic infection aggravated by the stress of shipping, but that was solved with ParaZap added to some high quality cat food, readily devoured.

10/29/09 11:25am

#2089686

87rx7chick
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Message To: Clouddancer22 In reference to Message Id: 2089663

Respitory infection

this girl is in a 40 gal breeder tank that i added a top to to make it taller for my frills..

so its a 40 gallon that is actualy 3 feet tall with the screen top now facing forward and is the front with velcro that is staple gunned to the wood.

sorry i have a migrain so idk how well i am typing >.<

the humidity is natural i dont mist these guys. humidity is prob 45 . it usualy is 45 i have to grab the lil thing from the garage and bring it back inside.

my frills are of course 50-65 humidity

er... wow i cant really think.... i’ll be on later , guess alergies are kicking my butt.... i spent all last night cleaning a 100 gallon tank and moving some organic dirt around and i couldnt stop sneezing!!

10/29/09 11:59am

#2089693

Clouddancer22
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Message To: 87rx7chick In reference to Message Id: 2089686

Respitory infection

A 40g that is 3 feet tall? Ummmm, I am confused. I have a 35 tall and it is only about 24" tall.

Anyways, water features, like ponds etc, will cause the humidity to be higher. I don’t think Aussies do too well in tanks. Just tryin’ to help out.

10/29/09 12:14pm

#2089940

87rx7chick
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Message To: Clouddancer22 In reference to Message Id: 2089693

Respitory infection

i know ausies arnt the best in takes. but its a sick tank set up.
its 36x18 and i added to it so its almost 4 feet tall.

the females seem to be just fine in the tanks. i have sick lil Lady in one tank and one of my other females in another tank. she doesnt nose rub and is finally eating. the whole enclosure is coverd so she cant see out and she has access to a warm but not hot basking bulb.

i could get pix if you would like!!

the male HATES the tanks.. he is in my 4 foot long wooden construction soon to be renovated.

above him in the same enclosure but different level is another female who is also doing good too now!!

10/30/09 02:18am

#2090139

Clouddancer22
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Message To: 87rx7chick In reference to Message Id: 2089940

Respitory infection

Ya, pics would be way cool!

10/30/09 07:00pm

#2091034

87rx7chick
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Message To: Clouddancer22 In reference to Message Id: 2090139

Respitory infection

40 gallon with 24 inch topper arboreal tank of course now with the ausi dragon in it there are no climbing branches so she cant fall cuz every time she falls she cant right herself... -sigh-

well as of yesterday she has no more sniffles , and as of 2 days ago she has no more open mouth breathing. Friday was the last day i saw her with her mouth open. she’s been up on top of her log every day now too.

:)

11/02/09 01:03pm

#2091090

Minya
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Message To: 87rx7chick In reference to Message Id: 2091034

Respitory infection

you still have her on the baytril, right? that’s so great she’s getting better!!!!

11/02/09 02:48pm

#2091175

87rx7chick
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Message To: Minya In reference to Message Id: 2091090

Respitory infection

oh ya i still have baytril. she’s got a few more days left on her 10 day regiment. i canceled the vet appointment i wont out of pocket 45+tests unless i really have to. if she gets worse again i am taking her in... this is not the end of the very bumpy road just yet...

11/02/09 05:26pm

#2091705

Clouddancer22
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Message To: 87rx7chick In reference to Message Id: 2091175

Respitory infection

Looks And sounds good. You might try adding a bit more foliage for hiding areas. My female likes to hide alot right about now. Probably has alot to do with the changing seasons.

11/03/09 10:00pm

#2091755

87rx7chick
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Message To: Clouddancer22 In reference to Message Id: 2091705

Respitory infection

she has a half log in there. what you see above is definantly NOT the set up she has now. she likes being under her log. when i had foliage in there she wouldnt ever come out. once i removed the foliage she would spend time in her water and up on her half log to bask. put foliage back in and woops never see her again. no poop in water and no basking...

i have tons of silk foliage :)
but some guys never come out of it and .. well.. this was her problem in the first place :( she never came out to meet her own needs.

some reptiles you have to give special accommodation to... unfortunately

right now i have her in a 20 gallon tank on paper towel, she had alot of coconut husk in her mouth and in her nose. so i downgraded her. she is doing ok and is still basking and still using her water. she’ll be in there until i notice she doesn’t always have her nose in the substrate :(

11/03/09 11:42pm

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