Our littlest dragon, cosmos, is sick.. He doesnt eat much but his belly is huge. I am very worried. We do not have money for a vet, but i may ask my mom for help, she is really broke though, so it is an absolute last resort. it will be a week or so before we might have enough money to take him. maybe. and then i dont even know what the vet would do, or what the fees would be after the initial visit so i want to know what you guys think a vet visit would do, as well as if i have reason to be worried...
anyway, here is what i have been doing with him.
his tank set up:
1 zoomed 25 watt basking bulb about 4 inches from basking spot, this keeps the general tank temp at about 85 F, and the basking spot around 105-110 F.
1 exo terra 10.0 26 watt uvb bulb, bought less than 3 months ago, also about 4-5 inches away. We have a 13 watt 10.0 i can switch him to if you think it is better.
he is very small so we keep him in a small tank so he doesnt get tired when hunting prey. it is a snake tank measuring 24"long, 12"wide, and 9" tall.
i just cleaned everything on tuesday with 10% ammonia 90% water, and then rinsed it all very well in water then dried it all very well and let it dry for like 24 hours before i put the stuff back in there. The tank i only dried for like 45 minutes but i am sure there was no ammonia left in there.
supplements i use are zoo med's reptivite, and repashy calcium plus for bearded dragons.
in general, we offer baby dubia roaches, he wont touch crickets. greens offered have been dandelion greens predominantly, and now collards (our other dragons eat the collards fine, but the littlest (cosmos) doesnt like them. mix ins are cactus, carrots, bell peppers, etc. i mix it up depending on what we have. i only feed greens from the organic foods store.
around thursday we bought nature zone appetite plus (B12 supplement in liquid form) and it seemed to help his activity levels, and eating initially but not so much anymore. ( http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog/reptile-supplies/vitamins-medicines-and-cage-cleaners/reptile-medications-mite-sprays-and-cleaners/-/appetite-plus/ )
we bought reptaid and began his first round on monday, aug 29. just a few drops mixed with water and the appetite plus.
he is making urates, as of wednesday. on thursday his **** was mostly liquid, with some kind of worm (a parasite? it did not look like a mealworm or anything we have fed him!!!) it was about 1/2 an inch long. or maybe 1/3 of an inch.
today i noticed his head was twitching. why is his head twitching? he has always had a 10.0 UVB bulb on him, and a basking spot that gets to be between 100-115, and a tank with a temp gradient.
he is on paper towel and has been so for a few weeks. we used to keep him on reptisand, or calcisand.
he is on day 5 of reptaid.. we are planning to do a full course of 10 days on, 2 days off, then 10 days on again.
Today i started feeding him organic winter squash baby food by needleless syringe. he ate about 60 cc's. i mixed in the reptaid with the baby food today instead of the water/b12 supplement. he drinks plenty of water from his bowl and i change it almost daily.
the bones at the base of his tail are sticking up and it is freaking me out.
he ate some dubia roaches on wednesday. he had 3 that were appropriately sized, and then was absolutely stuffed. the next morning he puked up one of them. hasnt eaten anything since, other than the reptaid with baby food. 60cc's.
please help any advice or suggestions. i am quite worried.
here is a link to the flickr photostream of all the pics of him http://www.flickr.com/photos/brookeschuller/sets/72157627578808630/
anyway, here is what i have been doing with him.
his tank set up:
1 zoomed 25 watt basking bulb about 4 inches from basking spot, this keeps the general tank temp at about 85 F, and the basking spot around 105-110 F.
1 exo terra 10.0 26 watt uvb bulb, bought less than 3 months ago, also about 4-5 inches away. We have a 13 watt 10.0 i can switch him to if you think it is better.
he is very small so we keep him in a small tank so he doesnt get tired when hunting prey. it is a snake tank measuring 24"long, 12"wide, and 9" tall.
i just cleaned everything on tuesday with 10% ammonia 90% water, and then rinsed it all very well in water then dried it all very well and let it dry for like 24 hours before i put the stuff back in there. The tank i only dried for like 45 minutes but i am sure there was no ammonia left in there.
supplements i use are zoo med's reptivite, and repashy calcium plus for bearded dragons.
in general, we offer baby dubia roaches, he wont touch crickets. greens offered have been dandelion greens predominantly, and now collards (our other dragons eat the collards fine, but the littlest (cosmos) doesnt like them. mix ins are cactus, carrots, bell peppers, etc. i mix it up depending on what we have. i only feed greens from the organic foods store.
around thursday we bought nature zone appetite plus (B12 supplement in liquid form) and it seemed to help his activity levels, and eating initially but not so much anymore. ( http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog/reptile-supplies/vitamins-medicines-and-cage-cleaners/reptile-medications-mite-sprays-and-cleaners/-/appetite-plus/ )
we bought reptaid and began his first round on monday, aug 29. just a few drops mixed with water and the appetite plus.
he is making urates, as of wednesday. on thursday his **** was mostly liquid, with some kind of worm (a parasite? it did not look like a mealworm or anything we have fed him!!!) it was about 1/2 an inch long. or maybe 1/3 of an inch.
today i noticed his head was twitching. why is his head twitching? he has always had a 10.0 UVB bulb on him, and a basking spot that gets to be between 100-115, and a tank with a temp gradient.
he is on paper towel and has been so for a few weeks. we used to keep him on reptisand, or calcisand.
he is on day 5 of reptaid.. we are planning to do a full course of 10 days on, 2 days off, then 10 days on again.
Today i started feeding him organic winter squash baby food by needleless syringe. he ate about 60 cc's. i mixed in the reptaid with the baby food today instead of the water/b12 supplement. he drinks plenty of water from his bowl and i change it almost daily.
the bones at the base of his tail are sticking up and it is freaking me out.
he ate some dubia roaches on wednesday. he had 3 that were appropriately sized, and then was absolutely stuffed. the next morning he puked up one of them. hasnt eaten anything since, other than the reptaid with baby food. 60cc's.
please help any advice or suggestions. i am quite worried.
here is a link to the flickr photostream of all the pics of him http://www.flickr.com/photos/brookeschuller/sets/72157627578808630/