Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ive been breeding and raising dragons for years and have never seen anything like this.

This morning i wake up and one of my 8 month old red females is down on the ground and very skinny and emaciated looking. She looked if she had not eaten for a while. Just the day before she shed and then ate her food just as normal. She lives with two other dragons in an 80 gallon cage with all correct temps and lighting. I have raised her form a baby and she has never had any problems. The other two ate the same food as her they are fine.
I dont get it one day she was fat and running around like normal and today she looks as if no one has fed her for a long time.
I do not think she will live through the night at this point but if anyone has any ideas on what happened I would like to hear them because I am stumped.

Internal parasites MAYBE. I'd take fecal exams of the other dragons as a precaution. I'd take no chances on the other ones. Being housed together, if one has 'em, they've all probably got 'em.
Cricket

I've heard that dehydration can do this overnight. Try giving her a drink and a warm soak.
-----
www.classylizard.com

I agree with Christy and the other gal (sorry I do not know your name) Dehydration can make a dragon look emaciated very quickly. Are any of the other dragons dominating her so that she feels stressed. Stree can cause an overgrowth of the normal gut flora and make for an opportunistic infection.

As for something you can do until you can get her to the vet I would definately rec. a warm water soak. Make sure you are there to hold her head up as she may not do it herself if she is feeling that bad. Don't worry about feeding her especially if she was eating normally yesterday or the day before. I would be thinking dehydration before hypoglycemia. After her soak dry her off and isolate her in a warmer than normal set up. Not to scare you, but my eight year old that had liver cancer went down very quickly like your girl so I would rec. getting her to the vet ASAP.
-----
Stacey

>>I've heard that dehydration can do this overnight. Try giving her a drink and a warm soak.
>>-----
>>www.classylizard.com
>>
-----
Rob