Prepping for a vet visit :(

[KrissyLeigh]

Skittles, my 1 year old beardie, has been stressing me out so we are going in for our first vet visit Monday!

The office there is obscenely cold, so if he cooperates I'm going to put him in his propose so he can warm up from my body temp. If he's super wiggly I'll insulate his carrier with blankets. And they want me to bring poop with me, but he hasn't really been pooping - I think because he hasn't been eating much. However, I'm familiar with his antics and I think we will get poo this weekend. Gonna do a bathing regimen to see if it helps.

Any advice for keeping him warm, collecting a fecal, or just vet visits in general? I'm SUPER nervous, but this is the same vet that treated my rat and she was really good so that's reassuring. Wish us luck...

 

[Canicke]

what's up with skittles? to help keep him warm - you can get heat packs from sporting goods stores. may be the wrong time of year. or - a hot water bottle. do you have a leash for him? when I took my girl in last month, I just kept her on me. but she's a slug. depending on skittles temperament and the office conditions - you might want to consider the carrier! (cats and dogs ya know - I just had to deal with a very curious little boy - who was too scared to touch her!) the fresher the poop the better. make sure you put it in a clean container. and probably refrigerate it. keep us posted ---

 

[Hdrydr31]

What is he doing that's stressing you out??

 

[KrissyLeigh]

Barely eating, barely pooping, much less active, loose stool with sometimes undigested food in it. Last time with the poo I sent it off for a fecal but drdragons no longer does that.

His uvb is still good, temp gradient 75 - 100, vitamin and calcium supplements once a week (he is a year old), veggies and dubia every day except he hasn't been eating. So I figure it's time for a vet visit - and he has never been to the vet, so this way he will be established there in case something happens.

 

[KrissyLeigh]

And today I noticed his gums are very dirty. I read online they need teeth cleaning like cats and dogs, but I couldn't find a lot of info about it so I'm not sure how true that is.... have y'all ever heard of beardies needing regular dentals??
Anyway, since we will be at the vet I'll have her look at his gums too.

 

[Hdrydr31]

Ah then yea good thing to be checked out and yea dr dragons don't do fecals anymore. I don't know about the teeth but I think they can loose those teeth and they regen..don't hold me to that one.. don't think they clean them.. I have a great pic of Izzy's mouth I just got the other day I'll post it

 

[Hdrydr31]

Izzy yesterday

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[PatsyB]

Poor Skittles. If something is going on in his mouth, it would certainly make him not want to eat. He's got sleepy eyes going on there! He really is a beautiful dragon. As far as going to the vet, I do lots of blankets in a carrier and I put a hand warmer underneath the pad. You don't want them laying directly on the warmer. Like Canicke said, a hot water bottle will work too, again don't let him sit on it directly. Hope everything goes well.

 

[KrissyLeigh]

Well Skittles did excellent at the vet! He stayed snuzzled between my breasts the whole time except when the vet peeled him off me. Yeah, he is all man!

The gums weren't dirty, so I guess it was just that one time after eating. Vet said he was very healthy overall, and complimented my care for him .

She couldn't find any parasites, but was concerned with the runny stool and sudden lack of appetite so she gave him some metronidazole, and I give him ano yt?rher dose in 2 weeks. The metronidazole is supposed to also stimulate his appetite... he hasn't eaten today, but the visit was only yesterday so he is probably still stressed. We also had a 24 hour power outage the same day which I'm sure messed up his metabolism.

What do y'all think? Any other advice?

 

[Hdrydr31]

Soo glad the visit went well that is a relief for sure.. With the meds make sure you give him some probiotics to restore his natural gut flora..

 

[KrissyLeigh]

Definitely! Thanks for reminding me!

 

[PatsyB]

He is too cute, I just want to kiss his little nose!

 

[KrissyLeigh]

Skittles finally ate for the first time since Monday! Only a tiny bit of greens and 5 dubia that I had to hand feed him, but it's at least something!!!

He has also only been hanging out on the cool side of his cage - what's up with that? Temps haven't changed.

 

[PatsyB]

How's he doing today? He could have been hanging out on the cool side just to hang out. My kids do weird things like that and go to a side of the tank they normally don't go and hang out for a few days. I think it's just to stress me out LOL!

 

[KrissyLeigh]

His appetite is slowly increasing... I'm waiting on poop so I can evaluate the consistency. I have to give him one more dose of meds in a couple days and we'll see what happens. The next step would be bloodwork, but I don't think we are at that point yet.

Thanks for asking! He has been super stressing me out. Especially laying on the cool side like he is dead!

 

[Mom of blazey]

How's your Skittles doing these days?

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[KrissyLeigh]

Omg he's eating and he pooped for the first time in 3 weeks, and his poop was LOVELY for the first time in months!!! I guess the meds did the trick! *happy dance*

The vet was thinking it was some sort of protozoan or bacterial upset, hence the metronidazole. Since he is better now i guess she is right, but I don't understand how it happened or how to prevent it on the future. Thoughts?

I keep hos tank clean, he gets a varied diet, uvb and temps are good. I can't imagine what is wrong with his husbandry... is this something that just happens?

 

[PatsyB]

Glad he's feeling better. Parasites can also be caused by stress, even a little bit of stress. If his tank was moved or decor was moved and it upset him, it could cause the natural level of parasites to get out of wack.