Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I had Baby to the vet about 5 days ago and was told she is stressed and has a RI. She is on antibiotics and she also gave her a calcium supplement just in case. She is doing much better since I seperated her from the male but refuses to eat anything. Due to what the vet told me about not keeping crickets in the cage with her, I now have a 'feeding tank' for the WD's where I put dusted crickets for them to eat. Problem is, is that when I put them in the feeding tank....they just scurry and try to get out. Therefore, they don't eat a blasted thing!!!! I did get the male to eat a pinky on Friday but her hasn't eaten anything since then.....I figure he is probably full though...lol. Do you think she is just not eating due to 'healing'???? She is more alert now but spends much of her time sleeping (hopefully healing) and won't eat.
Suggestions/comments anyone????

Thanx
Christina

How old is baby? I ask because it makes a huge difference in how concerned you should be if she goes of feed for awhile. A baby less then a year old, for instance shouldn't be allowed to go without eating for more then 2-3 weeks at the most, while an adult can go months without any problem. Your best action is to have patience, too often people freak out and start force feeding and doing other stuff that just stresses them out more and is basically unecessary. if your feeding crickets, just add the crickets as you normally would and check back after an hour or so and remove any that are left, this way you won't stress out your lizard. I once had a waterdragon that I rescued from a petstore go six months without eating anything wihout any ill effects at all.

if baby is full grown i would try using something that the cant resist. like pitless grapes, or maybe horned worms. lizard and tortoise canned food. also ry splitting open a dead mouse and let its insides spill out in the dish. my lizards cant resist the smell of mouse guts, the will come form anywhere when they smell it. well i hope baby gets better
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i own
1 bearded dragon-Rocko
1 paraguay red tegu-Badger
1 argintine black and white tegu-Ziggy
1 leopard geko-Zeke
soon-2 chinese water dragon a male and a female

How old is your water dragon?? if it is an adult i wouldn't worry too much because they can go some time without eating and be just fine. if it is a baby or under a year it shouldn't go more than two weeks without eating. if its only a few days since she last ate don't get too worried, and don't start force feeding that can be very stressful for them. also i have found that none of my water dragons ever liked to eat in a feeding tank. try putting the crickets in the cage with her and at night look around for any missing crickets. or pull the back legs off the crix and put them in the bowl. they won't escape that way. also i don't know if this happens right away or not .. but could the anitbiotics be wiping out all gut flora???? is she on a probiotic as well to help reintroduce good bacteria in the stomach?? i had a anoxeric wd a few months back and i started him on acidophiliz and he started eating about a week later and now i have no poblems with him..but i am not sure what meds your vet perscribed and how quickly a sterile gut can happen. i read your post below and your vet really tried to scare you.. first off if you mount the lights correctly you shouldn't have a problem with burning.. secondly superworms are much better than mealworms because they have a much softer exoskeleton and are more nutritous.. they are ranked right up there with silkies and fuzzies..imo..and it is true that crickets can nibble on you wd at night.. and if there are enough crickets in the tank with a babie they can eat right through it .. but it is not like one cricket left in a tank is gonna cause a huge problem.. especailly if there is another food source for the crix to snack on..ie.veggies or something.. i just have a problem with vets who yell and badger owners when they bring in a sick reptile.. it makes the owner wary to go back when they have another problem.. and that only makes it harder on the reptile..

alissa

If you get a high enough bowl, usually its hard for the crickets to jump out, a Tall glass bowl would work well. Just put the crickets in the bowl and put it in the tank. I don't think you'll have to take their back legs off. You can also try to feed him some pieces of chick thighs coated with Calcium D3, thats what I do usually, or meal worms, night crawlers too.
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