Lethargic/Potentially dehydrated

I need help. Our bearded dragon Otto (around 8 months old) is acting lethargic and strange and not himself.

We went away this weekend - left him on Saturday with some rocket and bell pepper, he was acting fine, his usual cheerful self and enjoying his rocket. When we got back on Sunday afternoon he was lying barely moving, at first we just thought he was sleepy but his eyes were half open but very droopy and after an hour or two he started moving but he was very slow and his balance seemed off.

On Monday he was more active but his balance was still strange and his eyes didn't look right. We have an independent specialist reptile shop across the road so we took him there (he ran into the wall when we tried to put him in the box). We were told he looked thin and dehydrated - the man at the shop managed to get him to drink by dunking his head underwater but he wasn't taking food.

We managed to get him to eat some salad leaves and 8 or so locusts on Monday night and a further 6 or so on Tuesday morning and he seemed to be perking up. He wouldn't eat last night though and he hasn't eaten today and is still showing signs of being dehydrated. He's currently lying in the corner of his viv not moving and closing his eyes a lot. He normally spends a lot of the day sitting on a log in his hot spot but he hasn't been up there since Saturday. He doesn't seem right at all and I've booked an appointment at the vets but the soonest I could get is Friday. Is there anything I should be doing immediately?

I'm also getting conflicting messages on how to hydrate him - we've tried giving him a bath or offering him a pipette but he's not taking it. There was more poo than I would have expected when we got back so I don't know if that's how he lost his fluids in which case do we have to be careful not to give him too much?

Thank you in advance to anyone who can offer any advice - we're really worried about him.

Hello, BlueParrot!

Have you taken your beardie out of their enclosure? Some times a little love and excercise helps. My beardie Spike acts lethargic sometimes as well and I find that this helps.

ok good that you taking beardie to the vet what you can do in the mean time is get a syringe mix some calcium with water and slowly inject in hes mouth but slowly like 1/4 to 1/2 of the syringe at the time depends how dehydrated he is give 2 mm of water then the next day another 2 also i would suggest some baby food with protein like chicken you put it in the nose and he will lick if you manage to give him 2 syringes of that thats great for the last 3 weeks thats what i been going trough with my 7 month old he had a bad infection on the large intestine due to parasites today was the first time in 3 weeks he actually ate on hes own.here is a post on feeding syringes viewtopic.php?f=45&t=232687 it can be any plastic syringe without the needle.

ps. he also might be sad and lonely agustusu has a point take him out of the enclosure spend some time with your beardie feed him and give him some water with a syringe and he might just perk up.

Hi guys, thanks so much for the input!

I was pretty sceptical about giving him attention because normally he's not a big fan of handling (prefers to explore and gets grumpy about being picked up although he doesn't mind sitting with us) but we tried giving him a bath this morning and it took him a while but he opened his eyes properly and walked up my partners arm and seemed a bit happier after - so I think it helped thanks for the advice.

He still looks a flopped and his eyes are droopy but he's eaten at least one leaf and he's sitting on his favourite log. I think he might still need help getting more food and water in him so thanks for the advice about the syringe feeding (will consult with the vet tomorrow as I don't think I can get a syringe before then) - were you feeding directly into his stomach as per the article?

hi blue parrot no just in hes mouth and he will swallow it takes practice thats how i give my beardie hes medicine i don't use a syringe like the video just an insulin plastic syringe with no needle works good, for birds might be different tho.

I'm kind of relieved to hear that! I'm not sure I'm ready for the pressure of getting something into his stomach!

Actually encouragingly he ate quite a few locusts yesterday after we took him out and gave him attention for a bit. It's really weird, it's like his eyes are vacant and he's not thinking properly - at first he wasn't going for them at all and then my partner gently shook him and it was like he woke up. He was still slow but he ate quite a few. Very mysterious... hopefully vet will shine some light today.

Let me know how the vet visit went!

Ahh really well!

Vet thinks it was possibly a temporary calcium deficiency. He gave him an injection and some worming medicine as a precaution and he's really bounced back this afternoon.

I took a picture

Verynice dragon im glad your beardie is better.