taking on another beardie ... choices choice ahhh.

[sweetiepie9]

She does look fantastic Em, you've done a wonderful job with her, considering where she came from. And honestly, you can vent here anytime, you should hear what I have to say under my breath whenever I go back & check out those 1st pics of Lexi, I just want to get those people to live like Lexi did for awhile...but can't go back, only forward. I think the pics should be in her file at the vets anyway to show how much she's improved when she goes in. And let us know all about the visit, k?

Leo didn't have any symptoms of mouth rot, I just happened to notice all his teeth were black when I was taking Lonzo and Rubio into the vet for a checkup, so took him with me. He'd never been to the vet, so it was a new experience, so she's now met all my beardies. I've had the same vet since 2006 when I took Sweetie in for the first time, that was so long ago, WOW.

Lonzo is doing really well, his right lung is working a little bit but just that little bit has given him alot more energy and the Acidophiluz has given him more. I'm home with a badly sprained ankle, so he's out for at least 2 hours, running around the living room like he's 5 yrs old instead of 10 years old! It's wonderful to see. He also loves being in his tank, he's got fleece blankets all over the bottom and some logs to lean on and also a pillow, so he's a happy camper and can't flip over anymore.

Rubio has taken to eating roaches, too, but only 1 today, so I made sure he ate squash and some collard greens (not his favourite, he mostly spits them back out at me :shock: the brat).

Didi is still my diva, spends all his time smooshing his face into the glass of his tank when the others are taking their turns in the living room, jumping around from side to side, trying to claw his way out, or trying to jump out. No wonder he never gains weight! When he's on the ramp he pretty well stays there for as long as I let him out, but he honestly feels that ramp is HIS and none of the others have any right to be out there! Here's a pic of the ramp, they all love it and there's a Power Sun at the top:

and here's a pic of the little sofa I found downstairs, they like to lean on it when they've been running around!

Here's Gabriel leaning on it, resting for a little while :lol:

Roger found a box of toys when he first put it together and they love sitting on them, Lonzo was resting his head on the "cat" the other day

If I press the back of the cat, it purrs...it's so cool!
So just wanted to show you a few pics to give you a laugh and no my boys are NOT spoiled :lol:

I don't think Belle has mouth rot, a few discoloured teeth seem to be the norm, Rubio's are discoloured and I've had them checked, the vet said they were fine. If the discolouration grows, then yes, I'd think you'd want them checked. She sounds so much like Leo, very laid back and happy. He loves to just lie on the bottom of his tank & watch TV, but being a male, if he spots anyone outside on the ramp, he'll just sit with a black beard and follow them around. Poor guy hasn't been out of his tank since Feb 1 when he was 1st diagnosed, decided to quarntine him, just to be on the safe side. I'll let you know what the vet says.

 

[blue11]

Hey

well i just wanted you all to know that i really did not get a good impression of Lexi's new vet, the owner of the practice. he was kind of rough with her, didnt hold her well, and was really vague and non chalant about things. Almost like 'its just a lizard" kind of attitude. idk, maybe im wrong. but he is ALOT different than her other vet, and we MISS THAT MAN!!!
he was just abrupt and not very helpful as far as making me feel better or understand things.
he wore her out trying to get in her mouth, when in reality, if i hold Lexi, the old vet could get in her mouth fairly well and look around.
this guy held her (all wrong i seemed like) and battled her to get a look inside until she went completely blackbeard and lay down exhausted on the table afterwards. she was just that tired from the resisting him and the stick to open her mouth.
If you pull Lexis lover lip down, she will let you. She will let you pull it pretty far down, to where you can see the hole in her mouth (which is heartbreaking every time i see it) and then with some gentle cohersion, she actually will open her mouth. ANYHOW, i guess he knows what he is doing.
Her jaw abcess has filled up HUGE. He gave her anti-biotics (Baytril) but it only gets bigger and bigger each day.

He did say something that did make sense, that it IS a hole and no matter what, it will always fill up, like a cycle. He mentioned that there is a way he could close the hole in her mouth up to try to stop all of this. That idea both made me happy but all i saw was massive dollar signs running through my head.

