Zoey's Tales and Pics

Well, I guess after almost 300 posts, it's time Zoey has her own thread. Things may be a little out of order...today is August 19th and we got her on August 1st. She was 8 weeks old at the time. She is already spoiled rotten, she has me trained better than most dogs and she has me wrapped around her little finger. She loves to mess with me but I seem to be the only one who doesn't recognize it. Some of things she has done will be repeated from other's posts because honestly they are quite comical sometimes, in hind site of course.

And there will be pics that have been taken along the way. I am going to try my best to keep it in order, but I can't promise anything! Hope you enjoy!!

Tracey

 

[traceyb73]

Exactly!!! I am just so tired of these stinky things.

 

[Tonja]

When my crickets are gone..thats it for crickets..I have a 20 gallon under Geicos 40 gal and Im putting them in there since they cant climb glass..I will separate the adults from the smaller nymphs and keep the nymphs in the 20 and the adults in the tote...when I clean mine out..I put the egg crates with all the dubia on them into another tub and pick out what dubia are left in with feeding tongs, then vacumn out the tub and take it to the garden hose with bleach and a small scrub brush and wash it well. Then its ready for the next time..I have two so I can always have a clean one. My dogs dont eat beneful..they eat blue buffalo wild food..duck, goose, buffalo and the elk varieties.

 

[traceyb73]

Oh wow, you have it all planned out. I do have one of those big plastic containers from the dog food (the dog won't eat it if it's been in there. Talk about spoiled!! He's the worst. :roll: ), so that would probably would great as half of the lid flips up so you can get stuff out of there. Hmm, I think its time for first dubia purchase!

 

[Tonja]

I order mine from Kimbrell's Coldblood on the for sale section of this forum. They are relatively inexpensive from him and I have never had a die off, any arrive dead and shipping is very fast on them.

 

[sweetiepie9]

You can order them from here, too and Lance makes his own organic chow, which I've bought, as the supers that I buy like it, too. It's easy to keep a colony, mine is in a 20 gallon, like Tonya, no lid & I keep them inside the cabinet under Lonzo's tank, then put the worms in their bin on top of the tank, still leave 1/2 of it open to air. They're doing fine. Just make sure they have water cyrstals. I'll get that link for you.

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He gives alot of advice on how to take care of them & what to put them in. I just happened to have a 20 gallon tank empty, used to hold crickets which I just won't deal with anymore (I was getting them for my gecko, but he eats roaches & small supers now). So check it out. I've known Lance for a long time, he's very honest & the chow that he sent me, even though I only ordered 1 lb, was more like almost 2 lbs when I got it.

I wish I could order roaches from him, too, but I can't get them over the border...oh well.
Take care!
Deb
Hug Zoey for me, hope she feels better soon, at least she's eating again!

 

[traceyb73]

Oh really? Can't get them over the border? Hmm. I have to do something...it's tough to feed her crickets with her messed up eyes. If she gets distracted while I am trying to catch the next one it's hard to get her attention again. By the time we get to 60 or more I'm exhausted, usually sweating and she's ready to run around. lol With all the crickets she's been eating (she went through 200 in 2 days), when she pooped a little while ago it was small dog size. lol Her belly was SOOO big...it was all poop. lol Poor girl. It just kept going and going and going. lol It didn't seem to smell as bad as usual, maybe that has something to do with the probiotic? I'm just waiting on my panacur from Cheryl. I did notice that the probiotic can be used on dogs (also cats and birds too) so I'm going to be starting Sully on it. I may just so happen to go through it a little faster as he is so big but he's 9 years old and his ears are in bad shape even though I clean them alot (being an retired dog groomer) but they are still a mess plus he's always had belly issues too. I'll let you guys know how it works for him. I may have to start ordering that by the pound instead of the 1 oz sample size. LOL

 

[sweetiepie9]

It would probably do him good, I take probiotics, too and it sure helped Gabriel when he was first here. I know I told you to feed her first before giving her the probiotics and Panacur, but according to Cheryl (I saw this on her facebook site of which I'm a member) she says to give the meds on an empty stomach, then 2 hours later give the probiotic, then feed Zoey & give her the probiotic again after her 2nd feeding. So I'll get that info & give you the link to her beardeddragon.co site on facebook, it's full of great info & a good way to contact her.

