Hello!
So, I have a few questions about my bearded dragon...let me start the story.
So, a few of months ago in June, I had a yearly vet checkup on my beardie, Ryū. At this vet checkup, my vet said she was an adult now. This vet had recommended that she be fed protein (bugs) twice a week and a salad everyday, with dusting of course. Before this, I had been giving her one bug feeding a day/every other day. She didn't really ever eat her salad, which had worried me, so that was part of my vet checkup, too. But, I did just what the vet said; I slowly introduced this way of eating. But, she still didn't eat her salads on her own; I would have to sneak it into her mouth while she ate some bugs. She was also significantly eating less food after this.
(My beardie was one year old at this point; she was born in August of 2017)
Now...recently, which was about a month and a half ago, I stopped hand-feeding my bearded dragon. I started to put her into a tub, and I allowed her to catch her own bugs. I hoped that this would convince her to eat her salad on her own.
She had this protein-tub-feeding twice a week. She still got her salad everyday. I also dust the bugs with calcium / vitamin dust (depending on the day), so don't worry.
She didn't really like the tub at first, and it took her a week to get used to it, but she started to catch the bugs on her own. I felt pretty good. Now, I just had to get her to eat her salad by herself.
But, two days after that week, she became hyperactive. Like, REALLY CRAZY. She is usually this very laid-back lizard who loves to spend her time basking and not doing much else. She never really walked around, but she was still very alert and aware of her surroundings. She was spoiled...and picky.
She loved to cuddle. Now she doesn't.
She is quite literally the opposite of who she once was. She rams her body and head against the glass and the walls of her terrarium all the time now. She hates cuddling, and would rather run rampant. She destroys her cage and moves everything. She even poops in her terrarium everyday, now. (I had potty-trained her to go poop in the bath every 2 to 3 days) The poops are small now, like really small, probably because she poops everyday and eats much less. She doesn't eat a lot, but somehow she's maintaining her weight?? She is 18 inches long and about 500 grams. BUT...She somehow gained weight from not eating much at all. Like....??? She was 450 grams in June at the vet checkup, now 500 grams...after eating less.
She doesn't eat like she used to. She eats a lot less. But her belly size increased exponentially. I thought she might have eggs, so I put a lay-box in her enclosure, but skipping forward to today, she has laid nothing. And has remained this insane, restless lizard. She still has small poops everyday. Her belly is still big, and I think it has grown... She still doesn't eat a lot. But she does take a bite or two of her salad now.... :lol: :?
I don't know if it's eggs, parasites, hormones, stress, or some kind of strange illness. But, the main things (as of today) are that:
-BIG belly out of no where
-Way less eating, but oddly ate a lot of protein (crickets) today??
-Hyperactive
-Bangs body against glass and walls
-Has a couple of black scales, like 3 or 4, but I don't think it's anything to worry about.
-Has one patch of three scales that are brown and ?merged? together. This is strange.
-Sometimes has a slightly black beard when running about in her cage and ramming the walls.
-Has very small poops, everyday
She still also has her lay-box in the cage, in case she needs to lay any eggs. Ryū is still very bright-colored all the time, despite the occasional black beard (which has never happened until now). Her cage doesn't seem to stress her out, but rather something changed inside of her, and it's causing her to freak out. I just don't know what. Maybe hormones? And I know that if I go back to the vet, they won't be of much help. All the vets that I have encountered have been rather bad and not well-informed of bearded dragons. They continuously give me bad advice, and I really don't want to go back to them, unless I need a medicine or cure of some sort. :lol:
Finally, this entire ordeal confuses me. Please help me make sense of it.
Thank you so much!
This is a picture of the beautiful beast: https://www.beardeddragon.org/media/9339/full
I can get closeups if needed! Furthermore, if you want any photos or more info on her cage and its conditions, just ask! I will be more than willing to do that!
So, I have a few questions about my bearded dragon...let me start the story.
So, a few of months ago in June, I had a yearly vet checkup on my beardie, Ryū. At this vet checkup, my vet said she was an adult now. This vet had recommended that she be fed protein (bugs) twice a week and a salad everyday, with dusting of course. Before this, I had been giving her one bug feeding a day/every other day. She didn't really ever eat her salad, which had worried me, so that was part of my vet checkup, too. But, I did just what the vet said; I slowly introduced this way of eating. But, she still didn't eat her salads on her own; I would have to sneak it into her mouth while she ate some bugs. She was also significantly eating less food after this.
(My beardie was one year old at this point; she was born in August of 2017)
Now...recently, which was about a month and a half ago, I stopped hand-feeding my bearded dragon. I started to put her into a tub, and I allowed her to catch her own bugs. I hoped that this would convince her to eat her salad on her own.
She had this protein-tub-feeding twice a week. She still got her salad everyday. I also dust the bugs with calcium / vitamin dust (depending on the day), so don't worry.
She didn't really like the tub at first, and it took her a week to get used to it, but she started to catch the bugs on her own. I felt pretty good. Now, I just had to get her to eat her salad by herself.
But, two days after that week, she became hyperactive. Like, REALLY CRAZY. She is usually this very laid-back lizard who loves to spend her time basking and not doing much else. She never really walked around, but she was still very alert and aware of her surroundings. She was spoiled...and picky.
She loved to cuddle. Now she doesn't.
She is quite literally the opposite of who she once was. She rams her body and head against the glass and the walls of her terrarium all the time now. She hates cuddling, and would rather run rampant. She destroys her cage and moves everything. She even poops in her terrarium everyday, now. (I had potty-trained her to go poop in the bath every 2 to 3 days) The poops are small now, like really small, probably because she poops everyday and eats much less. She doesn't eat a lot, but somehow she's maintaining her weight?? She is 18 inches long and about 500 grams. BUT...She somehow gained weight from not eating much at all. Like....??? She was 450 grams in June at the vet checkup, now 500 grams...after eating less.
She doesn't eat like she used to. She eats a lot less. But her belly size increased exponentially. I thought she might have eggs, so I put a lay-box in her enclosure, but skipping forward to today, she has laid nothing. And has remained this insane, restless lizard. She still has small poops everyday. Her belly is still big, and I think it has grown... She still doesn't eat a lot. But she does take a bite or two of her salad now.... :lol: :?
I don't know if it's eggs, parasites, hormones, stress, or some kind of strange illness. But, the main things (as of today) are that:
-BIG belly out of no where
-Way less eating, but oddly ate a lot of protein (crickets) today??
-Hyperactive
-Bangs body against glass and walls
-Has a couple of black scales, like 3 or 4, but I don't think it's anything to worry about.
-Has one patch of three scales that are brown and ?merged? together. This is strange.
-Sometimes has a slightly black beard when running about in her cage and ramming the walls.
-Has very small poops, everyday
She still also has her lay-box in the cage, in case she needs to lay any eggs. Ryū is still very bright-colored all the time, despite the occasional black beard (which has never happened until now). Her cage doesn't seem to stress her out, but rather something changed inside of her, and it's causing her to freak out. I just don't know what. Maybe hormones? And I know that if I go back to the vet, they won't be of much help. All the vets that I have encountered have been rather bad and not well-informed of bearded dragons. They continuously give me bad advice, and I really don't want to go back to them, unless I need a medicine or cure of some sort. :lol:
Finally, this entire ordeal confuses me. Please help me make sense of it.
Thank you so much!
This is a picture of the beautiful beast: https://www.beardeddragon.org/media/9339/full
I can get closeups if needed! Furthermore, if you want any photos or more info on her cage and its conditions, just ask! I will be more than willing to do that!
