Puffdragonmom
Member
I will be later posting an extremely detailed post on this, however I’m urgently looking for answers so I’m going to post this short synopsis for now.
I’ve had my bearded dragon for a month now, and to put it blatantly, he’s dying.
Puff absolutely refuses to eat anything, I’ve even resorted to syringe feeding him baby food but even that hasn’t been working well.
I bought the little guy on February 25th from PetSmart. He was a very spontaneous purchase, but the employees assured me bearded dragons were very easy and I didn’t need to go on much for the first month.
When I first brought puff home he was in a 10 gallon tank. It had paper towels for substrate, some hidey holes and basking area. He did have a screen top that I set the lamp on, with a UVB bulb and 75watt basking bulb, both by ZooMed.
Puff never really did eat much. Some broccoli at first, and I did offer him crickets and mealworms. Puff would gobble a couple bugs up and then call it quits after usually 5 or so, and then usually wouldn’t eat much for the rest of the day.
About 12 days ago however- Puff stopped eating pretty much completely. He then started to shed his Left foot and Tail which led me to believe he was just cranky and didn’t want to eat because of it.
His foots shed has not been going well. I’ve since then bought some Shed Assistance and had been offering baths (which he didn’t appreciate but would drink heavily during) almost every day, sometimes twice. His toes swelled up and bands of old skin around them refuse to release.
I discovered there might be issues with his UVB so I moved him to a 20 Gallon and now have it where it’s set up so he has a basking area monitored closely with a temp of about 102-110 (it varies based on our weather outside and how my AC decides the best action to take). His cool side is about 85-90 but he has an area higher up that offers almost a constant 82 if he wants to be cooler.
I also stopped offering him mealworms and only gave him crickets without legs to prevent impactions.
There was a brief time when I offered him Dubia roaches which he liked but they were still pretty big for how small he was and after a day or two he lost interest.
Puff has gone about 8 days without eating solid food. I have been offering him puréed veggies and bugs from a syringe but even then he won’t eat much. He does pass poops however they are no longer solid. Usually they’re very watery.
His shed is almost completely gone now but his food looks like it may have permanent issues and although isn’t swelling really it does still have a band of what I believe to be stuck shed. I can’t remove it without risking hurting him because he’s so small.
Puff has also lost weight. He is very boney which breaks my heart.
I’m at a loss for what else to do. The vets I have in town are overpriced and don’t offer much in the way of reptiles. The best vet I can go to is in Phoenix and currently because of the virus I’m out of both a job and the ability to travel without risking anything.
Im kicking myself for not educating myself more on Bearded Dragons and having everything ready before taking the little guy home. I realize this is most likely my fault for not having more information on hand before I put him at risk for bad lighting and improper diet.
At this point I’m so scared he’s going to die. He’s absolutely so precious and is extremely sweet. He still shows energy when it comes to exploring the house around him but mostly just sits in the warmth of his basking area when he’s in his tank.
My boyfriend has been helping me with Temperatures and puff has been sitting upright and basking happily lately but stuff refuses food and hasn’t been taking in much water.
I am still putting together an extremely detailed post of everything I can think of that I’ve done and how Puff has responded.
I’ve spent hours online and have seen how many people have issues with the babies. I noticed how many people post about the same issues of the babies not eating and most end up dying which had sent me into a panic mode.
At this point I’m willing to risk going to Phoenix to try and get a vet.
I’ve had my bearded dragon for a month now, and to put it blatantly, he’s dying.
Puff absolutely refuses to eat anything, I’ve even resorted to syringe feeding him baby food but even that hasn’t been working well.
I bought the little guy on February 25th from PetSmart. He was a very spontaneous purchase, but the employees assured me bearded dragons were very easy and I didn’t need to go on much for the first month.
When I first brought puff home he was in a 10 gallon tank. It had paper towels for substrate, some hidey holes and basking area. He did have a screen top that I set the lamp on, with a UVB bulb and 75watt basking bulb, both by ZooMed.
Puff never really did eat much. Some broccoli at first, and I did offer him crickets and mealworms. Puff would gobble a couple bugs up and then call it quits after usually 5 or so, and then usually wouldn’t eat much for the rest of the day.
About 12 days ago however- Puff stopped eating pretty much completely. He then started to shed his Left foot and Tail which led me to believe he was just cranky and didn’t want to eat because of it.
His foots shed has not been going well. I’ve since then bought some Shed Assistance and had been offering baths (which he didn’t appreciate but would drink heavily during) almost every day, sometimes twice. His toes swelled up and bands of old skin around them refuse to release.
I discovered there might be issues with his UVB so I moved him to a 20 Gallon and now have it where it’s set up so he has a basking area monitored closely with a temp of about 102-110 (it varies based on our weather outside and how my AC decides the best action to take). His cool side is about 85-90 but he has an area higher up that offers almost a constant 82 if he wants to be cooler.
I also stopped offering him mealworms and only gave him crickets without legs to prevent impactions.
There was a brief time when I offered him Dubia roaches which he liked but they were still pretty big for how small he was and after a day or two he lost interest.
Puff has gone about 8 days without eating solid food. I have been offering him puréed veggies and bugs from a syringe but even then he won’t eat much. He does pass poops however they are no longer solid. Usually they’re very watery.
His shed is almost completely gone now but his food looks like it may have permanent issues and although isn’t swelling really it does still have a band of what I believe to be stuck shed. I can’t remove it without risking hurting him because he’s so small.
Puff has also lost weight. He is very boney which breaks my heart.
I’m at a loss for what else to do. The vets I have in town are overpriced and don’t offer much in the way of reptiles. The best vet I can go to is in Phoenix and currently because of the virus I’m out of both a job and the ability to travel without risking anything.
Im kicking myself for not educating myself more on Bearded Dragons and having everything ready before taking the little guy home. I realize this is most likely my fault for not having more information on hand before I put him at risk for bad lighting and improper diet.
At this point I’m so scared he’s going to die. He’s absolutely so precious and is extremely sweet. He still shows energy when it comes to exploring the house around him but mostly just sits in the warmth of his basking area when he’s in his tank.
My boyfriend has been helping me with Temperatures and puff has been sitting upright and basking happily lately but stuff refuses food and hasn’t been taking in much water.
I am still putting together an extremely detailed post of everything I can think of that I’ve done and how Puff has responded.
I’ve spent hours online and have seen how many people have issues with the babies. I noticed how many people post about the same issues of the babies not eating and most end up dying which had sent me into a panic mode.
At this point I’m willing to risk going to Phoenix to try and get a vet.