Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My 7 year old beardie has been losing weight. He had slowed down easting, and lost weight, but he now won't eat anything! I am worried. He is bathed weekly, and does pee and poop, so I do not think he is constipated. He recenlty is dehydrated too. When I saw him trying to drink, which he rarely does, I have been bathing him daily to keep him hydrated. I had increased his light and heat hours hoping to stimulate his appetite. He is staying closer to the heat during the day. Not sure of the temps but been the same for years. He can get away from it in his cage. At night he does lie in the sand. I have tried crickets, superworms, vergs, and even fruit which he usually loves.

Anyone know a good reptile vet in west burbs of Chicagoland? Any suggestions?

Sorry to hear about your dragon. I would check his temps. Reptiles can go for a long time with improper husbandry and then they tend to crash. I am not saying that you aren't knowledgable but you didn't mention ever checking the temps. I would try some waxworms. Can you give specifics of your set-up? This is were I would start. Also,get some Pedialyte and do 1/2 Pedialyte and 1/2 water and soak him in this. I do have an exotic vet in Rockford which isn't that far from you. The vet is Dr. Katy at Dogwood Animal Clinic 815-282-3371

Linda

Thank you for the reply. He is in a long tank ranging from 80 degrees to about 100 under the basking light during the day. It cools down to about 65 at night, so I set the lights to turn on a bit earlier warming up the tank before it gets too cold at night. He is usually on his log getting close to the basking light during the day, and tucks into the sand at night. Lights are left on about 16 hours a days - usually at this time of the year I shorted the lights down to 6 hours for brumation, but I'm trying to stimulate his eating.

I will try pedialite. I have been bathing him at least daily, and that seems to help, but he is still not eating. He has superworms and fresh veges (spring mix of lettuces, mustard greens, carrots, etc, which vary between days) in his cage. He is pooping and peeing a little in his bath about every other day, so he may be eating a little.

We started him on Fluckers First Aid to hydrate him, which also has vitamins in it. His tail is thin and does not seem to have any stored fat.

Any more suggestions? I will try wax worms. I have another dragon and chameleon, so feeding and misting is a regular routine in our house. I have also tried crickets, but he ignores them, and I don't want to leave them in the cage with him as they then climb on him.

You're set-up sounds really good. You mentioned brumation. Could it be that he is trying to brumate but because the temps are higher his body is still in an active state but he is not eating and thus losing weight? Is his behavior like it was last year at this time? What if anything is different? I have to hibernate my box turtle as when that time comes even though his temps are no different he refuses to eat. If I don't hibernate him he would die before spring.

Can you post a pic of him?

Linda

I don't have any pics. We started him on Fluckers First Aid and that with daily baths are helping. He is so thin and there is no fat stored in his tail that you can see the bones on top of the tail. He is down to 325 grams, so he lost over 50% of his body weight in the past 3 months, and was continuing to loose weight. He just would not eat anything we tried. With the First Aid which is full of vitamins and protien, etc. he started to pee and poop again. Yeah! We also have not gotten a few super worms in his mouth (they were his favorite) and he did swallow them! Yesterday he ate two rasberries on his own, which is really a good sign. He is still too skinny to go into brumation right now. If he can start to put on some weight before winter sets in he may be OK. It is going to be a rough winter for him.