Reptile & Amphibian Forums

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i heard that u can..if im not wrong its on beautifuldragons.com..but don't go by my words just in case...check for it urself...
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"you won't know success if you haven't failed..."-eric chen
1.1.1 Hi-Yellow Leopard Geckoes-Gecko Party, Town and Country Pets
0.0.2 Blizzards-AAA Reptile Supply
0.1.0 Western (Plains) Hognose Snake-La Habra Pets
1.0.0 Dark-Fire Crested Gecko-Reptile Depot
0.1.0 Boxer Dog-Local Dog Shelter

Tums and other antacids have the same main ingredient as the calcium we feed our reptiles, BUT, they also have tons of additives. Additives that I'm not sure would be good for our lizards on a regular basis. Plus, how would we know how much to give them on a regular basis?

I just don't think it's a good idea to mess around.

I couldn't find anything about it on beautifuldragons.com, unless I'm not looking hard enough.
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Amanda
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2.0 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)
0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)

The suppliments we use are made specifically for dragons and their needs. Tums are not. I'd stick with what we know is good.
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Amanda
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2.0 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)
0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)

then were can i get cheap calcium?

heh, from your petstore, i got a combo pack of flukers repta-vitamins and repta-calcium for like 3 bucks on clearance, calcium dust really isn't all that expensive, truthfully, if you can afford the supps, how do you afford to feed your beardie?
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my animals
1.0.1 leopard gecko (goliath, gebco)
0.1 hypo red bearded dragon (puff the magic dragon)
0.0.1 schnieder's skink (ghandi)
0.1 white's dumpy treefrog (un-named)
1.0 house gecko (geico)
0.0.1 red eared slider (carl)
0.0.1 fire belly toad (escaped..)
1.0 lop eared wabbit (oreo)
1.1.too many to count, brown recluse (i think)
the rest of the animals in the hizouse
1.0 westie puppy (gabriel)
1.0 plain ol' outdoor alley cat (joey)
0.1 indoor rag doll kitty (tinkerbell)
2.0 goulian finchs

What would you do if he needed to go to the vet? You should plan for these extra expenses. If you are relying on your parents, then they should help out. If they aren't willing to help, then I'm sorry but they shouldn't allow you to get a pet. I can't stand it when parents put all the responsibilities of a pet onto a child.

What have you been using for suppliments so far? You've been using something, right???

You need calcium w/ D3 - no phosphorus, and multivitamins. The most recommended is by Rep-Cal (I don't know about that clearance stuff) but it's not expensive. Don't be cheap when it comes to your pet's well-being!
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Amanda
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2.0 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)
0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)

herptivite is what i feed squealgie, its great stuff! but i cant find calcium like any were under 6 bucks, and i think that is to pricy for calcium. do you know were to get good priced calcium?

It's not too pricey when you consider one container can last a year or so. $6 is quite average. You can get it cheaper online but then you have to pay for shipping.
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Amanda
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2.0 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)
0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)

The T-Rex dragon dust formulas run about $3 a piece, but you would need to buy two of them. The ICB formula for dusting insects, and the VMF for dusting salads. If you use these you need not suppliment with anything else, they are a complete food suppliment. No calcium, no herptivite, just Dragon Dust.

Of course, those may run out quicker than the Rep-Cal products because you use them at every feeding, even when the lizard is an adult.

If you have only been supplimenting with Herptivite and no calcium suppliments, plus the fact that it took you a while to get Squealgie a UVB light, that may very well be why your dragon is so small in size. It can also lead to very serious problems down the road. Calcium is so very critical for baby dragons. It's good that you're trying to do something about it now, but you really should have been doing something for calcium all along, if you haven't been.

Good luck.
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Amanda
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2.0 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)
0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)

The T-Rex Dragon Dusts come in three formulas.

ICB (Insect Cricket Balancer)
VGF (Veggie Growth Formula)
VMF (Veggie Maintenence Formula)

I mistakenly said that you would need the VMF for Squealgie's salads, but that is for full grown beardies. What you want is VGF since she is still growing.

Sorry for the mistake!
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Amanda
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2.0 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)
0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)

i have that.

well, she is growing. she went from a little over 12 inches a few days ago, now she is 12 and a half and about 50 grams.

