Greetings,
First, thank you all for taking the time to help others raise these dragons properly. I trust in the owners rather than the theoreticians.
I have read the article on brumation and it has encouraged me, but my vet insists that my dragon is sick and is not in brumation. However, I believe he may be incorrect, seeing as he may be after more money (so far about $1000 spent for no answers, wanting thousands more for diagnostics and hospitalization, so some potential incentive there). Let me describe the situation:
I woke up on Mother's Day to find Fred, my dragon, with his head buried. The cage floor medium he uses is walnut shells and black sand. (I just upsized his terrarium, with small wood chip medium.)
The night prior, he seemed to be fine. Nothing out of the ordinary. Now, when I found him with his head under the walnut shells, I immediately took him out. He has a black beard and a blackish belly. My understanding is that this is an ambiguous sign, from stress, illness, or mating, agression, etc.
He was undergoing what seemed to be spontaneous "seizure"-like writhing, though it's uncertain what exactly he was doing. I took him to the vet, I described everything above. They took an x-ray, did some blood work, and hooked up a catheter with fluids and antibiotics. He only did this writhing action in my presence at home, not while at the vet. His bone density was fine and no immediate answers. So, I took him home being assured by the vet that he has a cancer or virus, yet he didn't seem confident on either and was primarily speculating on the "seizure" movement that he never witnessed.
Fred seems lethargic now and still has a black beard and belly. I've been trying to get some water through dropper. His tongue moves to lick the dropper. He seems kind of limp, very lethargic. His breathing has ranged from normal to shallow to seemingly not at all, alternating between these states.
I apologize for this long description, but seeing as this is where people actually care about these creatures, as opposed to the vet, I am hoping someone could help me to understand what these signs really mean.
The vet says that he's sick because when he heated him and pumped him with fluids (gently through a catheter), Fred should have been active. Yet, I hear in other posts that during brumation these guys can be essentially "unresponsive" for months on end. Fred was on the cooler side of his cage when I found him and he may have tried to bury himself. The vet says, "well, maybe he thrashed and happened to bury his head."
What are your thoughts? Thank you immensely for your patience and care!
Michael
Note: I understand that "the vet knows best", but really he didn't seem all that caring, more of a "ya, ya, well that's how it is" type of guy. Again, I trust people who have seen their dragons go through all circumstances more than a guy who specialized in avian medicine, not specifically reptile.
Fred isn't going through the writhing now. It's more like he occasionally tries to reposition himself. Very hopeful that I am being worried about nothing, but would like the truth in the matter.
First, thank you all for taking the time to help others raise these dragons properly. I trust in the owners rather than the theoreticians.
I have read the article on brumation and it has encouraged me, but my vet insists that my dragon is sick and is not in brumation. However, I believe he may be incorrect, seeing as he may be after more money (so far about $1000 spent for no answers, wanting thousands more for diagnostics and hospitalization, so some potential incentive there). Let me describe the situation:
I woke up on Mother's Day to find Fred, my dragon, with his head buried. The cage floor medium he uses is walnut shells and black sand. (I just upsized his terrarium, with small wood chip medium.)
The night prior, he seemed to be fine. Nothing out of the ordinary. Now, when I found him with his head under the walnut shells, I immediately took him out. He has a black beard and a blackish belly. My understanding is that this is an ambiguous sign, from stress, illness, or mating, agression, etc.
He was undergoing what seemed to be spontaneous "seizure"-like writhing, though it's uncertain what exactly he was doing. I took him to the vet, I described everything above. They took an x-ray, did some blood work, and hooked up a catheter with fluids and antibiotics. He only did this writhing action in my presence at home, not while at the vet. His bone density was fine and no immediate answers. So, I took him home being assured by the vet that he has a cancer or virus, yet he didn't seem confident on either and was primarily speculating on the "seizure" movement that he never witnessed.
Fred seems lethargic now and still has a black beard and belly. I've been trying to get some water through dropper. His tongue moves to lick the dropper. He seems kind of limp, very lethargic. His breathing has ranged from normal to shallow to seemingly not at all, alternating between these states.
I apologize for this long description, but seeing as this is where people actually care about these creatures, as opposed to the vet, I am hoping someone could help me to understand what these signs really mean.
The vet says that he's sick because when he heated him and pumped him with fluids (gently through a catheter), Fred should have been active. Yet, I hear in other posts that during brumation these guys can be essentially "unresponsive" for months on end. Fred was on the cooler side of his cage when I found him and he may have tried to bury himself. The vet says, "well, maybe he thrashed and happened to bury his head."
What are your thoughts? Thank you immensely for your patience and care!
Michael
Note: I understand that "the vet knows best", but really he didn't seem all that caring, more of a "ya, ya, well that's how it is" type of guy. Again, I trust people who have seen their dragons go through all circumstances more than a guy who specialized in avian medicine, not specifically reptile.
Fred isn't going through the writhing now. It's more like he occasionally tries to reposition himself. Very hopeful that I am being worried about nothing, but would like the truth in the matter.
Maybe put him in another temp. enclosure and clean all the substrate out + wipe down his tank, see if he can rally if the possible toxins are gone. EDIT *** I see that you have done that....good start !
