Dexter... 3 years old and never knew what heat was.

[MeatHead]

Over all Dexter is doing better. He has started to put on some more weight and is still eating fairly good except for today, he didn't seem to want a lot. We are still soaking 2 times a day in the bath and working with the baby food and phoenix worms. He doesn't seem to want those but we may have ruined those for him for a bit. He would nom on a pw then we would either squirt calcium or antibiotic in his mouth. So right now I think he is associating those with meds. He loves the hornworms though. lol

We are still working on building him his massive new kingdom. Its kinda depressing putting him back in his 40 gal aquarium every day. The reason it is sad is its a 40 long and not a 40 breeder tank that is deeper. He has NO room to turn around. He loves getting out and cruizin around too. We bought him a new blankie for him to sleep on and he loves it. We cant wait to get his new viv done. We just got back from Home Depot a couple hours ago, got him some cool tile for the bottom of his new house.

 

[Freddiemom]

That was very cute. I like how you guys wiped his chin every so often. Messy buggers when they eat aren't they? Star likes to wipe her little face on my chin when she's done. I hope he's back to being a healthy beardie soon for you! He sounds like a keeper!

 

[MeatHead]

Dexter left us a fresh fecal sample to take to the vet this morning. The tech said nothing out of the normal ! ! So that is very good news to hear. We wont have to give him any more meds. He is pretty much refusing the baby food any more. He dove right into his greens and ate almost all of them and is eating the worms too. I guess hes ready.

I do have a question though I don't know if anyone might have any idea's or not as to why this is. His back always and i mean always stays straight as a board. Does any one have any clues? I am wondering if it may have to do with the living conditions he had while growing up and the lack of nutrition. Maybe his vertebra didn't form properly while he was growing?? I am totally confused.

Other than that little tid bit of confusion he seems to be going strong, we are on our way to a healthy dragon!

 

[ez2bbad64]

aaawww hes so cute its so kind of you to take the poor little guy in!

 

[Freddiemom]

That is a bunch of good news! Glad he's chowing down. You're doing a great job with him

 

[ChellyBeans]

He may just want his back to be like that or he just needs more time to develop muscle in his body overall. Laying flat for your entire life is bound to have it's effects. I wouldn't worry about it. Everything looks even. If there is a deformity, usually you could clearly see it.

He is doing awesome! We need pictures and a video soon!

 

[Freeie]

Yes pictures and a video sounds wonderful

Im so glad hes doing so well

 

[beardieluv]

Any updates I wanna see a picture of his (hopefully) fat bellllyyy

 

[MeatHead]

He has finally started to develop a small pancake. Slowly but surely he is putting on weight. Eating everything from the baby food still, to phoenix worms, hornworms, and some wax worms, and LOTS of veggies. He is starting to have regular bowel movements. hooray for poopie! Never thought I would be excited about defecating until we got him. Poor guy. He has started to take his baths in the bathtub now that his legs are starting to get stronger. We are letting him out daily for him to get exercise and start to develop some more muscle and get to be a strong little boy. He made dookie in the tub today so maybe we will have two poopers who will go in the bath! That would be nice.

He is starting to show signs that he has some very small amounts of retained shed coming off. I just cant wait for him to do a full shed and get that nasty off. He loves his fluffy soft blankie we got him and sleeps in it every night. Ken is working on his new viv, just did some grouting today! He picked out some beautiful tile for the bottom of his viv, I am kinda jealous! Hopefully his home will be done soon, there really isn't much left to be done. He did the grout, so all that needs to be done is the light fixtures, the front closure and to put on the outside vents. I think that is about it. He is also making him some viv furniture that is just about done as well. I CANT WAIT to get the poor thing out of the tank he is in now. It is the tank he came in which is the 40gal long. Poor guy has a hard time turning around in it.

Tomorrow we have our 2nd vet visit. Tomorrow is to do some blood work and a check up. I love our vet! They have called every couple/few days since we took him to check on him and see how he is doing. Amazing. It is so hard to find a good vet that actually cares about your pets as much as you do. So hopefully everything checks out with his blood work. Does anyone have any ideas what they might be looking for? I have no clue.

Well that is all for right now, hopefully we can get some more pics and maybe a video soon! Again I would like to thank everyone for the continued help you have all given.

 

[Goonie]

Hooray for regular poopies!!!!

I totally had a smile from ear to ear while reading the entire update post. I was also imagining how happy both you and Ken were to see him use his legs in the "big boy tub". You guys are such great slaves

As for the blood work, maybe the vet just wanted to be sure that all of his levels (protein, white/red blood count, electrolytes, etc.) are ok. It's always good to have a baseline blood work done so they'd have something to compare it to. And I'm so glad that your vet had been calling to checkup on him. What a great guy!


I'd love to see pics of Dexter all snuggled up in his blankies -- no pressure :mrgreen:

 

[MeatHead]

Ok, they took his blood and I spoke with one of the vet tech's today. Clean bill of health for Dexter!! So now all we need to do is get his strength up, build up some muscle and get some weight on. Got in a fresh order of hornworms about a half hour ago. Yum Yum dinner tonight! He loves them. I will see what I can do about getting a couple updated pics on here for everyone.

 

[Goonie]

Yay! Congrats on Dexter having a clean bill of health
I'm sure you're all very relieved that his blood work came back negative for anything. I know I am and he's not even mine

 

[TASTIGER]

omg i just read through this im so glad Dexter got a clean bill of health. congratz!!

 

[MeatHead]

Here are a few more recent pictures.

Here he is showing his pancake. Its starting to look like its gonna be a big fluffy one!

Here he is giving some stink eye cause he is getting sleepy. Is it bed time yet mom?

And last but not least, bed time pictures with his fuzzy blankie!

I am slowly but surely starting to find small pieces of shed that are falling off. Finally, I hate to imagine how long that has been there. He got a glimpse of Meat Head when we had her out yesterday. She ran right past him she was so excited to get out after not being out for 48 hours (you would have thought it was a week lol) she didn't even notice him right away. Oh but he noticed her and tried to give a little bob to get her attention. It was cute. Trying to keep her and Cora away from him, don't want him getting too excited!

 

[beardieluv]

Oh wow, he looks SO much better already. I applaud you And whereeeee did you get that blankie?! It looks so comfy, i want one for myself haha I bet his little bob was super cute :love5: