karmakollector
Member
Our girl, Paisley, is about 10 months old and we have known for most of that time that she is ADV+, though she has never shown any of the typical symptoms (no stargazing, no failure to grow... she has been a voracious eater of both bugs and veggies her whole life, and has had a lot of brightness and energy)
A couple of weeks ago, she suddenly stopped wanting bugs altogether. Previously, we had fed her BSFL (when young, but stopped because she had trouble digesting them when she got bigger), silkworms, dubia, superworms (once she was bigger, about 7 months old or so), and occasional hornworms. She loved them all, in addition to her veggies and greens (her favorites being mustard greens, arugula, green beans, and spaghetti squash)
We grew concerned because it was such a sudden change... one day she was voraciously hunting the roaches and superworms, the next day they were dead to her. But she was still eating her greens, at least. I hoped maybe she was just trying to regulate her weight. Normally, we cheered her weight gain especially since she has ADV, but she gained over 100 grams in one month (to a weight of 438g) and seemed like she had gotten a bit chonky.
After she stopped eating the bugs, she dropped 20g down to 418g. We ended up taking her to the vet (an ARAV registered reptile specialist), who said she seemed energetic, well hydrated, and good fat pads, but we decided to get a fecal and bloodwork done anyway, since we were there and since she has ADV.
The full panel showed slightly high calcium (32.2 vs 27), slightly high HCT (50 instead of 40, which vet said could mean dehydration), slightly high ALT (19 instead of 16), and rather high ALP (412 vs range up to 280 reference.)
This seems to me to be an indicator of possible liver disease, but the vet didn't really say anything specific. So... now what? Could it be that she is avoiding the bugs because the superworms caused fatty liver disease? Should we supplement with something? (I have been giving small doses of milk thistle powder, but not sure how much or how often I should give it, or whether I should add something like serrapeptase to the mix and, again, what kind of dosage that would look like)
A couple of weeks ago, she suddenly stopped wanting bugs altogether. Previously, we had fed her BSFL (when young, but stopped because she had trouble digesting them when she got bigger), silkworms, dubia, superworms (once she was bigger, about 7 months old or so), and occasional hornworms. She loved them all, in addition to her veggies and greens (her favorites being mustard greens, arugula, green beans, and spaghetti squash)
We grew concerned because it was such a sudden change... one day she was voraciously hunting the roaches and superworms, the next day they were dead to her. But she was still eating her greens, at least. I hoped maybe she was just trying to regulate her weight. Normally, we cheered her weight gain especially since she has ADV, but she gained over 100 grams in one month (to a weight of 438g) and seemed like she had gotten a bit chonky.
After she stopped eating the bugs, she dropped 20g down to 418g. We ended up taking her to the vet (an ARAV registered reptile specialist), who said she seemed energetic, well hydrated, and good fat pads, but we decided to get a fecal and bloodwork done anyway, since we were there and since she has ADV.
The full panel showed slightly high calcium (32.2 vs 27), slightly high HCT (50 instead of 40, which vet said could mean dehydration), slightly high ALT (19 instead of 16), and rather high ALP (412 vs range up to 280 reference.)
This seems to me to be an indicator of possible liver disease, but the vet didn't really say anything specific. So... now what? Could it be that she is avoiding the bugs because the superworms caused fatty liver disease? Should we supplement with something? (I have been giving small doses of milk thistle powder, but not sure how much or how often I should give it, or whether I should add something like serrapeptase to the mix and, again, what kind of dosage that would look like)