RarestDragon
Hatchling Member
Hi, I'm at my wit's end trying to figure out why my dragon won't eat.
She'll be a year old on May 3rd, she's about 18-19 inches long and last time she was weighed she was 450g. Basking spot 95-100 degrees, hot side about 85, cool side usually between 75-78. UVB is reptisun 10.0 and has about another two or three month lifespan in terms of UVB, though I plan on changing it next month. No loose substrate, just vinyl tile with a half log and a rock ornament. Her tank is a 55 gallon 36" x 18" x 18". I know that might seem small for some people but I don't have any other place to put a bigger terrarium and I let my dragon out all the time so I doubt she feels confined.
She went into brumation around late December and started to come out of it in late February. Her brumation was a bit light but she'd sleep for two or three days straight, then move a bit, then go back to sleep. I would give her a bath once a week during this time, preferably on a day she was awake. I kept her lights off during most of this time since she was hiding nearly all day and I didn't want to waste the UVB.
When she came out of brumation she was alert but a tad sluggish at first, as to be expected. She pooped a little too, very small ones since she didn't have much in her stomach to begin with. I decided to take her to the vet since I didn't have the chance before her brumation due to needing expensive dental work done to my teeth. The vet did a fecal test with what I had and couldn't find any parasites. He weighed her, she came out at 450g which was good for a dragon her size. He couldn't find anything wrong with her so he gave me the all clear.
A few weeks after that, Lyrica had suddenly become super, super active. Running around her cage or my room since I let her out often. She'll try to climb up the side of her cage(even when her door is wide open for her to come out) and she'll do this for an hour or more, then she'll sit and bask/nap for half an hour to an hour, then she's back to running like crazy. When I let her out, half of the time she'll crawl behind my computer monitor, then she'll run back out and voluntarily climb back into her tank and start doing laps again. Other times she'll walk all over my desk and bed, which I watch her closely if she does. She has jumped off my desk or bed onto the carpet but there isn't much distance for her to fall and she doesn't look or act like she's hurt at all. Then at around 6:00 PM she'll laze about on her log until bed time, I assume having tuckered herself out. By "laze about" I mean she'll lay on her log with her head up, lazily watching me or taking tiny naps. Sometimes she still does a lap or two around her tank before bedtime though.
It's been nearly a month since she's started this but she will not eat at all. I offer her food every day but she hasn't touched any of it. I'll offer greens and fruit in the morning in a bowl and I've tried to both hand feed her bugs and let the bugs run on the floor. She shows no interest at all. She'll lick them sometimes and almost looks like she'll eat it but she'll turn her head away a few seconds later.
I have no scale to weigh her so I don't know for sure if she's lost much weight. Though I think she has lost a little. But she still has a big belly on her, her fat pads aren't sunken in at all and I can see some fat still behind her armpits. She hasn't lost any muscles in her legs, if anything they seem bigger. She does poop every now and then but it's very small and is mostly urate since she has little to no food in her stomach. Besides being small, her poops look normal.
I don't feel any eggs in her belly and she hasn't been digging or anything. She's been drinking just fine, more so than usual so she's not dehydrated at all. I still give her weekly baths, which she'll sometimes drink out of. She hasn't black bearded, though I've never seen her black beard at all.
Here are some pics of her.
This is what she does often. I know her skin looks wrinkly here but she's a leatherback, her skin always looks like that, especially when she's standing up like that. This picture was taken March 28th
This picture was taken February 13th, about two weeks later. No huge changes in weight but still no appetite.
Does anybody know what's happening? I don't want to force feed her anything but I have been considering it.
She'll be a year old on May 3rd, she's about 18-19 inches long and last time she was weighed she was 450g. Basking spot 95-100 degrees, hot side about 85, cool side usually between 75-78. UVB is reptisun 10.0 and has about another two or three month lifespan in terms of UVB, though I plan on changing it next month. No loose substrate, just vinyl tile with a half log and a rock ornament. Her tank is a 55 gallon 36" x 18" x 18". I know that might seem small for some people but I don't have any other place to put a bigger terrarium and I let my dragon out all the time so I doubt she feels confined.
She went into brumation around late December and started to come out of it in late February. Her brumation was a bit light but she'd sleep for two or three days straight, then move a bit, then go back to sleep. I would give her a bath once a week during this time, preferably on a day she was awake. I kept her lights off during most of this time since she was hiding nearly all day and I didn't want to waste the UVB.
When she came out of brumation she was alert but a tad sluggish at first, as to be expected. She pooped a little too, very small ones since she didn't have much in her stomach to begin with. I decided to take her to the vet since I didn't have the chance before her brumation due to needing expensive dental work done to my teeth. The vet did a fecal test with what I had and couldn't find any parasites. He weighed her, she came out at 450g which was good for a dragon her size. He couldn't find anything wrong with her so he gave me the all clear.
A few weeks after that, Lyrica had suddenly become super, super active. Running around her cage or my room since I let her out often. She'll try to climb up the side of her cage(even when her door is wide open for her to come out) and she'll do this for an hour or more, then she'll sit and bask/nap for half an hour to an hour, then she's back to running like crazy. When I let her out, half of the time she'll crawl behind my computer monitor, then she'll run back out and voluntarily climb back into her tank and start doing laps again. Other times she'll walk all over my desk and bed, which I watch her closely if she does. She has jumped off my desk or bed onto the carpet but there isn't much distance for her to fall and she doesn't look or act like she's hurt at all. Then at around 6:00 PM she'll laze about on her log until bed time, I assume having tuckered herself out. By "laze about" I mean she'll lay on her log with her head up, lazily watching me or taking tiny naps. Sometimes she still does a lap or two around her tank before bedtime though.
It's been nearly a month since she's started this but she will not eat at all. I offer her food every day but she hasn't touched any of it. I'll offer greens and fruit in the morning in a bowl and I've tried to both hand feed her bugs and let the bugs run on the floor. She shows no interest at all. She'll lick them sometimes and almost looks like she'll eat it but she'll turn her head away a few seconds later.
I have no scale to weigh her so I don't know for sure if she's lost much weight. Though I think she has lost a little. But she still has a big belly on her, her fat pads aren't sunken in at all and I can see some fat still behind her armpits. She hasn't lost any muscles in her legs, if anything they seem bigger. She does poop every now and then but it's very small and is mostly urate since she has little to no food in her stomach. Besides being small, her poops look normal.
I don't feel any eggs in her belly and she hasn't been digging or anything. She's been drinking just fine, more so than usual so she's not dehydrated at all. I still give her weekly baths, which she'll sometimes drink out of. She hasn't black bearded, though I've never seen her black beard at all.
Here are some pics of her.
This is what she does often. I know her skin looks wrinkly here but she's a leatherback, her skin always looks like that, especially when she's standing up like that. This picture was taken March 28th
This picture was taken February 13th, about two weeks later. No huge changes in weight but still no appetite.
Does anybody know what's happening? I don't want to force feed her anything but I have been considering it.