I have a 3 year old male Chinese Water Dragon that I have had for 6 months. When I got him he was riddled with parasites and bacteria in his digestive system. He was also very lethargic. Now 6 months later and hundreds of dollars of vet bills later, he has more energy and lots of personality also the parasites and stuff are gone. However because he was so sick and would have rather died of starvation than eat, I had to hand feed him chicken baby food. When he started feeling better I started to introduce several different types of food: crickets, fish, mealworms, mice, silkworms, earthworms, and waxworms. He wants none of them, so he is still being fed baby food. Does anybody have any suggestions on how to stimuate him to eat on his own? Also the vet has tried vitamin B shots to stimulate his appetite. It is so frustrating and I have seen 3 different vets. Please if anyone can help
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Not eating
Replies (3)
It looks like you've done everything you can and I don't know a way of getting him to eat.
I only appreciate that you spend time and money on this animal so I wish you the best.
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Its funny how similar problems come up in these forums for differnt people. You didn't mention if after the deworming, antibiotics, etc., did you reestablish his microflora? If not there are over the counter probiotics that you can buy designed for reptiles or birds that will work fine or you can use natural yogurt with live cultures. A lack of microflora in the gut to help with digestion will deminish a waterdragons appetite. Depression also will affect appetite and is fairly common. To treat depression, take a look at his environment and see if you can improve it, Making it larger, greener, and making sure that heat humdity and water are appropriate should help. Also, taking him outside for some limited exposure to natural sunlight will have a profound effect. I should warn you that the exposure to natural sun light can make him extremely aggressive, until he gets use to it, so be wary.
Yes, I tried that I gave him acidophilus for a week and a half in his food and no change. But thanks I appreciate the help.
