Ruby Sprinkles-**undigested worms?**

[Evergreen]

Oh boy, looks to me like you're going to have a little flirt on your hands! She is adorable! That's amazing how much better she looks from those first couple pictures and those back circles make a very pretty pattern

 

[Esther19]

She looks marvelous! And soy yogurt is just fine. Great job!

 

[dragonlover3]

Hi,
Just look at that gorgeous face! :love5: She already looks better than she did!
You are wonderful for getting her out of there and giving her such a good and
loving home, something she's never had before. She will thrive with your great care.
Amanda

 

[EccentricME]

She just had a bowel movement. I was kind of lucky it happened when I was checking on her. There were no urates, liquid was passed first then a small bowel movement it was kind of soft on the outside layer and dry-ish on the inside. (If that makes sense?) I am glad she went; I am hoping that means she is not impacted from the weird substrate she was on.

I know there are people on here that will do fecal exams; I am wondering where I can send a sample to get her checked. And how do you even send feces in the mail? :?

I have liquid calcium and liquid vitamins how much of that should I be giving her? (using Flucker's brand for both the calcium doesn't has d3 should it?)

I also have Flucker's repta-boost; without knowing her weight does anyone have an idea of how much I should be giving her? It comes with a little scoop, I have been putting 1 scoop in each of her meals. I read the instructions, I am pretty good with medical stuff, and IMO the chart to decide dosage was hard to understand. (I am buying a scale Monday or Tuesday)

She has eaten about 2mls of my squash/chicken/supplement mixture (2/3 squash1/3chicken) 3 times. She seems like she had enough each time she also ate a little bit of green that I dropped in front of her each time also. I am hoping that not too much, I know to ease her in to things I just don't know how easy to be. <~~~~ Probably over worrying here? :wink:

~Amber

I think she slept good, about 10mins after I shut the lights off she climbed down to the cool side curled up in the corner and didn't move till morning. She had a salad of collard/turnip/mustard greens this morning and ate it really well. I am going to give her a soft food mixture for lunch and diner. I am probably going to try a couple of wax worms with her lunch. Does that sound okay? I am just worried about overloading her with protein.
Thanks for the help guys.
~Amber

 

[Menolly07]

Poor little Ruby! What a change over! Little love. :-(

 

[RioReptiles]

Hi Amber, I got your email. Ironically we are nursing a female rescue that is about the same condition and size as Ruby Sprinkles. So far everything you are doing is good, especially rehydrating her and gradually letting her get used to real food, mainly protein. I always start with water and electrolytes for a few days, then add greens and butternut baby food before moving on to repti-boost and chicken.

The Flukers Repti-boost is a good way to wean her back on protein because it contains egg protein which is well tolerated and easy to digest. Yes the directions are not very specific, so you can estimate with the 1% of total body weight per day like the daily fluid requirements. That scoop is super tiny and won't even make 1cc mixed 50/50 with water, you can use 1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon and mix it with butternut baby food or water to make up however much you need to make up a feeding. So a 100 gram dragon should eat approximately 10cc per day split up into 2 or 3 feedings. If she is eating 2 to 4 cc's at a time, then that's just right. I usually use this before the chicken baby food or mix it all together.

Since you are using a liquid calcium that has a higher bioavailability than the powdered calcium carbonate, then you don't really need to use D3. Calcium carbonate is more for dusting bugs because it acts as a phosphorus binder and helps remove the excess phosphorus contained in bugs exoskeletons. Calcium carbonate has the lowest bioavailability of all calciums, therefore usualy needs D3 to make it useful as a supplement. Most liquid calciums are made from calcium salts that are more readily absorbed and the D3 made from good UVB exposure is usually sufficient. In some cases when a dragon is suffering from severe mbd symptoms, then I would recommend some D3 in with the liquid for a couple weeks to start out their therapy. She doesn't seem to need it badly, so wait till she starts eating more bugs, then you can dust with a calcium powder fortified with D3.

About the poop that was dryish on the inside, this is usually normal of dragons that haven't pooped in a very long time and are dehydrated. You will see poop like this when dragons wake up from long periods of brumation, so that tells me she hasn't eaten or pooped in probably a good month or two.

When we first got our rescue back on live feeders, we would go through and pick out the white freshly shed dubia and give her a couple small ones at a time. Every time we fed her, we would give her a couple more until we knew she was tolerating them well. After about 3 weeks, her appetite has gone out of control and she will eat 5x more than normal. It seems slow at first, but you'll know when she's ready to go to the next step. Their activity levels increase, they jump at the chance to eat every time you pass the cage and it's like a total transformation. Email me anytime if you have questions.

