Update on Charlie

[clouddancer22]

Well, I still have no idea if he is a she??? Since I discovered s/he has parasites, I have given him (I'll say he until I know differently) 2 doses of the meds - they seem to really wipe him out. I was continuing to feed him chicken baby food w/calcium added by syringe, but two days ago he scarfed 12 crickets!! Wow! I thought his appetite was all better now, but I offered a pinky yesterday and he wouldn't take it. (darn!) I also offered canned snails today, but no go! He took some of them in the past, not a favorite, but . . .

I totally cleaned out his viv, disinfectant and all. I am thinking I will disinfect it again this week, and then go for another fecal sample. My biggest things are his appetite and belly dragging thing. His belly is so much smaller now, and he is less anorexic than before. But I still don't like it!!

He has remained active thruout. One thing, is that he started staying by the pond at night, then started staying up in his branches, but now back on the ground by the pond at night. During the day, he basks. He still jumps up and runs toward me when I am near. Always has. I HATE when they stay on the ground, worries me.

I would LOVE to post a current pic, but don't know how. I tried to look it up, but . . .

Thanks! Hugs, Ursula 'n Charlie

[wdm]

The parasite meds made both my girls loose their appetites for a while. Also they have no interest in anything that isn't alive and moving. No luck here with pinkies, I just get the have you completely lost your mind look I find that Cronus seems to prefer to be on the ground rather than up on the limbs. Perseus spends a lot of time sitting on the waterfall sorta a up in the air but still on the ground area

[dragosmom]

I treated my 3 about the same time Ursula treated Charlie and only Drago seems to have any appetite. Both Tripod and Avanyu are on hunger strikes at the moment. drago is also spending much of her time in her pool, but when she comes out she is ravenous and eats about 10 large superworms at a time. DM

[clouddancer22]

But the thing is, Charlie used to ADORE frozen and thawed pinkies!!! That was his fav!! And the canned snails, he used to eat some (maybe thinking they were pinkies) and he got to the point where he wouldn't look at crickets. Now I am soooo confused! Also, the belly dragging thing. I am so worried that somehow he got MBD, despite my best efforts at the calcium supplementation and lighting (properly replaced every six months.)

OK, so you know I worry about every little detail now, lol. But, here is the thing regarding MBD - it has happened several times in the past, where one day I am thinking the UV light looks different. Less than six months old each time. And I freak out and buy another ( not cheap, and we are POOR.) I don't know for sure if it is duller lighting, but it looks that way to me. I have asked my kids, bless their hearts for putting up with me, and they say it looks the same to them. Has anyone noticed any difference in their UV lighting??? And, isn't there some sort of meter thingy I could get to alleviate my worries??

I really think Charlie has some degree of MBD, but how can one tell, really? His bones feel fine to me, he had some kinks in his tail when I got him two years ago, and parts of his tail fell off shortly. (Hahaha, get it, shortly?) Anyway, a couple of his toes do have a couple of lil knobs, the rest of him looks fine, except for a kink or two in his tail that have been there forever.

And the belly dragging thing. That worries me. Maybe his legs aren't strong enough?? He didn't used to do this, about six months ago before the belly got so large. I feel so bad that it took six months to diagnose the parasites, and wonder how much damage he is sustaining as a result?? Hugs, Ursula and Charlie

[dragosmom]

#1 You can't tell from the actual light emitted if the UVB has decreased. A new light degrades from 100% of the amount emitted within 72 hrs. on most bulbs. there is a meter (Solarmeter 6.2) which measures the UVB. (Meter = $200.00 approx.) You measure the bulb at 72 hrs. and then monthly you compare the numbers. When it gets down to 70% of the 72 hr. number you replace it. Usually 6-9 months with a Reptisun 5.0 I own a meter, but if you just replace the bulbs every 6 mos and buy Reptisun 5.0 you should be fine.
#2 Maybe Charlie is just overweight. it's something we've never considered. I cut back on Tripod and Avanyu's food because they were very large and Rick Gordon on Kingsnake said it would decrease their life span.
#3 maybe Charlie would benefit from an aerobics class. Like let him run around the hallway each evening and strengthen his legs and burn off some belly.
#4 If it is MBD it can't be reversed as such, but it can be stopped and some of the symptoms alleviated. Get him on some neoglucagon or repti-cal liquid calcium as part of his weekly regimen.
DM

[clouddancer22]

No, he is definitely UNDERweight, and just doesn't want to go to those arobics classes, lolol!

