Took him back to Petco, hope he'll be ok

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We've had our bearded dragon 11 days. He only eats two or so crickets a day but is barely interested. He won't eat collard greens either. I ordered Phoenix worms and they should be here in five days. His basking lamp is 100w and we have a tube UVB that we are going to place inside tonight now that we have the Velcro. I'm giving him baths because he's not drinking and is shedding. He'll drink in the bath. He poos after baths and I want to make sure it looks ok. Yesterday, I gave him baby food squash since he hasn't eaten much. Maybe that's why there's orange in there? What do you think? *edited title to reflect new developments*

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MsCarter

Juvie Member
From what I can see (my phones screen is small) that looks like a healthy poo and the urate is just fine. Yes the baby food squash will give it an orange tint. After 11 days he's probably still having some relocation stress but should be eating more than 2 crickets a day by now. What are his actual temps in his enclosure?
I would continue offering the crickets until he willingly eats them on his own. Until than giving the baby food is a good idea. You may want to mix in some chicken baby food as well to provide him with the needed protein. You can also mix some calcium powder and a pinch of vitamins into it and use a 1:1 pedalyte/water ratio as a base and syringe feed this mixture to him. Hopefully a few days of this and another poop or two will be enough to stimulate his appetite. After a few days if he still isn't eating on his own please let us know. It's fine for a new dragon to eat very little at first but 11 days is quite a while for a baby to go on only 2 crickets a day
 

DrogonsDen

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Here's his newest setup.
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Wondering if I should have mounted the reptisun 10 UVB so that the light was facing me?
Temps and humidity levels are below
We just took the water out to lessen humidity
Cool side-
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The temp gun is showing ranges of 99-110 on basking spot depending on where I point (screen off). 89-90s on bottom, hot side. 71-79 on cool side. Moved under tank heater to spot under tree log hiding spot so we could move the basking spot to the very right side.

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He's shedding on his tail still. He ate two insects this morning and a piece of collard greens (dusted). I gave him a 101 degree bath tonight for 15 minutes with Reptisafe. I also tried to feed him crickets and waxworms with no luck. I mixed baby squash, baby food chicken, and reptivite with some water in a syringe. He barely ate any. I dropped some water on his mouth with a little luck. I have his lighting on a timed from 7am-10pm. What else can I do? he lets me handle him but when I was setting up the UVB light and his basking spot was right by it, he tried to crawl INTO the light... I moved everything but it was so strange. He just seems unhappy and unhealthy :(
 

DrogonsDen

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So sorry I keep posting so much information, but want to note the change I just made...
Just moved UVB so light is seen straight on
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MsCarter

Juvie Member
Your set up honestly sounds and looks perfect. I can not find one thing wrong. Someone else should chime in soon and over look everything just to be sure I'm not missing something. Your temps are great and I honestly wouldn't use the under tank heating pad bc your temps are perfect and these aren't really recommended for them since they cannot tell if they are overheating from underneath. Other than that your doing a really good job.

At this point you may want to go ahead and make a vet appointment and have a fecal preformed. I'm sorry your having such a difficult time, but this is honestly not your fault. You have a really nice environment provided for him, some things are just out of our hands ?. In the mean time I would begin giving slurries by force feeding. This will put some much needed nutrition into him until he's eating on his own. You will need to gently pinch the middle of his beard which will force the corner of his mouth to open. You can insert the syringe this way and give him small amounts at a time. The baby food/pedalyte mixture along with a pinch of vitamins and calcium will be perfect to mix together to make a slurry.
Once again I'm very sorry your little one is going through this. The slurries will provide nutrition until you can figure out what the underlying cause of this is.
 

DrogonsDen

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Thanks for your response MsCarter. Poor guy isn't doing well at all. He kept jumping onto the UVB light and clung to it so we had to put it back on top of the screen. I gave him a bath this morning and put some water droplets on his nose. He wouldn't eat greens, crickets or waxworms. We're going out of town this weekend and I hate that he's having such a hard time when we have to leave :(. My sister is going to check in on him till we get back Sunday at noon. I'm worried he won't make it the weekend. Thanks for all of your help! I'll post back on Sunday and let you know how it's going.
 

MsCarter

Juvie Member
Yes please keep us updated. Hopefully he will come around soon and start eating more on his own. And the UVB light being on top of the screen will be just fine.
Im wishing you and him the very best
 

Gormagon

Extreme Poster
Your setup seems to be fine. How many hours a day are the lights on (basking and uvb) and are you running any type of light at night (lights at night are bad for them)?
 

DrogonsDen

Member
Original Poster
We have the lights on a timer, they're on from 7am to 10 pm so 15 hours. We don't have a night lamp. Is 15 hours okay or too long?
 

DrogonsDen

Member
Original Poster
Well, he hasn't surpassed two crickets a day and is uninterested in food. He's alert for the most part, but because of his lack of interest in eating, we called the vet. They suggested we take him to Petco and have Petco bring him in so they pay for everything. We took Drogon to Petco tonight and they said it may be a week before we get him back. I just hope Petco does right by our beardie and creates the correct habitat/administers whatever meds are needed!!!! Hoping we get him back (alive) healthy soon!
 

MsCarter

Juvie Member
I think that was the best call. Vet bills add up quickly and tbh this is something they should be responsible for. A person in your shoes doing everything right shouldn't have to struggle/worry the way you have.
If it makes you feel better the petco closest to me has a vet that has an actual contract with them. Animals are actually brought to his office and provided with professional care just as they would be if you or I took them into a vets office.
It may be something as simple as parasites that can be cured with a little medication. I really hope it's something minor and simple and that you get your little one back and healthy asap.
 

DrogonsDen

Member
Original Poster
The Petco manager took Drogon to the vet and sure enough, it was lots of nasty parasites. Thanks again MsCarter for all your help and advice during this. We should be getting our beardie back before Monday :)!!!
 

MsCarter

Juvie Member
That is excellent news! It is not problem at all, that's what we are all here for.
I figured the poor little guy probably had a serious parasite infection going on. Good news is this is usually an easy fix and super common. Let us know how he takes to the medication. Sometimes they become a little sick while on treatment which is usually nothing a good nutritious slurry can't help.
Wishing him a fast recovery
 

DrogonsDen

Member
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It took a while for us to get him back. Petco has a policy that they have to administer all the meds and then take the pet back to the vet for a final check. We just got Drogon back last weekend. He's eating well. I can see little hip bones so hopefully that will go away once he continues to eat more crickets, pheonix worms and some collards.
 
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