Change in Health/Health Issues??

[Ranger87]

Hello everyone. I've got some questions about my Dragon, Riza. (Some of you may be familiar with her. My sister, Fluffpuffgerbil, has made some posts on her and Scout)
Before the questions, here's some general information about her:
~A month or two ago she finally came out of brummation and has been quite active.

~Her physical exam at the vet on January 11, 2012 went well and she got an A'okay.

~She hasn't had a fecal done yet for this year.

~She's eating her salads (normally mustard greens and acorn squash, though lately we've given them turnip greens, mustard greens, and butternut squash, she's hardly touched these on her own)

~She's eaten a few superworms (we haven't been offering live too often since they came out of brummation)(she ate like maybe 5 just the other day and refused to eat any today)

~Her tummy is normally pretty clear of stress marks (just took her off of the windowsill where she was gazing outside and she's got stress marks--but I think it's just 'cause she wants to get outside)

~I don't know her age, I was told she was a few years old when I rescued her (I've had her for a year now)

~From nose to tail tip she's about 12 1/2 inches (she's missing a good portion of her tail---I adopted her that way)

~I also bathe or orally give her water several times a week (I'm trying to get back into habbit of soaking her since she came out of brummation)

~poops pretty much every day--even when she hasn't eaten anything. They don't stink and aside from being small ('cause she's not eating as much) they seem pretty normal.

~Last year she had a high coccidia count. We worked on treating it and while she appeared and acted better, her count was still high. The vet told me if she was seeming better then we didn't have to treat her anymore. I try to be pretty good at cleaning her cage after she poo's and she hasn't had any health issues or signs of parasites yet (that I'm aware of).

Setup Details:
~40 gal. breeder
~tile substrate
~a cave to bask on and hide in
~artificial branch to climb and get near UVB
~Been trying to keep her basking temps between 95-100 degrees
~recently added a dig-box with some guiena pig pellets (however it's irrelevant to her current issues as they cropped up before I got the dig box)(and she's only gone into the box just to stare at me and tell me to let her out of her cage)
~100 watt lightbulb for heat lamp (I do believe it's a regular 100W bulb since her last one died)
~Reptisun 10.0 UVB bulb


Now, the issues.
The very first thing we've noticed with her that's kinda odd are the scrappy scales on her tummy. I addressed these when I took her to the vet in January and she told me not to worry about them. I still find them odd. I'm not sure this is the best picture, but they look kinda wrinkled and old. I'm not sure if they're old scales or stuck shed.

One of the next issues I noticed was her scraped knee. Now, I'm not sure if this is just from her "glass-dancing" and jumping and running amuck (supervised! amuck), or if it's from something else. She's taken a couple tumbles from the windowsill as she tries to jump on it (or as she's glass-dancing at the window on the sill), but I've been trying to help her get up so she doesn't fall so much)

The next thing I really noticed while sitting with her and petting her head was that her head feels a little shrunken in (right behind her eyes). Along with that, her eyes seem shrunken in. I'm not sure it could be deydration since she gets soaked often enough.

And then I noticed her tail seems much skinnier at the base than normal. Now, she's never had as thick of a tail base as Scout does (but him being male has something to do with that, I'm sure), but her base seems extra thin lately.

I figured I'd ask on here first before forking out money for another vet visit.

If anyone has any idea on what could be going on with her, I'd really appreciate it! I'm not sure if she just needs to put some more weight on after coming out of brummation, or what. This is the second year we've had Riza and the first time dealing with an actual brummation.

I hope my novel of information and pictures can help, but if there's any other information I can provide, let me know! I'll see what I can do.

Thanks in advance.

 

[AHBD]

Looks like she just needs to put on a little weight, that will come in time. Bright eyed+ healthy looking, just keep up the hydration and offer her fave insects and lots of greens. My dragons love dandelion flowers, so if you have any in a clean, pesticide free area you might want to try some. The knee can be treated with Neosporin, just like we would for ourselves. No need for constant betadine soaks. You could also try raw honey diluted with warm water applied with a Q-tip. But A.B. cream is fine. She looks over all O.K. to me.

 

[Ranger87]

Looks like she just needs to put on a little weight, that will come in time. Bright eyed+ healthy looking, just keep up the hydration and offer her fave insects and lots of greens. My dragons love dandelion flowers, so if you have any in a clean, pesticide free area you might want to try some. The knee can be treated with Neosporin, just like we would for ourselves. No need for constant betadine soaks. You could also try raw honey diluted with warm water applied with a Q-tip. But A.B. cream is fine. She looks over all O.K. to me.

Great! Thank you for the reply! I'm happy to hear this. I never really considered too hard that she might need to put on weight (she's been a flabby/chunky Dragon since I've had her, even though she's been running around). I'll definately try to offer her supers a little more often if she'll take them.

As for the knee, I'll hunt down some Neosporin and put a bit on, thank you!

 

[Ranger87]

Truns out Riza is/was gravid. I didn't know she was, but she just laid 16 infertile eggs. :shock:

If anyone has any information on what to do now (I'm skimming boards as we speak) that would be great!

This is the first healthy year she's had with us, so we weren't entirely expecting this.

 

[Ranger87]

Up to 18 infertile eggs right now.

We soaked her (she ended up laying two in the tub--we thought she was finished before we put her in)
I've got to make her some more salad and then we're off to get some crickets to have on hand (we have some superworms, but no crickets)

 

[AHBD]

Her appetite should pick back up now. Just feed her pretty much all she wants, calcium dust every other day, and regular soaks for hydration. If she doesn't eat much the first few days, dust all her feeders, or the salad until she's eating well to be sure she gets enough calcium. Be aware that she may lay more than 1 clutch, so 2-3 weeks from now you may have a repeat. They can lay 4,5,6 and more clutches, but not usually the first year. She may just lay this one, possibly 2. Just feed her well and she'll do the rest. There is a tutorial in the breeding section all about what to do so you can be ready with a laying box next time.

 

[Ranger87]

Her appetite should pick back up now. Just feed her pretty much all she wants, calcium dust every other day, and regular soaks for hydration. If she doesn't eat much the first few days, dust all her feeders, or the salad until she's eating well to be sure she gets enough calcium. Be aware that she may lay more than 1 clutch, so 2-3 weeks from now you may have a repeat. They can lay 4,5,6 and more clutches, but not usually the first year. She may just lay this one, possibly 2. Just feed her well and she'll do the rest. There is a tutorial in the breeding section all about what to do so you can be ready with a laying box next time.

Thank you for the info! :lol: I did see the tutorial in the breeding section and took a look at the relevant information. I'll keep an eye on Riza and when the three week mark comes see about getting her a lay box ready. I don't know if she's laid eggs before, so I have no clue if this is her first clutch or not. I've only had her for a year, and she was full grown when I rescued her.

She hasn't eaten the salad I put in for her yet, but I went and got her some crickets and baby food to help get her appetite up.