Dewey's Thread: Updated: 9/6/12 He's Very Sick

I received Dewey on 1/13/10. After having him for a couple of days I officially decided to name him Dewey. Since he now has a name I thought I should make a thread dedicated to him so I can share our journey and his growth with all of you.

Being my first beardie, Dewey will always have a very special place in my heart. He's been a pure joy to have so far. Especially now that he's starting to come out of his shell little by little every day. I'm truly excited to see how he will develop in the months to come.

So, enough babble... here are the first set of pictures which I took tonight.

Hanging out on his vine. I wasn't expecting Dewey to be as small as he is. Yesterday was the first time he was seen up on his vine and he was up there again today. He seems to be a pro with navigating it!

Here's Dewey all wrapped up just before bed time.

 

[DeweysMom]

Thanks for checking in on us.

Dewey has been having his ups and downs. He's mostly been sleeping - or should I say resting - in the corner of his viv under his hammock. About a week and a half ago he woke up for a couple of days and then he went back to his corner again. Then, on 4/17 he got up and has been up ever since. Today was the 5th day in a row that he's been awake, alert, and finally eating (no greens though). He's been eating about 2 dubias a day and when he originally got up a week and a half ago I ordered him some butters and hornworms so he's been eating those as well. The hornworms are huge now and I must say that it's absolutely disgusting now when he bites into them, but he seems to love them so I'll live with the mess to keep him happy and healthy.

Here are some recent pics.

3/28/11 - My little sleeping beauty.

3/31/11 - Awake, but chillin' in the corner. He doesn't use his hide so I put a towel over his hammock to give him some darkness.

4/10/11 - He had been awake for a couple of days and it was beautiful outside so I figured I'd bring him out for some sunshine. We were out for close to two hours, but judging by his reaction when I put him back in his viv it just wasn't long enough for him!

4/17/10 - Today he surprised me by being wide awake and alert all day. He was happily basking away. Unfortunately, it wasn't very nice outside so I couldn't bring him back outside.

4/21/10 - TODAY! He's been loving his hornworms!

I could post more from this sequence, but they're pretty gross so I'll just stop here.

Looking VERY content after eating 2 big, fat, and extremely juicy horns!

 

[TASTIGER]

great pictures! deweys looking great

 

[Livey]

Just checking in :wink:

He still a very handsome boy!
Love that little beard on him

 

[fez09]

Hi Mandy! As always, Dewey looks FABULOUS! Even after his "lazy" times, I can't believe that he's such a beefy guy! Hope you had a great Easter weekend!

 

[DeweysMom]

Tastiger - Thank you! I'm hoping to have more pics posted tomorrow.

Liv - Thanks! I think he's quite handsome myself and I do agree that his beard looks great on him.

Kat - Thanks! Dewey lost a little bit of weight during his resting phase, but he's put it back on and then some! I'm beginning to worry though. I don't want him to become overweight. I just weighed him a few minutes before putting him to bed and he weighed in at 655 grams!! He doesn't seem to be overweight to me, but then again he's my first beardie so I don't really know what to look for (if that makes sense).

Anyway, here are a pics of his weigh in. Tomorrow's supposed to be bright, sunny, and warm so I'm hoping to spend some time with him outside.

 

[fez09]

Mandy, I wouldn't worry about him being overweight, I know that he gets plenty of exercise when you let him free roam! He looks very proportionate too, that handsome lil devil!!!

 

[DeweysMom]

Thanks Kat! Unfortunately, Dewey is being a lazy bum again. For the past 3 days he's been staying in his "sleepy corner". He's awake and will look around, but won't move around to much. It's been kind of rainy drizzly here for the past couple of days which may not be helping the situation though. :roll:

 

[beardie osk]

Hi Mandy, I'm trying to catch up, Dewey's such a handsome boy............how is he now, still sleepy? Is he eating on his own, or have you been supplimenting? His fecal was clean, so maybe he was a late brumator, I've had sleepy boys like that before. Keep in touch.