Just a tip, whenever you give any medications, try to make sure your dragon has an empty stomach. I usually like to give it to them in the morning before they eat. Food and calcium especially can interfere with absorption and make the meds less effective. Always remember to be sure your dragon is warmed up, their bodies work the most efficiently when they are up to the right temps. For adult dragons, I give half to a full dropperful of Acidophilus about an hour or two after the medication since most of the meds kill both the good and bad bacteria. This way the meds should be well into the digestive system and then you can follow with replenishing the good stuff. I personally like to extra give fluids and additional Acidophilus about 30 mins to an hour before lights out as well, this way it gets into their system just before they shut down for the night

And here's the link:
http://by154w.bay154.mail.live.com/default.aspx#!/mail/InboxLight.aspx?n=2071867767!n=1896802877&fid=2&pdir=NextPage&paid=8ac73cf3-0974-11e2-9b51-002264c248f2&pad=2012-09-28T13%3A58%3A17.417Z&pidx=2&mid=8df4b5da-0915-11e2-a80c-00215ad6a64a&fv=1

I'm glad she's eating, it's great that she has such a great appetite! That means she's going to be growing, growing, growing right before your eyes. I don't know if she'll still have the same appetite after she starts the Panacur, but it's what Gabriel was on for almost 3 mo, only because my vet gave him 1/2 the dose when he was in such bad shape when I first got him. Once he'd gained weight & was in better shape, she gave him the right dose & those parasites were cleared up with 4 doses (one dose a week). So it's very effective! Hopefully she'll be done with it all soon!
Take care
Deb

 

[traceyb73]

Deb thank you, that is really very helpful! So much info. I guess I have been using the probiotic wrong. I was putting it in baby food and gave that to her....alot yesterday. She did perk up though. lol I kept an eye on her practically constantly when I realized I did it wrong and she seems fine. I couldn't believe yesterday I had to refill her squash!! She ate it ALL on top of tons of baby food and a countless supply of crickets. I'm really glad she is eating like this before her meds though, it will get some extra weight on her before she loses her appetite. She's so funny. She always gets excited when she sees the syringe coming but yesterday she latched onto the tip and I had to wait a few seconds for her to decide to let it go. LOL I wanted to squirt some more in her mouth as that's obviously what she was hoping for but it was aiming down her throat and I don't trust that only a little bit would have come out, you know? I would rather have waited until she just let go. Last night in her bath she drank ALOT. She hasn't grasped the concept of putting her head down and drinking herself...she waits for me to put a drop on her mouth. :roll: Then she got to that point where she would lunge at the opposite hand and try to run for freedom. lol Meaning she would run to my elbow, lick the hand towel that is hanging there, I put her back in the water only to do it all over again. She was a ball of fire last night!! Then I dry her, put her in her blankie and burrito her and she climbs back out and curls up against my neck with her nose up under the hood part. lol She is a crazy girl these days but it works for me because I know she is feeling more like her normal self. She has me so wrapped around each and every one of her little shedding fingers. lol

 

[sweetiepie9]

You can't overdo on probiotics, so don't worry about that. I always put the probiotics in babyfood and it was never an issue. What I sent was for when you start the meds, so don't worry, it sounds as if she likes the probiotic, so let her have her fill before the meds start. I'm so glad she's eating & so well! She's such a cutie, has such a big personality! And loves her mommie! and her 2nd mommie (Mariah). Beardies are great, aren't they!

 

[traceyb73]

You can't overdo on probiotics, so don't worry about that. I always put the probiotics in babyfood and it was never an issue. What I sent was for when you start the meds, so don't worry, it sounds as if she likes the probiotic, so let her have her fill before the meds start. I'm so glad she's eating & so well! She's such a cutie, has such a big personality! And loves her mommie! and her 2nd mommie (Mariah). Beardies are great, aren't they!

