How to hydrate and replenish electrolytes quickly?

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Akeath

Gray-bearded Member
Hope has been having some muscle twitches since he woke up form brumation about a month ago. Small ones all over his body. They have been getting much better as time has gone on, but he still has them occasionally. I took him to the vet for a full blood panel and exam, and his calcium levels are excellent, as are all the other levels except electrolytes. The vet says she thinks he is just dehydrated, and to give him soaks. His urates have been a bit small and off color. He hasn't had a fecal, I automatically clean them up so I didn't have one yet, but he'll get one next time he goes to the bathroom, although the vet said she doubted it was parasites. Has anyone heard of muscle twitches from dehydration before? I think its really weird. I don't trust him to drink standing water either, I specifically water him from a coffee cup, letting him drink as much as he will take. However, he's only been drinking in small amounts. He won't even drink 2 days in a row, so I've been watering him with the saucer every other day and putting water on his salad the other day - but he's been turning his nose up at his salad lately. Why is he not drinking more if he's dehydrated? Now I'm giving him daily baths, where he won't drink much either. I was thinking of giving him some Pedialyte to replenish electrolytes and hopefully he'll like the flavor better? Should I mix it in water or just give it to him pure? What else can I do to help him become more hydrated? How do I get him to drink more?
I didn't wake him up for baths when he was brumating, and only watered him every month or so when he stirred for a few minutes. Is that why he got so dehydrated?

Here's the health questionnaire:
How old is your dragon? He'll be 6 in less than a month
How long have you had your dragon? His entire life, I hatched him from an egg
How long is your dragon? 18 1/2 inches
What is the sex of your dragon? male
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in? 3 feet long, 3 feet wide, 17 inches high
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank? non-adhesive shelf liner
Do you use UVB lights? yes
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb? fluorescent
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)? Reptisun 10.0
How old is your UVB bulb? 1 month, I replace them every 5-6 months
How close can your dragon get to the UVB? 6 inches
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? Is it a white or colored bulb? yes, household bulb 100 watt with dimmer
What are the basking temps? 102 degrees
What is the cool side temp? 70-85 degrees
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun? digital thermometer with a wire probe
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps? on the actual basking log, highest point
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad? no
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific. 2 dozen crickets twice a week. He also has a salad: Collard Green, Mustard Greens, Turnip Greens, Cucumber, Celery, Asparagus, Arugula, Grapes, and Apple are the typical ingredients
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)? every day, time varies but rarely after afternoon
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc? No
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them? Yes. Repcal and Herptivite, he eats them twice a week
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)? Yes
Do you bath your dragon? How often? Not usually. Am right now
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath? Yes, he gets water from his cup every other day, and water on his salad the other days
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done? yes
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon? no
 

Gail

BD.org Addict
You can use Pedialyte, water it down half and half, you can use a syringe to give it to him if he won't drink on his own. You can also offer romain lettuce for a few days, it will help hydrate him. Another thing I would do is stop feeding asparagus, its a diuretic and could be causing some of the problems. I'd also up the calcium supplement to 4 times a week, see if that might help with the twitching.
 

Akeath

Gray-bearded Member
Original Poster
Will do.
This is just occurred to me: I leave Hope in his enclosure when he brumates. His lights go on and off like usual, in case he wakes up and feels like basking, and also because he gets annoyed when they are off. Usually the house gets really cold at night in winter, like in the 50's, so I had 2 Ceramic Heat Emitters on the hot side during the night time, when the other lights were off. But this year my sister was installing heat units everywhere, and so Dad went ahead and adjusted the temperature in the house to the mid 60's at night, a while after Hope had fallen asleep. But I totally forgot to adjust the heat emitters in his cage, and continued using them...did I fry him while he was brumating? Would that have gotten him so dehydrated? For quite a while he slept right under those heat emitters... and not giving him baths unless he woke up by himself :banghead: That would have done it, right?
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
If he is dehydrated, it would have been probably somewhat leaning that way before brumation, and then the heat pumped up his metabolism [ as you suspected] and most likely caused the condition. They need to be kept cool during brumation, mine go from 58-65 degrees, and NONE, not one , has ever been woke up to drink, even with 3-4 month brumations that I've done for at least 14 years. If they awoke on their own [ very rarely, and usually the younger ones who would go in and out for 2 months or so] ,I would offer a drink by lightly spraying the top of their head. A bath for a sleepy dragon could cause them to aspirate water if your'e not really careful.
 
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