Sarth, Daeds, & Starling **5/28 First Camping Trip Pics!**

I figured I would post some pics of Sarth...even though he hasn't been eating very well the past month he still finds every opportunity to be cute! I think I might just keep adding pics to this thread along with my blog, we will see!

The most recent ones are at the top.

I thought this was adorable...he was kind of lounging against the glass, looking at me like "what?!"

Just trying out a close-up of his face...it's hard to get good pics during the weekdays when the sun is going down by the time I get home

Scoping out his rearranged tank

Morning stretches, as usual

Him looking *really* grumpy sitting in the sun on the back of our recliner. And I put his tail like that, lol

My husband took this :roll:

A rare shot of him actually eating his salad

Watching Glee with me!

He loves to explore the coffee table, not sure why

I did not put him like this, lol. I should have entered it in this months photo competition!

Him still being really mad from the vet's visit the night before. He looked so hilarious, all puffed up with the black beard. I started petting him and he deflated while managing to look confused.

Just looking cute. This was right around when he stopped eating about a month ago.

 

[JenFid]

I just wanted to post an update.

The cultures came back negative, however the infection has definitely spread to the back right knee now - it is causing her the most pain out of the 3 right now The vet said even though the cultures were not able to grow anything, that might just mean there wasn't enough bacteria, but there's still some in there.

I have been back and forth with Tracie/Drache here pretty much daily, she has been a huge help. I should hopefully get the results on the adenovirus test tomorrow or Friday. My vet wants to wait and see what those results say until we try anything different. I am really really worried if she is adeno positive my vet is just going to suggest euthanizing her

I am trying to think happy thoughts though. We are up at the lake cabin for New Years and I brought both girls with me because Daeds has been really restless the past few days. She's exploring around our bedroom right now while Scully basks in their tank. Daeds didn't even want to sleep last night, I came in the bedroom around 12:30 to get a coat to bring the dog outside. When I flicked on the light she came walking out from under the basking platform wide awake, lol. She did the same thing this morning too when I woke up.

Anyway that's about all I have for now. Hopefully my next update will be a post that Scully is not adeno positive.

Here's some pics!

Happy New Year all. I have a cute video of Sarth trying to get Scully's attention too, I'll post that if I can get photobucket to upload it.

Edit - Here's the video

Grr get that girl outta here!

 

[sweetiepie9]

Well, that's good news in a way & hopefully the adeno test is negative. What a worry you are going through with Scully. Could it be gout? Has that been looked into? I came across another dragon Scully's age and also joint swelling & they're sure it's gout, even though the dragon is so young. Tracie has dealt with gout with her Napoleon, so you should ask her about it. Just a thought.

I have a new dragon. The weekend before Titan passed, my friend Jen called me to ask me to take in her female Puff. Leo and Puff were rescued together, they were in the same small tank, had a big log in it, Puff was on top of the log and Leo was on the bottom, so he wasn't getting a lot of food and was very skinny. So Jen took Puff and we took Leo. Now I have Puff! She's going through relocation stress. I put her in the living room & put Leo in the bedroom, because she wasn't doing well in the bedroom, having been always in Jen's living room. So I still have 6 dragons and a girl, too. She's about 6 yrs old, I figure and has never laid an egg, so I'm hoping that continues. Don't really want to deal with that again.

So I'm hoping 2014 will come up with some answers for Scully and you'll find a cure to what's ailing her. All the best in that.

Thanks for the cute pictures, loved the video, he reminds me of Gabriel, who goes nuts every time Puff is out. Gabriel doesn't know about brumation, even though he's over 3 yrs old, he thinks it's spring EVERY day :lol:

Keep me posted, k? & HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Take care
Deb & my crew

 

[JenFid]

Hey Deb, and thanks, happy new year to you and all your babes as well

Yes, when I originally brought her in July months and months back it was because I thought she had gout in that back left foot. But her uric acid levels were normal. 3.9 I think. Then her latest uric acid level a month ago her uric acid level was 7.7, which is higher but still in the normal range, and the vet said that was likely do to all the meds she's on, so still don't think it's gout. She also looked at the stuff she got from the joint tap last month and didn't see any of the crystals, although Tracie said that doesn't necessarily mean she doesn't have gout. I asked if her maybe she could have both gout and osteomylitis?