I love this thing (too much if you ask my other half. lol). We always cuddle at night. Well last night I fell asleep with Zoey on my chest and woke up to Steve at 6 AM yelling, "TRACE! Get up! Make sure "that thing" isn't running around!". Ugh he's going to be the death of me! Of course she didn't move. Duh. Since I didn't expect to doze off, she kept me warm, weird as that sounds, from my body heat and the couple blankies I put over her to keep the light out (I hate falling asleep with the TV on and I wanted to keep the light out while we were lounging. lol), the rest of me was freezing however since we dont' turn the heat on until absolutely necessary. When I say that I mean it has to be under 60 in here. I'm not complaining but I go overboard with making sure Zoey stays warm. It's 11:30 AM here and somehow princess is still sleeping. Since I can barely walk this morning (if you have a bad back, sleep on a recliner all night is NOT recommended!!), Mariah has already been warned she is on Zoey duty this AM (almost afternoon). lol Man, talk about rambling!!! :roll:

 

[sweetiepie9]

Sorry to hear your back is hurting again, so Zoey really is a "sleep all morning" beardie. It's strange as mine would sleep that long I'm sure if I didn't wake them up at 8a, have to as need to start feeding them at 9a during the week for work, but on the weekend I stick to the same schedule as there's always a reason why I have to go out, either shopping or gym, then we have the whole afternoon together. I'm glad you two kept warm, even if your nether regions weren't warm. He could have put a blanket on you two, that would have been kind instead of letting you sleep all those hours in the recliner. Hope you feel better soon, Tracey, but I know Zoey loved every minute of sleeping all warm & cozy with Mommy! :love5: And you can ramble all you want, it's your thread!!!

 

[sweetiepie9]

bump

 

[snazzyglasses]

Somehow I got unsubscribed to this! Oops. Posting so I can keep following, and I hope your back feels better soon!! <3

 

[traceyb73]

Good morning everyone and Merry Christmas!!! I know it's been so long since I've posted....I haven't had my camera for a few months and Zoey has been very sick. First it was pin worms, then it was (is) a URI. It's gotten very bad. She wheezes and rattles when she breathes, she puffs out her throat and coughs and now sometimes I can hear that there is so much mucus she almost sounds like she is drowning. I ordered (generic) Baytril from Cheryl and it will be here anytime now (I just checked the USPS site and it will be delivered today). Zoey has gotten SO big. Last time I measured her (about a week or so ago) she was 15-1/4 inches long!! Over half of it is her tail but she is huge! Now when I put her under my hoodie I know she's there! She gotten very attached to me. I am the one she goes to, even when she climbs into the Christmas tree, which is her new favorite thing in the world to do. She is eating like a champ and has even graduated to medium crickets! She is pooping regularly and if a day goes by that she doesn't poop, I put her in a warm, shallow bath and rub her belly until she goes. The past couple days since she has gotten so sick, her poop smells like ours does when we get a stomach bug. Poor girlie is just falling apart. I will have my phone back in the new few days (it's what I use to take pics) and I will start posting again. You won't believe how big she has gotten! I can't wait to see how long she is going to be when she is full grown. if she is this big at 7 months, she is going to be huge when she is full grown. I dont' yet have a scale for her and can't get one until after Christmas but I was wondering if someone could tell me how much Baytril to give her and how often. I have been giving her the probiotic the past few days because I know she will need it with the meds. I am hoping she doesn't lose her appetite. I have been working on getting her down to one feeding a day of crickets (as opposed to 2 feedings a day) but I do kill some and put them on a plate in her viv so she can snack on them...she eats them all right away which usually means she eats about 40 med cricks a day plus her favorite, winter squash. She LOVES it!! I guess she is getting to that age where her body wants alot more of that and will hopefully start weening herself off of a massive amount of cricks each day. lol I know it will be a while before that happens, but it is so nice to see her each so much of it.

On a sidenote, she just pooped for the third time today in less than 3 hours. At this point its just water coming out. She is in rough shape. If this continues I will post in the ER section, but if someone can help me out here and give me an idea on how to give her the Baytril (and to get rid of the constant pooping). If there is anything I can give her that would be wonderful. I am going to continue to give her all the water she will drink.

I have missed you all and I apologize for disapppearing! Like I said, I have had my hands full. Last time I cried myself to sleep worrying about my little Zoey.

Thank you all in advance and I look forward to catching up with you!! <3

Tracey

 

[snazzyglasses]

Aww poor Zoey (And poor you! So much stress! :shock
I'm not sure on antibiotic dosage since I think it's dependent on weight. I'd let you borrow my scale but I think I'm a bit far away! (It was relatively cheap at Walmart though, like $20. I had to get my own since I'm not allowed to use the kitchen scale to weigh "that lizard", lol)
I'm so glad to hear she's eating well and growing like a cute little weed and loves her momma though! :love5: