Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have to force feed my 12" dragon was losing weight quick.I didn't clean out all the crickets at night. Stressed him out from a stupid mistake. I've been able to feed him gutloaded crickets but I am worried about dehydration. Can I use a small syringe"no needle" to give him a little bit of water with out drowning him. Also can I add an appetite stimulant? Whats a good appetite stimulant and is a 1/4 OZ of water too much?

It's really hard to give more advise without knowing what is going on. You need to invest in a scale that weighs in 1 gram increments. You can get them for about $25 online. That way you can monitor if there is improvement or not. I would not recommend assist feeding him unless that is the only option and I don't know enough to give an opinion. You can drip water on his nose and see if he'll drink it.

You need to find the underlying problem. Being underweight is the result not the problem.

You need to bring him to the vet for an examination and an objective opinion on his condition, as well as a course of action. It really sounds like this is something you should do right away.

I wouldn't get into force feeding just yet. As you just changed his environment on Friday, it may take a few days for him to get settled again. Concentrate on feeding him well cut loaded crickets and other healthy insects.

You can use an eye dropper to offer water, no need to get a needless syringe. Just drop the water near the corner of the mouth and he should lap it up after a few drops. A small amount of water will work into his mouth even by just getting the side of his mouth wet. The scales act very good to channel the water into the corners of the mouth and the dragon can just open his lips a little to let it inside.

Get yourself a scale as was suggested before, and weigh your dragon. This is a far more accurate way to measure changes in weight than just guessing. A vet check would be a good idea too. I know you did a fecal earlier yourself, but this still doesn't substitute for taking him to see a professional who can do blood work, take x-rays, weigh him and do a physical examination to see what other possible causes of your dragon's lack of appetite. Perhaps he has a partial blockage in his intestines from the sand he was housed on before, or something completely different.

To get him to eat some greens, you can try edible flowers, like hibiscus, pansy's, clover or even dandelion flowers (rinse well and don't use any which have been or may have been exposed to chemicals (ie store bought plants almost always have some sort of spray on them..so best to use well established plants from home. For dandelions, collect where you know there hasn't been any spraying for insects, herbicides etc.)

double check temperatures as well, though I do remember you posting the basking spot was 110F with ambient of 90F (or at least that is what i think you meant with '110 and 90F' which you posted in an earlier thread below).

There are commercial omnivorous/carnivorous meals out there which when mixed with water, can be used as a sort of force feeding mixture. As force feeding is extremely stressful...I don't recommend force feeding. Better to get a vet install a feeding tube if things become that far gone. However with the mash, you could try offering it in a spoon or eye dropper and see if you can encourage the dragon to lap it up willingly.
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PHLdyPayne

I force feed him 3 meals of gutloaded 5/8 crickets about 7 to 10. Today I drop one drop of water in his mouth from 1oz of water to 2 drops of elctrolyte with d3. I offered him Nature Zone Bearded dragon bites he ate a little bit on his own and even chased down 1 cricket on his own tonight also ate a mealworm from the dish. so hopefully tomorrow he will eat a little bit more on his own. Vet said it's probably stress from not mantaining a cricket free night of rest. No immpaction vet gave him a laxative and has had a normal duke on his own after a force feeding. Vet broke the bank scale on hold for a little bit. He doesn't drink water during baths so I'm worried about hydration. Bought new cricket gutload greens chunks of water and food for the crickets instead of greens and dogfood. Hoping for a better day don't want a dead lizard. Always appreciate any good advice, Thanks