Head tilt & circling adult dragon

Hi guys, this is my first time posting here but I do lurk often. Would love some opinions or help with this.

First let me say I'm a vet tech, I have access to xrays, any medication she needs, bloodwork, etc. I have a trusted exotic vet who is familiar with dragons. My dragons are ALWAYS raised under brand new Reptisun 10.0 tubs, get the correct calcium and vitamins, salads, superworms/dubia/crickets and lots of love and handling.

Some background on my sick dragon - Her name is Kora, she's going to be 3 years old, tops out at 540 grams during the summer months and is 20" long. She's a hypo pastel/German Giant x 100% marketed leucistic from JDM Dragons in NJ. She was bred last year and had absolutely gorgeous red/yellow/orange creamsicle babies (Somewhere around 50 total). Had plans to breed her this fall, but not now unfortunately. Anyway, I found her last Friday laying under her basking spot unable to lift her head. Her head is hanging/tilted downwards to the right side, she shuffles in circles when she tries to move, and can't really walk. Her front limbs are severely affected, but her rear legs seem fine. The right front leg seems "locked" in position. She keeps it very close to her body and it seems almost stiff. Her eyes are very alert and she can move her head slightly when talked to or when food is involved. She's been eating a good amount of roaches still. She has no trouble eating them out of a bowl when held in front of her. She refuses greens at this time which is very unlike her.

I took her to my exotic vet last Saturday. He's stumped, could be a stroke, could be an inner ear infection (not likely). She's on 0.25ml of Baytril 22mg once daily x 21 days to see if it has any affect. He said she looks extremely healthy, good heart/lungs, clean ears/eyes, great bone density (she's a thick girl). Any advice, similar stories etc are welcomed. I love this girl, she's my big cuddler and the SWEETEST dragon I've ever come across.
(first pic is her healthy, last year. Last 3 are from this week with head tilt)

Thanks
Lauren
EMBERCREEK Dragons

Hmmm...no ideas, nothing guys? Kora is still alive, not doing well...stopped eating due to Baytril so we actually stopped it since it was having NO effect. Not looking good for my girl...

Hi Lauren....I'm so sorry about Kora. She looks like a real sweet girl. You already listed a couple of possibilities, such as inner ear infection [ though I don't know why it would present with a curled up leg ] Other possibilities are bacterial meningitis, head trauma, over - heating, viruses or possible toxin. Any possibility that she was exposed to something toxic ? How about a fall from a basking platform ? Probably no chance that she could have been over - heated. How did your vet check for ear infection ? Because anti biotics would be needed if that were the diagnosis, but you mentioned that you had stopped what she was on [ I think ] Anyway, I hope you can find out what it is, and hope she pulls through.

Hi Angie The vet used a small light (like a small otoscope) to look in her ears, said they looked very clean and he RARELY sees inner ear infections in lizards, but it is possible. He also said it could be a stroke.

The vets at my work did some research and said we should try an xray to see if anything IS compressing her spine/brain. Also to get a droplet of blood and see how many white blood cells are present. I'm going to bring her to work with me next week to see if we can find anything out.

No known toxins were around her cage. The ONLY thing I can think of is there are quite a few stink bugs that collect around her cage. Not sure if they are poisonous or if they could even get in her viv.

The only thing she has to climb on in her cage is her hammock which is 3-4 inches off the ground at most. At this point I'm leaning towards this being a virus. I did have a VERY sick baby dragon from Dragon Fortress about 2 months ago which died and I'm praying it didn't transmit something to my girls. This seems highly unlikely as Kora was housed on a completely different level of the house while this baby was alive. I'm VERY careful to wash hands and everything when going from dragon to dragon. None of my other dragons are showing any signs of sickness.

She has always been such a big dragon, very strong eater etc so I'm hopeful she can pull through this

Lauren, I'm pretty sure that stink bugs are toxic to beardies, so if one got in the tank [ which really wouldn't be hard to imagine ], then that might be the problem. Just a guess, but since they are hanging around your place, it may be a possibility. Ask your vet how he would treat it if it were poisoned....although it would be experiencing full effect of toxins now already if it happened weeks ago. I hope she'll pull through.

There is speculation that stink bugs are toxic to reptiles but this is very unlikely, as well there is no factual evidence to support the idea. They are not toxic to any other animal, and according to entomologists the odor is a deterrent to predators but non toxic.

Skunks like them, go figure.

Any updates Lauren?

I think of this often. Like David said, any updates?

I wondered the same thing....did you ever figure out what happened? By the way, I have read that stink bugs can be toxic to reptiles , whether that was the cause or not, it's good to know to be on the watch to keep them away from their lizards indoor or outdoor enclosures.

Hey guys, sorry I haven't been on here to check this thread recently. I appreciate the concern

Kora is still alive...still the same. She is down to 480 grams (from about 540 at her heaviest, usual is 520ish). She will not eat, I can't tell if this is brumation or just her refusal to eat due to what happened. Either way, during normal brumation she shouldn't be losing that much weight IMO. I admit I've been really lax about force feeding her. This past month has been extremely busy and stressful for me so she isn't getting force fed as often as she probably should. I'm going with the assumption as are other vets at my work that this was indeed a stroke. One side of her mouth often hangs wide open. This isn't ALL the time, but probably half the time I see her. Her spirits are still up, she's still interactive but stresses when a limb is moved or she is picked up. She flails like she's being dropped and won't stop. Her head tilt actually seems a lot better. It's held mostly straight. At times I've seen her "sit up" on her legs as if to walk, but it's not often and doesn't get her far.

It really sucks. I can't see myself bringing her into work to have her euthanized with her so "aware" (or as aware as a dragon can be, but honestly this is a special girl). But I can't decide what is fair to her and what isn't. She's halting my small-time breeder plans, as I only have limited space. I'm tempted to put her in with my other adult female Greta, both get alone OK outside vivs but housing ANY dragon together has always petrified me. Although Kora is more like a living rock right now more than anything. Sigh. So I'm in the market for another female to eventually breed....but I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place.

I forgot to add pics - these are recent ones of her....I woke her up to make sure she was alive after I found her squashed into the corner of her viv.








My sweet girl...

Thank you for updating us Lauren,

Does her head tremble or move in jerks? Too high of temps can induce a heat stroke, something to watch out for. Even though your girl is very clean, with healthy weight, I thought I would metion it.

You are doing a good job, don't beat yourself up over it.