Come on down to Devlyn Town everyone, let's go!

Welcome to Devlyn Town everyone! We're a welcoming place.

Devlyn joined our household on February 9th, 2019 at 6 months old. I don't know her birthday, and she wouldn't tell me, so my best guess is August 1st, 2018.
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Devlyn was bought from a pet shop that went out of business. Came from an unnamed wholesale vender. The original owner did a lot to take care of Devlyn. A baby dragon who had parasites and a respiratory infection from the pet store. There were some hiccups with coil UVB bulbs but that was corrected after a vet visit in October 2018 to UVB fluorescent tubing and proper heat control and a bigger enclosure. The original owner sold Devlyn to me because Devlyn is a very picky eater (aka non-eater)(and as of 2/09/2020 Devlyn still can be a picky eater, she needs a lot of care to eat well) and the lady's life was very busy with other pets, kids, and a failed marriage. Devlyn went from whatever shadey pet place she was born, to a cheap pet store, to a loving first owner who only gave her up so Devlyn could get more attention and care and the cost of her ongoing care. My husband and I have given her a good home now! This is Devlyn town, she is the mayor, we do her bidding.
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See pic above for her enclosure she has had since late 2018. About 45" by 17" by 19.2". New bulbs added after the move FYI. Devlyn likes color so I am currently going insane by creating more furniture, buying decorations and making decorative elements for her. Stay tuned for more episodes of Devlyn town!
ENCLOSURE UPDATE 2/09/2020
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Update 1/10/2021
Awoken from brumation#2. 119 days.
 

DorgEndo

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Devlyn
Well we officially voted to strike. To me, the best case scenario is that my employer agrees to come back to the negotiation table and reach a fair deal. Their last proposal was preposterous. I'm happy with the actions my union has taken. No one wants to strike, but we have to maintain the wages and benefits that were already won over many years. Allowing any concession no matter how small is not an option. Healthcare unions must provide a 10 business day notice to account for patient care, so the employer will either decide to hire scabs or negotiate. The plan is step 1 is a 7 day strike. If no deal is reached step 2 will be an open ended strike. 95% of our Union voted YES to approve the strike. We mean it.

I also have a fun Devlyn story!

I'm cat sitting for a friend me and hubby used to live with. He has a cat which is 1 of 2 cats my own girl Greysie ever accepted, normally she is very scared of other cats. This cat is named Edward. I say this with love, he is a very dumb cat. So sweet. So dumb. He would never survive in the wild.

I was holding Devlyn. Edward is merely walking by, Devlyn stares at him and opened her mouth in a "Don't mess with me!" action at Edward. No black beard, just her lifting up her body tall and proud and flashing teeth. Beardies are smart. Devlyn knew this cat wasn't the same cat who has lived in this house with her. I was proud she felt like a big strong dragon who would fight that cat if it tried anything. Edward is no threat, but of course I wasn't going to put Devlyn in any risk position, she was safe in my arms so she got window time with me on the couch, off the floor away from the kitties.
 

DorgEndo

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Devlyn
Devlyn's adoption anniversary! (correction in bold)

It's exciting so I'm posting a few hours early. Devlyn has had so many changes. She went from 186 grams to 378 grams. 13 inches to 16.5 inches from her booper to tail tip. 6 months old to 18 months old. She was sick with a high load of Oxyurid (pinworms) and now is still worm free after treatment from last year.
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She is still living in the same place. There has been new decorations, new lighting, new flooring. Some of her favorite "baby items" of the grey turtle bridge, brown mini log, and green hammock are still here.
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The "before" pictured above is how her place was before I moved her to my house. She was upstairs in a hallway with no windows to look out. 4 not good kiddos running around, a stressful environment for a sick baby dragon.
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Now Devlyn has some decent window views, plus she can watch TV. If she looks to the right she will see the computer desk and the front door area - there is a big mirror reflecting the farside window with the TV.
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Devlyn stays busy and loves being on the move in her enclosure or for time walking around the house or outside (when it's warm enough). She likes taking car trips and cannot wait for summer to return for more adventures!
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Although Devlyn will make her own adventures, see above before I put in the climbing wall (and other enclosure changes) no matter what. I think she has grown into a strong dragon who is confident in her life.
Spoiling her is one of my greatest joys :love5: :love10:
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Claudiusx

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Happy 1 year adoption day!@! WOohhoo!

