Fairly urgent hatchling beardie help required

[Nicole74]

Good Luck with it all..

 

[squishi]

Hi there i had the same problem with my small bearded she was growing a lot slower than the other bearded and we had to seperate and hand feed her she always had her head tilted and kept closing her eyes shut a lot and when you tried to get her to eat on her own she was off centre and kept missing her food.
we took her to the vet and she had a very small absyst above her eye which unfortunatly could not be removed and that is how my little girl passed on.
i just thought i should share this info because a lot of people don't thnk of little things like that.

 

[Bretsta]

Thank-you very much for the info on Herpaboost, Bretsta. My missus is scouring the coast today to try and get a bottle. Hopefully this will give her a bit more appetite as you said.


ps. Did I mention she's an absolute glamour???!!! (in my eyes anyway ). She's already owns a big
part of my heart... it seems she might have stolen a few of your hearts too, hey?
Many sincere thanks,
Nic

Well i hope the missus finds it mate. keep us updated on any progress. Bet everyone would love to see a photo of little foxy if you have, or can get one!!!!!

 

[nicman72]

G'day all, just thought I'd throw up another quick post regarding Foxy. Only 2 more sleeps 'till I get to cuddle her again! Woohoo!!! (And my missus of course ). I never thought I'd be seeing Foxy alive again when I left home 2 Thursdays ago... Before I go on, I'd like to publicly thank my partner for her incredible patience, resolve, effort and commitment in keeping Foxy alive against all the odds - I have simply been a scribe with this thread; my partner deserves all the credit for all the work - and those who offered such valuable and effective advice deserve the credit for extending her life. Shellfisch, you hit the nail on the head when you said it's been an emotional rollercoaster - every day is a different peak emotion; one day I'll be elated that she's eaten, others will be utter despair when I hear she hasn't moved her head for 2 or 3 days. I'd hate to do this for a living - I'd be a wreck!!!
Now to Foxy...
A little bit of good news, but nothing to get excited about. She ate another cricket this morning; doesn't sound like much (and it isn't), but she's sort of averaging 1 cricket a day now. This is an average mind you - she might go three days of eating nothing and then eat 2 or 3 crickets on one day, and then go back to a lethargic semi-coma on her log for another few days (hence the emotional rollercoaster). She's still well hydrated and actually seems to enjoy drinking that calcium water we mixed up for her. As for non-live food, she detests it all, and does her best to avoid it when it's offered, even by 'smear' method. When I get home on Thursday, I will be able to assist with the feeding, and hopefully between my partner and I, we will be able to get some of that Herpaboost and other home-made food pastes into her. We just need to get something, anything, into that tiny little tummy of hers, which may trigger an appetite response.
My partner also said that she was having a 'better' day today; a bit more alert, and enjoying the sunlight during her outdoor basking time.
Seriously guys, I just don't know what's wrong with her; why won't she just eat like a normal lizard, like her sister, who is belting down at least a dozen insects plus veg every day? I just don't get it, and we feel so helpless...
But we will keep trying. Foxy has shown us that she is a true fighter by staying alive to see me again (I'd love to think that was the truth!), and by the heavens above, we'll be beside her every step of her fragile life, whichever direction it might take. I can't thank you all enough for the help, lovely comments, PM's, and even generous offers of syringes-full of Herpaboost 'till we track down a bottle of our own (you're a true legend for that offer Andie).
Bretsta, I will be sure to post some updated pics of Foxy (and Ruby, her healthy sister) as soon as I get home. I can't wait to see her again!!! My darling little Foxy... OUR darling little Foxy, hey! I think she might just belong to everyone here now, hehe.
All the very best with all of your own animals, and sorry for such a long-winded post. Next update will be Thursday some time...
Cheers,
Nic

ps.Squishi, I pass on my sincere condolences for your little lost one... that must've been awful watching her trying to eat like that. Fortunately for Foxy, I don't think this is her ailment for two reasons - firstly, when she DOES eat, she's a great little hunter with excellent aim, and secondly, I would've hoped the vet we initially took her to would have been able to notice something obvious like that (emphasising the word 'hoped', mind you). But thank you for sharing your experience, upsetting as it must have been.

