Hi guys,
I'm new to this forum and am hoping to get some advice. We adopted a beardie from a rescue group about 5 years ago. He was around 6 or 7 years old, which would make him 11 or 12 now. He's never been a good eater, esp with veggies. In fact, he's only eaten greens once that I know of! We normally feed him roaches, and have bred and raised them for him, but eventually like everything else we feed him, he stopped eating them. We still feed him smaller ones on occasion, but he doesn't eat often. A couple years back, I fed him super worms for several months before I found out that they are more of a "treat" than a staple. He gained weight, and ended up getting infested with parasites. The "exotic" vet I took him to, gave him 5x the amount of fluid he was supposed to have, and basically he almost drowned! It was a stressful time, and I had to give him antibiotic shots for about 2 weeks, and syringe feed him critical care. (which I've also given him other times too, when I can't get him to eat.) He eventually got better, poor guy! Although we've had him for 5 years, I still question whether or not he's in "brumation" because sometimes it's a couple of weeks, and other times it's a month or two at a time. He goes through these phases for several days or weeks at a time where he won't eat or drink, and won't come out of his hide. He's doing it again, and it always stresses me out. He can go several days without eating and normally and won't take food when offered. I take him out at least once a week for a bath, (and hopefully a drink too.) I question whether or not it might just be time to euthenize him.....it's so sad to think of because we've really learned to love our little "Munch" a lot. It's so hard to know if he's suffering since these guys disguise it! During the time he almost died, he turned very pale, and had a really black beard...if he's dying, shouldn't his color look more like that? These decisions are always so hard, but I've only ever had to do this with my dogs and although it's super hard, I can better tell when they are really sick and ready to go. I really need some advice that will give me piece of mind! Thank you!
I'm new to this forum and am hoping to get some advice. We adopted a beardie from a rescue group about 5 years ago. He was around 6 or 7 years old, which would make him 11 or 12 now. He's never been a good eater, esp with veggies. In fact, he's only eaten greens once that I know of! We normally feed him roaches, and have bred and raised them for him, but eventually like everything else we feed him, he stopped eating them. We still feed him smaller ones on occasion, but he doesn't eat often. A couple years back, I fed him super worms for several months before I found out that they are more of a "treat" than a staple. He gained weight, and ended up getting infested with parasites. The "exotic" vet I took him to, gave him 5x the amount of fluid he was supposed to have, and basically he almost drowned! It was a stressful time, and I had to give him antibiotic shots for about 2 weeks, and syringe feed him critical care. (which I've also given him other times too, when I can't get him to eat.) He eventually got better, poor guy! Although we've had him for 5 years, I still question whether or not he's in "brumation" because sometimes it's a couple of weeks, and other times it's a month or two at a time. He goes through these phases for several days or weeks at a time where he won't eat or drink, and won't come out of his hide. He's doing it again, and it always stresses me out. He can go several days without eating and normally and won't take food when offered. I take him out at least once a week for a bath, (and hopefully a drink too.) I question whether or not it might just be time to euthenize him.....it's so sad to think of because we've really learned to love our little "Munch" a lot. It's so hard to know if he's suffering since these guys disguise it! During the time he almost died, he turned very pale, and had a really black beard...if he's dying, shouldn't his color look more like that? These decisions are always so hard, but I've only ever had to do this with my dogs and although it's super hard, I can better tell when they are really sick and ready to go. I really need some advice that will give me piece of mind! Thank you!