Reptile & Amphibian Forums

HELP ME!

I've written a few posts on here in the last week. For anyone who hasnt read them, I got a beardie from the pet sotre last monday, he ate a lot on tuesday, and hasnt touched food since. Hes had a bowel movement on saturday, monday, and a bit today (Tuesday). I took Monday's to the vet today to get checked out, but I have to wait until at LEAST friday to get the results of it. In the meantime, I have tried everything I can think of to get the little guy to eat, I've left him alone for two days straight, I bought a fancy thermometer to check the exact temperatures of various spots, I've tried an assorment of fruits and veggies as reccommended by beautifuldragons.com and wax worms. I even tried to dangle food on a string in front of him. Hes been drinking, but still no food. hes getting more and more lethargic, and skinnier by the day. I would rush him to the vet ASAP, but the only good vet I've been able to find in my area os nearly an hour away....and I don't want to stress the little guy even more! What do I do from here? Is there any way to force-feed him? Anything I'm doing wrong. HELP ME!!!

Dragons are a very hardy lizard. I would give him frequent mistings and soaking (at least twice a day) to keep him hydrated. I don't know what size he is and I don't like to assume, but it seems like your not feeding him the right food. It's hard to get beardies to eat most of the things you mentioned (excluding the wax worms) because 90% of their diet consists of live protien. I would reccomend buying some small crickets and see if he eats those. The main thing is keeping him hydrated until you get your lab results. Also, seems like a good vet would put a rush on fecal results or whatever tests he did?

Crickets are the main thing I have tired feeding him, I throw a few in every day, and at the end of every day, i end up cricket hunting at the end of the night. i have tried a wide variety of things just in case he was a picky eater - but no such luck, he is not interested in food altogether. I do mist him during the day, and I have seen him drink from his bowl. I tried the bath once, he freaked out on me, so I don;t want him to be scared as well. He is well hydrated, just not eating. I realize htye may be hardy, but I can see the health of mine rapidly fading, so I don't want to rely on their hardiness to make him last the week.

Well...I was thinking impaction, but you typed that he's defecated regularly. Hmm....dragons often "freak out" when put in water. I would still reccomend soaking him.

If you've done your research on proper husbandry, which I think you have then I would just offer him food until you hear back from the vet.

Maybe your crickets are too big. They shouldn't be any larger than the space between his eyes.
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Jeff

Lover of all reptiles....dragons, geckos, snakes.....mostly bearded dragons....oh and women are alright too!

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Edited on January 29, 2005 at 09:27:32 by phwyvern.

The crickets are definately small enough - they are tiny little buggers, extra hard to fish out at the end of the day . Sorry if I may seem a little snippish, I'm just worried sick, This is my first lizard, and I hate to think I'm making some kind of stupid mistake.

Maybe my bath water wasn't the right temperature...what is a good temperature?

As warm as you feel is comfortable for your hand. What type of thermometer are you using? What size dragon is it? They usually enjoy higher temps in the basking site. I would raise it to at least 110 for now.
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Jeff

Lover of all reptiles....dragons, geckos, snakes.....mostly bearded dragons....oh and women are alright too!

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Edited on January 29, 2005 at 09:28:03 by phwyvern.

I have a digital indoor/outdoor thermometer with a art that goes to any location as a sensor thing - dont know how else to describe it (hope you have an idea what im talking about).

My dragon is just over 9 inches, but he is missing part of his tail, so I don;t know how long he would be with the rest of it...maybe about 10 inches judging from pics, but still not sure.

The basking site reaches temperatures from 105-115 F at the hottest end.

I talked to the peoplein the pet store, and they said that he used to eat everything in site (including another beardies tail and foot!), so they were surprised to hear that he wasnt eating.

Any other questions I would be happy to answer.

Thanks for the speedy replies!

He's a little bigger than I thought which is good. I would not force feed him. I would contact your vet tomorrow morning.
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Jeff

Lover of all reptiles....dragons, geckos, snakes.....mostly

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Edited on January 29, 2005 at 09:28:18 by phwyvern.

have you tried any kind of pro-biotics? If nothing else yogurt will increase good gut flora and possibly give him some appetite back.... you could also try a larger cricket sometimes they will only eat larger ones tahn yopu would normally feed but if ity's a little larger than the eye space, just pull the back legs off and only give a few at a time sohe doesn't over do it and become impacted or puke it up. You could also get some baby food and feed it to him through a syringe like you'd give kids medicine with untill he gets back on his feet.....also it wouldn't hurt to give him some pedialite with the syringe to make sure that he is well hydrated.... and I agree with Jeff on the soakings....definately twice a day and they are a must... Maybe in the sink instead of the tub would be better for him? .........hope things work out well for him.....keep us posted!
Later,
Robert
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Great spirits have always been recieved with violent opposition by mediocre minds. Albert Einstein

I'm still a newb at beardies but I'd try and contact the store you bought him from and find out what food they have their bd's on. Maybe maybe a switch back to a food he's used to will help. Once you do get him eating again make sure you dust the food with some vitamin powder to give his system a boost. If you've already done this, your best bet is to keep him calm and hydrated until the vet gets the results back. I'm surprised the vet wouldn't put a rush on it either. I'd call the vet back and calmly voice your concern. Good luck. Hope it works out OK for you.

Thanks. Yeah, I have been into the pet store almost everyday - they mustn't think I have a home! But I'm using the same light schedual they had theirs on, the same temps, the same substrate, the same vitamins and the same crickets and veggies.

The vet who delt with reptiles wasn't in when I brought in the sample, but the receptionist left a list of questions for him, and so I will call again in the morning anyways - hopefully they can give me some tips to keep the little guy going for the next little while.

Thanks for your concern.

Ive had great success with restoring dragons appitites by giveing them Parazap. Go to the site and read what people have said about it.. www.parazap.com