Wow. That is still WAY TOO small for a 9 month old. 50 grams? Yeesh, that's how big mine was at 3.5 months old. Something is very wrong. Has she seen a vet? Maybe she should.

When you say "I have that" in regards to the Dragon Dust, why do you have that, AND herptivite, AND plan on getting calcium powder? If you are using the Dragon Dust properly you should not use any other suppliments at all.
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Amanda
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2.0 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)
0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)

i want to get her a fecal. i guess i should reserve the herptivite for other herps?

Yeah. If you are using the Dragon Dust on a daily basis as directed, then supplimenting w/ Herptivite and calcium is too much.
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Amanda
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2.0 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)
0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)

Fecals are only good for finding parasites and the like, but if you want to know what is stunting her growth she needs to actually go to the vet. There are a lot of problems that can't be diagnosed with a simple fecal, so just because a fecal comes back negative doesn't necessarily mean she is in the clear. I don't think parasites would stunt growth like that anyways without you noticing something wrong a lot sooner.
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Amanda
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2.0 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)
0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)

how much does a vet visit cost? also, can not having a uvb light the first several months i had her have anything to do with it? by the way, a very sad thing happened today after school. i was walking home and my friend drove by. then a few minutes after i saw a snake on the road, as i approached, it started doing death rolls and twisting in pain. its head got squished and its tongue was sticking out and its eye covers were cracked and its gut was sticking out of its skin. i kept it for 10 mins or so them the poor thing died.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

by the way, my friend hit it!

Vet visit can be anywhere from $30 to hundreds of dollars, depending on what, if anything, is wrong. Like I said these are things you have to plan for when you get a pet. My beardie got a simple parasite infestation after brumating last year and I spent about $200-300 over the course of 3 months treating it.
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Amanda
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2.0 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)
0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)

i hope squealgie dosnt cost that much for a vet!!!!!!!!!!!!! my parents will put her down!!!!!!!!!!!

ooooooooh, that makes me so angry. I appologize in advance for the rant I'm about to go on, it has nothing to do with you, please understand that.

But that is exactly why I said parents should not allow a child to have a pet if they aren't willing to take responsibility for it themselves. Parents need to realize when they let their child have a pet that in the end they have to be responsible for it, and if they aren't willing to do that they need to think twice. In fact, when they decided to let you have a lizard it was they who should have done the research to find out what she needs, instead of putting it all on you. Had they done this, they would have known to get a UVB right from the beggining, and so many other things, and all this may have been prevented.

They can't expect you to do all this for it, that's crazy. Anytime you have a pet someone should be prepared to care for it if anything happens, a broken leg, a simple parasite, an infection, all these things are treatable but can be costly, and putting the animal down because you can't afford it is inexcusable. Someone has got to be responsible for the animal, they can't help themselves.

No one can expect you to be prepared for that kind of thing. Your parents should step up to the plate and do what's right. If they put your beloved pet to sleep because they don't want to pay for treatment, not only are they punishing the animal, but they are punishing you. That's just not fair.

Don't let them put her down if she has something that can be treated. I's wrong on so many levels. If she does need treatment and they won't pay for it, I'm sure there are plenty of people who would be willing to take her in and give her the care she needs.

Anyways, I'm not trying to scare you, there is a good chance she may be fine and easily treated and everything will be great, but I do think it should at least be looked into. If something that can be easily fixed now is ignored, it can develope into something huge later on. I know you love your girl and I wish you both all the best.
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Amanda
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2.0 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)
0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)

n/p
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Ross

0.1 Bearded Dragon (Fuego, spent the last 10 months thinking she was a he!)
2.1 Roommates (require more cleaning up after than the dragon)

should i show my parents your message? amanda?

Sorry for losing my temper earlier with that rant. Putting pets to sleep because it's too expensive to keep them healthy is a sensitive subject for me, because I love animals so much. I lost my temper when you said that you parents would put her to sleep if vet treatment cost more than a few hundred bucks.

If you want to show them what I said that's fine, although it may not really be necessary considering we don't even know if your beardie is going to cost that much. Maybe save it for if that situation does come up. If she goes to the vet and it will cost $300 and your parents say she'll have to be put to sleep because they don't want to pay it, that will be a great time to show them how I felt about it. Your lizard may be ok though and it won't come up, so why upset them?