I think it needs to be lanced at this point. When i will be able to afford that is something different all together. i just dont know. *le sigh*
Herp procedures are so expensive. Heck, alll animal procedures are! ha. Opal's are too. Exotics (at least here) are even more. More of a initial exam fee, more everything. BUT i took her on proudly, so i know i need to keep on and on trying to do everything i can do for my sweet girl. ... its just so hard to keep up with this hole in her mouth ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. its hard to even understand. i will try to get a picture of it for yall.

GOOD NEWS - Lexi is .... (drum roll please) .... 340 grams!!!!
go LEXI go!
superworms DEF put some jelly in the belly. And she has built up muscle gradually over time since July '12 ... so that made me smile. I think when i got her she was 190? i have to look back.

will write more soon ...
Em

 

[sweetiepie9]

That vet doesn't really sound like he knows what he's doing, owner or not. Is there any way to track downt the vet you've been seeing prior to this guy and seeing him again? He was great with Lexi and really knew his stuff and I agree that abcess needs to be lanced or at least get the liquid out. I'm sorry about this new guy, sounds like a jerk to me, but I've had the same vet over 6 years now and she's great with all of them, even if Rubio poops on her every time :lol: that's my boy!

Did the prior vet move? Is that why you couldn't get an appt with him? I'd track him down anyway & see what he says, as this guy sure isn't helping Lexi any. You know that hole in her mouth just keeps filling up and it's going to just get worse. Sorry Em, I hate to be negative, but your feelings and Lexi's are spot on.

I'm glad to hear about the weight gain, YEAH and about the muscle gain. She's so much different than when you got her, the transformation is amazing :love5:

Good luck going forward, hopefully you can find a better vet for her. She needs to be handled very softly, this guy sounds like a galoof :shock:

So to give you a chuckle, Gabriel managed to climb into Rubio's tank :shock: He climbed the couch, jumped up 8" to the top of Rubio's tank (it's behind the couch) and then jumped down 18" onto Rubio's log. Rubio was underneath and his snout was inching towards Gabriel's tail when I snatched Gabriel out and grounded him. I even cut his nails and he still climbed the couch the next day :lol: He's such a brat. I was in bed with my bad ankle up when I heard a clang, that was Gabriel jumping down and pushing against the power sun! here's a pic:

Gabriel couldn't understand why I was so angry & took him out of Rubio's tank :shock: He pouted for the rest of the day...he's always up to something, he's already escaped from the living room 3x, the others have NEVER done that!

Anyway, just wanted to give you a laugh, give Lexi a hug for me
Take care
Deb

 

[blue11]

That vet doesn't really sound like he knows what he's doing, owner or not. Is there any way to track downt the vet you've been seeing prior to this guy and seeing him again? He was great with Lexi and really knew his stuff and I agree that abcess needs to be lanced or at least get the liquid out. I'm sorry about this new guy, sounds like a ***** to me, but I've had the same vet over 6 years now and she's great with all of them, even if Rubio poops on her every time :lol: that's my boy!

Did the prior vet move? Is that why you couldn't get an appt with him? I'd track him down anyway & see what he says, as this guy sure isn't helping Lexi any. You know that hole in her mouth just keeps filling up and it's going to just get worse. Sorry Em, I hate to be negative, but your feelings and Lexi's are spot on.

I'm glad to hear about the weight gain, YEAH and about the muscle gain. She's so much different than when you got her, the transformation is amazing :love5:

Good luck going forward, hopefully you can find a better vet for her. She needs to be handled very softly, this guy sounds like a galoof :shock:

So to give you a chuckle, Gabriel managed to climb into Rubio's tank :shock: He climbed the couch, jumped up 8" to the top of Rubio's tank (it's behind the couch) and then jumped down 18" onto Rubio's log. Rubio was underneath and his snout was inching towards Gabriel's tail when I snatched Gabriel out and grounded him. I even cut his nails and he still climbed the couch the next day :lol: He's such a brat. I was in bed with my bad ankle up when I heard a clang, that was Gabriel jumping down and pushing against the power sun! here's a pic:

Gabriel couldn't understand why I was so angry & took him out of Rubio's tank :shock: He pouted for the rest of the day...he's always up to something, he's already escaped from the living room 3x, the others have NEVER done that!

Anyway, just wanted to give you a laugh, give Lexi a hug for me
Take care
Deb

HI!!!

ahahahha Gabriel ... you sneaky dragon you!!! love that story! Love this pic. Love your boys! Sounds like Gabriel was on a mission. James Bond style!!! Rubio was probably like ... "what the heck man? no way this is MY house!"
glad you avoided a TAIL BITE yikers!!!! that wouldnt have pretty at allllllll. eeeeeeeeeeeeeek!

