1 year old beardie not pooping, barely eating

[Mamameeshe]

Hello everyone, I have a beardie that just turned one. He used to eat up all his greens and was crazy for his proteins but up to four months ago, everything changed. He does seem interested in food anymore. I understand that as they get older their protein intake drops, however I’m talking about a daily 10 Dubias a day to now 1-3 roaches a day and sometimes even none. He would watch the roach walk by and not phased. