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]

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:

You know what's funny? Even when you're "old" like me, it's your husband instead of your mom saying "that lizard". LOL I did do a search and Walmart has one of the cheapest scales around, you're right, but being a couple days before Christmas, I thought I would estimate using a box of uncooked Jell-o and uncooked potatoes. lol (They were the only full things I could find in my cabinet that was uncooked and in grams. lol) We determined she weighs more than one box of Jell-o, less than a box of each. Yes, I have wayyyyyy too much time on my hands!! If my camera worked I would have taken a picture of the "scale" I made. I used my daughter's bedroom and when she came home from work, she walked in there yelling "What HAPPENED in here???". That's pretty sad as every article of clothing she owns now makes up the entire floor, a few layers thick in most areas. lol

Even though she is so sick and has even started doing this weird thing (as of yesterday) where she looks like she's gaping when I'm holding her but after her mouth is open for a few seconds she lets out a cough like I've never heard before...although that could be the lack of vocal cords. :roll: It just breaks my heart to see her like this. Although as I was cleaning her up this morning (she pooped while she was sleeping and just lie there in it instead of moving away. ) As I was holding her up to clean the dried poop off of her, I noticed some vents on her back legs!! I am starting to think my little Zoey is a Zeus. Females don't have any vents on their back legs right? Once she is feeling better I'll check her tail again but the vents are really making me think. Talk about a surprise this morning. lol

 

[TheWerewolf]

Hi Tracey, it's nice to see you back on. Poor Zoey, you and her must be so stressed right now. And I think Zoey is still a girl. Female bearded dragons have femoral pores too, they are just harder to see sometimes. I know there are a few female with pores that are huge, but they only have one bump where males would have two. That's why sexing beardies using their pores is a bad way to do it. And males could have smaller pores, so is the case of my Nim. I think you sexed her right and she is a lady.

 

[Tonja]

I am so sorry to hear about Zoey and her URI. Bless her little lizard heart, hope she gets better quickly. As far as sexing. under the tail near the vent a female will have one bump that is prominent. The male will have 2 bumps on either side of an indentation, which runs right through the center of the bumps. Femoral pores in males are generally larger and run down both sides of the inner thighs from the vent. Females pores are generally smaller and in some undectable and are in the same place as the males. Pores can be smaller in both depending on age..geicos are just now becoming prominent at 6 months old and I cant really see Emilys without a magnifier and shes 3 months. I dont know if females get the waxy plugs like the male does but Geico's are a bit dark and starting to protrude a bit..in a few days I will lightly scrub his legs with a soft brush and see if they come out or not but at least get them clean. Also I hope you and yours have a very Merry Christmas.

 

[traceyb73]

I am so sorry to hear about Zoey and her URI. Bless her little lizard heart, hope she gets better quickly. As far as sexing. under the tail near the vent a female will have one bump that is prominent. The male will have 2 bumps on either side of an indentation, which runs right through the center of the bumps. Femoral pores in males are generally larger and run down both sides of the inner thighs from the vent. Females pores are generally smaller and in some undectable and are in the same place as the males. Pores can be smaller in both depending on age..geicos are just now becoming prominent at 6 months old and I cant really see Emilys without a magnifier and shes 3 months. I dont know if females get the waxy plugs like the male does but Geico's are a bit dark and starting to protrude a bit..in a few days I will lightly scrub his legs with a soft brush and see if they come out or not but at least get them clean. Also I hope you and yours have a very Merry Christmas.

When she was younger it was one prominent bump...even the breeder showed me and explained how to sex them. I guess its the lighting I have when I am checking her now that is making me wonder. I need to check under a good light. I don't want to keep messing with her until she is feeling better. She is sleeping on my chest right now, under my hoodie to keep warm and she has her nose up to my neck, along with one foot (she is soooo sweet and just loves to cuddle!), sound asleep. Poor baby will almost gargle every once in a while with the mucus (?) in there. This needs to go away fast! She's had 2 doses of the Baytril so far. The hardest part is getting the probiotic in her. It's the only thing that she fights me on. of course. lol

I hope you are feeling well and you have a very Merry Christmas too. Give your kids a kiss on the nose from Aunt Tracey.