Deb, Lexi's vet moved to Ohio. So i cant track him down without traveling 3 states away, ha! i REALLY miss him, he was so soft spoken and gentle with Lexi. I didnt realize what a good thing i had going on with him until i saw the other vet (her vet now ... boo)
he is knowledgeable and has been doing this for years, birds and exotcis. BUT ... that doest make him a "good vet" ... there is more to being a good doctor than just being skilled. Its mannerisms and communication and talking to the client and listening and explaining ... i mean im SURE that he just has a different opinion on beardies perhaps bc he may not own one, the other vet owned two i think, and one was a rescue. He enjoyed beardies.

i honestly dont know.
BUt i have never seen Lexi so worn out ... i offered to hold her steady while he got inside her mouth, but he just said no i didnt need to and she just eventually went limp when he put her back on the table. head down flat, tired, solid black beard, just exhausted. and i understand that sometimes you do need to tire people or animals out to make it easier to do things to them, but not like that ... UGH.

And the old vet used to give me dosing instructions with her Baytril ... like how many lines down on the syringe to fill it up to for a dose.
This vet said " a drop a day" ... when i asked the dosage, he said "a drop"
big drop? little drop? i mean when i got home i pulled out an old Baytril baggie with dosing instructions and i have been going by that best i can.
and the way he was pushing on her jaws, he was rough and pushing hard. and she is SUCH a good girl, ya know? Dr. Bedore was always gentle when feeling her bones.
i could find a herp vet in Charlottesville or Harrisonburg, those cities are about 35 minutes away, which i dont mind at all ... its just a bummer that such a great herp vet left our city.
We do have one more, but she was the very very very first one i took Lexi too and even though she deal with exotics, you can DEF tell its not a specialty. That is why i switched to Dr. Bedore in the first place, i dont know if ya remember that.

OH WELL ... im watching her lump on her jaw closely, yesterday it looked a little bigger than today, but it fluctuates. she still has a fair amount of Baytril to finish. Shes not her bouncy yellow self lately, the Baytril always makes her blah. She is eating and drinking, just a bit under the weather and her massive appetite has gone down, but this is very typical for Lexi when she on meds.
her beard gets dark in certain areas too when she on Baytril, just not a happy camper. Still as sweet as always though
she is on her pro-biotics i think that always helps.

sooooooooooo im thinkng that this hole needs to be sealed. i dont know how he would do it, we didnt go into that b/c he was kind of rushing to be done. I will call Monday and ask to speak to him about exactly what all it would entail. i honestly do not know if i can afford it, im sure it would be $$$ ... but having this happen repeatedly is probably even way more money. Its just hard to come up with the full amount of procedures, im a new client so they dont do payments. i totally understand that. I just wonder how he would seal the hole.
Guess i will find out (hopefully) when i call.
He also mentioned bloodwork to find her calcium levels, i asked for her to be put back on liquid calcium, but he said i didnt need it, the powder was fine, and he could do bloodwork to find calcium levels. but i cant afford bloodwork, that is kinda why i wanted to switch back over to the liquid. ahhhhh idk. her worms are dusted with vitamin and calcium powder every other feeding. im sure its fine, liquid is just more re-assuring with her. BlueBelle it doesnt bother me to use the powder, and heck she wouldnt let me use liquid on her anyway. her jaws stay SHUT and they are strong, whereas Lexi is so easy to oral dose.
OH! i meant to write this last time ...
I asked for a nail trim, and he took her in the back and when she came out she smelled like a bunch of burnt hair and skin and other weird things.
i walked out to the check out desk, and i was like "ummm do yall smell that?"

they said yes, it was because he cauterized her nails. like heated the tips, i know doctors cauterize to stop bleeding. i dont know if he cut them to where she bled or its something he does as a routine with nails, the front desk people say he uses the cauterize tool for birds alot.
it was just strange.
wouldnt you tell the person, "hey, im going to cauterize her nails" just so i would understand or know what to expect?

the smell went away after about an hour, but i kept wondering, why wouldnt you tell someone you cauterized their pets nails without telling them?
instead of just handing you the pet back smelling like a huge massive mound of burnt hair and saying bye bye. its just seemed odd.
Maybe im not giving him a chance.
i just miss our vet!!!!!!!!
im going to post pics of her abscess and her hole in her mouth asap.
MUCH LOVE!!!
Em

 

[blue11]

PS - galoof is the perfect word! ha!

