Post by Pooka on Aug 22, 2005 13:45:09 GMT -5
Hi Group,
Ok So I did a vet trip friday. I had been slightly concerned about some
teeth discoloration and a slightly swollen lip on skittle and suspected mouth
rot and Pooka has slowed down on eating and I was suspecting she is gravid. My
vet was good about seeing both of them together last time so I called and
asked about a group appointment again and they said bring them both in together
and they will just bill me for 1 extended visit rather then 2. I took the
2nd 1/2 of Friday off and gathered up my little ones into there traveling cage
and hauled them across town for a doctors visit
Turns out Pooka is becoming gravid. Her follicle(s), which is where they
hang unshelled eggs I guess, are swollen and active. The vet told me that she
may shell these as dud eggs and lay them or she may reabsorb them, I won't
really know until right before she is getting ready to lay. He told me her
appetite is likely to continue to decrease until she refuses food outright for a
week or two. He said she is a spectacular specimen for being as young as
she is, that we have taken excellent care of her, that's why she is coming of
age so young (she is only about 1 year old or so, maybe less). She gained
weight from 97 grams to 127 grams since my last visit about 5 weeks ago. He
said all I can do is provide her with supplemented food items and make sure she
has a lay box. I told him about the suggestions of having one in the cage
and in the room she free roams and he said that would be fine. I set this all
up when I got home of course.
Skittle had his exam and I learned some interesting things with this one
that I'm sure a few of you would like to know about. First of all the swelling
was a small abscess on the inside of his lip. I guess this is akin to a
kanker sore for us? Anyhow, the doc scraped it off and applied silvadine cream
and told he if the lip rolls outward exposing soft tissue then apply neosporin
otherwise he should be all good to go within a day or two (still looks good
now). The teeth discoloration is the interesting part. He showed me the
discoloration and told me its a plaque buildup that it comes from eating soft
foods. He said the slight discoloration skittle had was nothing out of the
ordinary and that its not a real issue until they ever got much worse. He then
told me dragons differ from there agamid family relatives in the fact that
they only ever grow 1 set of adult teeth, unlike iguanas that grow and loose
teeth a few times over. He said because of that he recommends cleaning a
dragons teeth when they get really, really, bad in order to save the only set of
teeth they will ever have. He said that this may be a concern usually years
down the road. A bit of an oddity but new info for me nonetheless. He also
suggested offering insects with a chitenous content like beetles and meal worms
from time to time to help keep the teeth clean. He also commented on
skittles improved weight and health and said he is looking great. Skittle doubled
in weight from 36 grams to 77 grams in 5 weeks. The vet also applauded the
feeding of pinky mice to skittle (pooka still refuses them) and credits them
for much of his weight gain.
All in all both dragons are in great shape, both had fecals done and came up
clean for parasites. Now I just need to keep an eye of my little princess
and get reading up on dragons and reptile reproduction in general. Thought
some of you who followed my story would like to hear about this all. Thanks
again
Ok So I did a vet trip friday. I had been slightly concerned about some
teeth discoloration and a slightly swollen lip on skittle and suspected mouth
rot and Pooka has slowed down on eating and I was suspecting she is gravid. My
vet was good about seeing both of them together last time so I called and
asked about a group appointment again and they said bring them both in together
and they will just bill me for 1 extended visit rather then 2. I took the
2nd 1/2 of Friday off and gathered up my little ones into there traveling cage
and hauled them across town for a doctors visit
Turns out Pooka is becoming gravid. Her follicle(s), which is where they
hang unshelled eggs I guess, are swollen and active. The vet told me that she
may shell these as dud eggs and lay them or she may reabsorb them, I won't
really know until right before she is getting ready to lay. He told me her
appetite is likely to continue to decrease until she refuses food outright for a
week or two. He said she is a spectacular specimen for being as young as
she is, that we have taken excellent care of her, that's why she is coming of
age so young (she is only about 1 year old or so, maybe less). She gained
weight from 97 grams to 127 grams since my last visit about 5 weeks ago. He
said all I can do is provide her with supplemented food items and make sure she
has a lay box. I told him about the suggestions of having one in the cage
and in the room she free roams and he said that would be fine. I set this all
up when I got home of course.
Skittle had his exam and I learned some interesting things with this one
that I'm sure a few of you would like to know about. First of all the swelling
was a small abscess on the inside of his lip. I guess this is akin to a
kanker sore for us? Anyhow, the doc scraped it off and applied silvadine cream
and told he if the lip rolls outward exposing soft tissue then apply neosporin
otherwise he should be all good to go within a day or two (still looks good
now). The teeth discoloration is the interesting part. He showed me the
discoloration and told me its a plaque buildup that it comes from eating soft
foods. He said the slight discoloration skittle had was nothing out of the
ordinary and that its not a real issue until they ever got much worse. He then
told me dragons differ from there agamid family relatives in the fact that
they only ever grow 1 set of adult teeth, unlike iguanas that grow and loose
teeth a few times over. He said because of that he recommends cleaning a
dragons teeth when they get really, really, bad in order to save the only set of
teeth they will ever have. He said that this may be a concern usually years
down the road. A bit of an oddity but new info for me nonetheless. He also
suggested offering insects with a chitenous content like beetles and meal worms
from time to time to help keep the teeth clean. He also commented on
skittles improved weight and health and said he is looking great. Skittle doubled
in weight from 36 grams to 77 grams in 5 weeks. The vet also applauded the
feeding of pinky mice to skittle (pooka still refuses them) and credits them
for much of his weight gain.
All in all both dragons are in great shape, both had fecals done and came up
clean for parasites. Now I just need to keep an eye of my little princess
and get reading up on dragons and reptile reproduction in general. Thought
some of you who followed my story would like to hear about this all. Thanks
again
