Questions bout my beardies?! UPDATED!

[Pleaides]

What type & brand of UVB light are you using, & is it currently up to date within 6 months?

its a reptisun 10.0 and its due to be changed in march 2009

Is her tank bright enough?

yes i suppose so, along with her uv she has a white basking light

What type of basking light are you using?

its a normal 100watt household bulb on a thermostat

What kind of worms does she have & is she still on Panacur?

she gets gut loaded mealworms every other day or so, she was eating maybe around 15 every other day now im lucky if she eats 2-7 every other day. her previous owner stated she eats only hoppers and waxies, but i got her off waxies and she has never ever took any hoppers/locusts from me.
no she is not on panacur still, she had 3 doses from 12th sep to 3rd oct by one vet, took her to a proper herp vet and she still had worm eggs so she was dosed again from 3rd nov to 17th nov. and as with mischief, her poop will be checked again to make sure she is clear on or around the 29th dec.

Is she really lethargic? How lethargic?

its hard to say, she does sleep the majority of the day under her log however she has been like this since i first purchased her back in august from someone privately, i texted the girl who previously owned her about her hiding and sleeping all the time, she states she has always done this so nothing really has changed there but for me personally i dont think its normal.

Does she appear healthy or are her eyes sunken in, or bright?

hmm cant say with her eyes, sometimes they look bright and other times she just looks real sleepy.

Has she ever laid eggs?

yes, as far as i know again from her previous owner, she laid eggs when she was only about a year or so old cos she had her housed with a male, she was fine but none of the eggs survived as she didnt know how to incubate them properly.

You said she does not have a black beard though?

nope no black beard at all that i have noticed, every now and then she has slight stress marks but not much.

She started getting lazy in August, really, that early?

well like i said above she apparently has always been like this, if i remove any of her hides usually she will just bask but sometimes she proper tries to dig into a corner and sleeps

Is she losing weight that you can tell or not?

hmm now i have the dogdiest set of scales, she was 550g on the 3rd dec, then 500g on the 17th dec when i last weighed her and the last time she went to the vet he stated that according to their scales shes lost a little but not much.

What exactly were the counts of his coccidia, did they tell you?

nope they didnt tell me, he just said that if i hadnt have got mischief to him for treatment when i did id have a dead dragon right now. it was an alarming amount.

He has been on treatments since September,straight?

oh no, sorry i wasnt clear, we had some problems with him, he was meant to get 3 doses, but ended up with 4 cos we had to have a 3 week gap cos he ingested some in his lungs which was when i probably last spoke to you about, hes not on albon, he was on baycox, the dates he had his treatment are as follows: 30th sep 0.2ml, 2nd oct 0.2ml, thats when he got some in his lung, so it was delayed till 29th oct and the last dose on the 31st oct, dont know what the dosaging was as the vet put it straight into his stomach. but i can only presume it was 0.2 mls again.

What type of setup is he in?

venus is in a 60x18x18 vivarium, mischiefs is 60x24x24 and no they are definitely not housed together nor can they see each other

Are you using any probiotic right now to help him out?

i have reptiboost, they both get calcium powder called calypso mon to fri, then their nutrobal sat and sun, i was giving them reptiboost when they were on medication but not now im not. it all goes on their greens daily.

What type of lighting are you using for him? What are the temps?

ok hes got the same as her, reptisun 10.0, the last one i had for 5 months then it got changed to reptisun 5.0 literally 4 days ago.

Can you post pictures of them both?

course i can, anything that will help. these pics were taken yestreday and its a very rare moment for my mischief not to have a black beard or dark stress marks.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I don't think that her hiding is normal, either. She doesn't eat any feeders hardly other than mealies? I don't know why she wont take any hoppers but that is odd. Can you try crickets perhaps?
I am thinking that she should have a blood test to see what her kidneys & liver functions are. Also, could she have retained any eggs possibly? That can happen fairly easily if they were housed together previous to now. That can cause lethargic behavior no matter what is done. Has she ever had any x-rays done on her? I mean, if she was like that with her previous owners, & now this whole time that is not normal. Otherwise I would just say it was regular brumation.
The Reptisun 10 is fine, no problem. Good that you keep up with changing the light to keep it current.
I am glad she is not on meds right now. Just get another fecal done on her when you can. I am glad to hear she doesn't have a black beard right now though & that she is not losing weight either.
Too bad he aspirated some fluids into his lungs, that happens pretty frequently. I am happy they are not housed together either.
The reptiboost should help them out. The Calypso is a good calcium supplement as well. Maybe you should get him a Reptisun 10, instead of the 5. Was there a reason you got the 5? Just wondered.
Getting a bloodtest on him would still be a good idea to make sure everything is functioning properly inside of him. He is not on meds right now so that should not be the problem. He has not been on meds since the end of October?


I hope they are doing ok today. Let me know how things are going.

