Baby Beardie with ADV won’t eat

Hi everyone. My baby beardie, Theo, is about 3 months old. He has never been a good eater and we’ve tried everything. Took him to vet and he’s Atadenovirus positive. Vet says this isn’t a death sentence but he will NOT eat on his own. Only thing keeping him alive is the Critical Care. Incidentally we were out of town and he was boarded (kept quarantined from others) and the store owner said he ate 6 dubia roaches for her! I was ecstatic! Now that we’re home, he won’t eat again! Maybe a roach or two a day if we’re lucky. I have tried crickets, dubia, mealworms, superworms, waxworms and hornworm. Nothing. I asked about her husbandry and the only difference is she had an extra UVB light on him (PowerSun AND ReptiSun 10) so I added a PowerSun and still nothing. Here are his details:

20 gallon tank with reptile carpet (so the critters can’t hide)
100w heat lamp + 100w PowerSun UVB/UVA + ReptiSun UVB Hot end is 100-110 F and cool end is 75-80.
Nighttime dark heat lamp
I syringe feed Critical Care twice a day to keep him alive and hydrated. Dab his nose with water droplets.

Vet recommended some supplements and anti-inflammatory meds. But if he doesn’t start eating on his own, should I just say goodbye? I’m heartbroken and will try anything if anyone has any other advice.

Hello,

Sorry about your little one, this is becoming too common of a problem now with the breeders
not taking responsibility for their breeding practices.
If you have any pictures of your tank setup & of your little Theo, definitely post them.
A 20 gallon tank is a little small to be using a mercury vapor bulb. How close is it to him? Are
you using a digital probe to measure the temperatures?
A lot of people have ill dragons that need to assist feed them for months to get them back on
their feet.
Dragons with adeno often take awhile to develop their immune systems. In my experience,
they tend to develop a stronger immune system when they hit roughly 100 grams or so. If you
can hold out awhile longer & help him alot he might just surprise you.
Are you using bee pollen to help with the immune system?

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie

Tracie,

Thank you so much for your reply. I will do whatever I can for Theo for as long as it takes for him to start thriving, as long as there's a chance he could recover and he's not suffering.

The shop owner where I bought him from was absolutely mortified to find out he was ADV positive. She immediately went through her records to look up the breeder and contact them. Not sure if she'll keep using them, but really out of my hands at this point.

I did not know we shouldn't be using the PowerSun in such a small tank, so I will set it aside until he's in a bigger tank (fingers crossed!) Honestly, I've been so desperate to help him that I just do whatever someone suggests and then cross my fingers. How do you feel about the amount of UVB he's getting with the ReptiSun 10 alone? It sits on a mesh top, and I have heard conflicting things about the amount of UVB that may be getting filtered out, though neither the store owner nor the vet seemed concerned about that.

The vet is giving us some kind of anti-inflammatory medication for immediate relief, and then also suggested a supplement which is a of combination of Hepasyl and dandelion root extract. That was just prescribed and so I haven't tried it on him yet. Do you have any experience with any of that? Where might I find the bee pollen?

I am so happy to have a goal to shoot for. He's only 13g right now so we have our work cut out for us in order to get him up to 100g! I didn't mention it before, but he still poops every day despite barely eating, so I guess that's a good sign? He has also started to lick the Critical Care off his nose instead of me having to pry his teeny jaws open to syringe feed him, which was traumatic for the both of us.

I have attached some pics of the set-up plus my little guy. I have two digital probe therms, one at the hot end and one at the cool. The readings are off in these pics because I have to swing the arms aside to open the top to feed him. But like I said, the basking end is usually between 100-110F while the cool end is usually between 75-85F. The far left is a 100w heat lamp, the middle in the mini dome is the PowerSun, the ReptiSun 10 is the strip behind them, and the far right is the nite heat lamp. He also has a heating pad under the tank.

Thanks again for all the advice. Theo was supposed to be a pet for my son, but he has captured my heart. <3

Amy

Hello,

The tank setup looks very nice & bright. If you raise the Powersun up away some from him
to be sure he doesn't get too hot then he should be fine just looking at it. What other light will
you have for basking? It isn't a real strong UVB exposure from the Powersun so it would be a
great basking light, too used in combination with a tube bulb as you are doing.
I think he will grow into a larger tank soon!
Since you have the Powersun placed how you do, just maybe raise it up just a bit & place the
Reptisun 10 tube underneath of the screen. Between that, he should receive great UVB. It
will be perfectly safe for him. Oh, the Powersun is the one in the middle or is it the one on the left?
Keep at what you are doing, he looks quite good. Adeno isn't necessarily a death sentence
all of the time. Some are carriers & others have symptoms & don't do near as well. That's great
he took some critical care more willingly today, hopefully his appetite will start to pick up for you.
The dandelion root is a great supplement to use so that combined with hepasyl should be fine. I
have not used the hepasyl but have actually heard some good things about it. I am glad to hear
your vet is trying to help anyway. Bee pollen should easily be found at most health food stores,
or online. I have a small online store too in which I carry organic powder also.
It is stressful for you both to have to help him get nutrition but I really feel once his immune system
develops more, that his appetite will pick up. Be patient. Remember, reptiles respond slowly. He
looks very good, his eyes are alert & his colors are bright.

Keep us posted on him.
Tracie

Tracie,

Thank you again for all the encouragement and advice. Yes, the PowerSun is the one in the middle in the picture, however, the bulb burned out today after only two days of use! I made sure it wasn't the safety shut-off at play. Very frustrating, but I'll just take it back and do as you said with the tube light.

We just started on the anti-inflammatory med and the supplements today. I also got some bee pollen as you suggested and started on that today as well, so I hope his appetite picks up in the next couple of days. Right now he is refusing all bugs including dubias and worms, so he's just subsisting on the Critical Care. He's so skinny and covered in stress marks most of the time, but I'm going to be patient as you suggested and just stay the course until he tells me definitively that he's tired of fighting. He opened his mouth at me today when I approached the tank so I know he's got a little spunk left in him, little stinker. haha

Amy