Reptile & Amphibian Forums

as you can see my guy on the left is skin and bones while my other one is fat as hell. i've tried many things as some of you may have read but im at a loss of what to do at this point.

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0.1 SHTCT
1.0 PATTERNLESS
1.0 LEOPARD
In the process of gathering 20-25 geckos. Plan on major breeding in 07.

Hi there,

At this point, a vet visit is definately in order. Make sure you take him to a qualified reptile vet. You can find one by going here: http://www.arav.com/.

Have you seperated them? If you havent, please do so. A 20 gallon long will be fine for him until you can get him healthy again. The bigger one may be dominating the smaller one, to the point where he wont eat. Even though you have a nice sized enclosure for them both. Beardies are not very social creatures and prefer to be alone anyways, sometimes you cant get two dragons to live together and both be healthy. Do you know what genders they are?

Anyhoo, seperating them and getting the little one to the vet is what needs to be done.

Good luck with them!
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~Melissa~
1.6.3 Leopard geckos
1.1 Bearded dragons
1.0 Hog Island Boa
0.1 Western hognose
0.1 Coastal carpet python
1.1 Crested Gecko
1.0 Savannah Monitor
0.0.1 Sulcata tortoise
1.0 Eastern Collared Lizard
1.1 Ferrets
0.1 Chinchilla
2.0 kitty cats
0.0.1 Firebelly newt that lives with a betta

Been to the vet, has had 3 diffrent medications, been separated in 20 gal, raised basking point to 150F, lowered basking point to 90F, been force fed about 2 months, has had weekly vists to the local serpentarium, been watched by friends and breeders.
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0.1 SHTCT
1.0 PATTERNLESS
1.0 LEOPARD
In the process of gathering 20-25 geckos. Plan on major breeding in 07.

Hmm...
Sounds like you've done all you can do, and then some. (i searched for your old posts, guessed I missed where you said you had seperated them, I am sorry).
I hope someone else here can respond with answers for you!
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~Melissa~
1.6.3 Leopard geckos
1.1 Bearded dragons
1.0 Hog Island Boa
0.1 Western hognose
0.1 Coastal carpet python
1.1 Crested Gecko
1.0 Savannah Monitor
0.0.1 Sulcata tortoise
1.0 Eastern Collared Lizard
1.1 Ferrets
0.1 Chinchilla
2.0 kitty cats
0.0.1 Firebelly newt that lives with a betta

Im just trying to find out what else possible i can do or else im going to stop hand feeding him.
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0.1 SHTCT
1.0 PATTERNLESS
1.0 LEOPARD
In the process of gathering 20-25 geckos. Plan on major breeding in 07.

Hi,
sorr to hear , i know it can be very fustrating!! How are you hand feeding him? I have had sucess using this method. take some rep-cal juvenile bearded dragon food, and soak in water add some extra vitamins and put in a food processor. you can make a batch and put it in the refrigerator it will last 4-5 days. just make sure you add some extra warm water while in the food processor so you can ge it to a apple sauce consistity. put it in a feeding tube, it is a syringe without the needle. the easiest way to full up the tube is to take the plunger thing out and using your finger dab it in and push in with finger until it is full. then put the plunger thing in and your ready to go. for the next use of the batch, only take out what you are going to use for next feeding, put it in another bowl stainless if you have and fill up the sink with hot water alittle, place the bowl in the hot water and stir up with a t-spoon, you may need to add a few drops of hot water to the mix to get it to the right consistency. this is just to warm it up, so it will be easier to feed to your little guy. this should give him the required nurishment he needs after being on medication. it may take a month or so. hope this helps, any questions let me know good luck and dont give up.
Rich Banfich

www.designrreptile.com

You know what i tried using that yesterday but it remained to hard to use in my syringe. right now he gets water in the morning and then pumpkin, mist in the afternoon then more pumpkin and then he never really wants anything after that.
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0.1 SHTCT
1.0 PATTERNLESS
1.0 LEOPARD
In the process of gathering 20-25 geckos. Plan on major breeding in 07.

i just looked at it its not repcal its t-rex BD dry formula, but i took your advice hot water, blend and vitamins. i had to force his mouth open tonight but i got it down. he didnt spit it back out like he normaly does also.
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0.1 SHTCT
1.0 PATTERNLESS
1.0 LEOPARD
In the process of gathering 20-25 geckos. Plan on major breeding in 07.