Cheryl

 

[EccentricME]

About the poop that was dryish on the inside, this is usually normal of dragons that haven't pooped in a very long time and are dehydrated. You will see poop like this when dragons wake up from long periods of brumation, so that tells me she hasn't eaten or pooped in probably a good month or two.

That kills kills me! Who doesn't feed there animal for a month OR TWO!!!

Thanks for the information Cheryl! I am definitely going to take your suggestions to heart. :-D

After only 2 days I can see a change in her energy levels, she has always been pretty alert but today she was freaking out in the bath trying to run away! Brat huh?? :wink: :lol: I bet shes never had a bath, now that she is more hydrated, she doesn't want anything to do with it.

I am going to send in her next bowel movement to be check for parasites, hope she poops soon!! I am anxious to know whats going on in that tummy of hers!

 

[kcarello]

Amber, you are an angel!! Ruby Sprinkles is the cutes little baby, or she sure looks like a baby anyway. She really does look like she is smiling in that pic! She probably is , she has to be very happy and feel very loved...finally!!! Great job with her, please keep us posted on her progress!!
Kelly and Miss Monkey, aka Puff.

 

[ReptileAddiction]

she is looking better already!!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Ruby is so precious! She is so lucky to have you rescue her. :love5:
You mentioned she had no urates with her stool though? Was that just today?
If so, I would hold off on larger amounts of protein initially & just focus on rehydration with a greens slurry, as well as the probiotics & vitamins.
Start very slowly with the protein integration making sure that there are more urates with her stools to indicate her kidneys are kicking in & working.
The basking temperatures can remain in the area of 95-98 to allow her to get used to heat since she has not had much in the way of basking previously.

The liquid calcium without D3 is fine as it does assimilate & absorb better than the powdered calcium does. What is the dose you are giving her?
She looks better already in a very short amount of time. Keep up the great work!

Tracie

 

[EccentricME]

Thanks Tracie.
She had another bowel movement today, so that's 2 since Friday. There were still no urates and with her bowel there was also some grainy something that had to do with the substrate she was on, in it.
Yesterday and today, I only gave her a protien source for one of her meals. I will definatlly take your suggestion and hold off for a few days. So wait till I see Urate?

Is it okay to feed her fresh salad? I haven't left a bowl in her viv cause I don't want her to gorge but I just drop a tiny pile in front of her and she seems to love it, I have been ripping the pieces extra small for her.

I really need to get a probiotic. Can I use something made for humans? I bet I could find something at whole foods that would work? I hate waiting for shipping any suggestions? I know soy yogurt is okay but I am wondering about all the sugar in the yogurt; I am having a hard time find plain.

When I make her softfood mixture I make about 15-20ml and drop 2-3 drops of CA in the mixture she eats around 3ml each time and I used the CA once a day for 4 days now and I have dropped 2 drops of multi Vit in 2 meals so far. I was beginning to wonder if I was giving enought not enough, I guess I don't know.

Oh and.....I will try to get a good picture tomorrow but a few of her poor little toes look almost broken except they don't hurt her when I touch them and when she lays her legs look all wonkey, but she seems to walk ok. Probably related to MBD?
Thanks for your help guys! I really want her to pull through all this; everyone in the family is in love already and we want her around for as long as possiable. :love5:

 

[dragonlover3]

Hi EccentricME,
I wanted to let you know for a probiotic I went to Walmart and in the pharmacy section I got a 100 tab bottle of acidophilus for about $5.00. I crushed a tab into powder and put a pinch daily in the baby food I was feeding my first 2 rescues when they were on antibiotics. 1 crushed tab should last for a few days with only using a pinch for her daily. It's for "people" but acidophilus is ....acidophilus.
You are doing an amazing job with her!
Amanda

 

[EccentricME]

Ruby pooped again. I think there is a little urate but nothing is formed. Don't mind the box, her tank sucks and I have to stack a bunch of stuff to make it work and she always kicks off the paper towl. New viv coming soon :wink:

What do you think? Urate? I hope so!! Atleast it's a start

And here are pictures of her toes and the way she sits:

As far as I can tell she is doing pretty good. She has been eating well, basking and regulates her temps. She is still pretty jumpy but years of not being held will probably do that.

Thanks for the input guys.

 

[kcarello]

What a sweet little girl!! She just needs lots and lots of lovin!!!!

 

[dragonlover3]

Hi,
What a pretty girl she is! Skinny but you are fixing that with your great care. And that little white spot in the poo and on the wet area sure look like bits of urate to me!... Is her spine curved or is she just sitting like that. I don't know about her leg being up like that. It may be a comfortable position for her, or maybe with some weight gain and strengthening they will lay more naturally, but she's gorgeous even if she sets like that forever. :love5: She is a fortunate little lady that you found her!
Amanda