 

[cosmicwolf4]

Good luck with Foxy, I hope she picks up more and ends up an amazing little girl.
I'm so sorry to hear about you little one Squishi, not a nice thing to watch them go through

 

[Bretsta]

do your best to force the herpaboost in. they will try to stop you, as you would try to stop someone force feeding you, but really needs to be done one way or the other, be patient with it to. can take me 10-15mins sometimes to get it in to my little girl, and she's got better with time. good to hear she is staying strong though and appears slightly better! look forward to seeing those pics.

you and the missus keep up the great work. good to hear of such caring parents

 

[miley_take]

I've just found this thread... There should be more people like you, who instead of choosing the easy option of replacing, choose to spend your time, money and effort to help this animal. Huge thunbs up from me! You're doing a wonderful job... when I got my beardies they refused to eat for 2 weeks, so I know the stress, what got mine going was vitamin powder mixed with watermelon juice in a syringe, and then graduated onto whole water melon and got them eating that way. Now they both go nuts for watermelon :lol: they're such characters, well worth the effort

 

[reptileKev81]

Hi Nic,
Glad to see that Foxy is still with us. I was overjoyed when I started reading about her bouncing back to life. I'm really sorry to hear shes not doing as well now. As others have pointed out, this thread is an emotional rollercoaster, and she has stolen a big part of our hearts, mine included.
I commend you and your wife for the care you have taken with her and the passion you've shown for keeping little foxy with us.

I don't know if you guys are religious, but I am, and I've been praying for you guys and Foxy.
Still bucking for that happy ending. C'mon Foxy! We're rooting for you!
Cheers
Kev

 

[nicman72]

latest pics

G'day all. Firstly, sorry about not posting yesterday (heaps of chores). I did get some pics however, which I'll attach here.
Well, the roller-coaster doesn't look like its about to stop anytime soon. I got back to the coast yesterday about lunch time, and pretty much straight away went to Foxy's cage. I gave her a bit of a cuddle first, and a careful check over - she really is TINY! Her little hip bones (I think they are) stick up near the base of her tail, and her legs are so thin. ESPECIALLY when compared to Ruby... Anyway, I put her back under her heat lamp, quickly did the rounds of all the other lizards, gave them all a cuddle, then came back to feed Foxy. I thought I'd start with a juicy cricket.
She started eye-balling it from the moment it landed on the astroturf, and started walking towards her basking log. Foxy watched it right up until it was beside the log, then she scuttled over the 'edge' of the log and caught it from above, hanging vertically upside down! What a little gymnast! Anyway, I threw in another cricket, which she hunted and crunched up, then another! I thought we were on a roll, so I went and tipped a few tubes of woodies into the bucket and fished out some little juicy ones... and guess what! She ate SIX of them! She's a little cracker too when she hunts - she SMASHES them! HAHAHA! She seemed full after that, and spent the rest of the day basking; I didn't disturb her except to mist her occasionally (which she was loving!).
The good news doesn't stop there either... I woke up this morning to find a good sized, well formed poo in the corner, and Foxy sitting fully upright under her light, alert as anything - and not only that, she was having a MASSIVE slough! I grabbed the spray bottle, and gave her heaps of squirts during which she went berko, scratching and rolling around against her log and the astroturf. She had a ball of a time - SO cute to watch! Hehe. Anyway, she has a brand new suit on now.
To celebrate, I thought I'd offer her some more food, on the off-chance she might take it - and she did - another 3 FAT little woodies a while ago. Now she's loving the heat and sitting nice and tall, all clean, looking plumpish for the fist time ever! The missus can't believe it - she reckons Foxy was simply waiting for 'dad' to come home to feed her! LOLOL!! We're both completely stoked at this stage of the ride, and we're hoping all over again that she'll start eating properly now.
Anyway, enough gasbagging hey. Time for some pics. The pic of Ruby and Foxy together was taken yesterday arvo - it really illustrates just how far behind her sister Foxy is. The rest are of Foxy, as she was sloughing this morning. I reckon she's a dead set cutie, even without any colour on her! But then, I'm biased
Bretsta, at this stage, while Foxy's eating live food, I'm not going to force the issue with force feeding - I would rather foster an appetite for live food as soon as (and while) I can - would you agree with this course of action?
Thanks cosmicwolf and miley_take for the kind words of encouragement. Kev, I'm not a religious person by the common interpretation of the word - I believe in science first, but will concede that there are many phenomenon out there that science will never explain. Regardless, I sincerely appreciate your prayers on behalf of little Foxy.
C'mon little Foxy!
Cheers,
Nic

 

[nicman72]

Sorry, double posted...

