Loki's Wellness Check

[reddragon087]

Today Loki had a wellness check..very first one and we found out a surprising fact. Loki is not a he
but in fact a she. They weighed her and she came out to 352 grams, they did a fecal and it came
back negative (yay)...even the vet was surprised because he said most beardies he usually finds even
a low amount of worms and has to treat. He did clip Loki's nails and showed me how to do them as
they were just grown enough to where we were able to cut them. He told me it would be better to
switch to pelleted repcal food..however I've tried Loki on that and she absolutely refuses to eat it and
this is where I kind of disagreed with him. He told me to only give her that and nothing else until she
eats it..that she won't starve because her metabolism will change, but I can't help but think to myself
that I would be starving her when I could give her food. I did however really like this vet, he was very
educated, he even had a gorgeous beardie in his office which is his own. He said Loki was perfect
condition though and it was such a relief.

Only downfall though was I got my shipment of crickets yesterday and 3/4 of my shipment was dead
So now I have to go buy crickets from petsmart until my new shipment gets here. I even paid for the
winter packaging and waited a few hours hoping they were just cold, but unfortunately they were dead.

 

[MrD]

glad to hear loki is doing good, it must have been shocking to hear your boy was actually girl. keep up the good work!!

 

[pyffersnpaws]

Was there a reason to switch Loki to the pellets?? I'm sure you know of this site, but here is a great site that is color coded on the best and worst type of nutrition for them http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html

 

[reddragon087]

Was there a reason to switch Loki to the pellets?? I'm sure you know of this site, but here is a great site that is color coded on the best and worst type of nutrition for them http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html

The reason he said to switch to the pellets is because with feeding anything that has been grown in or around dirt
increases the chance of transferring a parasite to a beardie. He did say dubia would be fine as a treat, but to use
the pellets as a daily staple. However, I'm not sure I entirely agree but I am willing to try because he is very knowledgeable
in this area. I do know about the nutrition page, I have it printed out and sitting in my wallet for when I go to the
grocery store and want to mix things up for Loki. He actually advised me about veggies too..if the veggies are grown in
or around dirt there is even a chance a parasite can be transferred even after washing and that only certain parts should
be given. Loki had no parasites though..fecal came out clean and he said Loki was in perfect condition, perfect weight, and
was actually a she..so I have a little girl lol. She actually gained weight too from when I weighed her about a week ago to the
other day which is a good thing.

 

[pyffersnpaws]

That just sounds a bit off though...oh, well just another thing in the beardie world to drive us to worry over... lol

 

[reddragon087]

That just sounds a bit off though...oh, well just another thing in the beardie world to drive us to worry over... lol

I asked why and he said because parasites live in soil and they transfer from the soil to whatever object it is on whether it
be a food object like a tomato, potato whatever or worms..crickets whatnot and then your beardie eats it (and he said
beardies are really susceptible to parasites) it increases the risk of them getting a parasite and then becoming sick. I can
understand it and see where he is coming from as anything in the ground is going to have some form of a parasite on it,
but humans are more capable of fighting them off whereas beardies aren't. The pellet food also gives them more moisture
and vitamins as well. I really liked this vet and even researched him before going to him and have heard nothing but praise
for him. He has beardies as well as pets, had a gorgeous one in his office.