Squee is 'fake' drinking!!??

Psychobunny

Psychobunny

Avid Member
Since I have been home, long Holiday, I have keep a close eye on poor
sick little Squee.
I noticed yesterday (thought it was my imagination) that he took little, if any,
water.
This morning I saw him go to the dripper cap, which is usually running with
water, and took a few licks from the empty cap, no water was there because
I hadn't turned it on yet! :eek:

Then, he went back to his basking position, seemingly satisfied!!

So, it's like, the part of his brain that tells him "it's time for a drink" seems
out of sync with the part that says, "I'm not thirsty"!?

Has anyone seen this odd behavior in their chams?

He is on Baytril, and who can say how that stuff effects their brain!!??

So yesterday, when I gave him his Baytril, orally, and he opened his mouth
after I put him back in his cage, could have been that I triggered a "drinking"
reflex, and he simple had his mouth open for more liquid??!!

What do you guyz think? :confused:
 
I've never had any problems with any of my guys when on Baytril. It does smell back so I assume it taste bad and I use a plastic dropper to drip their nose right after Baytril and they almost always drink for me. I am still praying for Squee to have a full recovery.
 
Thanks Jann, I hoped you would reply :)

I will have a pipette full of water (or should I use Pedalyte?) ready right after
giving his Baytril dose today.

I have been doing the, 'dripping on the nose' thing until my arm turns blue,
with no results! He just looks at me in defiance :rolleyes:
 
So this is similar to what happened to my cham on baytril. After every dosage of Baytril he would sit with his mouth open for some time but I believe this was just to keep the Baytril down and seemed like he almost burped up air at some points. I dont think he is asking for more water, I think you should try hydrating him by hand. For me though, this is when YOUR dripper idea worked wonders for me! Once I added that cap he would drink from it once he was over the keeping his mouth open phase. So why dont you give him some time after you give him the baytril and if he doesn't move to the dripper cap himself for a drink try dripping droplets of water on his nose and see if he takes to that for drinking.
The drinking from a empty cap sounds somewhat normal to me because my cham will sometimes miss a target shot and still chomp down like he got a cricket or something then he will take a couple seconds and realize he actually didn't get anything. I wouldn't worry about it too much, just make sure the caps always filled!

If he's not taking to the dropper just keep coming back to him as often as you can, cause that is exactly what my cham did to me at first...but it he still doesn't take from it then he just must not be thirsty..I have also used pediatric but I did not think it worked so well/never really saw a difference in my cham from it. Hoping Squee turns this around!
 
my panther has gone to his cap before the water is on too- I will put a little piece of ice in it ( after he is in bed) in the AM he has just enough water to get a drink, and has warmed enough so its not freezing cold, but you dont need to worry about the water going all night - but use a fresh cap, so the other one can dry out- I do this more in the summer, but maybe try that - Max will hardly ever drink from the tube, only his caps -
still keeping little Squee my prayers
 
Stan, I don't know if I would use the Pedalyte or not. How's his utrace look? I do think I'd give him some Repta Boost for a few days just to boost him up. You could mix the Repta Boost runny.
 
Well, he made a big poop yesterday, but it fell on paper towel that was wet.
From what I could see, the urates looked fine, but very little of it.

Never heard of Reta-Boost, but I went over to Amazon and ordered some.

As I said before, I have been dripping water on his nose for a few days now,
several times a day. No luck!!

He did just eat a nice fat silkie, seem 'uncoordinated, took him a few tries
to zap it.

I don't know weather to force water on him or not!!??

Could I add a few ml's of water to the syringe with the Baytril dose?
 
I'd be scared to add water to the Baytril. You wouldn't want to aspirate him. You could inject a drop into a silkworm right before you feed it off or get some hornworms. They are good for hydrating.
 
He did eat 2 fat silkies today.
So I was very happy he got that inside him :)

He got a nice warm bath today, which he seemed to enjoy.
Still trying to get the remaining residue of Mupirocin off his skin.

It's almost gone now.

