Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have 2 dragons. I have had them for about 3 months. For the first month, they both seemed fine and ate good. Around that time, Blade was about 8in , and Razor was about 6in. For the next 2 months, Blade started eating less and less. He went one time for a week without eating crickets. Now he eat's a couple meals and then skips a couple. The longest he goe's is about 2 day's now and then he eats. But Razor eat's every meal and they are 10 inches each now. So Razor has gained 2 inches on Blade. But even though they are the same length, Razor is a lot chubbier then Blade. Blade seems too skinny. Razor goes in and out of the basking area all day, but Blade spends 90% of the day there. Sometimes he sit's upright and real alert looking and looking fine but other times he sit's with his head down and his eyes half closed. But he still gets energy to run the back of the tank sometimes. It seems like he has problems digesting stuff now. His stools have undigested cricket skeletons in them and chunks of grapes. It seems to take a couple of days to digest once he eats a couple meals in a row. And that's when he seems to look the worst. But other times he gets up and chases the crickets around like nothing's wrong. I took them both to a breeder and he said Razor is a girl and Blade is a male. He thought Blade might have cocciddia, but I got a fecal exam done twice this week and it came back negative. I took him to the vet tonight, and he didn't know for sure since the fecal came back negative, but he gave me an antibiotic called metronidazole
which he said would kill parasites in the stomach and intestines. Should I give him this medicine even though the fecal exam was clean? Something does sound wrong doesn't it? He still runs around if i set him outside his tank but he doesn't seem to be getting bigger all of a sudden. Only longer. And it's not good to sit in basking area most of the day is it? I have tried to feed seperately also just in case he was intimitaded by the female but he either eats or doesn't. It doesn't matter if she's there or not. Any why is he not digesting his food properly. I have the right temps, lights, cage size, and setup. I know this is a lot of questions but I'm worried sick. The last baby I had died because of a sickness it had when i bought it. It took me some time to get over that, so I can't stand the thought of losing another one. Any help is appreciated. p.s. he is 10in long and about 42 grams and when he does eat i make sure he gets plenty of calcium and i have the reptisun 5.0

i also have two dragons that grew up together a male & a female. they both have sporatic eating habits . sometimes he eats then doesnt for about a week ( a little here and there
then she stops eating . mine are about 9 months old.
Did yours grow fast? sometimes when they grow quickly,
they slow down for a while. mine slowed when they were about 10-12 ounces and 14 inches. the male outgrew the female but she caught up later. make sure that they have greens at all time so they dont get dehydrated. If your fecals came back negative,dont give them any meds . its hard on their system. Also basking all day is normal. all 3 of mine do.
make sure your basking temp is up there around 110.
they will digest better. i f they dont bask cause its too hot, then pull the light back a little. i hope this helps and good luck!

I have a similar problem.
I have (I think) a girl and boy. They are brother & sister and are about 4months old now. I've had them for 2months now. My girl, Skittle, has always been slightly smaller in length and been skinnier than her brother, Tatsu. But I'm starting to get worried about Skittle. When I returned from a 4 day holiday (my mum had been feeding them, etc while I was gone) I instantly noticed that Tatsu had grown. Not just gotten longer, but gotten BIGGER. He even looks more like a little dragon now rather than a baby! I'm worried about Skittle's eating habits and the fact that she still looks like a baby. She hasn't really changed or grown, although she has gotten longer since I've had her (I measure them almost weekly!), but nothing like Tatsu. Is this just her? Will she grow in her own time? Also when I first brought them home, Tatsu became sick and so didn't eat much and Skittle was a guts. She would eat everything that moved! Once I nursed Tatsu back to health, they ate about the same amount. But a few weeks ago I noticed that Tatsu had turned into a real pig and Skittle wasn't eating heaps. Now I'm lucky if I see her eat anything! I put say 10 crickets in for them, and they don't eat them, but by the next day there are only about 2 left. How can I be sure which 1 is eating them? The last few days I have been taking Tatsu out when I feed them, thinking Skittle may feel intimidated, but I think she just sits on her log and watches the crickets run about. She will eat a few of the juvenille pellets when I feed them to her, but she doesn't seem interested in crickets. Is this normal? Why isn't she eating much? She's alert and seems healthy, so I'm not even sure anything is wrong.
Please help if any of what I wrote makes sense!!

Rhi

I have some suggestions but there is no guarentee these will work. I would separate both dragons for awhile, house them in two enclosures with all the appropriate needs met. Try this for awhile and see if the appetite picks up.

The fact the one dragon doesn't seem to digest his food completely it could be a problem with the 'good' bactria in his gut. To replenish this there are some products (can't remember the names). Parazap has been used to stimulate appetite in other dragons but I personally never used the stuff (haven't had a need to so far).

Hope this helps.

np
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~David - KDRKreatures
1.2 Bearded dragons (Ralph, Artemis, Cheech)
1.0 Veiled Chameleon (Chiquito)

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Gram negative bacteria are the most common kinds in reptiles and will not show up in a normal fecal float.

Gram negative bacteria often causes sporatic eating, improper digestion and discomfort when they do eat. It does not cost much, under $20 and can tell you much information.

Its worth it for the peace of mind and the second thing we always check when regular fecals are normal, but you know there is something wrong.