 

[shellfisch]

Wow! Such a difference in size!
You truly don't appreciate it until you see photos Hopefully Foxy will catch up to her sis in no time at all

 

[adfel]

Hi I was just wondering what you have on the bottom of the enclosure???? I had my beardie on sand when i first got him and found out very quickly that it was not the best for them as babies.... I was told to keep them on newspaper until they get a bit older as thier tummies are too small to handle even the smallest amount of sand in it.... So if you have your foxy on sand maybe try changing it to newspaper until shes a bit bigger and her tummy is able to cope with it....

 

[reptileKev81]

Nic. Excellent news! Exactly what I wanted to hear.
I was pretty bummed yesterday as my house was broken into and my MD python was taken, but hearing that foxy is bouncing back again has brought a smile to my face
It really does look like she was waiting for her poppa to come home and feed her :lol:

Hi I was just wondering what you have on the bottom of the enclosure???? I had my beardie on sand when i first got him and found out very quickly that it was not the best for them as babies.... I was told to keep them on newspaper until they get a bit older as thier tummies are too small to handle even the smallest amount of sand in it.... So if you have your foxy on sand maybe try changing it to newspaper until shes a bit bigger and her tummy is able to cope with it....

It looks to me like they are using astroturf as substrate.

 

[cosmicwolf4]

Excellent news about Foxy, hopefully will all get better from here on. She's a very pretty little girl too.
Well done to you both for all the hard work you've done with her

 

[adfel]

I can't thank you all enough for the help, lovely comments, PM's, and even generous offers of syringes-full of Herpaboost 'till we track down a bottle of our own (you're a true legend for that offer Andie).

Hey guys have you tracked down some herpaboost????? I have a reptile guy here on the NSW Central Coast who stocks it and I can get the distributor details if you want or I can send some up if you still havent got any???
Let me know

 

[nicman72]

Cheers for the advice adfel... We don't use sand for any of our lizards any more. Haven't for a while. Astroturf all the way for us- easy to clean, doesn't get eaten, etc. Impaction was our first thought, even though Foxy's never been near sand, but the vet ruled that out right back at the beginning. In fact, if anyone reading this has hatchlings on sand, get them off it IMO.
by the way, Foxy has eaten another 2 woodies since last post
Nic

 

[Jasspa]

Aw Nicman thats really great news that she seems to be bouncing back!
I could believe it, I had the biggest grin on my face and was welling up hearing you describe how she was smashing down all the crickets and woodies.
I'm so glad for you guys! You've done so well. Foxy must be daddy's girl and Ruby is mummy's girl hey? lol
Thankyou for updating us and thanks for the pictures! It's good to put faces to the names

 

[nicman72]

I was pretty bummed yesterday as my house was broken into and my MD python was taken...

That is absolutely rotten news. I'm am utterly sickened by the amount of reptile thievery that obviously goes on - I had no idea it was such a concern before I started hearing the horror stories here on APS. Thieves are already scum, but to steal LIVE ANIMALS - PEOPLE'S PETS....:evil::evil::evil::evil: makes my blood boil. I hope you have some leads that either you or the police can follow up on, magick. Keep us updated.
Thanks for your offer for the Herpaboost adfel; my partner just started a new job at a pet store and vetafarm is one of the range it stocks, so she's ordered a bottle. While she's eating live insects 'though, I'd be very reluctant to force anything else in... do you know what I mean? We'll get a bottle anyway, in case she stops eating again.
LOL Jasspa! D'you reckon lizards, or reptiles in general, could actually 'prefer' to be fed by one certain individual over another? If Foxy IS a daddy's girl, does that mean we'll have this drama every time I go off to work for a fortnight? I hope not!
Anyway guys, I'm glad a little lizard eating a few insects could bring so many smiles to so many faces!!! I know it certainly has for me..., oh, and btw, she's eaten another 2 woodies since last post! Excellent hey!
Cheers,
Nic

 

[lizardjasper]

glad to hear she's going alright!

 

[adfel]

I love the Vetafarm range its all I use for my beardie and in the case of preference for who feeds them My dragon will eat more when I feed him to what he eats when my partner feeds him.... I don't know whether that is because I am more generous with the woodies than what he is but as long as they eat thats the main thing!!!!