Hi,
try the rep-cal it is the best. also you having to pry open its mouth is very stressful. try with holding the dragon in one hand with your thumb put it under his corner of the mouth bottom side and gently pull down his bottom corner of lip clossest to his ear, its not going to open his mouth but will give you a can get in between his lips his teeth and mouth will probably be closed you can squirt some food in there and it usually starts a feeding resopsse. ill post a pic in the morning if you dont understand, if it works you can quickly get the tip of the tube in and fill its mouth, or if it really works you can also put a dab on its tip of nose and he should start eating. if that dosent work you can use a paperclip to open his mouth. its a little tricky cause you dont want to be too forsefull. but my vet did this and you bend open the paperclip so only a single wire is out and gently wegge it it between his lips. as you gradually open the mouth you have to be ready with the feeding tube fill his mouth and then slide the paper clip out he will then have a mouth ful of food and then if he dosent start chewing you can massage his throat this might get him to start eating. i have tried all the bearded dragon foods and none of them compare to rep-cal. i stop feeding live foods after two months old and only eat rep-cal pellets , chopped greens and fruits. if you have any questions let me know. if it is not clear how to get the food in i can post some pics that can give you a visual tomorrow. let me know if i should. anyway hope this helps. be patient, dont try to do all the above at one time, it can be very stressful, if the first attempt dosnt work, put him back in his cage , come back in 20 min or so and try again.good luck!!!
Rich Banfich

www.designrreptile.com

90% of the time he will open his mouth for me but tonight and the last 2 or 3 days ive had to use a little force. i pull down on his lip and kinda have to sneak the syringe in.
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0.1 SHTCT
1.0 PATTERNLESS
1.0 LEOPARD
In the process of gathering 20-25 geckos. Plan on major breeding in 07.

hey,
thats good. i just wasnt sure if you were able to feed him before. so i guess you have it. try the rep-cal if really works well for this, it has all you vitamins and nutrients, protiens all that good stuff. you can also add some fruit and vegetable baby food to the mix. hope it helps keep us posted.
Rich Banfich

www.designrreptile.com

i did add some powedered vitamins and calcium with the t-rex formula and was thinking of adding some crushed superworms. i'll have to order some repcal.
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0.1 SHTCT
1.0 PATTERNLESS
1.0 LEOPARD
In the process of gathering 20-25 geckos. Plan on major breeding in 07.

they have congenital problems, something on the inside that cant be fixed, like puppy and kitten fading syndrome. i recently took in 2 that were beat up at a pet store by a larger one (they had like 6 in the cage GRRR) one had a leg so bad it was amputated at the vet, they had the same care, antibiotics, feeding and everything, but the one whos leg was amputated is still here and after months of force feeding, fluid therapy and the works the other passed. id say keep trying, you seem to really care, but if he passes, dont beat yourself up to bad.
best of luck!
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hanging out under heat lights burns up my brain cells!!

last year I took in an adult 'rescue'. She was skin and bones! Her parasite load was very high and the vet gave her some strong meds that took away the parasites but also took away her desire to eat. I forcefed her for several weeks. I used a combo of Rep-cal pellets and chicken baby food. I nearly gave up when someone here suggested I try Parazap tea. It is a natural product that deals with parasites but it also has something in it that helps with appetite.

In addition to the Parazap I also added a pro-biotic. I went to the local grocery and purchased some b-acidolphilis. I ground up a tablet and put a pinch of it in the food each feeding. This put back some of the good bacteria that the meds killed along with the parasites. This will also stimulate the appetite. Our local health food store carries a refrigerated liquid acidolphilis. You can also find one marketed for reptiles called "Acidopholiz" but they are the same thing.

Hopefully this guy can pull through--sounds like you are doing all you can.

DM