Bubs is acting odd?

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Peeps

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Hello all,

First, here is my information on husbandry and diet, also included will be photos with explanation on what I have noticed about Bubs and her behavior. Any professional help or advice providing some possible explanation for these odd behaviors would be greatly appreciated.

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Husbandry: 40G breeder. 150w basking bulb, digital thermometer probe sitting where she basks. Temps: 96-106F, substrate: felt with paper towels on top (just replaced, kept clean), plastic tree for basking and driftwood, hammock under the UVB. UVB: 24in Reptisun 10.0 secured inside tank (replaced less than a month ago). Lights are most often kept on 12 hours a day at relatively the same time, though I probably could do a bit better with that occasionally.

These are a few pictures of her with different angles to show her coloring along with her overall appearance.
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Diet: slurry of collards, escarole, mustards, papaya, yellow squash & butternut squash with water and Reptivite calcium w/ D3 and Herptivite multivitamins mixed in. This can make her cough sometimes not sure if it's because of the small piece of collard that might get caught in her throat? She only coughs a couple times and she's good, though she seems to be breathing quite noticeably with her sides afterwards like she is catching her breathe she tries to run away when I feed this as well. Repashy veggie burger mixed with Repashy grub pie (occasionally) with her calcium and vitamins mixed. She seems to cough with this as well in the same manner and I do have to slide it into her mouth and she tries to run away. A couple waxworms as a treat, lately everyday to make sure she is even getting enough to eat. She eats a couple crickets dusted with calcium so far everyday but only a few.

As for her odd behavior, I am concerned she might be gravid or something. Her eating has slowed every since she turned about 1 1/2, I figured she might just be fussy but I'm not sure because she really used to love her greens. She has no problem eating waxworms and any other squirming treat like hornworms, but will not touch anything else. I have tried fasting her from the worms for some time to see if she was addicted to them but no luck. She is a little over 2 years old now, I have tried everything from placing worms in her salad to keep it moving, to adding fruits still no luck. She poops everyday and it looks normal usually, sometimes a tiny bit loose but nothing abnormal. I palpitated her abdomen and all around to feel if there were and lumps and I do not feel anything out of the ordinary and she does not black beard or do anything abnormal when I palpate her. I have tried adjusting the basking light as she seems to have stress marks often in her enclosure. I have lowered it and heightened it and have tried changing the positioning and nothing seems to change. Despite her slowed eating and complete disinterest in food she is very active when she is not resting in her tank, I let her run around the house and she goes nuts. Very alert and glass surfs often to try an get out. She does seem like she may be looking for something like a place to hide but I could be totally wrong. I have noticed slight muscle twitches in her leg and upper tail where the skin seems to tense up. These are infrequent and I just replaced the UVB less than a month ago. Her coloring is also concerning me... She is still bright orange sometimes but her tail seems darker orange in the area where she just shed but the rest of her body just seems duller? She shed a couple weeks ago and the rest of the tail is showing little to no signs of shedding despite the odd coloring. She has not puffed up, black bearded or shown any aggression. Also her body is weird to me, I did get her to lose weight like to said in my previous post about her because she looked a but chunky, however her belly is still saggy but her pelvic area is looking thin but there is some extra skin due to her losing some weight. Her fat fads are still very good on her head as well. She is running normally, no odd movements. I do notice when she tries to catch a crickets before opening her mouth to grab it her chin upper quivers a bit also her chin when she just ate is like huge like a water-balloon but when she's resting its just a flap of loose skin not soft & palpable. her abdomen is soft and palpable but does seem kind of plump for the way the rest of her looks. Is it possible for her to be gravid and me not be able to feel the egg? I'm hoping I can get her in tomorrow and get her looked at and an XRAY w/ possible bloodwork done. The exotic vets here are few and far also very expensive ($250 labwork, $100 exam, $60-100 xray) once I receive those I will post a picture for anyone to see if they find anything.

