I got Razual back -- hello again from 2008!

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boxers

Hatchling Member
So Richie moved out last year and took his share of the pets with him, which included Razual. And let's just summarize by saying that I was needed to take him back, so I did.

Razual was transported to me yesterday, looking thin and kind of dark. His uvb is outdated, but I've already purchased a replacement and will be installing it tomorrow once I pick up a new starter for the fixture, which is apparently broken. His poop tonight is extremely runny with hardly any urate. (I used flash to get a picture tonight, it seemed like it might be important.) I bathed him last night, and I think this is why the poop was runny, I was told that he has not had a bath in "forever". And I don't know when he last ate anything other than vegetables, as the dubia colony reportedly became too much maintenance; I assume this is the main factor of his head looking bony...

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So so so. After fixing the uvb and getting him some crickets tomorrow, is there anything else I should do special for him? I don't want to shock his system in any way, but it seems about the time that he ought to be brumating so I want to fatten him up first. :(
 

ashleyelsha

Juvie Member
Has he been getting calcium supplements for the last year? I would make sure you dust the crickets with some calcium plus D3 in the meantime. With the UVB being outdated and an improper diet I would be afraid there could be some risk of MBD.
 

boxers

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
He pooped this morning and it was much better formed, so I'm less frightened of that now and focusing my attention on rebuilding his strength and gaining weight. He seems to have lost a lot of muscle mass, as he struggled a bit dragging himself up his basking platform, and his limbs/head/belly do seem particularly thin and/or empty. It's really upsetting to see how far he was allowed to deteriorate.

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((I tried to flip him over to get a picture of those awful little thighs, and he's so weak he couldn't even flip himself right side up :( ))

I highly doubt that he had been receiving any calcium powder... I just set up his new ReptiSun, should I still get some calcium for him? He ate 18 large crickets today and had another (shorter) bath beforehand. His color brightened up a bit temporarily. He just seems sooo hungry again now that it's been a few hours, he was really interested in my fingers when I was fiddling with the lights. He's got both UVB and basking light on a timer for 8am - 8pm.

I notice that the Beautiful Dragons feeding list is no longer up; does anyone know of a comparable list? It was so useful with the color coding. :/ From what I remember, the best things to feed him the most often were kale, collard green, mustard green, dandelion green, squashes... with other vegetables and fruits being occasionally mixed in for variety, like carrot and spinach, and I remember that he HATED the strawberry I once let him taste :roll:

Here are some pictures of him in less embarrassing poses, in which you can see how his face is sunken (particularly behind the eyes) but he's still so handsome and I'm so so happy to have him back before anything worse happened.

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LadyMeridius

Hatchling Member
My girl was underweight and Ive been able to get her to gain weight with horn worms. She loves them and one worm equals about 36 crickets nutritionally. She'll also eat some fruits and veggies, but there is no love like the horn worms.
 

diamc

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Poor thing. Please DON'T flip him on his back again, they don't have a diaphragm and his lungs could collapse!!!!!! He is in enough of a weakened state, sure don't need that.

Had you given him to someone and not gotten him back? You should go easy on the protein, don't want to over tax his system, main thing is to get him very well hydrated again.

Here's the link to the beautiful dragons site: http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html
 

ashleyelsha

Juvie Member
Yes he absolutely needs vitamin supplements. At his age I'm not sure how much or how often but you are going to need some calcium with D3 and a multivitamin.

Kale and spinach are not good to feed

Mustard, collard, turnip, and dandelion greens are all good staples, as are most squash varieties.

Ive read phoenix worms can help reverse signs of MBD, maybe try ordering some?
 

boxers

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
diamc":3i6m4t78 said:
Poor thing. Please DON'T flip him on his back again, they don't have a diaphragm and his lungs could collapse!!!!!! He is in enough of a weakened state, sure don't need that.

Had you given him to someone and not gotten him back? You should go easy on the protein, don't want to over tax his system, main thing is to get him very well hydrated again.

Here's the link to the beautiful dragons site: http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html

!!!!!!!!!!!!!
How have I never heard that before? Thank you so much, I will not flip him again and I will make sure to mention this to customers in case they haven't heard it before either (I still work at Petsmart). I really wanted you guys to see his back legs though, they're definitely the worst part, then his sunken head is next.

How would you ease him back onto protein? I wasn't planning on giving him more for another week or close to it at least. I'll do a daily bath. And thank you also for the link, tomorrow is my grocery shopping day so I will be sure to pick him up a couple good items to rotate between. I want to try for high calcium content, I'm thinking collard greens & squash & some cactus too.
 

boxers

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
He has all kinds of stainage down there from pooping on his basking platform and then crawling over it and/or sitting in it, I'm going to give him a bath again and go at it some more with a soft toothbrush-- I just didn't want to harass him too much all at once. I'll take some more pictures and see about the yellow, I'm not sure if it's from weird lighting, from poop, or from something else: I assume if you pointed it out that it might be some kind of illness? :(


And I forgot to answer, yes, he technically belonged to my ex, so when he moved out (5/11) Razual went with him. I had said I'd take him if I was ever needed to, and now that it's been a year and a half, he comes back looking like he could have died. I'm pretty upset about the whole situation. :S
 

snazzyglasses

Sub-Adult Member
boxers":3as2t6u3 said:
he technically belonged to my ex, so when he moved out (5/11) Razual went with him. I had said I'd take him if I was ever needed to, and now that it's been a year and a half, he comes back looking like he could have died. I'm pretty upset about the whole situation. :S
That's awful :( :( I'd be upset too!
I'm super glad Razual is back in your loving and capable hands though! :) Sending lots of happy thoughts and well-wishes to both of you.
 

vampy

Juvie Member
Yellow marks CAN be yellow fungus, which can be very hard to treat, but from the pic it does just look like dried in poop and not that...another 2 or 3 baths should sort it out.

With the food, I'd just let him have as many veggies as he can eat, and ramp up the protein slowly over the next couple of weeks, keeping an eye on how well he digests stuff. I'd also probably take a fecal sample to a vet to check for parasites after he's been settled a couple of weeks (to allow any high levels of coccidia caused by moving stress to go down as far as they will on their own) to make sure he's healthy and will start gaining weight properly.

Poor guy...he does look neglected and very underweight, but nowhere near as bad as some rescues I've seen pics of...with you looking after him properly I'm sure you'll see amazing improvement in a very short time.
 

boxers

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
Had another bath today, pooped in bath, was served the last of his dandelion greens mixed with collard greens and topped with grated butternut squash-- unfortunately he wasn't too interested in eating much, he picked at the squash but didn't seem to eat any greens. I tried hand-feeding just now, but he promptly closed his eye to ignore me >:T

Anyway, I'm still happy about today because during/after his bath, his color really cleared and brightened and he looked more like himself... and to top it off, he's stayed that way all day, even up to now :D

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Also my boyfriend got some cactus, a leaf and a fruit, so I'm really excited to see how he likes it! I don't think in all his years he's ever gotten the pleasure of trying any.
 

boxers

Hatchling Member
Original Poster
So a big YAAAAAAY! for today as well, we hit two important and exciting benchmarks:

1. Razual ate cactus for the first time, and definitely seemed to enjoy it
2. He stood up fully- all four legs, belly off the ground! First time I've seen this yet since getting him back :D

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