Bearded dragon not basking , pooping or eating

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Cheerio

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Help! So my bearded dragon since I took him to the vet (a week ago) hasn't ate, pooped, or really basked. He has been in the cool side. I have tried to hand feed, gave warm baths, a banana that I put a bit of olive oil that he licked up. And I have a 125wt heat lamp and a t5 across his tank. Temps are 105-110 and cool side about 75-85. At night his tank is in the low 70's. He always get collard greens, mustard and turnip greens with blueberries and superworms and crickets sprinkled with d3 calcium. The changes lately have been a new wattage bulb (the 125 I had a 75 before, vet said higher watts hence the 125) and the d3 calcium got replaced with the repashy calcium plus. So why isn't he eating, pooping or basking?
Is he planning on going in brummation? He has lights on for 12-14hrs everyday. And I try to take him out for exercise and explore but he always goes in a corner and sleeps. Is he sick? Vet said he was all good and healthy just last week before this started. And I made changes. And i waited a week because i thought he needed adjusting to his new changes. Should I wait longer? Am I just being paranoid. Just a worried mom here.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Did they test for parasites? Usually that has effect on eating ---- but not the basking --- maybe wattage is too high of bulb --- what are you taking temps w/? If its just a digital probe that is ok or a dial is not!
Infrared heat gun is best gives more accurate temp-- going from a 75 to 125 is quite a jump--- they can brumate anytime but that does seem odd -- unless you live where its going into winter--
Karrie
 

Cheerio

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Original Poster
KarrieRee":3roe0dg7 said:
Did they test for parasites? Usually that has effect on eating ---- but not the basking --- maybe wattage is too high of bulb --- what are you taking temps w/? If its just a digital probe that is ok or a dial is not!
Infrared heat gun is best gives more accurate temp-- going from a 75 to 125 is quite a jump--- they can brumate anytime but that does seem odd -- unless you live where its going into winter--
Karrie

When I took him to the vet he told me no need to test his poop because he was healthy. But that was when he was pooping, basking and eating. After the check up like a couple days after he started acting weird. I have a heat temperature control. And shuts off once it reaches temp then comes back on. The light is in a dimmer lamp and the bulb is dimmable. I have been playing around with the dim switch to see if he will come to bask at a lower wattage output. I thought maybe it might be to hot since it is quite a jump. But nada.
And for brumation I am worried because I live in California so it's kinda nice weather all the time. Hence his tank is in the low 70's at night. The days sometimes go cold because its been raining lately but I put a ceramic 50 watt at night on those nights.
To check for my temps I have the little temp gauges from petsmart/Petco on the hot side and the temp control thing. and I have a digital temp gauge on the cool side. And I recently ordered a digital infrared temp gun coming in from Amazon soon. And I don't know what else to add, replace, take away or do.
Oh! And he has been scratching at the ground/ tiles in his tank or when he is out he goes into this open cabinet I have and scratches the bottom of it. So I bought him something like a sandbox and filled it with calci sand for when he is out to dig but he doesn't knowledge it. And I verified that he is in fact a boy. But I don't know if this extra bit of info is helpful. This has all happened recently in last couple of weeks (the scratching).
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
That was my next question about sex!!! :) Ok so no female ruling out eggs!! What exactly did they do at the vets --- a fecal should have been done just to rule it out no parasites--- I would have one done just to rule that out-- just because they say they are healthy doesnt mean he doesnt have them --- I hate to say this but crickets tend to give parasites and pin worms---- I would have that done! Some one else on the forum is gonna haft to weigh in on this one --- he has me stumped! I re read first post -- not eating is gonna hence no basking!! Back to the parasite issue-- not eating!! Take a fecal into your vet and have them do a parasite test / pin worm test--- make sure you get a copy of your visit for both visits so you know what has been done--- Tracie (Drache613) can help you w/ this as well - she is the vet moderator on here! But from what your describing is sounding like a parasite issue---- and please ask Tracie about meds if that is the case -- some are pretty harsh on their systems---
Karrie
 

Cheerio

Member
Original Poster
KarrieRee":e4mej1cj said:
That was my next question about sex!!! :) Ok so no female ruling out eggs!! What exactly did they do at the vets --- a fecal should have been done just to rule it out no parasites--- I would have one done just to rule that out-- just because they say they are healthy doesnt mean he doesnt have them --- I hate to say this but crickets tend to give parasites and pin worms---- I would have that done! Some one else on the forum is gonna haft to weigh in on this one --- he has me stumped! I re read first post -- not eating is gonna hence no basking!! Back to the parasite issue-- not eating!! Take a fecal into your vet and have them do a parasite test / pin worm test--- make sure you get a copy of your visit for both visits so you know what has been done--- Tracie (Drache613) can help you w/ this as well - she is the vet moderator on here! But from what your describing is sounding like a parasite issue---- and please ask Tracie about meds if that is the case -- some are pretty harsh on their systems---
Karrie

At the vet he asked me about the set up, so he told me about the lights and also because his femoral pores as a Male were small and for a Male they needed to be bigger. He told me to get him dubias, and silk worms but silk worms here aren't sold in stores so I need to order to get them shipped I have started a dubia colony for the future (since it takes a yr to really get the colony at a good point to take away from to feed apparently) and so for the mean time I have been giving him crickets and superworms. But I think I will take your advice and bring in a fecal sample. When he finally poops to see what's going on.
And during the exam all he did was kinda look at his eyes, felt around his tummy, checked his fat pads, and asked a lot of questions on his caring. And that was it. I was expecting to get asked for a fecal matter and some blood work to really see if he was healthy since it was his first pet visit ever. To really say he was 100 percent. But this is my first beardie ever so I didn't know what I was really expecting.
And when I asked him if he needed anything else from cheerio he told me know because he was in perfect health and they only asked for fecal samples if he had problems or had any inclination he did. But he didn't see any signs of problems. But it was weird that after the vet he went downhill in this weird state. But thank you for your help! :)
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
The stress from the vet visit could of possibly brought on the behavior but after a few days it should of gotten better--- not continued on ---- so w/ that being said the parasites could of flared up causing the not eating basking etc.................its good the vet asked about the care it gives him more insight on everything- but he should of asked for a fecal and blood work could of been done too but that is usually done when more serious things are going on and at the time everything was fine- a fecal will rule that in or out and if its out then blood work would probably need to be done- I just went thru all this w/ mine for months -- he has started eating again after months of not losing weight but sustaining it and OMG -- I had a $500 bill before it was all done and found nothing out--- he was / is parasite clean xrays were done bloodwork 2 times etc etc................ mine is finally eating again like he should -- was always acting like he should basking active etc just not eating or pooping like he should --- it was so frustrating ---- as they get older they tend not to poop as much as when younger dont know why that is but whatever --- but when they arent eating thats when you need to be concerned and watch their weight---
Karrie
 

Cheerio

Member
Original Poster
KarrieRee":1lt9hzba said:
The stress from the vet visit could of possibly brought on the behavior but after a few days it should of gotten better--- not continued on ---- so w/ that being said the parasites could of flared up causing the not eating basking etc.................its good the vet asked about the care it gives him more insight on everything- but he should of asked for a fecal and blood work could of been done too but that is usually done when more serious things are going on and at the time everything was fine- a fecal will rule that in or out and if its out then blood work would probably need to be done- I just went thru all this w/ mine for months -- he has started eating again after months of not losing weight but sustaining it and OMG -- I had a $500 bill before it was all done and found nothing out--- he was / is parasite clean xrays were done bloodwork 2 times etc etc................ mine is finally eating again like he should -- was always acting like he should basking active etc just not eating or pooping like he should --- it was so frustrating ---- as they get older they tend not to poop as much as when younger dont know why that is but whatever --- but when they arent eating thats when you need to be concerned and watch their weight---
Karrie

Wow 500! That's a lot for not finding anything. That's what I am afraid of. But I will start weighing him. Starting today to see if he is loosing weight and keep trying to get him to poop. Then get in the sample to the vet. I don't know exactly his age as I got him when he looked like a juvenile. So I am guessing close to a yr? Or a yr tops.
Thank you for the insight:)
 

Cheerio

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KarrieRee":2fwd2i1o said:
Keep us posted please ! :)
Karrie

Fecal sample came positive for worms. I got him his first treatment yesterday and come back for round 2 in 2 weeks. I am also Syringe feeding him baby food. But the vet says he will be ok! :D
 
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Things to do:
Buy calcium powder
Material to raise surface for basking spot
Scenery decals for back of tank

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