Bearded dragon refusing food - vet said gas

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cm101574

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Hello. We got a beardie a little over a year ago, kind of rescued. The current owners didn’t care to give him what he needed and he was pretty malnourished when he was brought to us. He perked up pretty quick after we took him though, eating regularly, gaining weight, very active and alert. Then lately, he’s seemed to be ill. He stopped eating both live feeders and veggies. He was still taking water, but has since started showing no interest in water either and is becoming hard to stay hydrated, even with daily baths and many many mists through the day. Hes been very lethargic lately, his energy only seems to come in small spurts and he sleeps most of the time now. He’s been to the vet twice. The first time, he prescribed dewormer. Day two of the dewormer, he passed something I’ve never seen before, it looked like a large larvae, and seemed to perk up, but was still not taking food and any movements since have been pretty runny. The day after he finished the medicine he seemed worse, so he went back. They did an x-ray and said the only issue seemed to be a lot of gas. He explained that the larvae looking thing he passed may have caused bacterial damage which would cause gas. He prescribed antibiotics for 10 days, and if no improvement he said he’d need an ultrasound. My beardie doesn’t show any physical signs of illness, except he is losing weight due to not eating. I’ve began force feeding to assist with that but what I can force isn’t nearly what he usually eats. He usually has a very healthy appetite, and then just stopped eating out of no where. But his color is good, his eyes and ears are clean and he’s ruled out mouth rot as well. The vet said his heart and lungs sound good. He’s in a 50 gallon tank, his warm side is around 105 and his cool around 85, there’s been no changes to his environment since we got him so I don’t think the tank would pose an issue out of no where. We do use sand as substrate but the vet said there was no impaction on the X-ray. I’m not sure of his age, the previous owners weren’t either and he’d been passed from person to person so it’s hard telling what he went through before coming to us, I know he’s definitely an adult but I’m not sure how many years he is. I’ve researched so many possibilities and I’m going crazy thinking he’s in pain. He doesn’t act like he’s in pain, but he hasn’t had any interest in any type of food for weeks so there has to be something going on. Does anyone have any ideas what could be going on, or how to help him? Lately I’ve let him lay on a heating pad and massage his belly after bath-time to help pass the gas, but he still has no interest in food. Thanks in advance!
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Please post pics of his tank and lighting--- go to top of this page in the banner click on User Image Uploader- down load pics -- click reply and at top of message box click on XIMG --- post pics they should show after you let page refresh --- we will start there---- alot of times its the UVB that is causing issues -- but we need to see what you have for husbandry---
Karrie
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

Definitely, if you have any pictures of him, along with your tank setup, that would be great. It
is helpful to see their physical condition.
Are his eyes sunken in or normal & bright?
What are the temperatures in the tank & what type of supplementation do you give him?
Is his beard black or not?
He shouldn't be in any pain hopefully, but not sure it would be gas unless he isn't digesting
very well. As long as you feed him a couple of hours before his bedtime, he should have
time to digest his food at night. Which antibiotics were given for him?


Tracie
 
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