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I just got a water dragon shipped to me on friday. He is a medium sized dragon. Way bigger than the one I got a year ago. He was very cold to the touch and not active. He was also brown, not green. i assume this is from not having any kind of heat. I also noticed right off the bat that his skin was kind of "loose" and wrinkly, more than I have seen. His hip bones are showing pretty bably. I have put him under a UVB bulb and a heat lamp as well as have a UT heat pad. He seems to get a little greener during the day, but then goes back to brown at night. I noticed my others darken a bit at night, so am not too worried about that. At the end of the first day, after he warmed up, he was much more active.
What I am worried about are the hip bones showing. I have yet to see him eat, although I offer him food. Can anyone suggest a good stimulant to get this guy to atart eating. Also, tell me if him turning such a dark brown at night is normal. He still has a heat pad at night and the room is heated some what and does not get cold at night. Sorry for the long post. I hope I made sense.
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****Misty****

Due to budget cuts, the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off.

1.1.2 bearded dragons
1.1.1 water dragons
2.4.5 leopard geckos
8.18.6 corn snakes
1.1.0 jungle corns
5.2.0 king snakes
1.0.0 Sinaloan milk snake
0.1.0 Tri-Hybrid milk snake
0.1.0 rat snake
1.1.0 Leucistic rat snakes
0.0.3 royal (ball) pythons
1.1.0 red headed agamas
0.1.0 chilean rose hair tarantula
1.1.0 emperor scorpions
1.1.0 Congo African Grey Parrots
0.1.0 German Shepherd hybrid dog

First off, shipping must of been stressful on him. Minimize handling for at least a week. The loose skin could be from a good amount of wieght loss, to being dehydrated. Do you have a pool for him? You should be misting a couple times a day for humidity as well. He might not be eating because of the stress as well. Or it could be some underlying health problem. I dont know what size enclosure you have, but maybe the UTH isnt giving off enough heat, do you know what the temps are at, at night? Should be around 75. Brown coloration can be from stress, temperature, shedding, illness. What have you tried feeding him? If there arent many cricket hiding spots, maybe let a few free range crickets roam the tank, and he could be eating them while you arent watching. Test a couple different things, worms, I know mine love waxworms, you can try those, only a few though. If not you can do a chicken baby food and pedialyte mixture, maybe with some jumpstart, but forcefeeding right now could add stress. I would just try a variety of things, and let me know what temperatures you have it at. I would up the temperatures a few degrees just incase.

I consulted the vet I work for. I think the dragon is doing a lot better. He is much more active. The crickets and worms in his cage disappear, even though I never see him eat. I also put greens in there and those are gone in the morning too. I have a real hot spot in the cage, and a cooler end. I have also been supplementing his diet with what the vet gave me. i have seen a couple of waste products in his water, so I know he is metabolizing fine. He still seems to be real dark. His underside is bright green, but his top side does not get all that bright. Stays kinda a dark green to brown
Thanks again
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****Misty****

Due to budget cuts, the light at the end of the tunnel has been turned off.

1.1.2 bearded dragons
1.1.1 water dragons
0.0.5 leopard geckos
7.18.4 corn snakes
1.1.0 jungle corns
2.5.0 king snakes
1.0.0 Sinaloan milk snake
0.1.0 Tri-Hybrid milk snake
0.1.0 rat snake
1.1.0 Leucistic rat snakes
0.0.1 royal (ball) python
1.1.0 red headed agamas
1.1.0 Congo African Grey Parrots
0.1.0 German Shepherd hybrid dog