Lotus vomited - Doing much better now!!

[SpikesAgirl]

Wish I knew how to answer that one... :| Hopefully someone else will check in.

 

[Drache613]

Hello Christina,

I will email you today! I was so busy yesterday.
If she has held everything down so far, you can start by giving 2-3 of each type of worm, just to see how she does.
How are her colors looking today?
It sounds like she is starting to feel better, too.

Tracie

 

[XtinaBeardieMom]

No worries Tracie, you're allowed to have a personal life too!

Lotus seems to be doing well still, her colors have been normal for a while now. Her beard shed is just soooo close to completely lifting off. She still hasn't vomited again, but no poops either. Today I gave her 2mL of fluids this morning, then 3mL of the same watered down baby food + Critical/Carnivore Care mixture just now. She's also had 3 pheonix worms and 2 butterworms, and she LOVED them. She seemed so happy to have live food again that I almost wanted to cry for her. She's always been a very enthusiastic bug hunter. She perks up and seems thrilled every time she gets fed now. Poor girl, I felt so bad having to starve her for a little while Anyway, this was the most food she's had in almost a week - so let's hope she keeps it down and makes a poop soon! *Fingers Crossed* I'll give her some more fluids and a soak later on.

 

[SpikesAgirl]

How did Lotus do today Christina?? Did she hold down her worms?? I hope things are getting better for her! <3

 

[Esther19]

Yes, I second that emotion. I hope you both had a great day!

 

[Drache613]

Hello Christina,

How is Lotus today, are her colors good?
Did she hold everything down as well? I hope she had a great day!

Tracie

 

[XtinaBeardieMom]

Hey guys, sorry I haven't been better about updating... there's just not much going on, which I guess it mostly a good thing. I've gradually brought Lotus up to 6mL of the watered down babyfood + Critical/Carnivore Care as of yesterday. She got 4 butterworms (3/4-1") and 6 phoenix worms (they're so tiny, hardly 1/8 inch!) yesterday as well. I don't give her all that at once of course though. She gets 3mL total oral fluids, meds, & electrolytes in the morning. Then one 3mL "liquid" feeding mixture a few hours later, then bugs in the afternoon, then another 3mL liquid mixture feeding in the early evening, then she gets soaked & offered more oral fluids later in the evening. I wish there was a way to maintain this kind of broken up feeding schedule for longer, but my boyfriend and I both have to work during the week & neither of us can get home until 3pm at the earliest. I've tried leaving a little dish of the liquid food mixture in her tank, but I don't think she understands what it is when it's not in a syringe. *sigh* ...any suggestions on that one?

She's held everything down so far. Her energy levels are way up & she wants to be out of her tank all the time, which is kind of strange for her. She's not glass dancing or scratching or anything, she just takes a lot of notice when we walk by the tank & practically jumps on for a ride whenever we put our hands in. Before, she was still a bit insecure about being held so this is kind of strange - but welcomed of course, I just worry a little about behavioral changes while she's on these meds. Her last dose of the Metaclopramide will be later this morning. Still no poops yet, last time she went was Monday 7/9. I don't know whether to be worried or not, since the only solid food she's had in her system is just the handful of worms over the last two days. She's normally an every day or every other day pooper, so I'm hoping she'll go today or tomorrow. I've been rubbing her belly during her soaks and making sure the water gets switched out when it cools. When should I be worried about her not pooping while she's still on a mostly liquid diet? Could her body just be absorbing everything since there's not much solids? I don't know, but I'll feel much better when she goes :| She seems to feel just fine though, colors are good. She is however going through one horrendous facial/beard shed, but it's not stopping her from doing anything. She's never exhibited any crankiness or loss of appetite during shedding, which is nice not to have to deal with. I'll try to post some pictures later. Thanks again for your help everyone!!

