soft mushy adopted dragon

[demonsmomma]

ya liquid calcium is awsome..my boy max wont eat the powdered stuff so i give him the liqiud stuf after he eats his food..man he will grab the syringe shake it around in his mouth ..its soo funy..but ya that stuff works wonders the vet gave it to me when i said he wont touch the powdered stuff..

 

[Drache613]

Hello Talia,

I hope that she keeps improving for you. So, the silkies were too small? She will eat them anyway though. The phoenix worms & butterworms both would be great for her plus, they are calcium rich. She would definitely get plenty of calcium then.
Did you take her to the vet today, or was that next week?

Tracie

 

[amazonsurfergirl]

she is actually a he! and she is getting moved into a 60 gallon breeder tank (i just ordered it from medusas on pico - less expensive in the long run than looking for the same on craigs list, freecycle, etc, and time was a ticking!!!) with a 160 watt mvb and as soon as the light went on, he became much more alert and ate many crickets and some greens : )

the liquid calcium and silk worm enzymes from tracie are a dream!

on our way to a speedy recovery (i hope!)

 

[amazonsurfergirl]

well well well. the last ten days have been trying to say the least. at first i had the mvb on in her 20 gall for a bit here and there until that 60 came thru, which ended up taking until today!!! the store delivered it as a courtesy since i had gone in three times to pick up the phantom tank (they would call, tell me it was in, and then it was not. then there was one there but with the wrong lid....!)ugh. anyway, they made right by delivering it, but i gotta say, it was a long haul. so no worms eaten for days now, but slurry of collard and mustard greens with watered down apple sauce finally today stayed down. he was foaming up the super worms and phx worms and crickets and then would foam up the slurry. but today finally he kept some slurry down. no interest in the crickets or worms though.

normal poop/pee up until two days ago. colour zapped out his body while doing our bath water therapy the last two times, but his back legs are working now!!! : ) his front legs have lost some of the stocky bulginess and bulges, and his tail has straightened out quite a bit. he looks super flat. looks like he hyperventilates at times, usually after taking some of the slurry or liquid calcium or serraptatase.

the vet visit never did happen. call me evil but i wasn't really sure it made sense since he seemed to be improving and i thought the right light and housing would do the trick, but then that got delayed for forever it seemed.

OK. I HATE SAND. CALCI SAND, CLEAN PLAY SAND, REPTISAND, ETC. IT'S ALL OVER THE FLOORS, AND IT WOULD STICK TO MY BEARDIE LIKE CONCRETE WHEN HE WOULD FOAM UP HIS FOOD HE COULDN'T KEEP DOWN. YOU WERE ALL CORRECT. I DO NOT LIKE IT. THANK YOU FOR FOREWARNING ME. YOU TOLD ME SO.

so i looked into non stick shelf liner, but they are all plastic derivatives and im not into that stuff being under any heat and outgassing into the tank, let alone the room in which i also sleep in. i was going to do tiles. but this beardie is in no shape yet to make it past even the smallest crevaces. i took a big ole sand coloured towel, folded under the excess, and it is a dream. my guy usually poops after eating, so since now i have a nice 20 gal light weight plexiglass "feeder" tank he can eat and poop in (then i can wipe that out, and hose it out here and there easily), the towel is a dream. also, i can put another towel down while the dirty towel is in the wash. why doesn't everyone use towels???? they seem so perfect?

so i found a vet to go to that specializes in reptiles, referred to me by my medusa store owner down the street. she's not down the street unfortunately, but i hear she is great (and she is after all a she, so that makes it better for me).

a fellow dragon lover and friend told me to try chicken baby food. what do y'all think? please do not rip on me for not taking this dragon to the vet. i have had a hard two weeks here, first with adopting a dragon that i did not know was so bad off with mbd, and then taking care of my 3 yr old, juggling a puppy (who is growing into such a good young dog) etc etc. no excuse, but im doing the best i can. i really did think i would have the lighting and housing taken care of sooner. i also thought, and hope i can still think, that it will help.

peace

talia

 

[amazonsurfergirl]

but i am going to take him to the vet. the last three days have been touch and go with him and i know now it is more critical than before, when he seemed to be improving.

