Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My Water Dragon is not eating.

I have a chinese Water dragon that is about a year old. She is 13 in. Long. For the past 3 week she has been off her food. For the last two week she has not eaten anything. Her belly is big and round.
I am very worried. I live in a small rural town, vet is great if you have a dog, or a cow....
Her normal food is mealy worms, once an week they are dusted with calcium.
I have offered her crickets, normally a treat that she loves and she looks at them but does not try to eat.

She has had a U.V. light bulb in her heat lamp. It has just gotten warm enough here, so she is currently sitting outside soaking up some sunlight. I can continue this.
She seems otherwise healthy, she is alert. At the moment when she moves around her belly drags on the ground a little bit.

I read a suggestion to feed her ensure the vitaman drink. When I looked at it it is high in calcium and vitamins, as well as having some calaries. So I have been doing that for the past week.

She seems to like it sticking out her tongue and lapping up a eyedropper full.

She has passes several stools this week.

All this is to say, Could she be gravid? I read that she is too young and small, but she is getting very skinny in her arms, legs and tail, but her belly is not.

If so what do I do.

If not what do I do. I have had her for since August and have gotten very attached.

At that size and that age is is pretty unlikely that she is gravid. Is it possible that she was wild caught and could have an internal parasite?? Where did you get her from?

Also, too many meal worms.. with there hard exoskeleton could have her backed up. Normally meal worms are offered from time to time as a treat because there so high in fat. But from what I know they are not supposed to be the primary source of food. Try soaking her in warm water for awhile (make sure to keep an eye on her while you do it). This has always worked for me when my snakes or large lizards get constipated. GOOD LUCK!! Im sure the great people on these forums will help out as well.

Nick
Water Dragon and Basilisk Cages

I have had waterdragon that mature at a year, but that size seems small for yearling. you should be feeding mostly pinkies. Females, especially, need to put on some size before they mature or else they are at a higher risk for being egg bound during their first clutch. a gravid female will show egg shaped lumps protruding from the sides. A bloated lizard most likely has metabolic bone disease. If you do suspect that you have a gravid female your first response should be to provide several digging areas at least 12-18 inches deep, and verify that sufficient heat sources exist in the enclosure. If these are absent, egg binding is to be expected.