I just don't know what is going on and I may be freaking out for no reason but she just seems to be acting odd. I am not doing great financially so it's hard to get to a vet without a great deal of stress at the moment, so I was hoping someone could take a look and see what you think. Any further questions just ask and I can post a reply with my answer. Thankyou all in advance for whatever help you offer me.

-Mykenzie
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Ok -- I would say she has outgrown her tank and would look at getting her into a bigger one-- that would be the glass surfing thing --- and I would look at getting the tank off the floor too --- it seems that I have heard that they do slow down at eating when getting older but she does seem young for that so I am not sure what the cause could be -- have you had her fecal done for parasites? -- you have done a wonderful job w/ her -- and she has had great care but her 40g breeder tank is now too small for her-- some others on the forum might have some ideas for you
Karrie
 

Peeps

Member
Original Poster
Here is her radiograph from today, vet said everything looked normal for the exam and on the XRAY
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KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Any suggestions as to why she's not eating? Did they do fecal?
Karrie
 

Claudiusx

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Why are you force feeding her and for how long have you been.

When you feed her by syringe are you aiming it straight back? The cough worries me that you are making her aspirate her food when you're feeding her. You should angle the syringe so that it hits the "cheek" and not straight down the throat.
But really she looks big and healthy, not emaciated which is usually the only time you'd be force feeding.

Everything in your setup sounds fine. The only concern to me is the force feeding.

-Brandon
 

Peeps

Member
Original Poster
She will not eat her greens I have been force feeding for about a half year now if I don’t she will start to lose weight, which I saw happen so I immediately took action. I had bloodwork done about a half year ago and it came back fine, uric acid was a little high but i added more greens/veggies which i also had to force feed. I do not use a syringe i just slide a paste like substance into her mouth when she opens it so I am not squirting it down her throat but she does cough a little maybe because it’s dry I’m not sure? She will only eat worms I have literally tried everything she has lost complete interest in veggies and greens which she used to enjoy, I have tried different greens different veggies, fruit, everything, nothing is working.
 

Peeps

Member
Original Poster
I have begun making a slurry and putting it in the cricket feeder to gutlod them because she does eat crickets usually pretty well
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
I am wondering if you should take another fecal in to the vet --- you can do that w/ out taking her in -- its been a year and half and I hear they like to test once a year-- you might look at doing that ---
Karrie
 

Peeps

Member
Original Poster
I will do that soon, just need to get some money together, like I said, its pretty expensive to get her checked out. $200 today for exam and radiograph.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
I know I just came from the vet--- it has costed me $500 the last couple of weeks for Hiccup
Karrie
 

Claudiusx

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
What does she currently weigh?
Honestly she looks to be a bit over weight. Losing a few grams wouldn't hurt her imo.

-Brandon
 

Peeps

Member
Original Poster
She is not overweight it’s just her gizzard has a skin flap not sure why but she did lose a bit of weight but her belly seems to stay rather big she is 544g
 

Claudiusx

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
544 is a decently large depending on the length of the dragon.

I think you're warped around her little finger. I'd stop with the slurries and just try feeding her normally for a few weeks and see what happens. This is a hormonal time of year for them they usually are restless right now.

Try feeders 2 or three times a week and a big daily salad. Don't worry If she doesn't eat for a few days at first. They aren't dumb creatures, if she gets hungry enough she'll eat her salad.
And like I said, depending on her length, she can spare a few grams.

-Brandon
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

I think she looks fine, her physical condition appears great.
Unless I am not seeing correctly on my computer due to bad lighting, shadows, etc, is that
eggs showing on the x-rays? That is what it looks like to me.
The Reptisun 10 you are using, which is mounted underneath of the screen is a long tube
bulb, correct?
Are you giving plenty of calcium?
She looks to be filled with eggs which is why she is probably having some trouble with her
digesting, etc. Most of the times, you can't feel them but sometimes you can see the visible
outline of them. I am not sure if she is ready to lay but it looks like she is close to laying.
They usually stop eating so much right before they lay.
The vet did not mention eggs, at all?

Tracie
 
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