 

[DeweysMom]

Hi Christine, sorry I've been slacking! I've been going through some health issues with my dog Riley, but things are finally looking up for him! Just to recap in case you don't know his story, back in Dec 2010 I almost lost him to cardiomyopathy. Thankfully with meds his heart problem is under control, as much as it can be anyway. A couple of weeks ago he went for a recheck and his bloodwork came back with liver levels 5x higher than they should be so we went yesterday to get an ultrasound done on him which came back clean thankfully! They were worried that he might have masses or tumors inside, but nothing was seen on the ultrasound. Now we're trying to come up with a treatment plan for his liver problem. Never a dull moment with this dog, but he's my baby so I'm doing what it takes to keep him around.

Now for DEWEY!

He's been awake for quite a while now happily basking and eating, mostly hornworms. Dewey LOVES those things! I've been buying an adult cup and a baby cup so by the time the adult cup is gone the babies are just about ready to start to feed off. It's working out pretty well. Our weather hasn't been all that great up until recently so we haven't had many outside days, but this past weekend I did get him out there for an hour or so both days. As long as I hold him he loves it out there! I can't put him down on the ground though. When I do it's like he freezes in fear. I'm happy to hold him though so it all works out.

Here are some recent pics.

5/20 - Lounging before we went outside.

He had all the excitement he could handle apparently because he fell asleep on his basking platform. He very rarely does this.

5/27 - I was late getting home one night and found poor Dewey in this position. I don't know how he could've been comfy, but he sure did look like he was!

 

[beardie osk]

Oh I remember all the problems with Riley, so I'm glad he's doing better, Thanks for the update. That Dewey boy, so handsome, I just can't get enough of him and those black eyes.............always makes me want a translucent. Keep those pics a'comin.......................

 

[DeweysMom]

Wow, it's been a LONG time since I've updated you on Dewey. He just finished going through the weirdest shed he's gone through yet. Just his left front leg, his head, a patch off his back, and his left side (belly). He went to the vets last Thursday for his check up and to get some other issues looked at. He had started to wheeze and I noticed a nostril bubble, but after a thorough check up the vet didn't see anything glaringly wrong. He sent us home with some meds and so far Dewey's been back to normal. No more wheezing or bubbles. If it starts up again, we'll go for more in depth testing.

Today he had a fantastic day! We had a BBQ with family from out of state so I figured since I was sitting out in the sun, I might as well have Dewey with me. So not only did he get to soak up some real sun, he also got to soak up a lot of attention from family. Everyone loved him and he seemed to it too!

It feels like it's been forever since I've added new pics! Tonight after everyone left I decided I'd do a mini photo shoot before Dewey crashed for the night. He's already sound asleep (1 hour early!), I guess being outside for a while will do that! So, anyway here are some pics fresh out of the camera!

Basking away.

Close up!

On his blankie.

Exploring

Showing momma his big boy muscles!

Trying to get comfy on my slippers.

Such a handsome little man.

Back to the slippers.

He weighed in at 594 grams!

Trying to show off the pattern (or lack of) on his back.

Checking out MY bed!

He's tuckered out now! Every now and then he snuggles into the corner so hard that it pulls his lips back or down so it makes his mouth crack open. Goof ball!

 

[DeweysMom]

I took some more pictures of Dewey just in case any of you are still following him. Judging by my last post with no replies, it appears he's lost his fan club. Oh well... mommy still loves him like mad!!

He got off to a very odd start today!! I woke up with the intentions of going whale watching today, but shortly after I woke up, the phone rang and I found out the trip was canceled due to rough seas. I tried going back to sleep, but Dewey seemed to have all the energy in the world as he started to climb the grille on the wall of his cage. This was only about a half hour after his lights went on for the day. He NEVER has this much energy that early!! Later on in the day while he was running around he did a little head bobbing. I'm wondering if he's in that "manly breeding" mood.

Anyway, here are the pics!

 

[spurlee01]

Hi Mandy :wave:
I am still watching your thread and love seeing new pics of Dewey, I'm just bad about not taking the time to reply. Plus baby lyla seems to be against me typing lol.

 

[pudden318]

im also guilty of looking and not replying, dewey has turned into such a handsome man. i just love your pics of him, so keep them coming

 

[BeardyDragon]

hey, um, i noticed that in all of deweys pics, he always has a dark beard?