 

[sweetiepie9]

She'll feel better soon, Tracey, she really will, now that she's getting the right meds. Just keep in touch & keep me updated, k? Give her a kiss for me & tell Mariah I wished her a Merry Christmas, too. Wish we lived closer to each other!

I now have only 2 dragons up, Lonzo and Gabriel, Didi and Leo have decided to brumate again! So it's quiet at this end, which means I can get my baking done for Xmas!

So have a Merry Christmas, and keep in touch, it's great to hear from you.

 

[morphmom]

Happy Holidays!

 

[sweetiepie9]

Hi Tracey,
I sent the info on Zoey to a friend of mine, Amanda, who has had a few beardies with UR infections and she sent this back to me:

"Poor Zoey. She's doing the right things. Temp up to 105*F to 108*F, night temp to 85*F. Daily hydrate soaks cause Baytril is nephrotoxic but with good hydration it shouldn't be a problem, and it makes them thirsty. I swear by Serrapeptase. Tracie sells it on her site. Studies show it helps thin the mucus making it easier to move out, it also has been shown to be a pain relief and anti inflammatory. I gave it to my dragons with RI's.
Also they can't cough and don't have cillia in their lungs to help raise the mucus so I waited til mine got to sleep at night and then would place them with head lower than the body to sleep. it helps drain the lungs. She will see mucus in her mouth in the morning but Zoey will swallow it or it will drain out of her mouth. That should help. I'll post my RI sleeping board on my page so you can show her, it's easy to make but hard to explain.|

Hope this helps Tracey,
MERRY CHRISTMAS, have a good day & I'll talk to you soon,
Take care
Deb
Lonzo & Gabriel said to give Zoey extra hugs from them & they said for her to get better soon.

 

[traceyb73]

Hi Tracey,
I sent the info on Zoey to a friend of mine, Amanda, who has had a few beardies with UR infections and she sent this back to me:

"Poor Zoey. She's doing the right things. Temp up to 105*F to 108*F, night temp to 85*F. Daily hydrate soaks cause Baytril is nephrotoxic but with good hydration it shouldn't be a problem, and it makes them thirsty. I swear by Serrapeptase. Tracie sells it on her site. Studies show it helps thin the mucus making it easier to move out, it also has been shown to be a pain relief and anti inflammatory. I gave it to my dragons with RI's.
Also they can't cough and don't have cillia in their lungs to help raise the mucus so I waited til mine got to sleep at night and then would place them with head lower than the body to sleep. it helps drain the lungs. She will see mucus in her mouth in the morning but Zoey will swallow it or it will drain out of her mouth. That should help. I'll post my RI sleeping board on my page so you can show her, it's easy to make but hard to explain.|

Hope this helps Tracey,
MERRY CHRISTMAS, have a good day & I'll talk to you soon,
Take care


Deb
Lonzo & Gabriel said to give Zoey extra hugs from them & they said for her to get better soon.

First Merry Christmas!!

Deb, I cant' thank you enough for that information. You have no idea how much that helps. I have raised her day and night temps. Daytime I have been keeping around the 105-108 degree area, night time I try to keep her around the 85-90 range but sometimes it hits 91. You know how tough that is...if the move over an inch it's a touch warmer. She has been making a noise that sounds like coughing....it sounds evil! She opens her mouth wide and makes that loud noise.

So if I make sure her head is below her lungs she won't "drown" in it? I worried about that. I always do offer her water at least 3-4 times day, but I have been offering it even more now and she does drink alot. Infact Mariah just got done giving her her first drink of the day (Zoey just woke up).

I need to run, off to the in laws and Steve (my other half) is already having a panic attack. lol Have a great day all!!

 

[sweetiepie9]

You have a great day, too Tracey. Amanda is going to send me info about how she sets up the bed so her dragons are lowered a bit for the mucus, I'll pass it to you as soon as I see it.

