Dude - *New and Improved

[MissT]

Yeah, as Freeie said, squash is a great way to get some weight on to them so if hes eating his salad them you could just chop up some squash and put it on top I think protein should be kept to recommended amounts as well.... with the care he has recieved previously, he could easily be overloaded!

Im sure he will be a totally different dragon in no time!! Keep us updated!!

Good luck!

T

 

[Neromom39]

Thank you so much for the responses! They pretty much confirmed what my gut already told me. I just wish next Saturday would get here so I could take him to the vet. The one we go to is one of the best in Southern California so I'm confident that he will help us get him back on track. I can tell you though, the slow recovery process will be a good lesson for my type A personality. I am one of those that likes to see instant results, and I don't think that will be the case in this instance. :mrgreen:

 

[kiyohime]

Oh my! I just saw the pictures of Zilla. He looks so sad. I know he'll get better, he seems like a trooper. I think everyone is on the right track with worms (silkworms, hornworms, butter worms and/or phoenix worms) and baby food. Mulberry farms (http://www.mulberryfarms.com) offers all of these worms and I would suggest purchasing some for your other beardies to enjoy, too! I am worried about getting too many nutrients in his system immediately, because his body might not be used to it.

When I got Kiyo from the pet store, she was a juvie being fed 6-10 crickets a day and romaine lettuce. I eased Kiyo into more calcium enriched foods (dusted crickets and silkworms) and she has done well by it, but she wasn't as malnourished as Zilla looks. I can't wait to see how he looks in a couple months.

I am so happy that Zilla found a good home. When I came up on the post on craigslist I wanted to adopt him SO bad, but I did not have the means to do so. When I'm older and more stable I would love to have the opportunity to rescue beardies (and other reptiles).

Bless you, Robin, for taking Zilla into your home.

 

[Neromom39]

I am so happy that Zilla found a good home. When I came up on the post on craigslist I wanted to adopt him SO bad, but I did not have the means to do so. When I'm older and more stable I would love to have the opportunity to rescue beardies (and other reptiles).

Bless you, Robin, for taking Zilla into your home.

Thank You Kiyohime for finding him! I would have been just as happy to see one of the other posters get him, however I am so glad he is here. Just in the couple of days he has been here, the UVBs have done him wonders. He is no longer gray, but still not sure what his color really is. No matter. He ate some baby food squash off of a spoon this evening (attacked the spoon is more like it). I broke down and gave that to him after two days of not touching his salad. Once he was done, I went ahead and sprinkled some of the squash on his greens in hopes of enticing him over to his bowl before bath time. I'm really anxious to see what he weighs when we go to the vet on Saturday.

I just love how he looks at me when I talk to him. :love5:

 

[msmaui]

Awwww!! I'm so happy for him.

 

[kiyohime]

Robin, please let us know how the vet appointment went. I would also love to see photos now that you've had him for about 2 weeks!

 

[beardlover]

yes, how was the vet?

 

[Neromom39]

I haven't forgotten I was actually waiting to get some good pictures of Zilla so I could post them with my updates of his visit to the beardie doctor. I am almost positive you will see a difference in just the week and a half that we have had him.

I am at work right now but I PROMISE I will make the hubby upload my pictures tonight and I will give everyone a full update.

Until later.

-Robin

 

[beardlover]

I can't wait for pictures! I'm so glad Zilla is doing good.

Thank you so much for taking on such a task as getting this guy healthy. The world would benifit from more people like you :notworthy:

 

[neecie]

Looking forward to the photos.................BUT, what did the vet say??????

 

[Neromom39]

OK, I know, I know, I said I would do this a couple of ago, but I think I have two options if I want to get anything done when it comes to posting pictures: 1. Change my name to Guitar Hero - Metallica so then my husband would move faster and transfer the pictures from the camera to my laptop or, 2. just learn how to do it myself :roll: I think option 2 is my best bet...

Anywho, the vet visit went surprisingly well. Mr Zilla weighs 277 grams, which of course for a 2+ year old dragon is severly underweight, but he weighs more than I thought he did so it's a start. Aside from his color and his lack of fat stores, the vet says he looks pretty good. No signs of MBD I was hoping that the little guy would poop for me before we went so we could take care of everything at once, but of course he didn't cooperate..... until we sat him on the cold stainless steel table. Then UP goes the tail and SQUIIIIIRT!! The vet was kind enough to do a preliminary fecal while we were there and he does have coccidia, but the counts are low so he out him on the same treatment as Nero (who has been fighting the damn things for two months now) and hopefully in 30 days we will have 3 healthy dragons. The vet was kind enough to take some extra time with us so we could discuss feeding (butterworms to help fatten him up) and plenty of salad. And I even received a follow up call on Tuesday to check up on him. I really love our vet. The great thing about his practice is that they only specialize in exotic animals. No dogs or cats. Strictly avian and exotics.

So here are some pictures of Zilla after a week and half:


My favorite yet


This one is a bit blurry


You can actually see some yellow coloring (yea! no more gray)


I hope it doesn't take too long for him to gain some weight. I think that is my biggest fear. His viv setup is perfect, his temps are perfect, we are feeding him what he needs to eat, I just need to see some FATNESS! (Patience Type A personality, patience )

So I hope that everyone can see the improvement. We can. Just the fact that he isn't gray anymore thrills me to no end.. And while most everyone else gets the "beardie death glare" I have the pleasure of being graced with "what the heck?!" look. I am hoping to catch this ever elusive glare on camera so I can share with everyone. It is quite hilarious..

 

[beardlover]

Thanks for the update! Zilla is looking much better...much happier then he did in that craig's list ad.
I'm glad to hear that he isn't in as bad of shape as we all feared.

 

[Freeie]

Oh lookie at Zilla Im sure his colors will get brighter for you. I'm so glad you got him. I bet with some of those butterworms he will be one fattie in no time!

 

[kiyohime]

Wow! Zilla looks so much better now! I'm so happy that you're taking care of him. I'm glad that he doesn't have anything terribly wrong with him (besides the coccidia..and the skinniness). Keep up the good work and keep us updated!

 

[Neromom39]

It has been a month since we rescued Zilla and I wanted to wait until this point to post just in case for some reason he was worse off than we thought. But that is not the case and he is doing GREAT!!!

When we first took him to the vet, he only weighed 246 grams and had coccidia. The coccidia is gone and we have since acquired a scale so we have been able to monitor his weight (as well as the others of course) of the past month. As of this past Sunday he now weighs 292 grams and he is finally shedding! I think the shedding is what makes the most happy, because I don't think the poor thing has shed in a long time. We measured his lenth and he is only 14 inches long and he is between 2-3 years old, so his growth has been severely stunted . But I amazed at the color that is underneath all of the gray and brown calci-sand scales that are coming off of him. He appears to be white with yellow around his eyes. And he is now the best eater. And he loves to be talked to. He looks at me as if he is hanging on to every word I say.

I have taken pictures of the "new color" so I will have the hubby upload them tonight so I can share. I am so excited!