9 month old bearded dragon stopped eating! Please help!

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Hi my 9 month old male beardie Chester stopped eating about a week ago, maybe a week and a half. He normally eats between 20-30 small supers a day with a little greens and veggies. Well I went to put his bowl of worms in about a week ago and he looked at them, took a little lick. Ate one or two, turned his nose and walked away! That kinda of worried me because normally he gobbles them right up. I've had him on small supers for a long time, I was always careful and watched but Never had a impaction problem. Always passed a stool every day, sometimes a couple times a day. Well I thought maybe he just wasn't hungry so I tried again the next day. Same thing. He also did the same with his greens. So I went out and bought him crickets because maybe he was tired of the worms. He ate about 3 crickets and stopped. Picked at his greens. So it's been almost two weeks and he has ate hardly anything! He is not lethargic. Basks during the day, hides a little by his rock and becomes very active towards the end of the day. Licking everything in his cage and sometimes dancing on the walls. This is all normal behavior.

His poop is also what is worrying me. Ever since he stopped eating, all he poops is white urate. That's it. When he poops it, it is a little wet. No actual poop. Sometimes there will be a tiny tiny tiny bit of light brown poop in it but thats it. He has lost a little weight but still has his belly and is not skinny at all.

He is in a 40 gal tank. He has a reptisun 10.0 mounted in the tank only about 6 inches away from him. With a 100 watt floodlight for his basking light and a 13w coil light on the cool side for light. He has two branches on his basking side with a rock (not a heat rock) and his food dish, and fake plants are on the cool side. His temps are 95-102 on his basking area. 85 on his cool side. Humitity is 23% on basking side and 38% on cool side. I do not put any heat or light on at night (not needed). He is on reptile carpet. I give him baths 3-4 times a week, but now that he is not eating I give him one every day. Sometimes two times a day. I dust his veggies and greens with calcium dust with D3 and phorophus free everyday.

Last time I took him to the vet, she said he was in perfect condition. I don't really trust her though and never plan on going back to her because her information was very incorrect. (she told me young beardies only should eat romaine lettuce and should not eat crickets at all and only wax worms). She also gave him antibiotics for no reason. And sadly she is the ONLY vet around. There are two herp vets around me, one 15 mins from me and one 30 minutes from me. And they are both her offices! The other herp vet is over 4 hours away! If he gets worse I understand I will probably be forced to take him, but does anyone have any idea what I can do besides taking him to the vet? Any had this happen so suddenly before? Pleas help I am so worried about him. :(
 

Irwinshealth

Sub-Adult Member
The urate only part is what concerns me. Could he be impacted? This would explain why he has lost his appetite. Have you given warms baths lately? The fact that the behavior hasn't changed seem good. I just wouldn't wait too long because it has already been the two weeks. They just don't turn live food down unless something is starting to brew. Hopefully a couple of warmer than usual baths will help things out. :wink:
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Hi there....can you post a pic ? Is he nearing adult size [ some beardies grow REALLY fast then lose their huge appetite for a bit as they near adult size ] One thing you can try to help him to have a b.m. is give some veg. oil, applesauce or canned pumpkin. Then continue warmish baths, possibly a little deeper than normal so he has to almost swim. [ supervised of course ] This may help to stimulate a b.m.
 

Beardiebri

Member
Original Poster
Okay well I am currently giving him his second bath today now. I made this one a lot warmer and deeper than usual. He is swimming, and stopping, swimming, stopping. He's been in for about 20 minutes now. I gave him like a teaspoon of olive oil and a teaspoon of water orally. I felt his tummy and there are two hard lumps. One on the right that is very hard and circle shaped. On the left side there is a softer one but still kind of hard, and longer more like an long oval. I'm not sure what side to feel for impaction and where I should rub. I'm not sure if these are organs or what so I dont want to press to hard on them. Any ideas?
 

Irwinshealth

Sub-Adult Member
that is very hard and circle shaped
Nothing on the belly should be real hard on their belly. This makes me think there is an impaction. I would continue with the warms baths and veg oil, applesauce, or pumpkin that was recommended. Another thing I have used for impaction was mineral oil. If you don't get a good healthy poo soon........off to the vet. If you don't have a good vet yet you may want to begin your research now so your ready in case. Please keep us posted
 

Beardiebri

Member
Original Poster
And as far as him reaching adult size, I really hope not because he is still fairly small. He is roughly 14 inches. He is such a pain because he LOVES making me worry about him. I got him when he was about a month old and he never had a big appetite like normal baby dragons do and I was always freaking out because he would only eat 10-15 crickets in one feeding, and he never ate greens til about 5-6 months. I really think he may have stunted growth, because he is so small. I've seen dragons his age much larger than him. And I have done everything in my power to make conditions ideal for him, but again he was never a big eater so maybe that is why he is small. Well anyways sorry for the off topic rant :shock:
 

