HeatherN
Member
- Messages
- 429
- Location
- San Luis Obispo, CA
Earlier this evening, my boyfriend decided to give my bearded dragons a bath, as they had walked through their own poop. One of my small males, named Labyrinth, decided to try and drown on me! I had never dealt with a drowning animal (specifically reptile) before, but he came out all right, and i thought i might write about the experience so others may benefit from it!
How It Happened:
I wasnt in the room (I was cleaning their cage), but my boyfriend had seen me give them baths before. Like i do, he filled the tub with lukewarm water up to the middle of their sides. Like normal, they both had their heads down in the water to drink when they first got in. After they finished drinking, my bf massaged the poop off of them one at a time. After finishing with Labyrinth, the beardie in question, he put in a rock for Labyrinth to get all the way out of the water.
At that point, I checked on the merry crew, and I was a little worried about Labyrinth, seeing that he was sprawled out on the rock with his eyes closed - like he was basking or something. I asked my bf about it, and checked the water temp, and it was fine. So I just assumed he was tired from swimming around like most lizards do in the bath.
After a few more minute, my bf called me into the bathroom, worried about the lizard. He was right to worry, since when i inspected him, there was clearly something wrong. He said that after I left, he started "doing his head bobbing thing under the water, then started flailing around".
Symptoms:
When I picked him up, he was mostly limp, eyes closed and puffy, and beard was jet black and puffed out. I manipulated him and moved him around, and the only time he reacted was to attempt to right himself when turned over (incompletely). I noticed water started to drip out of his nose when I slanted his head downwards. That's when I concluded for sure he had inhaled some water. He wasn't breathing (visibly) and he started to drool interment-idly .
Saving This Sucker!:
At first, I tried to preform reptile CPR on him (google it, its kinda hilarious), which caused more drool to come out. The drool seemed to be his attempt at expelling water form his lungs/stomach. I quickly took a towel and tried to wipe away whatever water came out of his nostrils/mouth. I also did this while holding him under a heat lamp at a downward slant. I opened his mouth after a bit, during which i noticed there was no resistance to it on his part. He still wasnt breathing or responsive at this point.
With a flashlight, i check the inside of his mouth, which was almost filled with drool. There was so much, it was blocking his trachea (a tube-like attachment found at the back of the tongue so he can breathe while eating). I then took an eye dropper and suctioned out the drool. For maybe 2 minutes, I kept suctioning out what probably amounted to a thimble and a half of drool - coming out of a dragon who was under half the adult size. A bit into the suctioning, he started flexing his tongue in response to the dropper. I had still been holding him under the heat bulb, and was soon rewarded with some attempts at swallowing. I continued to suction out drool, which would come in waves.
Eventually, he started to breath again; heaving and holding his own mouth open. Every once and awhile, he would stop breathing, and a new wave of drool would drip out of his mouth. The cycle continued for a bit (~5 minutes), when his eyes snapped open and he bit down on the dropper. I didnt realize the little dropped was made of glass, so the little guy chomped off the tip! I wasnt worried though, i was more happy about him having the strength to do so. Luckily, it didnt shatter, so i fished the tip of the thing off his tongue. Also luckily, i had suctioned out most of the drool by that point.
I continued to hold him in the slanted position under the lamp, and within 15 minutes of the beginning of the whole ordeal, he was alert and responsive again. As i type, he is back to his old self; trying to eat my fingers, basking, and jumping around like a crazy dragon. I am really glad he came out of it fine.
Synopsis:
Drowning symptoms included... (in this instance)
-limpness
-closed/puffy eyes
-drooling
-water seeping from nostrils
-excessive swallowing (or attempting to)
Treatment included...
-warm environment
-positioning with head slanted downwards
-suctioning/removal of drool from mouth and throat
I hope my little experience can help people feel prepared - in the case of one of their reptiles being as silly as mine and drowning in an inch of water. Probably what served me best in this situation was staying calm and collected. Dont get me wrong, i was worried as hell, but it can be hard to think when you're busy panicking! Hopefully, none of you will every have to put any of this to use, but it cant hurt to learn from my ordeal!
How It Happened:
I wasnt in the room (I was cleaning their cage), but my boyfriend had seen me give them baths before. Like i do, he filled the tub with lukewarm water up to the middle of their sides. Like normal, they both had their heads down in the water to drink when they first got in. After they finished drinking, my bf massaged the poop off of them one at a time. After finishing with Labyrinth, the beardie in question, he put in a rock for Labyrinth to get all the way out of the water.
At that point, I checked on the merry crew, and I was a little worried about Labyrinth, seeing that he was sprawled out on the rock with his eyes closed - like he was basking or something. I asked my bf about it, and checked the water temp, and it was fine. So I just assumed he was tired from swimming around like most lizards do in the bath.
After a few more minute, my bf called me into the bathroom, worried about the lizard. He was right to worry, since when i inspected him, there was clearly something wrong. He said that after I left, he started "doing his head bobbing thing under the water, then started flailing around".
Symptoms:
When I picked him up, he was mostly limp, eyes closed and puffy, and beard was jet black and puffed out. I manipulated him and moved him around, and the only time he reacted was to attempt to right himself when turned over (incompletely). I noticed water started to drip out of his nose when I slanted his head downwards. That's when I concluded for sure he had inhaled some water. He wasn't breathing (visibly) and he started to drool interment-idly .
Saving This Sucker!:
At first, I tried to preform reptile CPR on him (google it, its kinda hilarious), which caused more drool to come out. The drool seemed to be his attempt at expelling water form his lungs/stomach. I quickly took a towel and tried to wipe away whatever water came out of his nostrils/mouth. I also did this while holding him under a heat lamp at a downward slant. I opened his mouth after a bit, during which i noticed there was no resistance to it on his part. He still wasnt breathing or responsive at this point.
With a flashlight, i check the inside of his mouth, which was almost filled with drool. There was so much, it was blocking his trachea (a tube-like attachment found at the back of the tongue so he can breathe while eating). I then took an eye dropper and suctioned out the drool. For maybe 2 minutes, I kept suctioning out what probably amounted to a thimble and a half of drool - coming out of a dragon who was under half the adult size. A bit into the suctioning, he started flexing his tongue in response to the dropper. I had still been holding him under the heat bulb, and was soon rewarded with some attempts at swallowing. I continued to suction out drool, which would come in waves.
Eventually, he started to breath again; heaving and holding his own mouth open. Every once and awhile, he would stop breathing, and a new wave of drool would drip out of his mouth. The cycle continued for a bit (~5 minutes), when his eyes snapped open and he bit down on the dropper. I didnt realize the little dropped was made of glass, so the little guy chomped off the tip! I wasnt worried though, i was more happy about him having the strength to do so. Luckily, it didnt shatter, so i fished the tip of the thing off his tongue. Also luckily, i had suctioned out most of the drool by that point.
I continued to hold him in the slanted position under the lamp, and within 15 minutes of the beginning of the whole ordeal, he was alert and responsive again. As i type, he is back to his old self; trying to eat my fingers, basking, and jumping around like a crazy dragon. I am really glad he came out of it fine.
Synopsis:
Drowning symptoms included... (in this instance)
-limpness
-closed/puffy eyes
-drooling
-water seeping from nostrils
-excessive swallowing (or attempting to)
Treatment included...
-warm environment
-positioning with head slanted downwards
-suctioning/removal of drool from mouth and throat
I hope my little experience can help people feel prepared - in the case of one of their reptiles being as silly as mine and drowning in an inch of water. Probably what served me best in this situation was staying calm and collected. Dont get me wrong, i was worried as hell, but it can be hard to think when you're busy panicking! Hopefully, none of you will every have to put any of this to use, but it cant hurt to learn from my ordeal!