What's Wrong?

[PumpkinJelly]

First off I'd like to say I'm sorry if this turns out to not be an emergency. I figured I'd get a little more help/advice in the ER thread. I'd also like to thank you in advance for helping me out. Thanks a bunch!

Anyway, today Fiz has been acting strange and I don't know why. When i got home he looked really depressed as if he didn't feel good. Next to him was this huge poop (sorry if I go into detail about this...) but anyway it was dark and spattered, and it looked like it wasn't pleasant to pass. Not to mention that it must've been really watery, because the stain it left was about 5 inches long, 5 inches wide. My poor Fiz looked so sad. I've been giving him baby food because he's been really irregular with his poops and I figured that he could make do with some extra protein and food in his belly. The last two days I mixed chicken baby food with sweet carrot baby food. Today I mixed chicken baby food with squash baby food and just a tiny, tiny bit of sweet carrot for color (they like orange colored things). I mixed up some calcium and Fiz totally pigged out. He loves baby food. Well afterward I walked out to give the rest of the baby food to KD, and then when I came back Fiz was laying like this:

When I opened the door he perked up a bit but before I took the picture he looked so sad it broke my heart.

He's laying like this and will occasionally close his eyes. I don't know what's up with him. I'm kind of scared. I don't know if its the baby food doing this to him. Can someone help me, please? I want to help little Fiz! Thank you SO much for just reading, and then thank you a million times more for replying.

 

[TheDragonKeepers]

Baby food will give them the runs if you go overboard with it - you are what you eat, but in a beardie world, you poop what you eat When you say irregular, was it a week or more between poops?
You might want to give him some solid veggies and a boost of nice live foods. What does he normally eat?
Judging by the lighting, I'd suggest that might be the brightest patch in the tank? He thinks it's sunshine and is happily trying to bake

 

[ShannyBeard]

Poor Fiz! (He looks absolutely HUGE in that picture, by the way!) I hope he feels better soon!

 

[PumpkinJelly]

I've just been giving them a little bit each day to help with Fiz's poop issues. Fiz's brother, KD, eats the same amount of baby food Fiz does and his poop has never been better.

He usually goes about a week without pooping, yes. But with the baby food added to his diet he's been going every day now, just like KD.

He eats crickets, collard greens, turnip greens, and mustard greens. The baby food is just an addition to his diet. I'm mostly doing it to help his bathroom issues & the chicken baby food added to it is to give him more protein to grow. I give him applesauce every other day or every two days because he really likes applesauce. He goes nuts for it

Yes it is the brightest patch of light in the tank, although his is not how he normally "happily" basks. He usually has his head up, gaping, and happy. But this is never normal. He's sitting in a position that he would if he were going to sleep. He sleeps like that, he's never basked like that.

Shanny: He's now 11 inches! So happy! The chicken in the baby food has helped him grow more

 

[ShannyBeard]

I can't get over how big he looks, and he looks so healthy, even if he is a little sad. You would freak out if you owned Scarlet. She can look so miserable sometimes, but it's just her normal face. :lol: That sounds mean, but it is true.

 

[PumpkinJelly]

That is a 12 inch corner shelf. That gives you a bit of a visual as to how big he is, possibly.

I measured him yesterday and he was 11 inches. I was really proud. He was stuck at 10.5ish inches for awhile, but he's growing quicker. I really think it's the chicken the baby food. I read on here that they need protein from bugs to grow, and there's protein in chicken baby food. So with the crickets and the chicken baby food I think it's helping. KD is 12 inches now

Scarlet is cute even if she does have a 'miserable' face. Hands down, you have the two most vividly colored beardies I've ever seen. I CANNOT GET OVER THAT RED (I know I've said that a million times). It's amazing, I couldn't believe their colors when you first uploaded pictures of them!

He may just be sad, I don't know. He looks perkier than he really was in that picture. I just gave him a HUGE load of large crickets on accident, and he scarfed down every last one. My dad went to the store and got me crickets today . It's a wonder to me where he puts all of the food. It's a little scary, actually. I think he's hollow and he's just got a huge stomach intestines in there so he can digest the food.

I'm trying to see if he'll perk up, but he hasn't yet. I'll let his food digest before I start freaking out.

 

[Mirthy]

Sorry to hear that Fiz isn't feeling well right now. I hope he perks up quickly! I'm going to be checking back for updates and hopefully he will be all better.
Have you ever had a fecal done for Fiz?
Best wishes,
Carrie (and Norris)

 

[Gail]

Personally, I would stop all baby food. Its a emergency food only and not a very good one at that. Chicken has way too much phosphorus and just isn't a good protein source for reptiles.

If your dragon is willing to eat a huge amount of feeders, why not just feed him those instead? A good gut loaded cricket is better then baby food any day. Not to mention that a dragon who is fed babyfood too often can get so spoiled it will stop feeding its self.

As far as him only using the bathroom once a week, there isn't anything wrong with that. As long as he isn't straining when he goes then don't worry so much. Once he starts getting more solid food, he will probably start feeling better. I would also stop the applesauce, fruit can really mess with their gut. I never, ever feed fruit except for a occasional fresh raspberry in the summer and by occasional I mean twice a month at most.

 

[PumpkinJelly]

Personally, I would stop all baby food. Its a emergency food only and not a very good one at that. Chicken has way too much phosphorus and just isn't a good protein source for reptiles.

If your dragon is willing to eat a huge amount of feeders, why not just feed him those instead? A good gut loaded cricket is better then baby food any day. Not to mention that a dragon who is fed babyfood too often can get so spoiled it will stop feeding its self.

As far as him only using the bathroom once a week, there isn't anything wrong with that. As long as he isn't straining when he goes then don't worry so much. Once he starts getting more solid food, he will probably start feeling better. I would also stop the applesauce, fruit can really mess with their gut. I never, ever feed fruit except for a occasional fresh raspberry in the summer and by occasional I mean twice a month at most.

Thanks, Gail I didn't know that. Sorry, I feel stupid now. LOL. Oh we do feed him feeders, he just gets different things too. He loves his salads! Baby food isn't the only thing he eats. He's only been eating it for a couple days now and I haven't given him any today. He gobbled down his salad as well. The applesauce is usually a little bit every week, but if you think that I shouldn't feed it to him I'll stop to maybe... once a month. That isn't too bad, is it? As for fruit, they really don't get much fruit. Whenever I buy blueberries (which isn't very often) I'll give him half of one every couple of days, but they only last a little while so they don't eat much of those.

On a side-note, today Fiz decided to lay right in his poop. So he had poop literally all over his underside. I gave him a nice, long bath and cleaned him up. I must've changed the water 5 times! But as for his behavior, he was still the same today. Hopefully he'll be alright.

Thank you SO much again, Gail. You really gave me a lot of tips. I really appreciate it!