Beardiebri

Member
Original Poster
Well whatever the lump is on his right side, it is a nice a round, maybe the size of a dime? and I can move it by rubbing it. I have noticed within the last 30 minutes though that it is moving lower towards the vent. Hopefully we got something.
 

mikewithsfi

Hatchling Member
This sounds like an impaction, especially now it is moving. Like others said continue the warm baths and oil treatments. My beardie was impacted once, lasted for a week, after baths and oil treatment she finally pooped. A big mess if you could imagine. I understand the worry they become part of the family. I do hope he finally gets it out of his system. Good luck.. Watch his weight if he will not eat because of this and starts losing weight, it may be time to take him to a Vet. I understand you dont like your local vets but sometimes we have to bite our tongue...
 

Beardiebri

Member
Original Poster
mikewithsfi":2podl5lw said:
This sounds like an impaction, especially now it is moving. Like others said continue the warm baths and oil treatments. My beardie was impacted once, lasted for a week, after baths and oil treatment she finally pooped.

Well I just started doing the oil treatment yesterday. I guess I'll continue warm baths and oil for a couple days and if nothing, yeah I'll have to take him to the vet. I just hate this vet! I'm not even sure if she knows what an impaction is! I mentioned to her one time all his food is smaller than the space between his eyes so impaction risk is low and she laughed and said "Oh wow that's so smart! I never heard of that before!". And not to mention she charged me $250 for a simple check up, wrong information, and antibitoics that I didn't even want him to have! It's very annoying. The other option is a four hour drive. But that would be over 8 hours of Chester not having proper heat or lighting.
 

BeardieMommy3991

Sub-Adult Member
That does sound like impaction :( Its a good sign that it is moving, hopefully he passes it soon.

Another thing that might help is some natural sunlight. Since it is so good for them, I imagine it might help him kick start his digestion. Perhaps a warm bath in a kiddie pool in the sun?
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

How are things this morning? Be sure not to feed any insects right now, until he passes a normal stool or two. Softer foods such as baby food for a few days with canned pumpkin & sugar free applesauce will work great.
Some dragons just are a little smaller than others, it really depends a lot on genetics.

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie
 

Beardiebri

Member
Original Poster
I gave him a bath this morning. He started to poop but again only urate with a little yellow maybe poop with it? I think it's yellow from the olive oil. I felt the lump and it's still there so I gave him a little oil and then put him under his light. Still no poop
 

DLohrman

Member
I just went through this with mine for 5 weeks and I've been a basketcase! Mine stopped eating, and even stopped moving as his back legs were becoming what I think, paralyzed. With the advice on this site and beautiful dragons.org, I kind did my own vet work.

I tried the mineral oil but to no avail. I only got urate and no "real" poop when I gave mine a warm bath. I had been feeding him baby food (green beans, peas & squash) by spoon which he eagerly ate because he was so weak. I finally tried a small amount of prune juice dripped on his nose and that seemed to work better than anything to get a poop. I did feel a hard lump on his belly that I felt for sure was the problem. I just lightly rubbed his belly from the chest down to the vent, then would put him in the bath. Finally 2 days after the prune juice and baby food, I got poop. It was hard, just like what I had felt, and I'm sure he's feeling a lot better now that he's passed that.

As for now, Im seeing his behavior come back to normal. He's walking normally and is eating his veggies on his own again, with a little help from me taking him to his salad bowl. Im finding very small poops from him in his cage which makes me feel a little better. Im waiting till he can significantly eat & pass the greens before I start on crickets again. I still put him outside as I think the natural sunlight is really the miracle cure. Whats weird though is that I feel mine looks like he's grown a bit despite all he's been through in the last month.

Just hang in there and see if you can get some results on your own.
 

Beardiebri

Member
Original Poster
Good news guys! He finally went poop this afternoon. I gave him his applesauce with oil and a warm bath this morning, i noticed jn the bath he drank a ton of water and he never does that. Well then i Put him under his light and went to work. When I came back a nice big poop was waiting for me. It was kinda wet, probably from the oil and water and had a little red spot on the end (blood)? I'm not sure but man am I relieved!! And I'm just wondering when should I start offering his greens and insects again?? Thanks a bunch you guys!
 

BeardieMommy3991

Sub-Adult Member
That is so great! :D Is the lump gone? If he wants to eat right away, I say let him. Now that the impaction's gone, he should be just fine!

Yay Puff!
 
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