Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i just got my first dragons 2 days ago, a 19 inch male and a 14 inch female. the female is eating everything in site!!!! the male on the other hand........ his other owner only fed him mice and some salad, well, i introduced him to rep-cal pellets two days ago(the first day) he ate a ton!!!! only the red ones though. then i gave him crix he ate those just as fast. after he ate some crix i stopped feeding him. well, the next morning (day two) there was red colored throw up with crix in it(red pellets caused color). then yesterday around noon i took him on a real quick car ride to go see someone about what happened and he freaked out, so i took him back home. he is perfectly fine when you walk around with him, but he hates the vibration of a car. that evening he threw up again!!!! twice now!!!! he hasn't eaten since the day he ate pellets. the first two days he was really active and ran around, well today he just sat there with his eyes closed undering the UVB bulb basking. he wouldn't eat anything!!!! could this be stress????? should i just let him be and hopefully he starts eating in a few days????? should he go to the vet???? i'm looking for any and all info and suggestions and help. thanx in advance!!!!!!

First thing I would do is get a fecal done on each one of them. You might want to separate them so you can tell “Who’s poo is who’s”. Have you found a vet yet in your area yet? Salem, right?
www.herpvetconnection.com/oregon.shtml

Are they in the same enclosure that they where kept in before? Where/are they housed together? You should not handle them so much, give them time to relax and get comfortable. I would stop the pellets all together till you find out if that is causing him to get sick. His change should be gradual and slow.

Give us some more info about the tank and your setup…

Did you see him throw up? Sure it is not poop? If you do take him anywhere, make sure he is in a box or something that he cannot get out of. I use a small cat carrying cage and that works great. There is an overload when he rides in the car as too much is going on. Just make sure the box or cage has a lid covering him so he feels safe.

yea, they are being kept in the same enclosure as they were before until i can finish the other cage i'm working on. half way done as of now. the only difference i would say is that there is more heat. their last owner only had the heat on the basking end at 90-95, i now have the basking spot up to 100 sometimes it gets up to 105. i'll stop feeding pellets for now and i'll get a fecal done too.

i just am realizing that he hasn't eaten any vegies yet either. is this ok??? thanx!

Do you know how old they are? That is a big difference in the size of each dragon to be housed together (5 inches). Did the guy you got them from own them since they where little or did he just pick them up someplace? I hope you know that you should expect eggs from the female if you keep them together. They are not from the same clutch, are they? Since you are a new owner, it may take you some time to get use to what is “normal” for your dragons.

As for the fecals, the sooner the better. Since the last guy was only feeding them “mice and some salad”, it’s hard telling what else he did wrong in the care of them. Do you by chance have a weight of each one?

If you are in Salem, I will be driving up to Portland on Saturday for a wedding. I would be more then happy to stop by and take a look at them and maybe give you a few pointers. Just let me know and I can plan on it.

Oh, and was it poop that you saw that was so red?

Steve