dragon meds

[Lrptls]

i bought him back in 2001 when he was teeny tiny. heres 3 pix

in this one hes next to a 6 inch ruler

[Lrptls]

picture of him gasping for air

[Lrptls]

heres a shot of his lip

[V.hb]

its a boy!
definatly very skinny, his mouth doesnt look that bad. I would keep him in the humid rubbermaid at night still. I would buy some A/D its a fattening diet for mammals but works on reptiles. If you syringe him for about 5 days he should put weight back on.

He may need to be dewormed, but its still a worst case scenario.

[Lrptls]

does this "A/D" have a whole name? and do you think it might be at petsmart or something?

i want to put in a substrate in the bottom of the cage, its just news paper but i either want to get reptile moss or bark, it will be geting pretty wet from the mister so i can't have something that molds. what should i get?

also, thank you SO much for the help, i think if it werent for you he would be in serious trouble if not dead or something terrible =\ i will probably be geting the rubbermaid, peroxide and betadine if we dont have it and the "A/D" if i can find it.

[V.hb]

no problem iam glad i could help!!

A/D is a science diet product thats used for fattening up mammals, I believe its usually only found at vet clinics. Iam in Canada so it may have a different name where you are. I would do like 1 syringe a day for 5 days along with regular meals. How much is the dragon eating when you throw food in? Iam really wondering why hes so skinny, but chances are hes not eating as much as you think if hes had a URI. Mix in some vitamins, and some smashed up crickets or something.

For Substrate id go with nothing for now, just paper towel so you can keep him clean until he recovers fully.. Beyond that, cypress mulch is good, or coconut fibre.

[Lrptls]

he doesn't eat every thing i offer him in one day. i will usually give him 10-20 meal worms, 3-5 super worms and a few smashed crickets in the bowl with them. i always put vitamins on them too. he doesn't eat them right away all the time but he always eats his rodent as soon as he sees it. should i offer him a rodent more than once a week to try and help him gain weight?

[V.hb]

regular mealworms suck! they dont possess much nutrition!

use superworms, and let the crickets run around for him to hunt. Yes i would feed him maybe 2-3 pinky/fuzzies a week for now to get fat back on his hips!

[V.hb]

i'll also add that regular mealworms are a completely different species from the superworm.. they look alike but theyre not the same. Small mealies have high levels of chitin in them, very hard to digest.


I forgot to ask as well, do you use a large water basin for him? thats almost a nessecity with cwd's.

[Lrptls]

he has a kitty litter pan. its around a foot wide and over a foot long. usually has about 2 inches of water in it plus a rock to help him get in and out.

and are you suggesting i feed him less meal worms?

btw i noticed his lip is already looking so much better!

[lissag]

IMO... ditch the crix and the mealworms all together. I can't even get my Wds to look at a cricket let alone eat it. I do feel though that in order to mantain good wieght levels on a water dragon crix alone or with a few superworms mixed in.. isn't gonna cut it.

Here is a rundown of what my wds eat

i switch the order and amount up every week

this past week my wds have eaten

2 fuzzies
4 nightcrawlers
15 superworms give or take a few

and Frog (who is still gaining wieght back from being gravid) would eat all of that in one sitting if i let her.

You also have to watch out for obesity in wds. I would up his food intake dramtically until his hip bones aren't exposed and then i would cut back down to a normal level. feeding every other day.

[Lrptls]

thanks lissag

today i was giving him his baytril and its really milky and cloudy. i think heat had something to do with that. my herp room gets about 95 degrees in the day now. i moved the meds into my bed room, which is cooler but still about 80-85 degrees sometimes. is it still good to use?

ps-my dragon is not very weak. every morning i take him out and put him on a small cage next to his while i prepare his meds. today i gave him his meds and he ran over to his cage, climbd up the top and walkd around on the top, i had to go around the back and snatch him off the top and put him back. i was glad to see him moving a bit.

[V.hb]

shake the baytril before using..... i don't know if its going to lose any effect though..

I dont agree with ditching crickets, and supers however..
Keep him on superworms & crickets with a couple fuzzies a week.

Mealworms (small ones) suck, they dont possess much if any nutrition. The only animals that seem hardy enough to eat them on a regular basis are leopard geckos.

[lissag]

I use superworms .. i never said ditch the superworms... IMO i don't see the benifit of crickets in a dragons diet after the age of 14 months. but that is just my opinion and what i have been doing for years.... Crickets aren't bad.. i just don't like the hassle...and feel their are more benifical food sources out their. But if he is eating them i guess stick with whats working.

On another note.. i have heard of deworming wds. I never have had to do it but when i adopted frog last summer her prevoius owner had a fecal done and she was plum full of hookworms.

I don't think batyril looses it's effectiveness when shaked either... good point V. hb on shaking it....

Alissa

[Lrptls]

slowly, i noticed my dragon isn't breathing as heavy any more, nor is he even opening his mouth. i'v still got around a weeks wroth of baytril left and i am going to continue giving it to him. his lip still looks yucky but i have a bad feeling its scard and always going to look like theres a little peice missing.
next step is to get a fecal sample to the vet and ask for "A/D"
hes still eating good but still showing most of his bones good too =\