Newbie “wasting away” ADVICE PLEASE

[GGuy]

So after making all of the changes suggested both in this forum and at the store. My Simba still is refusing to eat. I went to Petsmart and the worker told me they have an issue with the BDs “wasting away” and described it as an behavior issue that is caused during distribution. Has anyone heard of this or have any advice !?! Please !

[CooperDragon]

Some of them fail to thrive due to genetic issues or abuse of some sort. Most of them do well with good care though. Since he is still so new to you, I'd be patient, especially with the new adjustments. It may take some more time for him to settle. Is he active and alert? If so, then he is probably just fine and not hungry yet. If you want to post photos of him, you can upload them here https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ and post them to your thread using the XIMG button when you reply.

[GGuy]

Ok I am going to upload pics of him and my cage set up. I feel like he is getting less alert with each day he doesn’t eat. I went ahead and bought wax worms I know they aren’t supppse to eat them regularly but my thought was if he doesn’t eat that he probably won’t eat anything. It took him about 2 min to give the worm that side eye that they give before they eat and he did eat half of it and then went and perched under the light. So I feel a little more hopeful. I ordered the black fly larvae from amazon and it won’t get here for a few days but he hates crickets clearly soooo imma try to grab some silk worms To hold him over. I really hope he pulls thru he does look super skinny I don’t know. Any advice is very much so welcomed. I don’t want to return him cause I feel like they are not going to try to save him and I want to try my best !

[GGuy]

[Click image to enlarge]


Here is simba and cage set up

[GGuy]

[Click image to enlarge]


Haven’t figured out the upload quite right but here’s a better one

[CooperDragon]

The setup looks really nice. Plenty of spaces to climb around on. He can get close to the heat lamp and UVB and also move away from both if he wishes.

[GGuy]

Thank you! Now I just need to get him to eat !!

[Drache613]

Moved by Moderator from General to Health

[AHBD]

Can you get a picture of Simba close up to show his body condition ? For a baby that's not doing well it's often best to put them in a small " hospital " set up . Here's pic of what I used to raise baby in. It's easier for them to get around and always be close to the heat + uvb.

https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploa ... _large.jpg

You can also offer water, Simba might be slightly dehydrated. Offer water by dripping it on his snout with an eyedropper or syringe.

[GGuy]

[Click image to enlarge]


Here he is today. Last night he ate half of a wax worm and it seemed to give him energy he was all around his cage. I watched him on our nanny cam lol. Last night he kept putting his nose to the other worm like he wanted it but never did. Today he is back to looking lethargic with no interest in food. He won’t even lick the water off the greens when I hold to his mouth or off his nose if I drip it. I was hopeful last night but today not so much

[AHBD]

Poor Simba, he is in bad shape as you know. Was he like this at the store and the rest of the babies in this condition ? Definitely set him up in a hospital tank. He may have failure to thrive, even atadenovirus but you can try to get him back to health. You did a beautiful job on his big set up, it's obvious how much you care for him. Pick up some Repta boost as well [ Fluker's ] from the pet store. It's a supplement that many beardies will take.

[GGuy]

In the store they were all just perched on their sticks. I think a huge part of it was the lighting the worker gave me was wrong and it wasn’t till I posted on this forum that someone helped me. So he wasn’t in the right light for about 3 days. She gave me T8 5.0 and just a ceramic heat source. So I keep blaming myself. I’m on the way to store now to get the medicine stuff you recommended. Is there any chance you think he could make it? He was sooo active yesterday evening after he ate . Should I keep trying different insects. I’ve so far tried crickets roaches wax worms greens was thinking may a small hornworm since they are bright maybe he would try it if it was small enough
Thank you!!

[CooperDragon]

I don't think 3 days would make a big difference, it's not your fault. Something else is at play, as mentioned earlier. You might try using a dropper or plastic syringe to offer some baby food squash or sweet potato in order to offer some hydration and nutrients.

[GGuy]

Thank you! I will grab the babyfood now while I’m out !

[AHBD]

I agree with Cooper, nothing that you did contributed to this. It may be that wrong lighting in the store kicked this off or just added to his ills or even had trouble when they were shipped to the store. The Fluker's Repta boost + the baby food are all good, and try a tiny hornworm for sure. What you might try with a cricket is to squish one until the guts come out and rub it lightly on Simba's mouth.