Devlyn sure has changed since you've got her. You've done such amazing work with her you should be very proud of yourself. I'm sure Devlyn is very happy with you :)

Wanna send some of the vines my way? Moro's tank desperately needs some green LOL.

Well I hope the strike works out for you. That's quite the overwhelming majority vote so hopefully things get done!

-Brandon
 

DorgEndo

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Devlyn
For the strike vote my company agreed to return to negotiation on Tuesday. At minimum we won't agree to healthcare concessions and want some minimal raise. The contract our Union is proposing is more than fair market share with the numbers and technical details. No matter what I'm sure things will work out, it has to be resolved eventually. By February 18th I'll know if my next day of work is work or a picket line.

For more Devlyn stuff I also made a short album on imgur, which has some gifs so you can see action Devlyn run around her redesigned place. Plus the full 25 second gif of her trying to climb the back wall but she just plops and doesn't act fazed at all. https://imgur.com/gallery/ry6ZxVy

The simple Wyze camera is a good investment for me. I've seen people also set it up outside the enclosure pointing towards the front, you could view multiple enclosures that way. It is super handy to watch a time lapse of your dragon's day to see how they move. That info really helped me see how Devlyn tried to move around, then I adjusted her house accordingly. She would still benefit from a bigger place for more turn around room. She will run her circuit taking the high road or low road route set up for her, but on the low road route she pauses go full way around...you can see that in one of the 11 second gifs.

Thanks for the reply Brandon

- April & Devlyn
 

DorgEndo

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Devlyn
Dangit

This is why you also get a fecal from an independent lab other than the in-house one at the clinic. Lab saw an Oxyurid pinworms count. Much lower than what Devlyn had before. 2-4 eggs or parasites seen on entire slide. She was clear before brumating. Not sure if this is a residual infection from when I first got her or if she was re-infected from something she ate. I know there is some hypothesis that Oxyurid is considered commensal to bearded dragons, but considering how sick Devlyn was when I got her I'm not risking it.

Last time I had to force feed her medicine. Sigh, I had to make her eat a dose yesterday. Tonight injected them into a superworm. Wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be. Dubia would probably work better for injecting but they are wriggly and strong.

Also, I'm still displeased with the lighting set up. Her hot spot isn't as big as here body, so I'm going to try a two heat light system as lower wattage. 75 by 75 . Tested it out tonight. Her 105 °F hot spot was a lot bigger. Some spots were 109°F where light overlapped, which is still acceptable. I worry since the hot spot wasn't as big as her body maybe her immune system wasn't able to be at its best.

Her skin spot of dark scales might be improving. Hard to tell. Taking a break from antibiotic cream and using iodine once daily. Too much antibiotics for too long increases risk of fungal infection (for people or dragons).

Devlyn ate a few bites of radicchio and collard greens today. She has been refusing greens terribly since waking from brumating. Good news there.
 

Claudiusx

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Hi April,

I absolutely loved the album you put together. That 11 second video of her getting territorial/mad at you moving her stuff made me laugh! Devlyn seems like such a personable dragon. And I absolutely love her setup. It looks awesome! Makes me ashamed of my boring ones.

2-4 eggs/worms on the slide isn't really too bad. Pinworms are notoriously hard to get rid of. Especially if you have a tank like yours. Too many places for pinworm eggs to hide and reinfect after remission. To fully get rid of pinworms you basically need a hospital grade enclosure that you wipe down at least once a day during treatment to prevent any stray eggs from hiding around the enclosure. And even then, pinworms are so common I wouldn't be too surprised if you did everything right, that a few came in again just from feeders.

Personally, I'd probably retest next month and see what the counts are like. If they haven't increased, I'd be inclined to leave be. But of course it's your call.

Glad she ate some greens though!

-Brandon
 

DorgEndo

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Devlyn
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Initial impression. Happy with the 75 | 75 watt side-by-side bulbs. These bulbs are also new bulbs for me.

Zoo Med spot lamps were ones I've had best luck with (translation: filaments don't break in transit for the 15 minutes drive from store). Any halogen flood bulbs from hardware store always break. Exo Terra heat bulbs were okay, nothing impressive about them.

