Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a young beardie (approx) 7 months that has us baffled. He is very small in size as he will not eat on his own hardly. The breeder gave him to us as he was also concerned that he did not thrive and could find no reason, but he needs a lot of one on one care.

He is a german gaint, siblings are fine, he is the size of about a 3 month old. He will lick strained chicken and veggie from a dropper, but only 2-5 dropper fulls a day.

If I try to force feed him more, he throws it back up shortly. His fecals are clear, poop looks normal and he goes daily. He has a lot of energy and very active when out of his tank, but when in it he never moves from his basking area (falls asleep there too all night) There are crickets, salads and fresh shed mealies in his bowl all day for him, he had not touched them but one time he ate 17 small crickets and another time 3. We think he has nibbled on the salads, but never seen him eat them and never much changed.

Medically we nor the Vet can find anything wrong with him. (not done internal tests) His temps are perfect 105 basking and 80 cool(but he never leaves the basking area), reptile carpet for substrate. I tried making him go without the handfeeding strained chicken/veggies for 3 days and he was getting too skinny so I started them back.

I tried putting him where he had no traffic or quiet, no change, then tried putting him where he could see another dragon that was his size that eats alot... nothing......

He has absolutely no symptoms of any illness, looks very healthy except for being so skinny. His eyes are clear and alert, well hydrated, mouth/throat internally looks normal. What does go in comes out fine.

Outside of ALWAYS basking, the only other strange thing we have found is once when out exploring (he loves this) he found our iguana's padded heat rock and halted and layed on it, now when he is let out he runs right for it and stops his running around which he always liked to do...... Now I know heat rocks are bad, but this one is padded and mild heat output, I take him off it within a few minutes, but I am wondering if I should let him stay there and see if it changes his eating or anything....

Sorry for so long, but out of many dragons I have raised or cared for, this one has me stumped. Any ideas?

Wow, I surely don't envy you dealing with this one. Maybe it's simply failure to thrive. The only thing I can think of to suggest, is Parazap to stimulate his appetite. Perhaps mix the tea with his baby food. One of my runts was the same way, only not throwing up, and it got him eating and now he's of normal size for his age.
Sure hope it all works out for you.

that another was like this and made it, he's such a good little fellow, I hate seeing him like this, seems it bothers me more than him, I am going to try adding some acidolphlus, then the parazap (never used this)

Then adding another to him like Chris suggested which is also what another breeder has suggested, actually I am going to add the one that we had to do the same thing with when I first brought him home, I thought we were going to lose him until we noticed that he watched another dragon when he was outside his tank. I put them side by side and the first one finally started eating on his own, he truly was lonely. I have tried the side by side, but maybe in the same tank will work were the side by side did not with this one.

Thanks again

I would try increasing the basking temp up to 120. Sounds like he is trying to get warm, just by him always staying under the basking spot. I know some dragons that can change a whole lot, even say going from a breeder who keeps it real warm, and then to a home where the temp is just a bit cooler can impact the appetite of the dragon. I would make sure it cant see any other dragons, raise the basking temp, give parazap, and maybe try all different foods....worms, crickets(tiny ones, small ones just to try a slightly smaller size than what you are using), offer all different veggies(try misting the veggies when you give them to get him to lick the veggies and maybe try them), maybe try silkworms, try some nighttime heat maybe that will stimulate him, and maybe even try another dragon the same size in with him(i have seen sometimes it keeps them eating good, kind of competing for food). Not sure if any of that will work, but just some ideas. chris

Hi
looks abit like a beardie of my .
i got a very hot spot and a cool side he also on the hotspot but my is atleast 120.
2 inches away it 110 so he can shovel up he got a big flatrock where he can move on.
have you try the good bacterias acudophulus ,and parazaptea togeter??
i also have move this beardie allot now i have him in my living room if i take him out he get very nice colors when i put her back she crabs my finges and not wanan back in .
if i mist her she puff in air and not drink then .
i have put her now 3,4 times a week 10 min in bath so she get abit exercise r else she is on same spot also all the time some times i take her of baskingspot and let her walk.
she also not got parasites rn some thing else .
this is also a mystery
she is now 220 gram at 9/10 months old .
while he brother and sisters r 340 gram.
i have her many times on my chest then she always climb to my shoulders and then look from there some times she even fall asleep in my neckhair
maybe she is just spoiled and want atention i realy dunno.
so some times beardies can be weird and hard to understand .
think i tell you you not the only one with a weird beardie
byeeeeeeee

Hi Cheri
Hmm, I thought the same thing as B22--the "good" bacteria or enzymes might do something. Is he a stresser? Could it just be an overly anxiety ridden dragon? I know that you know what you are doing when it comes to raising dragons, so this is a tough one.
I coulnt come up with much more than that. Sorry.
Dana

Just when I thought I had exhausted all idea

Thank you all very much, I am going to try the bacteria replacement and see if that changes anything for him, after that I will try the parazap. I had not tried either as we know he is has not been ill, but maybe there is something going on inside him we can not detect in the standard test.

He's not a stressed dragon at all, he's a very relaxed lil guy when held and clingy when we try to put him back, he runs away when out, but always somes back to see what I am doing and taste my nose.

He really is a little beauty, white background with like platium markings.... we are not at risk of losing him yet, as the handfeeding he does take but not enough to put any weight on him.....but I am afriad of the long term effects. He is soooooo thin, and such a sweet dragon, its frustrating to me as I have never lost one that we can find nothing wrong with or as active as he is when out.

Thanks again, I will keep you posted

would be a route to go, that is what ronnie of ab herps also suggested, I was hesitate in case he did have something we are not detecting that could affect another one, but we have had him long enough that I think surely something more would show if it was an illness or virus.

I tried bringing his temps up more, added another light and got it to 115-120 and he still stayed there, but since taken in so little he was starting to show signs of dehydration and heat exhaustion, still not eating on his own or increasing what he is eat when hand fed.

I know that long exposure to high heat without the fluid intake can lead to a mess of more problems, like gout, renal or live damage and I did not want to have to put him on fluid injections and stress him, thats one thing going for him right now, he is very unstressed with the whole situation and loves being handled, does eat from the dropper.

I have gone and bought him a new UVB light today, the other was only two months old, but just in case it was not working properly, I would rather be safe and try another. I think I am going to try adding some good bacteria to his feedings along with the minerals and calcium I am using now. After that I will try the parazap and then if neither of those are working, we have another little one that is very gentle but a good eater I will put him with and see if that does anything, its the one that we put side by side with him once for several days and they were looking at each other a lot, but did not seem any aggression or dislike.

Thanks again

!

Just some thoughts that may help.

Baby lizards should have some poop from adults, this poop contains the needed bacteria to help in digestion. Their little guts do not naturally have this bacteria. This could be part of the problem with his not thriving. This is the lizard equivalent of mammals producing colostrum in the first days of nursing. At this stage if you were to try this I would also suggest the addition of pedialytes to restore electrolyte imbalance and rehydration. This often will also spark up their appetite.

Keep in mind that BD's have such large clutches as not all babies will survive. It could be that there is something congenitally wrong with this baby.

Hope this helps.
BigT

Feeding poop from an adult could introduce parasites or bad bacteria the little guy doesn't currently have. Anyhow, beardies actually are born with a decent array of gut flora. The eggs pass through the mother's cloaca where they get a nice exposure to her gut flora, and as the shells are permeable the bacteria incubate right along with the eggs.