Tracie was also wondering about gout but agreed that last uric acid level was likely high from the meds. But since gout treatment won't harm her system at all I will probably start treating for it anyway.

Basically a lot is hinging on this adeno test. Fingers crossed that it's negative.

 

[sweetiepie9]

My fingers are also crossed that the test is negative. I'm glad you'll treat her for gout as it could still be possible that the meds made her condition worse. It's so hard to tell in dragons, even with testing.

 

[JenFid]

Just got a reply from Tracie. Scully's swab came back positive for adeno Will fax it to my vet tomorrow but I might not hear from her until Monday. I'm very scared of what the next step might be.

 

[sweetiepie9]

I have a friend who has 2 adeno positive dragons and they're both doing fine. I'll have to ask her to check in here to let you know how she handles them. What special care. I know it can be contagious, so you should have Daeds tested, too.

 

[zandi202]

What does adeno mean?

 

[JenFid]

I have a friend who has 2 adeno positive dragons and they're both doing fine. I'll have to ask her to check in here to let you know how she handles them. What special care. I know it can be contagious, so you should have Daeds tested, too.

Thanks Deb, that would be great. I was thinking about Daedalus and will definitely have her tested.

What does adeno mean?

Adenovirus is something beardies (and I think some birds) can have. It's a nasty virus with immune-suppressent qualities. It doesn't have a cure at the moment but Tracie is working on one. Scully most likely had it since birth from one of her parents, and it might never have been a problem for her until she got that infection. Now we know why the antibiotics were so ineffective.

Tracie is telling me not to lose hope, that she would be able to recover from surgery fine. She doesn't think amputation is the answer but I'm not sure, my poor girl is in so much pain in those legs.

We'll see what the vet says. I might hear from her tomorrow, but more likely on Monday.

 

[zandi202]

Poor Scully. What a way to start the new year. I hope it gets better. Give her lots of love for me, and hugs!

 

[sweetiepie9]

I hope Tracie does find a cure. I passed your link to my friend Amanda Mosher, she runs a sanctuary & rescue for dragons & has 14 at this time. She & 2 other women are responsible for putting together this great site & there's a good article on adeno in here, so here's the link. Check it out, there's so much info in it on all types of dragon related issues.
http://www.everythingreptile.org/

And here's the page for diseases:
http://www.everythingreptile.org/diseases.html

So we'll all cross our fingers that Scully gets better.
My thoughts are with you, let me know about the vet visit. Hope the article helps.

 

[dragonlover3]

Hi,
I'm a friend of Sweetiepie9. I have 2 AV+ dragons. I have 14 dragons all together. It can be managed and protect your other dragon/s. I'm not understanding what's going on medically with her and that may have some effect on her over all health. I've asked a friend of mine who is the expert I go to, to post to you also. She also has an AV+ dragon. She wrote the page on Adenovirus on our site and is very educated on it. http://www.everythingreptile.org/adenovirus--atadenovirus-in-bearded-dragons.html She also consults with Tracie often! Her name is Kelly and she's wonderful. I'll be happy to help answer some of our questions as will Kelly.
Amanda

 

[firewoman]

So sorry to hear that the adeno test came back positive, Jen, and to hear that Scully is in so much pain. It's nice to see that you have so much support here. I wish I knew as much as these ladies, but all I can offer are good thoughts coming both your and Scully's way. Please keep us posted as to what else you learn.

 

[JenFid]

Hi Amanda, thanks for stopping by here to offer your help, I really appreciate it.

To give you a rundown, basically I brought Scully into the vet for the first time in July, after her back left foot had been swollen after a bad egg lay and wasn't getting better. She was having some issues walking. The vet took blood and everything looked normal, so she gave me some calcium glubonate (or something similar) in case the weakness was from a calcium deficiency after her big egg lay (she laid 21 eggs or so in May, then another 39 in July).

I brought her back in November when the swelling still hadn't gone down and she seemed to be doing worse with the walking. It was about this time that she was diagnosed with osteomylitis and we started her on ceftamazidne (sp) injections every 3 days, metacam every other day, and metronidizol once a day. After a few weeks I cam home to find a bump on her front right arm and it was also swollen, so the vet figured the infection was spreading. We switched from metronidizol to clindamycin every 12 hours. With this switch the swelling on her back left decreased dramatically but the front right was unchanged, and she started to show pain in the back right knee as well. We switched back to metronidizol and did blood cultures, all which came back negative (aerobic, anaerobic, and fungal).

