Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I recently purchased a MHD from a pet store. His second day home he ate very good but he hasn't ate since. It has been about four days. He is currently being kept in a 40 gal. aquarium with a screened lid. He has plenty of water (one water dish with a bubbler and one waterfall). He has uvb lighting and a spot light for basking. I was told that they needed to be kept cooler than my water dragons. What lighting and temp should I use? Are there any tricks I can use to get him to eat? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

what are U feeding him/her
mine turns her nose up at cri ckets after a short time, same with meal worms, but give her nighcrawlers, or Red Wrigglers, and it SSSssSLLLUUURRRRP, chow time

Do U have any plants in there?
any sticks to climb on?

These creatures come from a Rain Forest, with a fairly thick canopy overhead (not a lot of direct sunlight) so they climb a lot
mine went off her feed for a day and a half when the humidity was to low (60%), and the temp to high (85 over all tank)
Can U post a pic?
and
Do U have a vet appointment yet?

most MHD from petstores are sold as captive bread, but are not (thus the lack of CB certification *um, whats that, no one does that*)

and try to read this entire board, U will find a LOT of good information, and see some neat pics
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Elizabeth (ecb)

'Goodness gracious'
my grandma used to say
'the worlds a scarey place now
things were different in my day'
what horrors will be commonplace,
when my hair starts to grey?
-Kevin Gilbert-

I have tried nightcrawlers, mealworms, crickets, and wax worms. He will not eat any of them. His color also seems to be getting darker. He is not moving much, will stay in the same place for hours sometimes all day. He has plenty to climb on. I am trying to find a vet in my area now.

Take out the basking light, it is not needed. Since they live under the rainforest canapy not much direct sunlight ever gets down to them, and thier temps rarely ever go above 82 where they are at. I keep my 2 enclosures between 78 and 82 during the day, and that is done with only a flourescent light in there. As for her hunger strike, she is likely infested with parasites and needs a vet to give her some panacur to clear it up. U may have to force feed her a little during the treatment just to make sure she is getting food, then when she is getting better she will start eating again on her own. She is likely very stressed from the move both from her home to the pet store than from the store to your home, and that is letting those parasites that once didn't bother her, really get to her and make her sick. Definitely get her to a vet asap and I highly suggest removing the basking light unless you are in a very cold house. Good luck
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Joe
joebradbury@attbi.com
aim and yahoo messenger - UTDstud18

Pancur is not a cure all. If there are parasites it is likely that there are different types. With mine there were a variety and it required both pancur and Flagyl. Just don't let your vet us Ivomec on them.

We are not vets here and cannot, should not, try to diagnose. We can give advise and from our experience we can tell you what may be wrong but only a qualified vet can diagnose and prescribe treatment. These wild caught dragons can have any number of ailments. Those reported are most often internal parasites, egg retention, respiratory infection, gangrenous digits or tail, impaction, and dehydration. I would feel really bad if I told you to treat with pancur and it turned out that the animal had one or more of the other conditions and died without vet care. Many herpers keep pancur and flagyl on hand and "shot-gun" treat all newcomers. Although this may not be a bad thing you have to be aware of the fact that pancur and flagyl will not cure infection.

So, make an appointment to have the feces checked first. If the dragon is still not eating after the full course of meds take the animal in to be seen so you can find out what else is wrong.

Also, while medicating try giving a few drops of pediolyte or gatorade (electrolytes). This will sometimes stimulate the appetite and can help to prevent dehydration.

For a real brief simple read of MHD care and concerns check out my page www.froggieb.com/MHDshortcare.html

Welcome on board! Hope to see more of you here.

Marcia

FroggieB Dragons

Marcia

U know U R great, right?
I mean it
stop laughing
ok, good
stop blushing, I mean it

ok, I will stop now
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Elizabeth (ecb)

'Goodness gracious'
my grandma used to say
'the worlds a scarey place now
things were different in my day'
what horrors will be commonplace,
when my hair starts to grey?
-Kevin Gilbert-

You're too much!

I'm just one of those nit-picky, detail oriented people, LOL!

However, if I'm to be gracious of a compliment, then thank you!

Marcia

Good point Marcia, turns out that my dragons only had the parasites that get treated with panacur so that was all that was presciribed by my vet. I just know that panacur is widely used in the herp world for treating parasites and I am pretty sure that if you go to a vet you will likely get prescribed panacur and/or flagyl if the little guy has parasites. Also, just like Marcia says, I keep a bottle of panacur around and I typically give a small dose to all of my dragons once every 6 months mostly as a precaution. Cheyanne was the one who tipped me off on doing that. Good luck!!

And yes marcia, you are great!!!!!
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Joe
joebradbury@attbi.com
aim and yahoo messenger - UTDstud18

how do I get some PanCure, and Flagyl, or do I get it from the vet?
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Elizabeth (ecb)

'Goodness gracious'
my grandma used to say
'the worlds a scarey place now
things were different in my day'
what horrors will be commonplace,
when my hair starts to grey?
-Kevin Gilbert-

Yes, you would have to get it from your vet. I have some that was dosed for my juveniles and some that was dosed for my adults. If you are dosing a small one it is really important to have your dragons weight. If you have a kitchen scale that weighs in grams you can weight her yourself and then talk to your vet. If not they will usually weight them at no cost even if they are only dosing the meds.

Marcia
FroggieB Dragons