ElisaAndSteven
Member
Hey guys. Forgive me for using my first post to ask for help, but I've been a visitor for a long time. Our dragon is having some health issues, so I just wanted to see if anyone had any suggestions.
Setup:
70 gallon tank
Excavator clay
Keep water bowl in tank
Dust his bugs with calcium every other day, and a multivitamin once a week (will eat between 5 and 10 medium size dub roaches, or 20-30 crickets)
ReptiSun bulb (UVB and heat)
Basking temp usually right around 104-105 degrees F, and he's loved it up until this all started
Clean objects in his tank roughly once a week
Keep ground up sepia bone in a little dish for him (rarely touches it)
Symptoms in order observed over past couple weeks:
Started with bloating, still had appetite. No other problems.
Started lying down away from basking light earlier in the day.
Slowly started losing appetite and getting black beard for no reason.
In the past week, he's basically stopped eating, aside from a cricket here and there. Stools are tiny, and he has permanent black beard and neck. Still extremely bloated.
He's now starting to stand with curled fingers pretty regularly. I suspect this is because he's not eating and getting enough calcium.
At night, he sleeps with his head up in the air, as if he's trying not to lay fully on his belly. Looks very uncomfortable.
What we've done:
Tried implementing more veggies at first, since it was just bloating. We thought maybe he was impacted. Also gave him olive oil and apple sauce at separate times.
Gave him warm baths every other day for roughly 30 mins, and massaged his belly a few times. This worked a few times to get him to poop, but now since he hasn't been eating as much, he's not really pooping much.
Cleaned his tank, and refreshed substrate surface (we're using excavator clay, and he does not eat it)
Took him to vet yesterday, and the first thing he said was "Oh boy, this is gonna be a tough one to diagnose." Vet worked at zoo and has lots of experience with reptiles. Vet said he was not impacted and didn't feel any hard lumps. He gave him a fluid shot to hydrate him just in case. Also gave him his first dose of antibiotics yesterday (Baytril Suspension). Vet said it might help depending on whats wrong with him. Have a stool sampling container we're going to return in a couple days if we can get him to poop enough.
We've been using a PowerSun bulb for a few months, and it has seemed to work great, but picked up an additional ReptiSun 10.0 UVB fluorescent bulb with a lamp today just in case the other was not working. Figured it was worth a shot.
Worth mentioning. We purchased some organic dub roaches from Dubia Roach Depot online before this all started. The place seemed to have a great reputation. Could just be a coincidence, but after about a week of having them, the symptoms started. We haven't given those to him for a week now, and have been trying to feed him crickets from local reptile store instead.
Here are some pictures below. Had no issues for the first couple of months we had him, but suddenly, the past couple of weeks have been rough.
Right around when the bloating started, but still had appetite and acted normal.
About a week later, had black beard here. Looked a little weak.
And now another week later. Refreshed his tank yesterday. Cleaned all objects in it, and brushed away and removed top surface of excavator clay.
This is him right now. Feels like a water balloon when we hold him.
Thanks guys,
Steven and Elisa
Setup:
70 gallon tank
Excavator clay
Keep water bowl in tank
Dust his bugs with calcium every other day, and a multivitamin once a week (will eat between 5 and 10 medium size dub roaches, or 20-30 crickets)
ReptiSun bulb (UVB and heat)
Basking temp usually right around 104-105 degrees F, and he's loved it up until this all started
Clean objects in his tank roughly once a week
Keep ground up sepia bone in a little dish for him (rarely touches it)
Symptoms in order observed over past couple weeks:
Started with bloating, still had appetite. No other problems.
Started lying down away from basking light earlier in the day.
Slowly started losing appetite and getting black beard for no reason.
In the past week, he's basically stopped eating, aside from a cricket here and there. Stools are tiny, and he has permanent black beard and neck. Still extremely bloated.
He's now starting to stand with curled fingers pretty regularly. I suspect this is because he's not eating and getting enough calcium.
At night, he sleeps with his head up in the air, as if he's trying not to lay fully on his belly. Looks very uncomfortable.
What we've done:
Tried implementing more veggies at first, since it was just bloating. We thought maybe he was impacted. Also gave him olive oil and apple sauce at separate times.
Gave him warm baths every other day for roughly 30 mins, and massaged his belly a few times. This worked a few times to get him to poop, but now since he hasn't been eating as much, he's not really pooping much.
Cleaned his tank, and refreshed substrate surface (we're using excavator clay, and he does not eat it)
Took him to vet yesterday, and the first thing he said was "Oh boy, this is gonna be a tough one to diagnose." Vet worked at zoo and has lots of experience with reptiles. Vet said he was not impacted and didn't feel any hard lumps. He gave him a fluid shot to hydrate him just in case. Also gave him his first dose of antibiotics yesterday (Baytril Suspension). Vet said it might help depending on whats wrong with him. Have a stool sampling container we're going to return in a couple days if we can get him to poop enough.
We've been using a PowerSun bulb for a few months, and it has seemed to work great, but picked up an additional ReptiSun 10.0 UVB fluorescent bulb with a lamp today just in case the other was not working. Figured it was worth a shot.
Worth mentioning. We purchased some organic dub roaches from Dubia Roach Depot online before this all started. The place seemed to have a great reputation. Could just be a coincidence, but after about a week of having them, the symptoms started. We haven't given those to him for a week now, and have been trying to feed him crickets from local reptile store instead.
Here are some pictures below. Had no issues for the first couple of months we had him, but suddenly, the past couple of weeks have been rough.
Right around when the bloating started, but still had appetite and acted normal.
About a week later, had black beard here. Looked a little weak.
And now another week later. Refreshed his tank yesterday. Cleaned all objects in it, and brushed away and removed top surface of excavator clay.
This is him right now. Feels like a water balloon when we hold him.
Thanks guys,
Steven and Elisa