Reptile & Amphibian Forums

well here goes....

i have two beadies that are both about 20 months old now...the male is a text book beardie...he eats anything offered and he is great...the female ont he other hand is anything but perfect....they lived together for the first 8 months of their lives but then seperated the because she was being bullied...she has never been a really good eater but recently she hasn't been eating much of anything...i brought her to the vet (they dewormed her becasue they thought thats what she had but i had no fecal sample)...anyways i moved her into a smaller more secure cage and redid her lighting with a reptisun 5.0 and perfect basking temps (107 basking cool 79-86)....well i got a fecal done last week and the vey said that she was clean...but she is still extremely under weight (174 grams and 15 injches) adn her skin looks about 3 sizes too big on her.....i've tried everything that has been suggested so far and i've been getting her to eat 3cc-5cc a day of turkey baby food wit vitamins and calcium added from a syringe......i can't think of anything else to do and she won't eat her salad or crixs os worms ...nothing..i don't know what to do and any advice would be greatly appreciated

glenn

btw. she lives in a 3x2x1 cage on sand (she has no impaction)

probiotics. Most dewormers will interrupt the natural gut floru that beardies have. Any interruption can cause a loss of appetite. You should give her doses of acidophilus with her baby food.

Also, loose skin is a sign of dehydration. Since you are giving her food everyday, she's probably just lost weight??? Do her eyes look sunken in? If so she could be dehydrated. Try getting some Pedialyte into her.

Will she drink on her own and lick up the baby food, or do you have to force her to eat it? The reason I ask is because force feeding causes a great deal of stress.

By the way, 174 grams isn't underweight for a 15 inch beardie in my opinion. My Hollywood is 14 inches and 157 grams. You should check out the growth charts on my website. It will help you get a better idea of what beardies can weight at certain lenghts and ages.

Try the acidophilus. I think you'll find that it will boost her appetite. Speaking of boosting appetite, get some liquid vitamin B complex. I buy mine at Walmart (for humans) and it is cherry flavored. But a drop of that in with her baby food. Vitamin B boosts appetite and energy levels. Hope this helps.

Veronica
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Beautiful Dragons

hey,

well she is already drinkin pedialyte and i give her a bath like every 3 days or so...and her eyes aren't sunkin in from what i can tell so i don't think she is dehydrated cause she drinks every day....also she is on nutribac ( i think thats considered a probiotic) any other u recommend?????

thanks do much for the info

i'll try the b complex

glenn

btw.. it though 15 inches at 20 months was kinda small and the extra large skin makes me feel like i'm doin sumtin worng...what growth cahsrts do u recommend???

thanks again