My vet said she has never seen a case like this before and wondered if it was something underlying like adeno, which prompted me to order the swab test from Tracie. I forwarded the positive results to my vet this morning but she won't be in until Monday.

Honestly my biggest worry is the future. Scully's liver enzymes were normal on previous blood tests which was why adeno was never suspected at first. I gave her bee pollen every day since July along with liquid calcium and vitamins, so this could be why it wasn't elevated. I've also been giving her serrapeptase and coilloid silver every day for the past 2-3 weeks. With the 3rd limb now infected, my vet was talking euthanasia instead of just amputation since she thinks Scully's quality of life with only 1 limb would be poor.

I personally think that until Scully stops eating and loses the spark she still obviously has to explore and be her curious, spunky self, I can't euthanize her. With her limbs gone the pain she's been suffering with in those joints will be gone. I don't know. Am I crazy for thinking that? I just know I can't put her down until every single other option has been exhausted

Any advice you guys have would be much appreciated. I'm almost certain my vet will say euthanasia when I talk to her on Monday.

So sorry to hear that the adeno test came back positive, Jen, and to hear that Scully is in so much pain. It's nice to see that you have so much support here. I wish I knew as much as these ladies, but all I can offer are good thoughts coming both your and Scully's way. Please keep us posted as to what else you learn.

Yes the people on this forum really are amazing and so supportive. Of course I will keep everyone posted as we go through this.

 

[Esther19]

You are absolutely, positively, unequivocally NOT crazy. You know what's best for her. Trust yourself. You can be proactive with the vet, and let him know that euthanasia is the last possible option, and that all other means to ease her pain will be exhausted before that is even considered. Hang in there!

 

[kcarello]

Hi Jen, at least I think that's what your name is..anyway, I'm Kelly, and I too have an adenovirus positive boy, Deuce.
I have read all your threads back to before Scully laid her eggs. What a story,,poor girl. I am so glad you have been talking with Tracie, she is so great. It seems odd to me that Scully never had any symptoms before doing all the digging for laying eggs. Really puzzling.
As far as making any decisions,,you know what is best for your girl and do not let anyone tell you any different. If she has any chance at all of recovering from her leg issues..then she deserves to have you fight for her. As long as she isn't suffering. At least that's my opinion, for what its worth.
As far as the adenovirus positive result..a lot of dragons are living good lives and you wouldn't even know they had the disease. My boy Deuce is one of them. So if your vet thinks you should euthanize Scully due to the diagnosis alone..do not do it. There are so many supplements that you can give, and from reading your post you are already giving a lot of them.
I do highly suggest testing your other two dragons for adeno. The male..I wouldn't think would be positive..but I would check just to be sure. Your other female,,,that one I am concerned about due to the fact that you had them in the same viv at times. It is, I believe, spread fecal to oral. Just having them run around in the same places in the house I do not think is a cause for alarm. But if they were in the same viv and Scully pooped and the other female in any way orally contacted with any fecal matter,,,that would be a problem. I have two, Puff, my female, and Deuce my boy who is positive. They hang out in the same places in my house and I don't have a worry in the world about it. Neither of my dragons poop in their tanks. They both go outside...or at least they did until we moved up here to Pennsylvania..but they are both sleeping right now, so when they wake up and if its too cold to go outside,,then we will have to figure something else out. Anyway, I tested Deuces' tank for adeno, just to see if any of the virus cells would be in his tank,,without him going poop in it. I even ran the swab around his nose, then under his tail by his vent and all around in his tank. The test came back negative. There are precautions that I do take, never recycle insects, separate bath tubs, and never ever let Puff anywhere near Deuces' poop, but these are just precautions that I choose to take and that I would suggest to anyone else to take too.
Your girl really has me puzzled with her legs though. I am very interested in seeing exactly what is going on with her and if the virus has anything to do with it.
I will be following your thread and praying for Scully. You have Tracie helping you out too, and she is so great!
If you have any questions or need anything please let me know.
Give your babies a kiss from me.