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.

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.

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

Update 1/10/2021
Awoken from brumation#2. 119 days.

 

[xp29]

They are both pretty dragons.

 

[DorgEndo]

Bad news Quetzal had stomach cancer. Very bad. He passed because I decided to end his pain. I didn't post anything when I made the decision. He had crashed and seemed to pop up and recover, and I promised if he crashed again I would end his pain. So that happened. I'm very heartbroken over it. Beardies are such beautiful sweet creatures. Even if he wasn't in my life for long he left a mark to last forever

 

[DorgEndo]

Anyway. I will immediately do a 180° subject change!

Time for some vertigo (because I have to cope somehow)


Devlyn pooped 71 times in 2022

She was awake for 282 days, 83 days of 2022 she spent in brumation, and it was a normal 365 day year

Devlyn spent 5 days on QD topical betadine baths and BID silver sulfadiazine due to a left rear foot injury (loose staple broke the skin) then later she spent 14 days on oral medications for infection of bacterial gastroenteritis (flagyl x 5 days and baytril x 14 days)

I made a little graph if it uploaded correctly for how often Devlyn ate on the 184 days she ate food. Of course this graph doesn't show my notes like 1 bite of banana or ate all her greens. I didn't offer food only a few times when she hadn't pooped in awhile

I want to make this up in a PowerPoint or video or something. I always hated doing that in school and now I want to do such a thing! Lol, maybe I should contact one of my teachers and ask them to make me a rubric so I have a path to follow

 

[DorgEndo]

So Devlyn ate 64.4% of the time when awake

But if I change the numbers to include days she slept. She ate food on only 46% of the days in 2022. Slightly less than half the total days. Crazy! Devlyn doesn't like to eat but she looks so fat in all her pictures

I'll have to do a count where I pie chart the days she ate in an overlap of just bugs, greens/fruit and bugs, or just greens/fruit. I think combining greens/fruit will make for a neater easy to read pie chart

I also have to add up the total for many times she ate her supplements. Devlyn is a special case with calcium because she gets hypercalcemia easy. My goodness I might get hate if I share how many times she got calcium ... promise to not hate me please

 

[DorgEndo]

I'm gonna get questions I feel it ...

In 2022 I added the number of times Devlyn ate her supplements. I offered her supplements more, but she often refuses to eat food with supplements on top, mixed in, or other tricks I try to pull on her.

Calcium (plain)	25 days
Calcium with D3	7 days
Multivitamin	17 days
Bee pollen	10 days
Probiotic powder	19 days

So out of the 184 days Devlyn ate food, if she had eaten Calcium three times a week the number would be 79 days. If she had eaten Calcium twice per week the number would be 52.5 days. If she had eaten Calcium once per week that number would be 26 days.

Between calcium and calcium with D3 the total days was 32 where she ate her calcium. Well dang Devlyn. Good thing you are the rare case. If you are reading this Devlyn has had/continues to be monitored for hypercalcemia. I offer her calcium only twice per week instead of the usual three. This schedule and getting her regular blood chemistries has worked well to keep her blood level calcium on a normal level.

I also rarely give calcium with D3. I only give the calcium with D3 a few times before brumating and if she is sick, so when she had antibiotics I gave her calcium with D3.

 

[DorgEndo]

Reposting the bug, greens, and fruit list to be prettier.

167 total insects! Of ourse sometimes it was a small dubia roach and other times a subadult. So the numbers don't wholly reflect what she did. Just know if there could be a size difference offered a size difference.

List of total bugs eaten in 2022
34 hornworms
19 superworms
46 dubia roaches
62 BSFL
3 mealworms
6 wax worms

Other protein in 2022
5 bites of cooked chicken egg
1 pinky mouse

Days	Leafy green/vegetable
40	baby arugula
10	arugula microgreens
21	arugula sprouts
3	pea shoots
20	collard greens
13	oak salad mix
33	red bell pepper
17	orange bell pepper
5	yellow bell pepper
1	purple bell pepper
19	radicchio
7	red dandelion greens
2	normal dandelion flower
6	cilantro leaves
10	Johnny jump ups
1	morel mushroom bite
6	butternut squash
1	carrot
1	wheat grass
2	baby cucumber
1	balloon flower leaf
2	baby kale
1	baby spinach
1	zucchini
1	acorn squash
2	mustard greens

Total amount of fruit	Fruit
5 bites	banana
2 bites	strawberry
27 whole fruits	blueberry

Devlyn finally figured out blueberries are good after not even trying them for years. Apparently I took that as an excuse to get all the blueberries

 

[xp29]

No questions here, just sincere condolences and prayers

 

[DorgEndo]

Finally handling Devlyn. I don't like disturbing her when she first wakes up. Checked her weight, 438 grams. She ate a lot of bell pepper today so she is very much due to poop

Her last poop was October something

She had some weird scales by her vent. Not worried, just different. Almost every brumation Devlyn wakes up then gets a problem on her scales. I've given her different things to brumate with. This year she choose cork bark round. Tomorrow I can give her a bath (it's her bedtime now) to hopefully wash off the weird scales

 

[DorgEndo]

Work distracting me, I didn't post on 2/9 that it was Devlyn's 4 year gotcha day anniversary. I got her at 6 months old. So she's 4.5 years old now. Yay Devlyn!

 

[xp29]

HAPPY GOTCHA DAY!!!

