solerilina
Member
Hi everybody, sorry this is going to be a long post but, I feel the more details you have the better the answers I get will be. I have a baby bearded dragon that I got about a month ago. I would guess he was 3 weeks old when I got him making him almost 2 months old. Recently (the last week or so) he hasn't been eating much (if at all). I am starting to get very worried about him but the nearest herp vet to me is on vacation for two weeks and the next closest is over 4 hours away on the other side of the state. He is also acting very oddly; he doesn't seem to be as alert as he was a week or two ago and doesn't seem to be growing like he did in the first two weeks. He is acting very tired and limp at times (which may be due to his lack of food) he will sit on his basking stick and lean his head, front legs, and belly against the corner of his viv. He hasn't pooped today (although he has pooped once daily other than today) Which again could be related to him not eating and therefor having nothing in his tummy. I have been bathing him 2-3 times a week and misting him every other day. I have increased to bathing everyday for about 5-10 minutes to try and prevent dehydration. Sometimes he seems to be completely out of it and even petting him or poking him (gently of course) won't make him open his eyes. I fed him a bit of Gerber's Chicken and Veggie baby food last night and he liked about 5 licks off my finger. Right now he is in a 10gal tank (getting a 40 gallon next payday(4/20)) with reptile carpet a 75watt Basking bulb...Zoo-med brand. A 5.0 Repti-glo compact uvb bulb (yes I have heard compacts are bad and am planning on getting a 10.0 repti-sun tube on payday as well) with some fresh collard greens always available. He has a log-like-thing propped up under the basking bulb as well as a sand blasted piece of Zoo-Med Mopani Wood under the basking bulb. He is fed 1/8 inch crickets (i feed them the little green squares dont know if that makes them gut-loaded or not), phoenix worms which he hate for about 3 days then refused to eat, and recently I bought him 10 wax worms which he ate 8 out of the 10. All but the wax worms were dusted in Flukers Calcium +D3 6 days a week and with Reptivite multi-vitamin 1 day a week. (This is all when he WAS eating of course.) Since yesterday when I noticed the limpness and a bigger personality change I removed the UVB bulb completely and instead opted for taking him out into natural sunlight for a couple of hours. The underneath of his neck (his beard) seems to have gotten darker lately and the bottom half of his tail seems to be darker than the rest. He did have an oak branch in there until yesterday when I noticed black sugar ants living in it (don't know if this could be a cause but, I do know the branch never cam in contact with pesticides). Today I picked up some Fluker's Repti+Boost critical care supplement and gave him 3/4cc's as per instructions which he did lick up from the syringe. Also, it may be important to note that about 3-4 days ago he shed his tail but, no other parts of his body. I know their appetites can drop while shedding but, I don't think it is normal for them to quit eating entirely is it? If this is all related to him shedding and I am just over reacting I will feel like such an ***** but, this is my first beardie and I am super worried about him. I do plan on getting him to a vet (I am a responsible pet owner, so lets avoid the "take him to a vet NOW comments; if taking him there NOW was an option I would be there already,) when my herp vet comes back from vacation. I simply cannot drive across the state to do so due to my work schedule...and if I am not going to work I can't very well afford the vet bill can I? LOL. If anyone can suggest what this might be that would be fantastic. I'm worried it may be a URI... which would be bad since no vet is available. So thank you in advance to all the people who answer with any advice... Also, more details about his viv are below.
The temps on the warm side are around 90-95 with basking temp between 100-102. The cool side is around 73-76. His viv drops to about 65 at night on the cool side and 68-70 on the side where the basking light was all day. I use stick on thermometers atm since my rep store was out of digi's at the time. Am getting two asap.
I really just want my little Koopa to be okay, he is such a joy and has grown on me very much. I can't wait for him to grow big and pretty... so if anyone has any advice or this has happened to them I would really be greatful to you all.
The temps on the warm side are around 90-95 with basking temp between 100-102. The cool side is around 73-76. His viv drops to about 65 at night on the cool side and 68-70 on the side where the basking light was all day. I use stick on thermometers atm since my rep store was out of digi's at the time. Am getting two asap.
I really just want my little Koopa to be okay, he is such a joy and has grown on me very much. I can't wait for him to grow big and pretty... so if anyone has any advice or this has happened to them I would really be greatful to you all.