I tried once to inject a silkie, but the stuff just came right back out the same
hole it went in!! :eek:

Dubia roaches are great for injections though.
But need to make sure he doesn't eat it head first, because when he bites
down, the stuff comes squirting out of the roaches butt :eek:

4pm is Baytril time, oh joy!! :(

Will not dilute it, but will have some water ready if he wants a "chaser".

I am sure there is something wrong with Squee that we haven't discovered yet. I am hoping the vet's consultations will put us on the right track.
He is as curious about this as I am (well, almost!!).
 
When I was giving my melleri baytril, granted he is much larger, I would take the baytril dose and mix it with pedialyte in the syringe, which was about 2ml. I just put it in the back of the mouth and slowly dripped it in so he wouldn't aspirate it. As I previously mentioned, I also gave pedialyte advanced w probiotics 3 times a day to keep him hydrated. Baytril is reportedly very bitter, and some vets will mix it with a flavorizing liquid to help keep the animal from spitting it out. Apparently it can cause a decrease in appetite due to the Cham having a constant bitter taste in its mouth. I've heard of some people mixing it with coffee flavoring syrups too.

Leland
 
I think the vet put a flavoring in it, I will ask him, since I have no intrest
in tasting it myself :eek:

How did you get your cham to hold still long enough to drip 2ml into his
mouth?
Squee jerks away the second he tastes it!! (must not be flavored very well!!)
 
It wasn't pleasant, but I put him on my leg facing away from me, and placed the syringe in the corner of his mouth, using the tip to keep his mouth open. Once the liquid started going into his mouth he would calm down and put his head up. Sometimes I could get him to gape at me or while he was eating I could slip the syringe into the corner of his mouth and give it to him while he was on a branch. He bit me once, thankfully the teeth didn't get me. If you've ever seen a melleri gape or look in its mouth while they're eating, you'll see teeth like a small piranha. Lol

Leland
 
Talked to vet about Squee's blood test.
High uric acid (gout)!! which shocks me, because there is no swelling of the
joints, but gout has different forms, and may be more in his gut.

It can also be caused by several different things, not just too much proteins.

I now have to give him Allopurinol, which I will get in the mail Thursday or
Friday.

This certainly explains his behaviour, but the treatment is long term, and
prognossis is not the best!!
Hopefully, we caught it in time :(
 
wow. i'm glad they have an actual prognosis. it may not be the kind of news you wanted to hear but at least you know.
 
I agree, now I'm sure about him not drinking the water when it "looks" like
he is!!

I'm going to have to increase mistings and make sure he gets water in him,
even if I have to use a syringe every day!! :eek:

At this point, I dont see any more need of the Baytril.
If he had an infection, 13 days of Baytril should have taken care of it??!!
 
I'd tend to agree on the Baytril. Anything that could prevent hydration would not be the best option right now. As for the gout, Allopurinol should help reduce the uric acid that will commonly cause crystals to form near the joints. It would be great to reduce the long term effects of it. Hopefully Squee will respond well and get a bunch of juicy hornworms to munch on! :D Best of luck to you!
 
Well I guess the good news is you know what the real problem is. I also would stop the baytril, but I would talk to your vet about it first. Long term baytril usually ends poorly. Fwiw, my grandfather is also on allopurinol for his gout. Lol I thought they might have a more specific drug for reptile gout.

Leland
 
Vet wants me to continue with the Baytril for now! didnt explain, just left
me a message :confused:

I am giving Squee his Baytril with 0.5cc of pedilyte in the same syringe (the
Baytril is not flavored!!). Then I follow with 3cc of plain pedilyte seconds
after he gets gets the Baytril down, to wash his mouth out and keep him
hydrated.

Saw first sign of diareha shortly after the dose, so I am not going to continue
the Baytril for very long, maybe just the reast of this week,
I also may start putting some probiotic in his pedilyte!!??

Does anyone ever search their soul, and ask themselves if we are doing a
good thing by keeping chams in captivity???!!!!
 
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