 

[sweetiepie9]

I would certainly give her the liquid calcium, you don't need a vet to give you permission, Lexi is your dragon after all. And if I were you, I'd be looking into other vets. You don't cauterize nails for Pete's sake, you snip them. He sounds just so weird, and I sure don't like the way he handled Lexi, that just says so much about a vet. I'm sorry you lost that wonderful vet you had.

I'm glad you liked the pics, I cut Gabriel's nails that night and the next day he had climbed the couch again. I don't know why he's so adventuresome, he's already gotten out of the living 3x, while the others have never even tried to get out...he's quite something, my Gabriel, he's always full of surprises :lol: Keeps me on my toes :lol: I just had a 5 hour snuggle with Rubio on one shoulder and Gabriel on the other. When I tried to put them to bed a couple of hours ago, they both climbed back up my arm, so I watched more TV with them and just finally got them to bed :mrgreen: I love my snuggle bums.

So let me know what happens with the vet. It doesn't sound as if the Baytril is doing any good with the lump, it should have been lanced. And getting it filled in is a good idea, but I sure would see if another vet can do it. It won't do any harm to ask some questions of the other 2 vets you mentioned. There has to be someone with a better attitude.

Give her a hug for me and I'm sending a group hug to you, Em, keep me posted, K?
Take care
Deb

 

[blue11]

hey

well Lexi is at the vert now, i go and pick her up in about an hour. The new vet decided he would like to do X-rays of her, particularly her jaw and mouth so that he could see exactly what he was working with before he decided to lance the abcess. I know i dont really care for him, BUT, i think that was a really good move on his part. ive been wanting x-rays of her head/jaw for a long time, and he seemed to take a little $ off the x-rays for me.
i dont know, i will see he his with her this afternoon, he wants to go over the x-rays with me, and im not 100% if he lanced her or not, i have to wait and see.
it will be interesting to see these x-rays ...
the course of anti-biotics didnt work, i think her abcess was just too infected and full of germies and puss to go away just on anti-biotics, but it was worth a try.

She has been at the vet since 7:00 AM ... so i will soon see what all is going on. i have a feeling that he may say he wants to seal up that hole, but i honestly have no idea how he would do it. but im sure there a bunch of things that doctors can do that im clueless about. thats even if it CAN be sealed up. i will know much more at 4:30.
im just going to have to get used to this vet, his mannerisms and basically everything personality wise is opposite of her old vet, but if he can help her, than thats what i need most.

so i will let you know when we get home!!!!
~Em

 

[Esther19]

Hi Sweetie! We'll be waiting to hear what he says. How are you doing?

 

[sweetiepie9]

Hope you got good news, and that he's better with her than he was last time. But you're right Em, if he's a good vet and can help her, then that will be good. Give her a big hug from me, k? And I"m sending a cyberhug to you, too!

 

[blue11]

Esther!!!
Deb!!!

i always get so happy to hear from yall

WELL ... this is interesting news i got yesterday from the vet.
he took this problem with Lexi from a different perspective, and it turned out to be something that *hopefully* will work in her favor.
No, i dont especially like his mannerisms, hes not rude, hes just a bit, short in his answers. it might be just me yall, lol, BUT, i have a little bit more faith in him after yesterday.

He wanted to take a less invasive approach if he could, so he took the xrays, got inside her mouth and looked around.
Instead of surgically lancing her abscess, he actually pushed UP on it, and allllllllllllll that puss/blood/liquid came up through the hole and into her mouth. i know it sounds ... strange, but they cleaned her mouth once it came up out, and he never had to do anything invasive.

whats happening is, that pocket is going to continually fill up, i dont know how often but it will fill up for the rest of her life UNLESS what the vet is doing now works ... he has her on a internal kind of topical antibiotic that he wants me to rub on the exposed bone and the skin around it inside her mouth everyday. which is SOOOOOOOOO much better than her being on systemic antibiotics all the time. it wears them down, harsh on them, yall know what i mean for sure.