 

[DorgEndo]

Devlyn's latest vet visit results

I'm actually going to get a second opinion on her from a Dr. Andrew Bean later this year. She lets herself get dehydrated and her calcium is high again. She's good, but these things reoccur so I want a new opinion on her enclosure, lights, heat, and all her foods

I'm working my way through every high quality in my state. Minnesota is sea of good healthcare (people and animals) surrounded by lets-not-get-into-it situation. I'm fortunate to have several good options to consult with that aren't hundreds of miles away

Test	Devlyn	Range
WBC estimate	5.5	2.8-14.6 1000/µL
HCT	40 HIGH	23-39%
RBC morphology	normal	na
Blood parasites	none seen	na
Heterophils	73%	na
Absolute heterophils	4015	1146-6238 /µL
Toxic changes	Mild toxic changes Döhle bodies are incorporated into the semi-quantitative grading system of toxic change.	none
Bands	0%	na
Absolute bands	0	na
Lymphocytes	22%	na
Absolute lymphocytes	1210	363-8171 /µL
Monocytes	1%	na
Absolute monocytes	55	10-1078 /µL
Eosinophils	1%	na
Absolute eosinophils	55	3-364 /µL
Basophils	1%	na
Absolute basophils	55	13-820 /µL
Azurophillic monocytes	2%	na
Absolute azurophillic monocytes	110	5-1540 /µL
Thrombocyte estimate	adequate	na

Pathology review: I have reviewed the blood smear and agree with the CBC findings. The red cell morphology appears within normal limits. No blood parasites are observed. The white cell count and differential are confirmed. A very slight degree of toxic change is observed among the neutrophils heterophils which may be nonspecific or could indicate mild inflammation. All lymphocytes are small and well-differentiated. Thrombocytes appear adequate.

What I get from the pathology review and bloodwork is the possible inflammation and high hematocrit. Devlyn is not a good drinker. She has been overly wrinkly to my observations. I did give some water by syringe but it's limited. I bath her. She enjoys baths, but she doesn't drink. The toxic changes are worrisome because that has never been a result before, but I will work on more opportunities to provide water. She eats bell peppers regularly as a high moisture food. The struggle to keep her hydrated continues. I don't know how to get her to naturally drink.

Test	Devlyn	Range
Total protein	4.2 g/dL	3.3-7.3 g/dL
Albumin	2.4 g/dL	1.5-3.7 g/dL
Globulin	1.8 g/dL	1.3-3.9 g/dL
SGOT (AST)	17 IU/L	3-75 IU/L
BUN	2 mg/dL	1-4 mg/dL
Phosphorus	9.7 mg/dL	2.3-9.4 mg/dL
Glucose	178 mg/dL	129-293 mg/dL
Calcium	29.2 mg/dL	6.8-22.7 mg/dL
Ca : P ratio	3:1	2:1 typically
Sodium	158 mEq/L	143-173 mEq/L
Potassium	5 mEq/L	2.6-6.1 mEq/L
Chloride	113 mEq/L	103-145 mEq/L
CPK	699 IU/L	17-3421 IU/L
Uric Acid	1.9 mg/dL	1.2-8.4 mg/dL

Sample conditions: Lipemia 2+ No significant interference.

Again calcium is high. I'm not concerned about phosphorus being high related to food. Her phosphorus raises if the calcium raises and also lowers when calcium lowers. Her food sources should not be causing this. She gets calcium once per week as a supplement. I can't ethically go any lower.

Honestly I just ordered the real UV solarmeter so I can double check her enclosure. Especially the spots she hangs out. Even though she is usually 2feet away from her UVB source maybe it's too bright. I've always gotten Arcadia T5 bulbs and aimed to give her high quality UVB. If I'm over doing it on her house and giving too much UVB I need to check myself

We also got new x-rays! I wanted to make sure her skull looks good because one spot of her teeth have had black tartar since I got her. It doesn't spread but I worry. The vet went into x-ray overload a bit because Devlyn is so "behaved" she got 4 films made. I was thinking of just 2 because it is radiation but I never said don't do more than 2 and they didn't charge me extra so I guess, I'll enjoy the sweet boney Devlyn views. Will upload x-rays next. X-rays look good

 

[DorgEndo]

 

[DorgEndo]

Solarmeter came today

The hot spot reading is 6.5 under the mercy vapor bulbs. It's a rather small area that is the full 6.5. Her pancake can encompass the entire 6.5 if she places herself in the right spot

The middle enclosure basking spot goes to 4.5. 95°F or less

The cool side basking spots are around 1-2 depending on where she goes. 82°F typically

I'm not over-UVBing according to the solarmeter 6.5 Ferguson zones. By Devlyn's behavior she will use the hot spot 6.5 UVB ... about 110°F hot spot for an hour some days. She doesn't spend much time in the hot hot hot spot. Then she moved to the other basking zones. The floor is 1.0 and 0.0 in many places. Plus the hides to escape light and heat during the day.

DEVLYN WHY IS YOUR CALCIUM ALWAYS SO HIGH?!

 

[xp29]

For hydration you can add some none citrus fruit juice or punch to her water for flavor, i don't recommend using a syringe to give water, there is to much risk of aspiration. An eyedropper is a safer alternative. Some dragons (A.K.A. Zen are incredibly stubborn) if she is and won't start lapping you can place your hand over her head in the shape of a C. Your thumb will be underneath her chin. Their lower lip is very easy to pull slightly open this way. Just use the eyedropper to put a little outside their teeth (don't try to force it past the teeth, again it could aspirate her). Once she taste the fruity flavor she should start lapping it, and should drink it off her nose on her own.

One other recommendation, use a wet cloth to wipe away any that runs down her chin. No need in taking a chance of starting a fungal or bacterial infection in her scales from the fruit juice.

 

[DorgEndo]

My sister sent me a giant cholla wood! She lives in Arizona, and Mt parents just visited by driving. So I ask if she knows anywhere that would have a nice piece of cholla. Holy moly. This is huge!!!

It's "upsidedown" right now but I don't know how I'm going to use it. This will be a project to get this working for her