Darwin

CooperDragon

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Yeah, I'll definitely get him in for a fecal and a checkup in a week or two. I just want to get him settled in and on a steady, healthy diet first and see how he handles it. Perhaps the smelly poops will clear on their own but we'll get it taken care of if not. I just don't want to hit him with the stress of a vet visit right off the bat. We're lucky enough to have a very good reptile vet in town (and access to a teaching hospital for advanced care when needed).
I picked up a turkey roasting pan to act as his bathtub. They worked really well for Coop and Dundee. Portable, has carrying handles, is the right size, and is easy to clean. He's only had a quick dip to rinse off his bum but it didn't seem to stress him out too much which is good. Overall he's doing much better than I expected when I first saw him. Slowly but surely but so far so good! =)
 

sweetiepie9

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I'm so glad and yes, you're right, it's not the vet visit so much as the meds. Are you giving him a probiotic every day? That would also help his gut. Benebac or acidophilus are good ones.
And you can get Benebac in pet shops, usually.

He looks really good, just skinny, in the picture of his basking.
 

sweetiepie9

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Give him 1 ml daily, it will definitely help his appetite and his digestive system.
Can't overdo probiotics when they're rescued.
 

Heyimbrit

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I'm so excited that you got another one! I've missed reading Dundee's updates. This guy is such a cutie! When he starts eating more I'll send you some cactus leaf like I promised to do.
 

CooperDragon

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Thanks =). He's eating his greens surprisingly well. I'm still holding off on bugs until we get his stomach settled though. He's on Carnivore Care for protein but will only eat about 1ml per day or so. He loves the bene-bac and drinks plenty of water. Will get him into the vet later this week or next week for a fecal test to confirm my suspicion of parasites. Makes me wonder if he was given up because he became a "stinky dragon" in his sand filled tank. He's doing so well otherwise. VERY curious and loves exploring the house.
 

CooperDragon

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Same setup Dundee and Coop had with some new furniture. He's been calm late this afternoon but he was literally bouncing off the walls earlier and upended a bunch of stuff and pooped so he needed a tank cleaning over lunch break. Got a bath, new tile, and had to take out one of his logs, rock, and water dish and put in a new salad. Since then he's just been lounging around from the looks of it. Will bake his tile and log and steam clean his water bowl and rock when I get home.

Found out that our vet left the practice and is now working in a town about an hour away. He has an appointment with her on Thursday so a fecal test can be done. The local hospital has another "exotics" specialist but I've worked with our regular vet for years and she's helped Coop and Dundee so I trust her and know what to expect. Worth the extra drive in my opinion. Hopefully the new practice has in house lab equipment so testing can be done on site like before.
 

CooperDragon

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Road trip to Minnesota went well. He was curious and looked out the window a lot. Didn't seem too stressed by the ride which was great. Got back late tonight so he slept a lot on the ride back. The playpen worked pretty well for a portable enclosure. He was able to climb out of it but stayed put for the most part. He had plenty of room and a good heat gradient and it was SO much easier to lug around than a big glass tank.
Vet visit tomorrow so he gets another car ride. Poor guy hasn't had much time to settle in and enjoy his home this week.
I got the Herpstat 2 in the mail today and set it up for him. I don't have the heat projector yet so it's only controlling the basking light for now. I have it set to slowly bring the light up in the AM and bring the temps up to daytime level over the course of 90 min and then slowly go back down over 90 min in the evening. UVB is still on a regular timer and will come on after the basking light hits full temp. Will set the second outlet to control the heat projector and keep the nighttime temps up. Should be a nice improvement but I'm sure it will take quite a bit of fiddling to get it just right.

On the ride up, looking out the front window.
76248-2612385284.jpg

In his playpen
76248-2183040744.jpg
 

sweetiepie9

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He's already looking better and sure enjoyed the road trip. That playpen is wonderful, even if he could get out. Thanks for sharing. Hope all goes well at the vet
 

CooperDragon

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Got some good news at the vet. She agreed with me that he's either a bit younger than a year or his growth has been stunted by improper diet/lighting. She was amazed at how far he's come in just a week. She thought dehydration must have been his major issue since he has thrived since getting enough water. Ran a fecal test and found a few pinworm eggs but not a big deal which is a huge relief. We're going to continue providing him with a balanced diet, probiotics, plenty of hydration, and clean living conditions and see if he can fight it off on his own in a few weeks. Gave him some steroid eye drops for inflammation in one of his nostrils and irritated eye on one side. No debris was found in his eye but she gave it a rinse anyway. Going to start introducing some live bugs to his diet now. He just isn't having it with the Carnivore Care anymore and I think he's active enough that's fine. Will give him a handful of dubia every few days. He's still really into his salads and eating well so that will continue to be his staple. Becoming a curious ball of energy. He's really fun to watch and interact with. I gave him a few dubias as a reward for being good at the vet and he hunted down his fill of about 4 or 5 and stopped. I snapped a video of him hunting a freshly shed dubia.

https://vimeo.com/153425256
 

sweetiepie9

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So glad he had a good vet visit and hardly any eggs? That's wonderful, he should be able to fight those off himself. Loved the video, he is a great hunter and the dubia are soft shelled enough that it won't bother his digestion. All in all, he's lucky he found you to take care of him, he's just thriving!
 

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Clapton is acclimating okay I think. He's quick as lightning so I'm not sure how much I should bring him out of his house yet. He's not at all interested in his salad though. I wonder if I should change what I'm giving him. Least he's eating his crickets.

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