Help

[Jennifer Combs]

I have a depleted female (too many eggs) and I was syringe feeding her for weeks and she finally began to eat her veggies... now she won't eat again, except a few worms and crickets here and there so I again mixed some feed up and put in syringe this morning BUT SHE BIT OFF AND SWALLOWED about an 1/8 of an inch of the plastic tip of the syringe feeder!! Will she be o.k.?? (I can't afford vet right now, I have 9 dragons and 60 incubating and many near ready to hatch)
Please, someone, tell me she will poo it out and be o.k.??

 

[Noella]

Mine's digested paper towels and she turned out okay. But ingesting plastic is another good question. I haven't had this happen before to mine.

If the piece is small, it should pass. If it doesn't pass, then you can try babyfood prunes, babyfood applesauce, or a dab of olive oil on the nose, and a good warm bath followed with a belly massage. If those methods don't work, then you should go see a vet. They can do much more and give a prescription laxative.

Have you upped her calcium since laying eggs?

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

Truth is that there is no way to guarantee that the piece of plastic she swallowed will pass thru safely or not or even if it does whether it will damage her inside or not. This type of thing is only one reason or example of why syringe force feeding these or any other creature should always be as a last resort only.
The fact that she was eating a few live feeders on her own means that she WAS eating and that syringe feeding was probably not really needed. Some times patience is the hardest thing a keeper can master while also being the most important trait to develope.
Please do not take what I am saying as a personal assault on you because it is not meant in that way in the least rather meant as statement of facts so that others might learn from what happened with your dragon.
All that aside there is a possibility that she will be fine but I would watch her very closely over the next several days for any signs of distress. At that point should she show any then a vet visit is absolutely necessity.
On a similar line I can tell you that our Mungi once snapped off and swallowed a large piece of my wife's painted fingernail and suffered no ill effects. We never saw him pass it either and that has been a couple of years ago.
On another note I would suggest you ordering a bottle of Reptaid and using that to help boost your dragon's system back up as well as stimulating its appetite again. It is one product that I will stand behind because I have personally seen some truly miraculous results using it. You can find it online at their website. Just Google Reptaid
Hope that helps and good luck with your dragon...keep us updated

 

[Jennifer Combs]

Mine's digested paper towels and she turned out okay. But ingesting plastic is another good question. I haven't had this happen before to mine.

If the piece is small, it should pass. If it doesn't pass, then you can try babyfood prunes, babyfood applesauce, or a dab of olive oil on the nose, and a good warm bath followed with a belly massage. If those methods don't work, then you should go see a vet. They can do much more and give a prescription laxative.

Have you upped her calcium since laying eggs?

I have upped her calcium, I even mix some in with the "critical care" mix that I feed her via syringe - and she laid weeks ago.

 

[Jennifer Combs]

But I do thank you for your reply -- I appreciate the suggestions and will try them as I will also be checking for her to pass the piece of plastic. Thank you

 

[Jennifer Combs]

Truth is that there is no way to guarantee that the piece of plastic she swallowed will pass thru safely or not or even if it does whether it will damage her inside or not. This type of thing is only one reason or example of why syringe force feeding these or any other creature should always be as a last resort only.
The fact that she was eating a few live feeders on her own means that she WAS eating and that syringe feeding was probably not really needed. Some times patience is the hardest thing a keeper can master while also being the most important trait to develope.
Please do not take what I am saying as a personal assault on you because it is not meant in that way in the least rather meant as statement of facts so that others might learn from what happened with your dragon.
All that aside there is a possibility that she will be fine but I would watch her very closely over the next several days for any signs of distress. At that point should she show any then a vet visit is absolutely necessity.
On a similar line I can tell you that our Mungi once snapped off and swallowed a large piece of my wife's painted fingernail and suffered no ill effects. We never saw him pass it either and that has been a couple of years ago.
On another note I would suggest you ordering a bottle of Reptaid and using that to help boost your dragon's system back up as well as stimulating its appetite again. It is one product that I will stand behind because I have personally seen some truly miraculous results using it. You can find it online at their website. Just Google Reptaid
Hope that helps and good luck with your dragon...keep us updated

I appreciate your response as well.. its just that before egg laying she was over 400 g and after laying only 200 g AND she laid weeks ago. her weight is still down and her eyes still sunk in --well above her eyes i mean to say: on her head. And when I bath her it still feels like her 'skin' is falling off her bones. I have been mixing calcium with a "critical care" herbivore mix I received from my vet (in syringe) - I will most definitely look into the REPTAID

 

[Jennifer Combs]

Hey, I went to your website and I can't figure out how to watch your dragon? It says streaming live but it does nothing when I click on the pic?

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

... If it doesn't pass, then you can try babyfood prunes, babyfood applesauce, or a dab of olive oil on the nose, and a good warm bath followed with a belly massage...

It is truly not a good practice to be feeding reptiles or any other non-human creature things like prunes, applesauce or oils in order to induce a bowel movement.
If the dragon has not had a bowel movement in over a week and is eating then 20-25 minute soaks in 105 degree F water along with gentle tummy massage may be done to safely stimulate a bowel movement.
That is the safe way to do it and any other methods should be discussed with a qualified reptile specialist before doing.
Forcing bowel movements just as force feeding these creatures is extremely stressful to them and again should only be used as last resort. Period

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

Hey, I went to your website and I can't figure out how to watch your dragon? It says streaming live but it does nothing when I click on the pic?

Mungi's Live Stream site is just that...what you were seeing in the picture is a real-time live view of Mungi in his enclosure much the same as if you walked into his room and looked into his house
He has been being a bit of a pill the last couple of days and not being very active but often he is very active and will come right up to the camera to look back at you and then at times he will just sit there and act like a statue (beardies are very good at that...Lol) either way he is very aware when someone logs on to see him. Check back again anytime 7am-7pm eastern and see what he's up to.
Btw a year ago Mungi dropped to 180 grams when he was struck with a nasty coccidia outbreak that was masked because it happened during his normal brummation cycle so when he when he went off feed totally and would not bask but rather just slept we weren't concerned. The weight loss happened very quickly and by the time we caught it and got him to our vet (who is real reptile vet) Mungi was extremely critical. We went thru two cycles of prescribed meds to clear him and followed all the required extra husbandry practices religiously to no avail. It was then that I gave the Reptaid a go after having it recommended to me. We did two 10 day cycles of the Reptaid with an off week in between and within 48 hrs Mungi was gobbling whatever we offered as food and began to be more active. He also started gaining weight back and a month later a follow up fecal showed him clear of the parasites.
At the suggestion of Elliot who helped developed the Reptaid we now give Mungi a two day dose once a month and he has stayed free and clear of parasite issues, is a much more alert and strong dragon, has a healthy appetite and stays at a consistent 508 grams. Its good stuff
Enjoy your day tomorrow!