Hello again, it has been some time. Thank you for your continued support! We have had a lot of non-dragon-related life events in the past couple of months which have sapped a lot of time and energy. I saw the notification email of your post this morning and, by coincidence, this evening was Alduîn's latest follow-up appointment.
Overall, he is doing so much better. From early December until late January/early February his diet was almost exclusively Critical Care because he refused all other food most days, with rare exceptions of a bite of greens or a few insects. He was prescribed a second round of antibiotics, which we paid the vet techs to do because it was so difficult for us. About a week and a half after finishing that second round, his appetite began to return -- and for the past 10 days or so, he has been eating and growing tremendously:
He's still very small for his age, but we are just hoping he can live a healthy and content life, no matter his size.
We had a few scares because as he got his appetite and energy back, he took two kamikaze dives from our couch onto hardwood floors. In both instances he acted as though nothing had happened, but we watched him (and his stool) closely for signs of injury. Today we asked for another xray just in case. I'm happy to say the vet reported no signs of damage -- just a kinked tail and some knobbiness that are likely sequellae of his MBD. She also said his bones are looking much, much better than before. You can actually see the bones in his toes and wrists/ankles now!:
As you can see, he is eating well again
What you can't see is that he is prepping to shed his tail, head, both fore legs and part of a hind leg!
Some fairly recent photos:
(Yes, somehow his deep pre-shed has made him look snow white from certain angles!)
We are so glad he seems to be doing better again and we are enjoying seeing him able to explore and play much like he did as a baby before his symptoms took hold. Watching him dive-bomb a cricket for the first time was an absolute joy. The vet said she can't declare him completely out of the woods yet -- still continuing the calcium gluconate, though he's no longer on any other meds -- yet he's doing so well, everyone who saw him at the clinic was amazed at the progress he's made.
Here's hoping to continuous improvement as we move through 2020 and beyond
With kind regards,
Aaron