New bulbs are All Reptiles Essential Basking Spot Bulb. Still marketed as a spot bulb, however the bulb has a white reflector instead of metallic. The light seems more diffuse, which I want!

The closest sides of bulbs are 7 inches apart. From my quick research heat bulbs need to be at least 6 inches apart.

The area of the high 90°s is much bigger, I'm happy with that. The area between/under the bulbs gets to 110°F where she can hang out, much bigger 105°F area so her whole body can fit in a hundred degree area. Cool side is a solid half of the tank in the 80s, the darkest cool corner still gets down to 78°F in the day.

To anyone reading I still will treat her parasites. I know the cleaning needs to be immense. Resterilize all logs (a few times). Get rid of dirt area and use some F10 daily on all floors and walls. Devlyn should forgive my cleaning by giving her window time.

-April
 

DorgEndo

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Devlyn
Upon closer observation if my house is warmer in the afternoon the center of the hot spot area is getting too hot. I only have a Herpstat1, not a Herpstat2 or similar to manage 2 heat bulbs at once. It's not rocket science. There really should be more options for controlling heat bulbs. The options that exist in the US suck. There are other brands I've seen from the UK that look like they would perform better, but I would need an adapter for the power plug. So annoying. Will try a 75 | 50 watt bulb. Maybe that can do better without micromanaging
 

DragonPete

Sub-Adult Member
DorgEndo":1i0gw0pc said:
Upon closer observation if my house is warmer in the afternoon the center of the hot spot area is getting too hot. I only have a Herpstat1, not a Herpstat2 or similar to manage 2 heat bulbs at once. It's not rocket science. There really should be more options for controlling heat bulbs. The options that exist in the US suck. There are other brands I've seen from the UK that look like they would perform better, but I would need an adapter for the power plug. So annoying. Will try a 75 | 50 watt bulb. Maybe that can do better without micromanaging
Dang hon, I hear ya. Been having issues keeping Petey's basking temp consistent myself. House temp def plays a role. Hang in there!
-Dee
 

Claudiusx

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Same here. My house was only a few degrees hotter today but it bumped Moro's cool side temp almost 6 degrees. and that's about 8 degrees hotter than I like the cool side!

-brandon
 

DorgEndo

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Devlyn
Devlyn needs to shed. I don't think ordering her to shed will work.

Spot on her face clearing up, but a few odd colored scales all over her now. Never kept a record of her shedding. She shed her back last in July. Then August came and I don't recall her shedding. September (in hindsight) she was prepping to brumate. So it had been at least 6 months since she had a full good shed. When she woke up last month her lips shed...then she stopped shedding. She needs to shed!

I'm tempted to give her a bath in aloe vera juice, the good organic kind, no additives. I'll add Bene-bac to the bath.

Darn Devlyn. She likes to make me worry (Not really, I know that)
 

DorgEndo

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Beardie name(s)
Devlyn
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Dilute iodine bath! I didn't go full bath crazy yet. Also using a bowl because it has a heat pad under it.

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Also here is a fun pic
 

DorgEndo

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Devlyn
Now it is the 23rd. Devlyn still has not had a decent shed. She doesn't get white like so many dragons gets. She starts to look dirty. I can see parts of her underside looking tan instead of her cream belly. Her legs look dark. The top of her head/nose had a slight grey to it, not the classic white ready to shed, but overall it looks like she is darker colored all the time.

She had been rubbing under the cork bark I gave her. It's adorable to see her squeeze under but it hasn't helped crack that shed yet
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Gave her another bath, no bath between last post and today. Tried setting her up with a Beardie spa mask? Something. She (barely) tolerated this for 10 minutes. Devlyn is not a fan of being wrapped up with bubbles agitating everything. She had a nice big poop before the bath, so she was safe from a poo during this spa treatment.
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And don't get me started on the end of her tail. I probably won't be able to share pics of her, her tail gets so dark people ask out of concern if she has some severe tail rot going on. It's shed. The end of her tail needs to shed. Devlyn, SHED! Shedding is cool.

Haven't pulled out the aloe vera juice yet. Maybe I should...don't know. Anyway she is pretty steady at 386 grams (after the big poop). This might be her good adult weight.
 

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