Xray included on page 8.

[TheDragonKeepers]

Skull all tight, poor honey...

Her sunken eyes are a TINY bit better. She opened her eyes to see what I was doing and has shut them again - she is now sort of "stood" on her hut, she's raised herself on her arms. Breathing steady, heart rate picked up as heating sunk in. (Her jugular is close to the surface and easily visible - but that's normal for Ky.)

Tsam is on duty in his tank. He's been upgraded to "Commander" this afternoon, with the arrival of the new hat. He knows something is wrong.

Hyphen (the littlest dragon, lives in the top tank) hasn't a clue, bless him. Sandy lives downstairs in the dining room and is unaware, other than she had a bath on the wrong day.

Oh, apologies, will take a bodyshot now.

 

[TheDragonKeepers]

She has always been a dumpy, barrel shaped dragon. She's just shy of 18" long. I can weigh her if you'd like me to.

I suddenly realised yesterday that her tail is VERY thin (for her) - you can feel the... spine? Bones in the tail underneath very easily. Her arms and legs didn't seem as chunky as usual. Again, very sudden.

Bless, she tolerated me messing with her tail for a moment. She normally has a very tickly tail. Skin on it very soft, "loose" feeling. Arching the tail higher and you can see the bone ridge underneath. Ditto as above, very thin.

Any other angles you want? She used to be a model for the University photographic team, so this is old days for her (She's definitely perked up a little, she's moving about a touch. Has parked arse back in the bowl.)

 

[AHBD]

I know you must feel greatly reassured with the Commander on duty, he does give off quite an air of authority ! Well, your girl is really dehydrated, head sunken in, etc. Poor thing. I do think that she has the shape of a dragon that has eggs in it's belly, or else some other mass. Her weight loss is everywhere BUT her belly, and that is not normal. Something has her bloated for sure. With her going for the calcium dish, that may be the reason. Keep up the baths, and be sure to encourage drinking by trickling water on her nose - end .

 

[TheDragonKeepers]

She tends to carry herself round fairly inflated - I did notice her re-flating once she got home - most of it is air I think. When vet checked her over, he compressed her and checked her intestines out carefully. Likewise, I can't feel anything in there, or anything spherical. She will deflate when flipped over (as proven when at vets), but I don't want to stress her more than I have to, obviously!

She got herself up and went for a verrrry slow stroll over to the cool end of the tank. I've scooped her up and put her in the hut (the warmer end of the tank) and she seems satisfied with that. She has her pink lizard toy cushion to doze on. I gently drew her arm forwards so I can easily see her breathe when I go to check up on her, minimising disturbance.

Poor girl is in for a night of baths though, as advised a soak every 2-3 hours.

If I can get her Xrayed tomorrow, what am I looking for? Our local vet isn't hot on his herps - in fact, he laughed and said I know more than he does. I think that says something :S Thankfully I know a good reptile vet, but she's a long way away...

 

[MissT]

If the vet is unsure about the xray, get a copy and post it here- people here are great at interpreting xrays!

 

[Claudiusx]

The inflated belly is kinda worrysome.

I agree, it would be good to post the x rays on here if you could.

-Brandon

 

[TheDragonKeepers]

Fecal not done yet - no sample currently available, as last poop was all liquid with a couple of scraps of dinner. She was recently wormed and treated for parasites (two months ago roughly) as we had a new arrival with a severe case of them. Of course, quarantined and treated, but did all four as preventative measure. Dosed all after with Avipro to restore gut flora as previously mentioned.

I agree it does look odd, more than her usual inflated-ness. I can only imagine her kidneys hurt after the poking the vet gave her and she's inflated to protect them or something... Like I say, she completely deflated when he was checking her over fully.

Will see if he'll do xray and post - will be interesting to see if the two tiny round pebbles she ingested last summer (both on separate months, mistaking them for woodlice in the garden) are still there or if they passed through.

Edit: Oh, PS - I gently woke her up and gave her another bath. She had another good drink, and has since gone to sleep back in her tank. She's currently sat in her waterbowl (there's about a millimetre of water in there - not enough to reach mouth or nose if she turns round) snuggled up with her pink lizard teddy. It's on the edge, to make it comfier for the way she's sat and to support her sleepy head. (And also keeps that forearm up so that I can see her breathing better without disturbing her.)

I'll fish her out in about 15 mins to dry her off and warm her up.

 

[AHBD]

Good idea to post the X-rays if you have that done. By the way, did you mean bathing throughout the night ? Or just this evening . I don't mean to ask such a dumb question, but I just want to be sure you aren't going to be putting her in water all through the night. She still needs to rest and have down time.

 

[TheDragonKeepers]

I'll get up in about three or four hours to give her another quick drink - this last one went well - unless you think it's not a good idea of course. I appreciate that she needs her rest, but I'm also concerned with how dehydrated she is.

 

[Claudiusx]

If its night time for you, I'd say its better to let her sleep through the night instead of waking her up for a bath.

-Brandon

 

[MissT]

I wouldn't bath her during the night either. My vet never advises more than 3 baths per day and the last one has to be at least 2 hours before bed. I was dealing with a dehydrated, inflated beardie a few weeks ago. The bloating is not good so hopefully that settles soon!

 

[TheDragonKeepers]

Fair play - our vet says 2-3 hours though (this is the good specialist vet btw, not the local one) - what's your opinion.

I'll give her one before I go to jury service and Rich can take over whilst I'm out. I'm bringing home some ... eesh I'm tired, some... something beginning with a C. My head hurts. The electrolyte rehydrating stuff.

Edit: The bloating is definitely deliberate inflation. I tucked her in bed (now that the lights are off) and she deflated a little, then gently huffed it back up again. I also noticed she's starting to moult some bellyscales - there's a big swathe down her tummy that have gone that clear layery colour that they get a few days before shedding. It's also over her shoulders - could this be related? (Stretching perhaps? Clutching at straws - definitely.)

I'm leaving her to sleep - will check on her later. Oh wish us luck, I don't want to lose my baby..!

 

[MissT]

Rehydrating stuff-?? Do you mean reptoboost??

 

[Claudiusx]

Your vet says 2-3 hours for what?

I agree with MissT, they should have around 2 hours after the bath with lights on to get back to normal after their bath.

-Brandon

 

[TheDragonKeepers]

"Critical Care" was the phrase I was looking for. I think it's very much the same thing here in the UK.

Vet said she should be bathed every 2 to 3 hours. *shrugs* You'll have to bear with me, it's all taking it's toll now and I'm struggling to concentrate.