 

[AHBD]

Good for Lotus, keepng everything down so far. I'm pretty sure she is really on the mend, and you'll be able to increase her feedings now. I would double up the amount in the syringe early in the day, add a few more butters, and discontinue the 3rd syringe feeding. Don't worry too much about the schedule of feedings, she looks to be able to tolerate what's going in, [ I don't think there's need for daily soaks while being syringe fed the liquidy diet, just soak every other day or every 3 days ] and you're right about why she's not producing waste.... not much food going in, so there's not much coming out. Next I'd try a fresh shed dubia along with the butter worms, and the Phoenix worms are O.K. for juvies, but far too small to be worth the expense for feeding a large dragon.

 

[XtinaBeardieMom]

Thanks AHBD... she does seem to be doing well as far as I know. No more meds after today, so we'll see how that affects her moving forward. I'll go searching for some freshly molted dubias today. I had bought like 300 of the phoenix worms, but after I feed them off then I probably won't get more. I want to get horn worms but I need to do more reading up on how to keep them, as I know they're not so simple to take care of. Which reminds me, I need to go feed & water my dubias... I have a hard enough time remembering to do that lol.

 

[XtinaBeardieMom]

Lotus pooped today - woohoo! It was mostly liquids of course, but there was a decent sized pile of "semi-solid" waste and formed urates (her poops themselves have never been well formed, even though she's been parasite free now for a while - previous hookworm damage maybe?) Anyway, she seems to be doing much better now, and has held down all food since last Wednesday 7/11. Now I just have to figure out how long I'll maintain a soft-food diet for her... probably for at least a couple of weeks so she'll gain weight and be nice & strong - just in case she decides to be stubborn about eating if/when I take her off of the syringe feeding. She sure is enjoying the worms! But I have to admit, she was ecstatic when she got to chase a few freshly shed dubias around, she really loves her dubias! I just have to figure out the long term plan now. I really hope it was just the low temp slip up that caused all this to begin with :| ...it's been one scary week.

 

[speedyfuzzball]

YAY for Lotus!!! That's such great news We've been waiting for this poop for DAYS and it's FINALLY here!!! I don't think I've ever gotten this excited over poop before..

 

[Esther19]

Wow! That's great news! Hooray for poopers! Hooray for eating dubias!

 

[Drache613]

Hello Christina,

That is great news about Lotus! I am glad that she finally went potty, poor girl. At least she had a bit of a formed stool anyway. I am glad that she is enjoying her worms & dubias, too.
I think if you proceed with caution, she should be able to eat solid foods on a regular basis soon.
I am glad her beard shed is coming along. What a trooper she is.

Tracie

 

[SpikesAgirl]

WHEW! Glad the wait for poopies is over!!! :laughing6: That's awesome! *pats Xtina on the back* Good job Mom!!! *gently scratches Lotus on the head* Glad to hear she's doing better! Maybe each week you could slowly thicken the syringe feedings and see how she does with that first before giving her a ton of dubias? Just a thought!

 

[XtinaBeardieMom]

YAY!! I'm so glad that she'll be able to get back on her regular diet eventually! For the next week or so, we've changed her light schedule to 6am-8pm so I can give her a 3mL liquid feeding (equal parts Critical Care, babyfood, & water) around 7am before I leave for work as I would hate for her to have to go all day without food. Then when my boyfriend gets home around 3pm he'll give her another 3mL liquid feeding with probiotics added plus 4-5 medium live feeders per day. She'll also get 3mL oral fluids with black cherry concentrate and Allopurinol meds (to help her high uric acid levels) every evening. That's what I've been doing so far, but I have a feeling that's not enough sustenance for her given the guidelines on the Oxbow Critical Care website. Right now, about 1/4 tsp (=1 dry mL) of the actual Critical Care powder goes into each liquid feeding. Should I double up on her liquid feeding and make it 6mL twice per day? I'll have to check her weight again when I get home to see if it's still stable.

Anyway, thank you sooooo much to everyone for all of your help and support! I would've been lost without you guys through this ordeal. I apologize again if I was too dramatic about the situation - but for those of you who've experienced the loss of a dragon child, I'm sure you understand. I still miss my little Monster dearly every day, but I'm so thankful that my Lotus seems to be stable and healthy now. Thank you all again... you guys are awesome!