Tracie

 

[Pleaides]

hey
have tried her on butter and phoenix worms also, she likes the butters but they are very difficult to get, the only place was sold out for weeks then when i did get some half of them were already dead and now they back to being out of stock, nope she wont take locusts, crickets or cockroaches. from what i can make out from her previous owner, she got a male and female, they bred too early then the male started attacking her so she got rid of him cos she couldnt afford anything else to house him in so she was left with the girl she hasnt been housed with a male since she laid eggs about a year ago. no retained eggs i dont think as the vet has checked her.
at the moment taking either of them back to the vet i dont really wanna do unless i really have to, mischief will be going back no matter what cos he still needs to be treated for worm eggs, i have 6 reptiles and 3 of them have undergone treatment lately, which has maxed out my credit card, they are insured but cannot claim for neither of my dragons, only a corn snake that was seriously ill a couple of weeks ago. so moneys a bit of a problem when it comes to x rays, sedation, keeping them for a day, etc.

the reason i got the reptisun 5.0 is cos my vet said that will ve fine as im real short of money and it needed to be changed, he said its not that different to 10.0.
and nope he hasnt been on meds since october now. but will be back on them for the worm eggs IF the coccidias cleared that is.
i will speak to the vet again to try to find out more. he has said before that both look healthy, in good condition, their tummies feel healthy and they have good fat stores so thinks no need for blood tests, he thinks im an overprotective mummy and they have me wrapped round their little talons. lol

 

[Pleaides]

bumping up so tracie can find this thread again

 

[Drache613]

Hello!

How are things going today?
The Reptisun 5 flourescent tube bulb is still a good bulb. Try to have it at 6 inches from your dragons, with a bright white light alongside of it for eye protection. The emissions are not too bad. It needs to be changed every 5 or so months.
How are the appetites? They wont take any of the feeders then?
You may need to try using some chicken or turkey babyfood to help entice them into eating. You could try to get some bee pollen to help with the appetite too, that comes in powder you can add to food.

You are more concerned with the female, correct? So there are no retained eggs, that is good. Perhaps she absorbed some back into her system which can cause lethargic behavior from her body having to metabolize the extra cholesterol from the eggs. That is always a possibility here.
How is the male doing?
Well, good he hasn't been on meds since October. I would not medicate anymore unless absolutely necessary.

Tracie

 

[K9KidsLove]

Hi...Hope your babies get better soon.

Since your kids aren't able to go thru the deworming right now, I suggest getting a can of 100% pumpkin...in the pie fillings section...and give each about a teaspoon full. Mine lick it off a spoon. If yours won't, you can thin it with water & syringe it to them. Leftovers can be frozen til you need it. I give it to mine every 2-3 months.
Good luck
Patsy

 

[Pleaides]

hello
right with the 6 inches away from the bulb, when he basks up on his rock he can get within 6 inches of it but he hasnt been basking hes been laying on the floor in the corner so should i be lowering the uv closer to the ground, his vivs 2 foot high?

my girls been eating mealies every other day or so and i keep removing her hides so she basks instead she seems ok but im actually more worried about my boy. my vet has suggested continuing the wax worms for now until hes feeling better and wants to see him back, so ive got venus's poop just waiting for my boy to poop then both of those and mischief can all go back to the vet.
hes been the same, just laying in a corner sulking, bit of black beard and stress lines, he has never ever took from a dropper or needleless syringe and the last time i tried forcing it in i managed to get some in his lung cos he really fights us. i felt so unbelieveably bad so would like to avoid having to force anything in if i could, obviously if it comes to having to do it i will but think i would like to watch the vet first before i try to do it again.
thanx for your replies will keep you all posted about them.

 

[Pleaides]

hello all
wow that was the longest wait ive ever had, venus finished her treatment for worm eggs, mischief finished treatment for coccidia, then once that was cleared he can then be treated for worm eggs also, well took their poop to vet to be checked once more and guess what............THERE BOTH CLEAR OF ALL PARASITES AND WORMS! YAY! thank god for that. so turns out the treatment for mischief for his coccidia cleared up his worms also but is an even better deal for me cos his insurance were not gonna pay up but even so i am just so estatic they are both clear, although mischiefs eating is still annoying and all over the place, however he does eat something from time to time so hes not starving, thats what i fear the most, lol.
SO GLAD! such a weight off my shoulders i tell ya.
thank you all so very very much for all your guidance with my constant panic about them.

 

[Ethelia]

Wonderful news!!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That is great news they are both doing so much better now & their fecals were clear too.
Have you managed to get them off of mealies at all yet? I hope so. At least Mischief is active & still eating just a little bit anyway.
How is Venus doing, is she eating good too?
Keep me posted.

Tracie

 

[Pleaides]

hello
venus is still only eating mealies and the occasional wax, however she loves butters so have managed to get hold of some so shes gettig those at the mo, mischief will STILL only eat waxs, even then its not often, maybe 2-5 a week or so, however hes eating his rocket still.
venus seems to be quite down lately, very dark in colour from time to time and quite nervy, but she does still bask and brighten up so not too worried, mischiefs been finally out and about a teeny bit more than usual. he still hasnt got up on his basking rock to bask though but hell sit on his lower logs.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Well, it sounds like they are both doing better. It may take them just a bit of time to get over this hump, plus, it is wintertime so the weather can also play a factor in their activity levels too.
At least though, they are still eating something & have not totally stopped altogether.
Eating 2-5 waxies weekly is not that bad, it is better than every day. Eventually Mischief wont want so many. They are fine but just not as a staple, only as a treat. a few times per week.
Good Venus likes the butterworms then, that helps out.
Good luck. Let us know if you need anything.

Tracie