Talk to you soon,
hugs
Deb

 

[sweetiepie9]

Unlocked thread per Ops request. Added by moderator

 

[traceyb73]

Thank you so much for unlocking me Deb!

It's been so long since I've been here! Just a quick refresher...in Sept. (when she was just about 4 months old) Zoey decided to jump from my shoulder into the toilet while I was refilling her bath water (since she pooped in there). I grabbed her out of there immediately, but she managed to inhale all kinds of water. So after round after round of Baytril, we finally took her to the vet last week. They gave her a shot of vitamins and started her on Tazicef Ceftazidime injections. (There are 7 total, she gets one every 3 days. They made me give her the first one at her office so they knew I could do it.) So, yesterday she had her second shot and she's FINALLY not clicking and squeaking anymore for the first time in 7 months!! Poor little girl doesn't remember what it's like not to be sick. ((

So she weighed her...Zoey is 10 months old and weighs in at 361 grams. lol My little fatty!! She is very long though (last time I measured her she was almost 17 inches, more than half of which is her tail, which she curls into a big "C" when she is standing. lol). I expected her to be around 310-320. She's eating crickets like crazy, twice a day plus countless little squares of squash! We are going through 200 mediums (they are large mediums) every 2-3 days. lol We also started Supers in the last couple weeks (yesterday we got 20 of them) and she devours them. Gives her good exercise though, well. once I was able to drag her out of the bag. :lol: I turned around for a second to grab the tweezers and she was in there munching away. lol After I dragged her out of the bag, kicking and screaming, I toss them a foot or two away from her and she runs after them. lol Very funny to watch!!

I don't have any new pics yet...I don't even remember how to use photobucket anymore, but I promise I'll get them up soon! She's got such a cool personality...even the vet said she's never seen a beardie as calm, cool and collected as Zoey. lol I guess they usually hold their breathe and freeze...not Zoey, she looked like she was on a treadmill, just trying to get back to me. lol Very funny stuff! I can't wait to get back outside once it warms up! I spend just about all day outside and Zoey will be out there with me, getting all the real sun she can handle!! She still hates her viv. She is a dog in lizard's clothing and I think she just thinks I put her in the viv to be mean. :roll: She spends most of her time glass dancing, attacking her UV light or staring at her reflection (she is a narcissist. lol)

 

[morphmom]

Welcome back! :wave: Glad to hear there's no more clicking and she's getting back on track!

 

[TheWerewolf]

Hey Tracey, it's great to see you back. And I'm SO glad Zoey's doing better. Let's hope your narcissistic little girl stays healthy from now on. I was worried about her when I got the last update.

 

[traceyb73]

Hey Tracey, it's great to see you back. And I'm SO glad Zoey's doing better. Let's hope your narcissistic little girl stays healthy from now on. I was worried about her when I got the last update.

Hey!!! How's Nimmy?? And thank you for saying that. I have been so neurotic for so long. Zoey doesn't know she's a lizard since I carry her around like a little queen. lol We still cuddle every night and I keep checking on her and putting my head to my ear. It's just so odd that it's gone already and she still has 5 more shots. She's even good for that! I thought I would need someone else to hold her but I just wrapped her up, cuddle her against me then just got her back leg out of her blanket. As long as someone shows you how to give injections, it's really easy to do.

 

[traceyb73]

I would like to say thank you to all the mods on here. Deb (sweetie) has become such an amazing friend. If not for Deb, Zoey might not have made it over this hump. When Zoey got to her worst (countless times!!), Deb always had spot on info for me and if she wasn't sure, she would point me in the direction of someone who did. I also want to mention this....I thought the bill for Zoey's vet visit would be off the wall. First let me point out that I was told by countless people in the area, including the breeder, that they are the absolute best. The bill was under $130!!!!! Now for that price they did a complete fecal, checkup including listening to her lungs, a shot of vitamins, showing me how to give the injections, the injections themselves and now I have a relationship with her. They waived the office visit as it was her first time there (over $50 off!!!!!) and a handful of days later Zoey is healthy for the first time in 7 months!!!