Broly the new super saiyan beardie

Picture coming up!

I can't turn upwards!!! But there he is!

 

[BlueDragon09]

He got a bath and now he’s going to get water with vitamin (usually vitamin on Sundays but he hasn’t been taking supplements because he doesn’t want food). His feeding response is little to non existent. He’ll either eat or ignore. However today looking over him I saw a fat pad bump on the tail! It’s a fat pad!! They’re coming back! Im ok with taking extra time to sit down and feed bite sized pieces of squash and collard (he really just rather spit it out). He’ll eat the squash though after enough coaxing to get him to open his mouth. Im still uncomfortable with what the results will say. I’ll do what’s best for him whatever it is even if it’s to say goodbye. He still looks happy though not exactly healthy I guess. Maybe it’s nothing and just isn’t eating enough to keep up weight. I’ll give it a go anyway and try with food again. Tom looked inside his mouth, Broly’s mouth has always been yellow on the roof of his mouth so that doesn’t say much his tongue and gums are pink. Anyway, it’s time I get vitamin ready and maybe after a couple hours of that he can go outside, it’s 82F. Thanks for the support you’re giving me Bailey, I appreciate it.


Update: Urate is white again. No kidney failure bloodwork showed everything normal. I don’t understand how when he looks like this. I guess just lack of eating then. I’ll be getting him to eat.

 

[SHBailey]

That's good that Broly has a fat pad so you know he's not starving himself. Squash is good for hydration too, because it can soak up so much water, so it's another way to get water into him even if he won't drink it. Do you think he might be trying to brumate and that's why he doesn't want to eat much? I know it's the wrong time of the year for it but some beardies seem to have their biological clocks set for the southern hemisphere.

It's my understanding that it's normal for some beardies to have yellow coloring inside their mouths, so no worries there. And I'm glad to hear that the bloodwork turned out good.

You've got nice temperatures for taking your beardies outside. It's finally spring here too but it hasn't gotten much warmer than the low 70s. Fine with me. Everything has turned green and is growing fast with all the extra daylight. We have no darkness at night now -- just twilight. Solstice in a couple of weeks...

 

[xp29]

Well he finally did a BM. Blue/purplish tint to urate that might be the blueberries Im not sure. He’s not too good looking. The stool itself wasn’t dry at all. This has been going on since late winter. He still eats when he wants other days he doesn’t care. No meds so that’s not causing any of this. He’s lost weight but he’s still responsive. We’re starting to think kidney failure is coming into play. He did eat some roaches...Ive tried to get him healthy. We’re going to do a blood test to confirm something just isn’t right. Stool already tested and it’s not parasites/worms. If he does pass on, I probably won’t bother getting another. He’s got something goin on and it can’t just be arthritis like we’ve been thinking. Something else is at play here as he eats whenever and yet weight is dropping. He reminds me of my cat who had kidney failure, eating but still losing weight eventually she had to be put down.

I’ll keep watching hopefully he’s just dehydrated (though I give water twice a day about 8 full syringes worth) he drinks not a lot he runs off like he’s done with me messing with him. I get it I would not like people messing with pulling my lip down to force feed water very slowly. He won’t lick it off his nose. He used to do that though. I’ll try water a 3rd time today and see if that helps anything. Like I said he doesn’t seem thirsty since he rather go off somewhere. I’ll keep anyone who reads this updated but it’s not looking good.

Im sorry he isn't doing well I'll be sending prayers his way.

 

[BlueDragon09]

Thanks so much! He seems to be doing ok despite the issue going on.

I don’t think it’s brumation. I do think it’s arthritis with old age? Definitely arthritis for sure 100%. Maybe not old age..Ive seen older dragons. 9 years old isn’t that old to be looking like this though he is a senior. He had a lot of energy after getting vitamin water he doesn’t take much but every bit helps anyway. I did tear up some collard to make up about 13 bite sized pieces just to see what he’ll do if I stuck them in the side of his mouth. Well he ate 12 out of 13. He wasn’t having the last piece though I tried but 12 isn’t bad. I think at this point it’s his genetics. Ive heard genetics plays a role in their well being. He’s got the best care and love. Everything is up to date with UVB and supplements. Nothing expired. I’ll do whatever I can as he still seems happy. He isn’t lying around dying or anything he’s very much happy to be alive and receiving so much attention. He’s fighting through his problems like a champion, they’re not phasing him too much. He doesn’t sleep all day so not lethargic, he’ll eat if I stick food in the side of his mouth. It’s the only way he’ll eat anything oh and of course bite sized or it won’t fit. He’s doing well with that. I’ll give water again tomorrow and see if he’ll eat the roaches (usually bugs he’ll eat on his own). I have to give another bath tomorrow as he went poop it’s all over the tail again. I didn’t wanna stress him with a second bath today. Im trying to keep him less stressed as possible, Im sure a second bath wouldn’t help with that. He’s out chilling with me on his bath towel right now. He’s good for now he’s watching tv. He looked out the window during dinner time so I don’t think he’s feeling too bad. Now he’s down for the night, ready for lights out. I guess we’ll go to bed now and keep up with care and we’ll have to see how this shakes out. Im always hoping for the best.

 

[SHBailey]

12/13 pieces of collards isn't bad. It's better than 90% and that's considered an "A" I don't think we ever got Puff to eat that much green stuff in one meal, except that one time when he was mortally hungry (literally). They all seem to like bugs better than veggies, no matter what the "experts" say.

If it's true that he's not thinking about brumating, then that's a good thing, because it probably wouldn't be a good idea for him anyway.

It sounds like he's still interested in what's going on around him and happy to be alive as you say, and I'm sure all the love and attention helps. Like xp29 says, sending prayers his way.

 

[BlueDragon09]

Thanks for the prayers you two! He’s doing good today. He had a bath today because the bathroom mistake yesterday. He sat in the bath for 6-7 minutes before getting tired of sitting in the water. I scrubbed his tail. I just hope he’s not suffering while Im trying to rehabilitate him. I’ll always try till the end no matter where the end is. I did manage to get .10mL of water into him. I’ll try another .10mL later today.

Yes, brumation would be a bad idea. He’s totally not thinking about it. He’s getting more and more energy though still skinny. I don’t see his ribs only hip bones and Im trying everything. Critical Care helps his beard is more grey than black.

He’s napping on and off today which isn’t too much out of the normal for him. This all started with swollen beard last year after that cyst was taken care of it never came back. Unfortunately other problems have risen since then. I do want this to be due to lack of eating but Im not too sure what’s happening to be honest. Bloodwork is fine and he’s still kicking. I can’t say this is old either because I don’t think it has anything to do with this.

He’s not well but he’s not unhappy if that makes sense. Im gonna hand him some roaches and see what he does with them. He ate a blueberry, Im expecting another blue tint to the urate again. I might try an apple piece. I’ll update later instead of a whole another post.

 

[SHBailey]

Sounds like maybe the prayers helped. Some beardies like baths and some don't. Puff got to where he would tolerate them, and we would dribble water on his nose when he was in his bath and once in a great while he would drink it, but the bath itself is good for hydration too. That was the main reason we gave him baths every day, not so much to get him clean, although sometimes he needed that too when he got into his own poop the way Broly did this time.

If Broly gets blue urate this time you can probably pretty much conclude that it's from blueberries since that's what happened last time, so nothing to worry about there.

Yes it is possible to be not well but not unhappy -- makes sense to me, and I should know. In fact, I'd say that's about where I'm at in my life right now. Getting old sucks -- for humans too. They say "old" is about 15 years older than you are now. Like I'm 67 so anything younger than 82 doesn't seem terribly old to me, but when I was 40, 55 seemed old. For beardies, its probably around 1 or 2 years, so Broly's not terribly old yet since Puff lived to be 10...

Hang in there.

 

[BlueDragon09]

Yes prayers are helping! He ate about 5 roaches, was trying 10 at least by adding 2 at a time. He’s looking better, still skinny and eyes slightly sunken in (they been like this for a while started with the new problems). HE ACTUALLY ATE SOME SQUASH ON HIS OWN!!! OMG GUYS!!! I wasn’t expecting him to go on his own. He also ate way
more than 2 pieces. If I had to guess how many I would say 3-7 pieces. It’s way more than previous feedings, so I’ll take it. I did bite sized just in case I needed to feed by hand. Also he isn’t dehydrated I did the hydration test on the back of his neck the skin went right back down when I released the pinch. Im not against extra hydration of course it’s always ok to go a bit extra. Please keep sending prayers they seem to helping him feel up to doing something on his own. I’ll keep stress low, feedings always offered even if it’s me doing it and offering extra water by the way, he took 1.9mL so that’s good though he wasn’t terribly thirsty. Im now starting to think it’s lack of feeding/supplements because I always gave him a chance to eat and I didn’t know it at the time that he wasn’t feeling too well. He’s always been healthy up until now so I thought he wasn’t hungry as it does happen due to arthritis. Even so, he shouldn’t be THIS skinny I don’t neglect him! He eats before me, I will spend more time on him to get him what he needs done. He is never ever without food, I go out of town I make up bags of food someone can drop in his bowl. Always taken care of him before myself. I spent 9 years of my life with him and he’s always received the care he needs to thrive. He’s not ready to give in to his problems (whatever they are) then Im not either. He COULD be just old as every test shows nothing and it’s genetics doing this but I currently second guess that. I don’t know what else it could be. I can talk to Tracie later see what her thoughts are. Ive spent hundreds trying every test/ultrasound/xray on this dang planet trying to find out what’s happening. I have nothing to go on no clues to anything. Nothing to point at and say “that’s the culprit!” I have nothing! Parasites/worms: no.. bacterial infection: no. Fungal: no. Mouth rot: no. Liver/kidney failure/disease: no. I truly have nothing to point at everything is NO. Im frustrated I keep coming up empty handed so I can’t help him feel healthy again. He shouldn’t look like this man... he shouldn’t look like he’s been neglected because he isn’t! Im here all the time I give food every single day, twice a day. Seriously if someone was to see him they would think I haven’t fed him at all which is not the case. I feed him all the time. Oh and he’s negative for atadenovirus so it’s not that either. Ugh..Im exhausted and he’s done for today he got everything he needs.

 

[SHBailey]

Well, since everything checks out ok, maybe he's just been going through a bad patch. I know it's frustrating not to have something definite that you can fix. I know you're taking the best possible care of him no matter what he looks like -- if anyone were to see him and think you're neglecting him, then that's their opinion and they don't know the facts. Glad to hear he seems to be doing better, especially eating. Should help him to gain some weight. Will keep the prayers coming for both of you.

 

[BlueDragon09]

He’s doing well now. All there’s left is to build up fat pads/muscle though Idk about muscle. He seems to have muscle dystrophy. He’s lost muscle mass as he got older. Ive let him out and walk around Ive done water therapy to help get his legs moving. He rather just lay around, I tried to help build muscle. I’ll just work on fat pads. He’s eating pretty well now I’ll just let whatever happens, happen. I know I can’t control what’s going on but I can at least try to help him stay happy. He’s gone up in weight not too much but it’s something.
Ive been stressed to hell...Im finally gonna take time to myself. Tom said he’ll be happy to takeover Broly’s care for a few days. I haven’t ate well or slept well in some days now there’s too much thought racing in my head. All what if scenarios so I need this break. Don’t get me wrong everything has been focusing on Broly and I do a lot for him to the point Im not doing well for myself. Ive done it to myself Ive put myself close to mental breakdown. My mental health hasn’t been the best and I still did what needed to be done for him. I put him first I always have when I got him 9 years ago that was the commitment I was willing to make. His eyes aren’t that sunken anymore, fat pads are growing a bit, can’t say for muscle (I think this is what it is forever). He’s trying to eat more I think it’s still about 7 pieces. He did eat 10 crickets though. He finally got some calcium into him he likes it on his squash (it’s liquid calcium). I can’t figure out for the life of me why though LOL. Ive done powder calcium in the past and he wasn’t absorbing it even with the correct UVB and heat. I need to change it actually but it’s not that overdue, close though. Time to buy an Acadia 14 T5.

 

[SHBailey]

It's normal to lose muscle mass when you get older for humans so I suppose that's the case for beardies too. Exercise can help but it's not a cure for old age. I don't have much muscle left myself and I'd rather just lay around too. I have no desire to get up and walk around unless I absolutely have to, so I can understand how Broly feels.

I'm glad Tom's taking care of him for a while so you can take care of yourself. That's important!

That is amazing that he likes the calcium. Is it flavored? Usually vitamins and especially minerals don't taste good.

As I recall, the Arcadia heat lamps are one of the best brands. It's been a while since I've bought any.