Pancake & the Hooman

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Since Pancake is my first reptile, and he has me completely wrapped around his little scaly feet, I thought the idea of having a place to start documenting Pancake's journey with me would be fun, so here we go~

For our first entry, we will begin with the power outage last week. All went well, and after running around on my bed for a good half hour Pancake got a little less squirmy and settled for snuggling in his dino blankie.

Pancake: Ummm HOOMAN NOOO.... I tried to squirm away but then you put the lightbox in front with lizards on the screen and it made sounds and I was hypnotized!!

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...AKA... I played How To Train Your Dragon on my laptop and it caught Pancake's attention pretty quickly :lol:

And part way through the movie he made a little burrow and had a power nap

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Pancake: And then I woke up 5 minutes later to climb up my hooman's tree branch arms (but they're really more like fat twigs).

But as for some other Pancake moments...

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Pancake: New hooman, I do not know who you are but I will offer a smole smile in exchange for crickets.
This was around January 9th, in his old tank, three days after coming home.

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Pancake: Hooman, do not worry! Am here!!

The tank that got dropped off with my precious baby was an absolute mess, complete with some cracked glass that we couldn't get a replacement for, so my parents bought me a very early Christmas present of a new tank for Pancake around January 18th. I moved all of his accessories over to make his move easier, and of course he was thankful to have his beloved bathing bowl (the water is extremely shallow, barely up to his ankles) and decided to hide in it. I panicked because at first I couldn't see him anywhere in his tank, but when I started calling for him, up popped Pancake's little head :p

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Pancake: *ahem* Hooman, now is time for cuddles!! Not the lightbox!

Towards the end of January, Pancake started to get quite comfortable around me, which I was shocked at as he was very shy when he was first home. But alas, he also became more demanding :lol: While he was running around in his playpen, I decided to work on some homework. Well, he got a bit grumpy and decided to prevent any further essay writing until I picked him up and let him snuggle into my hair lol.

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I love how gold his eyes are <3

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Pancake: Hooman, this is satisfactory, now pls leave me to basking.

This is the newest addition I've bought him, and Pancake definitely seems to like anything climbable lol. When I compare these two pictures (most recent) to what I remember he looked like when he was left at my work, he's starting to fill out a bit more. I'm worried that he might still be a bit small, especially compared to other beardies on here, but his appetite and energy levels have definitely picked up.

This is probably such a long post by now, but I just adore my little guy with all my heart.

More Pancake & the Hooman on the way~
 

Blackenedsabbath

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
claudiusx":36kuee03 said:
Aw try not to worry too much. Shedding does tend to cause things to change up for a bit. It's good that it was at least white. It could have simply been hard due to how long it was in the body before being excreted, or due to how large it was.

-Brandon

I think it must've just been a build up. I gave him some more water via syringe this morning and he went to the bathroom after- his urate was completely back to normal. But now he has a sperm plug sticking out which gave me a heart attack at first :lol:

This little lizard seems to love making me panic lmao
 

Blackenedsabbath

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
Panicking 2.0

Pancake finished his full body shed on the 15th (I think the shed came out of his nostrils around the 16th or 17th), and has been refusing his salads and BSFL. He will eat butterworms and hornworms, and I tricked him into eating a piece of bell pepper by cutting out a skinny piece that looks like a worm, but otherwise he will not touch his salads at all. I read somewhere that it can be normal for them to be off of their food for up to a week and a half after shedding, not sure how accurate that is, but I've syringe fed him critical care for a few days and then switched to Repashy (which he has much less of a fuss about with the syringe, but he won't eat it out of his bowl).

He was originally very lethargic after his shed was done, plus there was the weird urate thing (his urates have been back to normal), but yesterday and today he was much more active and getting up to his usual shenanigans.

He was breathing kind of heavy on and off the past few days, which concerns me because when he was shedding I gave him a bath to help his severe itchiness, and he dunked his nose under the water :/ I'm debating on whether I should see if I can get him into the vet this Wednesday or if I should get an appointment next week to see if it does have to do with the shed?

I want to make sure he doesn't have anything serious going on, or if a URI is starting that I can catch and treat it before my school year starts :s My vet also wants to do bloodwork on him as part of a check-up, but I know that is going to be extremely expensive; do you guys think it is absolutely necessary for a check up? If he suspects something worse is going on I wouldn't hesitate, but if there isn't anything I don't want it to be a money grab as this vet is already very expensive. (At least the Pan-Fund is up to around $300 just in case)
 

Claudiusx

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
I wouldn't do blood work unless you need to or have the money. How much will it cost?

Sometimes dragons just go through phases where they act a bit different. It doesn't necessarily mean something is wrong with them.
A bit of water could have gotten into the lungs, but that doesn't instantly mean uri. Their immune system can clear the lungs and prevent infection all on its own. It's only in bad cases that it will actually develop into an infection, and thus a uri.

I really wouldn't be concerned about a lower appetite and I would be syringe feeding unless absolutely necessary. Syringe feeding is usually very stressful on them. It should only be used even absolutely necessary.

Personally I'd say just try to relax a little bit. You have off days just like pan is entitled to. In fact, more for the past 2 weeks really hasn't been having much of an appetite and has really kinda just been lying around all day. However the past 2 days she's been voracious. she glass dances the second she sees me walking to the closet where her food is. I just let her be and do her thing. Point being is sometimes they act out of the ordinary, but that doesn't necessarily mean something is wrong. But it is a good indicator to at least pay more attention and see how things progress. :)

-Brandon
 

Blackenedsabbath

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
claudiusx":vo246uv1 said:
I wouldn't do blood work unless you need to or have the money. How much will it cost?

Sometimes dragons just go through phases where they act a bit different. It doesn't necessarily mean something is wrong with them.
A bit of water could have gotten into the lungs, but that doesn't instantly mean uri. Their immune system can clear the lungs and prevent infection all on its own. It's only in bad cases that it will actually develop into an infection, and thus a uri.

I really wouldn't be concerned about a lower appetite and I would be syringe feeding unless absolutely necessary. Syringe feeding is usually very stressful on them. It should only be used even absolutely necessary.

Personally I'd say just try to relax a little bit. You have off days just like pan is entitled to. In fact, more for the past 2 weeks really hasn't been having much of an appetite and has really kinda just been lying around all day. However the past 2 days she's been voracious. she glass dances the second she sees me walking to the closet where her food is. I just let her be and do her thing. Point being is sometimes they act out of the ordinary, but that doesn't necessarily mean something is wrong. But it is a good indicator to at least pay more attention and see how things progress. :)

-Brandon

The vet said he doesn't give out quotes, which essentially means you dont know what you pay until after it's done
For a check up consisting of listening to Pancake's heart rate, checking his teeth/mouth, listening to his lungs and weighing him he charged $275 CAD plus $100 for a fecal exam, to give you an idea of what his prices are like. The vet is the one who suggested syringe feeding, but he also said to force feed him before when he lost 20g and when I questioned it here people said that's a ridiculous idea (maybe I should just double check everything he says on this forum lol).

Is it possible for them to just get bored of food?? He wont eat BSFL but butterworms and hornworms are more than welcome lol. I got more cactus pear today since he gobbles it up and some squash so I will see if it's just pickiness.

This was Pancake's first full body shed (with me anyway), so I'm not entirely sure what to expect. Most other threads on here mention babies refusing to eat after, but I haven't seen anything about adults.

I'm sorry if my panicking seems out of proportion ? I'm a bit of a worry wart and don't want anything bad to happen to my little Panpan.
 

JumpinJellyfish

Juvie Member
Mine is currently working on training me to only give him the worms he wants. Is ignoring BSFL, silkworms, hornworms, and roaches (little stinker - I *just* got my colony going), loves butterworms and supers. Ignores greens and veggies, too, but will at least tolerate a bit of baby food veggies.
 

Blackenedsabbath

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
Pancake still won't eat. I've had a few instances of luck where he ate cactus pear, one or two pieces of dandelion leaves, one squash cube. He is more interested in BSFL, but only if they are super wiggly. His weight is down to 260g, which is what it got down to the last time he had parasites (his weight was at 274g a week or two ago). His urate was kind of hard today which means he isnt drinking water again :/ I have an appointment scheduled for next friday and I have some butterworms and silkworms on order for him. He is still alert and runs around, so fingers crossed.

I've read tht their weight can go in cycles, so Im not sure if he has a weight cycle that goes from 260g up to 300g and back down again? Does anyone know if that sounds like an okay range??
 

Claudiusx

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
It's not really out of the realm of possibilities in regards to weight range. Sometimes dragons can have poo's that are that large LOL.

I'm sorry he's not eating much for you. Hopefully he likes the silks and butters.

Let us know how the vet visit goes!

-Brandon
 

Blackenedsabbath

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
He was very happy about the butterworms and silkworms, thats the only thing he would eat out of his bowl. The silkworms were really juicy for some reason which was good lol. I'm planning on getting some hornworms for hydration and probably more silks since he wont touch the BSFL still.

As for the vet visit, he does have a respiratory infection. The vet didnt want to do the bloodwork today because Pancake was getting really upset about the exam and he isn't feeling to well as it is. He was given an injection antibiotic that's supposed to treat a wide range of infections since he couldn't tell which bacteria was causing it. The antibiotic stays in his system for 12 days, and begins to take effect in 12 to 36 hours, sometimes sooner he said. I have to monitor his breathing rates over the next week and if it increases or he large amounts of discharge I have to bring him in immediatly. :( I'm hoping the injection will take care of it.

On a more positive note, the fecal test was negative for parasites. The vet also commented on how feisty he is (and was watching him set the timer), and said thats a good sign.
 

JumpinJellyfish

Juvie Member
Blackenedsabbath":imcugi8b said:
He was very happy about the butterworms and silkworms, thats the only thing he would eat out of his bowl. The silkworms were really juicy for some reason which was good lol. I'm planning on getting some hornworms for hydration and probably more silks since he wont touch the BSFL still.

As for the vet visit, he does have a respiratory infection. The vet didnt want to do the bloodwork today because Pancake was getting really upset about the exam and he isn't feeling to well as it is. He was given an injection antibiotic that's supposed to treat a wide range of infections since he couldn't tell which bacteria was causing it. The antibiotic stays in his system for 12 days, and begins to take effect in 12 to 36 hours, sometimes sooner he said. I have to monitor his breathing rates over the next week and if it increases or he large amounts of discharge I have to bring him in immediatly. :( I'm hoping the injection will take care of it.

On a more positive note, the fecal test was negative for parasites. The vet also commented on how feisty he is (and was watching him set the timer), and said thats a good sign.
Crossing fingers!!!! Maybe once that runs its course and he starts to feel better he'll get back to normal eating.
 

Blackenedsabbath

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
Thank you!!

His breathing rate on friday was between 16 and 18 breathes a minute, saturday and sunday it was down to 10. He still didnt want to eat but he was a bit more interested in his food bowl and was looking in it (yesterday he took 2 little bites) so his appetite will hopefully come back soon!! So far no mouth bubbles! And a lot less wheezing noises.
 
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