Hi all!
I've spent quite a bit of time lurking on these forums, but I could use some pointers here. My dragon, Stella, is just about a year old, and had been acting pretty oddly recently. I originally thought it might be because her UV light (reptisun 10.0 tube) was starting to burn out, so I replaced it. Then I noticed her tank temperatures were a little lower than they should be at night, and have since started using a ceramic heat emitter. Her tank is a bit small for her (30 gallon breeder), and I am currently shopping around for a 75 gallon. I've fed her dubias for the majority of her life, until early in the summer. For about 3 months, she refused all feeders except for super worms. I know that I shouldn't have bought into it, but I was scared she would starve herself if she didn't eat something, so I gave her what she would eat. For the past month or so, she's been eating only crickets. She still was acting a bit strange, so I figured it couldn't hurt to take her to the vet. Her beard had been a bit saggy, and her appetite is next to nothing.
I'm somewhat concerned with the dependability of this vet's word, as she didn't ask me anything about Stella's husbandry. She asked me tank temperatures, but no mention of a UVB light, what substrate, etc. She proceeded to conduct a very quick visual examination, and said she wanted to run some tests. She weighed in at 640g. They took blood and her liver function came back as abnormal. She said she likely had fatty liver disease, and gave subcutaneous fluid injections, in addition to B12 injections, and prescribed thyrotab, a lactulose solution, and levocarnitine. Now, since the her treatment was based off of the blood test results, I am not particularly concerned about it, but I wanted to see if there were any differing opinions on here, and whether or not there is anything more I can do for her.
I'm concerned that I've monumentally screwed up as a pet owner, and I guess I'm looking for reassurance that my little girl will be alright...
Setup:
Reptisun 10.0 tube
100 w basking bulb
100w CHE
repticarpet
temps: 104 F and 73 F (day) 84 F and 69 F (night)
Thanks for your time.
I've spent quite a bit of time lurking on these forums, but I could use some pointers here. My dragon, Stella, is just about a year old, and had been acting pretty oddly recently. I originally thought it might be because her UV light (reptisun 10.0 tube) was starting to burn out, so I replaced it. Then I noticed her tank temperatures were a little lower than they should be at night, and have since started using a ceramic heat emitter. Her tank is a bit small for her (30 gallon breeder), and I am currently shopping around for a 75 gallon. I've fed her dubias for the majority of her life, until early in the summer. For about 3 months, she refused all feeders except for super worms. I know that I shouldn't have bought into it, but I was scared she would starve herself if she didn't eat something, so I gave her what she would eat. For the past month or so, she's been eating only crickets. She still was acting a bit strange, so I figured it couldn't hurt to take her to the vet. Her beard had been a bit saggy, and her appetite is next to nothing.
I'm somewhat concerned with the dependability of this vet's word, as she didn't ask me anything about Stella's husbandry. She asked me tank temperatures, but no mention of a UVB light, what substrate, etc. She proceeded to conduct a very quick visual examination, and said she wanted to run some tests. She weighed in at 640g. They took blood and her liver function came back as abnormal. She said she likely had fatty liver disease, and gave subcutaneous fluid injections, in addition to B12 injections, and prescribed thyrotab, a lactulose solution, and levocarnitine. Now, since the her treatment was based off of the blood test results, I am not particularly concerned about it, but I wanted to see if there were any differing opinions on here, and whether or not there is anything more I can do for her.
I'm concerned that I've monumentally screwed up as a pet owner, and I guess I'm looking for reassurance that my little girl will be alright...
Setup:
Reptisun 10.0 tube
100 w basking bulb
100w CHE
repticarpet
temps: 104 F and 73 F (day) 84 F and 69 F (night)
Thanks for your time.