I do honestly believe all the things that I said, and I stand by them 100%, but it's easy to assume we know more about some people's situations than we really do, and I was wrong for doing that today. Someone has told me that you are even younger than I thought you were, so I want to appologize for answering your questions in the way that I have. I did not realize you were so dependent on your parents to help you. I'm sure they want to make you happy and encourage your love of reptiles. Do they have any interest in learning about them with you? I think maybe they weren't prepared for how costly some of them can be. If you can get them interested with you maybe they will be more enthusiastic about helping you get all the best for your beardie.

Sorry for getting mad.
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Amanda
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2.0 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)
0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)

what you said about the beardies and parents was right, and they may give her away instead but still i love my beardie the most out of all my pets, and it would be a tragity if they killed her or gave her away sadly my parents dont care so much about them and my dad is hard to get to get me stuff cause hes a suuuuper money saving person(very anoying) and my mom doesnt care for herps and my stupid sister thinks i should feed her stuff from outside.) well, they should help care for her.

In addition to that, if you don't get a problem treated right away, it will almost certainly become more difficult to treat & will end up costing you a lot more in the long run.

F'rinstance, we actually found our beardie on the side of the road in the middle of April. We planned to take him to the vet soon after finding him (just for a general checkup & fecal), but after spending several hundred dollars on his cage & equipment, we were hoping to wait a couple of weeks before we spent more money on a vet visit.

Within a week, a small scratch over his right eye that we thought was healing on its own became badly infected. We rushed him immediately to the vet, of course, but by that time the infection had caused 3 abscesses (one on either side of his lower jaw & one under & slightly in front of the infected eye).

Since then, Oolong (the beardie) has been to the vet multiple times (our vet charges $55 just for an office visit for "exotics", which doesn't include tests, treatments, or medications), has been on several courses of antibiotics, & 2 surgeries to remove the abscesses (the abscesses came back after the first surgery).

Oolong's second surgery was just yesterday... between the office visit the day before so that the vet could say "yup, we should operate again" & today's surgery, we've spent $414 in 2 days. Grand total spent on medical expenses since the end of April is over $800, now, & is pretty much guaranteed to be at least another $100 before he gets a clean bill of health (and that's assuming that the abscesses don't come back again & he doesn't need yet another surgery).

If we'd just taken Oolong to the vet as soon as we got him, we probably would've nipped the infection in the bud w/ one course of antibiotics, & our total expenditure would have been more like $150.

A stitch in time really does save nine... hundred dollars. ;D

Something else to keep in mind (and this might help you out, Cillie, convincing your parents to pay for your beardie's healthcare), many vets accept CareCredit, now. We were able to pay for Oolong's surgery today w/ the line of CareCredit that my fiance took out for his own root canal last year (and thank god for that, otherwise we never would have had the cash on hand, & who knows what would have happened to Oolong if we'd had to wait 'till we did). If your parents qualify for CareCredit, they might find dropping several hundred dollars on vet bills more affordable, especially if you agree to let them take payments out of your allowance (if you get allowance), or maybe do more chores around the house to "work it off" (parents love teaching that responsibility stuff ;} ).

But yes... I agree with kephy. Don't worry too much about how expensive the vet bills are going to be, because chances are that it will be something minor. Just go get your beardie checked out, because something minor can quickly turn into something major (and expensive) if you don't get it treated... and I'm sure that worse comes to worst you'd rather see your pet go to someone else who *can* afford the vet bills than to see the poor thing die a death that could have been prevented.

BTW, hi guys... I'm new! ::waves::

>>how much does a vet visit cost? also, can not having a uvb light the first several months i had her have anything to do with it? by the way, a very sad thing happened today after school. i was walking home and my friend drove by. then a few minutes after i saw a snake on the road, as i approached, it started doing death rolls and twisting in pain. its head got squished and its tongue was sticking out and its eye covers were cracked and its gut was sticking out of its skin. i kept it for 10 mins or so them the poor thing died.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Rob Talkington

but remember that fee does not include treatment should she need it.
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Amanda
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2.0 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)
0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)

well the calcium i saw at an online store was like 12 bucks and petstores around my place are either to expensive or dont have it.