So, its this antibiotic that comes in a gel form. and Lexi is so good and patient about stuff being done to her mouth, i mean shes been putting up with it ever since i got her, so i think (unfortunately) she is used to it.
the goal with this antibiotic is, to hopefully get all that infection under control so that *new skin* (gums) can hopefully begin to grow, close the hole, and start to actually grow OVER the bones IN her mouth so that she actually may start to have gums!!! probably for the first time since she was born (well you know what i mean)!!!

GOD I HOPE THIS WORKS

he said it would take a while, and there would be ups and downs, but hopefully by applying in her mouth everyday, after she eats and after i rinse her mouth out with water, then apply it.
Yall, wouldn't it be amazing if she actually could grow gums over those bones??? PARTICULARLY the left side where it is much much worse.

He said, in so many words, he's honestly never seen jawbones with no gums over them grown up inside a mouth before. he said hes seen alot of things, but not like that. So he really wants to try to be pro-active and get some sort of tissue regeneration in her mouth.
if it works, it will be SOOOOOOO much more comfortable for her, she still wont grow teeth of course, but she would have a protective layer over all that bone.

im *so* hopeful for this.
if it does fill up again, he is not going to lance it over and over and over again, hes going to push it up back through the canal and clean it out of her mouth.
this means no surgery, no cutting, no lancing, if we can avoid it ...

I have her x-rays on a disc, but i cant seem to save them to the computer, so i think im just going to take a picture of them on the screen and post them.
you will be able to see her twisted wavy ribs, and her bent arm bones, and the swelling and disfigurement on her jaws ... there is also some sort of fracture in her tail, and some other things you will notice. the GOOD thing is most of her bones are showing up white/bright (shes getting density), which he said back in July the x-ray would have looked alot different.
that made me happy

let me try to get those x-rays up ...
oh yeah ... i think i might have mentioned it before, but Lexi has gained about 150 grams since July 2012.
she went from 190 to 340

OH! and i keep getting so many compliments about Lexi at the vet. they LOVE her. she interacts with them, gets pretty colours for them, walk to them, they just love her, they said they have never come across such a fun-loving, sweet and funny dragon of all their beardie patients. and its cool that they have gotten to see the MASSIVE transformation in her since day one. they cant get over it, neither can i!

so, let me know your thoughts if you can, its a totally different approach then i expected, so any input is totally welcome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
~Em

 

[Esther19]

Oh Emily, I think it sounds wonderful! I'm so glad the vet turned out to be someone you can have more confidence in. The "pushing up" method sure would be better than the lancing, and the fact that he thinks it is possible for her to grow new tissue is fantastic! Glad to hear of her weight gain, too. Sure wish my crew would pack on the grams. Buster isn't even sure he's done sleeping yet, after 6 months!

 

[sweetiepie9]

Well as much as we grumped about this vet, he sounds like he's come up with a great idea, so hopefully it works, but even if it takes alot of time, at least it's not invasive. I love the way he got all that yuck out of that abcess without lancing it. Sounds like he and you have a plan. Isn't it great how popular Lexi is with the people at the vet's office? She's is a miracle wonder and I'm glad she's in your hands! So fingers crossed that this vet's idea works, because it would put an end to having constant infection in her mouth and I'm all for that! And to know that her bones are getting denser, oh that is great news, too You'll have to keep us updated on how that antibiotic works with her! Good luck to you both and HAPPY EASTER! Good to get good news before the hoilday!

I took Gabriel to the petshop today and was such a good boy, I was just awed at how he stayed with me, even though I just had him wrapped in his blankie. He was great in the car there so to give him a reward he got to sit up on the dash. I have a mesh thing that sort of sticks to the dash and then his tummy sticks to that, gives him traction and he sat up there, looking around at everything, he was just awesome. They were really surprised to see him sooo healthy. He was so skinny, dehydrated and covered in sand when I got him there a year ago, he'd been dropped off by his owners. Now he's fat & sassy and full of energy and they were all amazed!

 

[Esther19]

Well, hopefully that will be a lesson to all the pet shop folks how good, loving care can change a dragon's life!

 

[blue11]

ahhhhhh this new photobucket layout is driving me insane. lol, i cant figure out how to post a pic off the new photobucket. i feel like its starring me right in the face but im not getting it ....

 

[blue11]

ive been trying to post her x-rays for days and im still in total airhead mode.