 

[athenacp]

I've been following your thread and happy to hear you got rid of the sand! And now I see you are using towels! Just wanted to let you know that my Digger has been on towels now for almost 6 years, lol! I had sand initially when we got him (play sand) and he got parasites and the vet said to me to put him on a bath towel till they clear up and try the sand again...well I did, bam! parasites again! So now he is a towel loving beardie with his own set :lol:

 

[Drache613]

Hello Talia,

Good to hear that he is improving for you. So, some of the swelling has gone down a little bit, too?
How is his weight coming along, has he gained some for you? Poor guy, he has been through a lot hasn't he?
Please keep updating us on him.
When do you plan on taking him to the vet?

Tracie

 

[amazonsurfergirl]

swelling in legs is down, they look stronger. back legs are working, toes still not grabbing. lost weight but ate a phx worm and kept the slurry down yesterday : ) had a med normal poop yesterday. i place him on his "basking frog" (a stone frog sculpture that is nice and wide so he cant fall off) and he sits maybe 12 inches from the mvb but the temp doesnt seem to be getting higher than 95* ????i even took out the screened tops from the cage because i read it cuts out half the benefits of the mvb. the light is mounted on the side of the terrarium with a clamp, so it sits on a little bit of an angle. is that bad that it is on an angle? it is in a deep dome. maybe i dont need the deep dome since it is not resting on a screen and since i need more heat (or do i?).

i gave dear dragon a cute soft stuffed animal frog to sleep with. he loved it last night in his hideaway. they definitely bonded ; )

going to do the chicken slurry with greens today, and im going to switch from apple sauce to something else because i read applesauce is an appetite suppressant. also adding butternut squash to the slurry.

so the recipe will be:

butternut squash
collard and mustard greens
chicken
watermelon????
pear????

ok folks. ill get the name of some vets and see who can take him this weekend or monday. it'll happen. in the meantime, maybe i can send someone a couple of pics of his new digs and of dear dragon himself (seems since blush is a he, dear dragon is his new name...after my favorite childrens book) so if i e mail someone the pictures, maybe they can post it, cuz i seem to have hit a brick wall with posting photos on this site. what d'ya say tracie or emerald? anyone? thanks in advance!

talia. dear dragons mama

 

[amazonsurfergirl]

Successfull intake of some slurry made of collard and mustard greens, chicken stock, carrots, butternut squash, celery and cantalope. He ate and had a liquidy soft med sized poop

Basking spot still at92

Hmmmmm

 

[Freeie]

You can also use the squash/chicken mix of babyfood more squash than chicken. Thats what we feed our not up to par beardies. You might want to try and raise his basking up to 100f or a tad above with a second basking light. We had to when its cold in the house.

 

[randisjoy]

Hi Talia, To send pictures, you have to get a photobucket account. If you want me to, e-mail them to me (on facebook) and I'll post them here for you. Also, double check the food list on beautifuldragons.com. I seem to remember watermelon not being such a good thing for them? I could be TOTALLY wrong but for some reason I'm feeling that. I guess I should go check it before I even write this!! oh well...

 

[randisjoy]

OK, I was wrong. It looks like watermelon has some nutrients http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutritionframeset.html

 

[amazonsurfergirl]

I ended up using cantalope anyway....not much, though. Mostly butternut squash, then greens, then carrots, then a bit of cantalope for sweetness. This beardie needs veggies. Hasn't had them ever!!!! And he's at least 7!!!!

 

[fresnowitte]

Hi Talia...just wanted to say welcome and best wishes to you with your boy...I can't really add much to the great info you have already recieved but I did notice that you asked this question..........

the light is mounted on the side of the terrarium with a clamp, so it sits on a little bit of an angle. is that bad that it is on an angle?

Yes this is bad...MVB's must sit level or they will burn out prematurely. I believe it has something to do with how the vapor is dismersed in the bulb.
I don't use a screen top either nor do I have any of those nice lamp stands they make for this. So we have a stick screwed to the stand that the viv's are on this way you can clamp the hood to it an it sits level. :wink:

Again Welcome and Best Wishes!

 

[Drache613]

Hello Talia,

How are things going for your little one?
It sounds like he is eating all sorts of yummy foods now! Great, I hope that he is improving for you, though slowly, at least it is improvement. Keep us posted on him.

Tracie