Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey guys,
Help me out with this one:
My beardie is on a total hunger strike. The most he will eat is a few bites of salad and MAYBE some meal worms IF I hand feed them. He is offered crix, meal worms, wax worms, silk worms, and salad. I am really starting to worry, the fat pads on his head are becoming sort of sunken. Please help!

We need to know your specifics of your husbandry. If something is wrong with the husbandry it could be affecting appetite.

-how old/big is your dragon?
-what size tank?
-what are the temps and how are they measured?
-what substrate?
-any cagemates?

we also need to know a little history...

-when did you notice your dragon wasn't eating as much?
-is he still defecating?
-how is he acting otherwise? is he still bright and alert or is he lethargic?
- have their been any changes in your dragons life (cage placement, temps, cage set up, increased traffic in the area of his cage?)

If your husbandry is correct i would get a fecal sample done at the vet to look for parasites. that would be my first suspect...there isnt much else i can guess at without knowing more about the situation. If your dragon is noticeably losing weight you should see a quality herp vet asap, before its too late, many people wait too long to bring their herps to the vet and they die in the process. if he is still defecating, bring a sample with you.

until then you can keep hydration up with several long warm water soaks a day, and you can try giving him gatorade or pedialyte with a dropper as well. These are not cures however, just methods to hold him over until his vet appointment.
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0.1 Bearded dragon (Hannabil)
0.1 mexican Black kingsnake (Morticia)
1.1.2 Leopard Gecko's (Pogo, Louise, Orion, Jeffrey Nothing)
0.0.1 Tokay Gecko
1.0 Blue Tongue Skink
0.0.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn (Autumn)
0.1 Bullmastiff (Asha)
4.1 Cats (Poe, Tucker, Abhid, Felicity, Emmy)

Funny you should mention the vet, he was just in there last week, for a check up and a fecal, all clear. Vet said he was looking a little light weight though.

Husbandry,
He is in a 40 gallon, he is approx. 11 mos old.
His ambient cage temp is 81 degrees, measured with a digital thermometer, his basking spots are 101 degrees, 103 degrees measured with digital thermometer. He is on reptile carpet, has a reptisun 5.0 bulb and a zoomed 10.0 coil lamp. He is pooping once or twice a week. He also gets time outside (15 minutes a day, it is hot as hell still in AZ). Today he went out, came back in, ate a bit of salad, and hopped up on his basking spot. He has been eating less since about the middle of august, and now he is going whole days eating nothing. He is not particularly lethargic, me moves from spot to spot in his tank basking and cooling...

I had this problem and everything was perfect, so supposing everything is going well with temps and stuff... get a fecal! Mine had pin worms bad! They had good stools too. I treated them for it and the next day or two they were eating like hogs. I also found out that mine like the taste of the calcium and vitamins, so i added more than what i use to. I tried adding propel fitness water (its flavored) and apple juice. It helped a little but not really. I recently moved into the dorms and i dont have money for fecals (i worked at a vet and got them done free) so i just got some medication and gave a small dose anyway because stress spikes their coccydia (however u spell it) levels and they are eating better than ever. Also i would advise putting him in the bath tub with warm water to poop him every 2 days or so. It works miracles on their immune systems and leaves the cage clean. This also gives them the chance to drink water and and hydrate themselves, especially during shedding time.
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*~*Erin*~*
0.2 Tiki and Tahlie -Bearded Dragons- July 18, 2004 -high oranges-
0.2 Bailey and Mia -Degus- June 1, 2005