Golly! $200! Hmmmm, maybe after we win the lottery! Anyway, yes we are doing the calcium, I guess it will just take some time. I guess I am just impatient! Hugs, Ursula and Charlie

[Pooka]

I think DM pretty much covered it all just wanted to throw my best wishes in

[clouddancer22]

<img src="http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d193/clouddancer22/charlieaug2005web.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">
<img src="http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d193/clouddancer22/Charlie3web.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">
<img src="http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d193/clouddancer22/Charlie2aug2005web.jpg" alt="Image hosted by Photobucket.com">


edit by pooka:

[Pooka]

I went ahead an fixed a copy of your image tags for you above. Basically just grab the http url and put before it and after it and it'll come out right like above

By the way awesome pictures, Charlie actually looks rather healthy. What is Charlies length and age again? Unless Charlie is 1+ years old I'm going to guess male as the sex type, but thats just a guess.

[clouddancer22]

Well, I tend to worry about all my babies, whenever I suspect something is not right, long before most people notice symptoms. Thanks for the compliment! I had to use a macro, 'cause Charlie kept getting so close. I like the macro, you can see every lil detail - although the color is pretty washed out in these. Also, Charlie was finishing a moult.

I don't think the pictures showed his bloated belly so effectively. However, it is soooo much better now! It was so bloated, that he was actually scooting around ON his belly, rather like a skateboard, which he didn't use to do.

Charlie is two now. I got him two years ago, November 2003, and he was only a few weeks old. He was also verrry brown (we didn't know any better) and had several kinks in his tail. At least 3 inches of his tail fell off during the first few weeks, and he got an RI shortly thereafter. Poor baby!

Anyway, 6 months ago we moved and Charlie had to live with friends for several months. This is when the parasites took over due to stress, and it took up until last month to diagnose. He pretty much stopped eating at one point, after months of dwindling appetite, but I continued to force feed him baby food and a caloric supplement called Jumpstart.

So, since his parasites got diagnosed, his appetite has grown enormously, and some days he eats alot, and some days he is not hungry. Definitely better than before, and the swollen belly has gone down. Also, he seems to have developed so much in the past month - wow! Spikes and crest have grown a bunch just this past month. I am guessing that due to his problems, he has delayed growth. Right now, he is 6.5 snout to vent. No point in measuring to the tip of his tail, lol.

I just got some new rechargeable batteries for my camera - I will take a couple of new pics of him, plus his underside later on this week when they are charged. Thanks so much! Ursula and Charlie

[dragosmom]

Kiley, I actually tried to edit the tags so that the pictures would appear on Sunday, but you know how computer challenged I am-I failed, of course. LOL I knew you would fix it when you posted next. Sorry....DM

[clouddancer22]

So, to what size would I resize, not to have them soooo big?? What size would I put on the photobucket site??? Thanks for your patience!! Hugs, Ursula and Charlie

[Pooka]

No worries DM your awesome!

I usually try to go 320 wide at most for small pics like the pic of the week and about 640 wide for regular pics that I will post. Sometimes when I really want a big one I go 800 pixels wide.

[clouddancer22]

Thanks you guys! I am still worried about Charlie. Anyone else have experience with their CWD scooting around ON their belly and using their legs to 'paddle?' Actually, he does use his forearms to hold his upper body upright, that is good. His hind legs look rather emaciated to me, there are indents on his hind legs - there didn't used to be. Help!!

[Pooka]

Sorry Ursula, not much insight on this one... Pooka and skittle both kinda swim across the floor not sure if that fits your description of paddle. Do you have pictures of the behavior or leg indents?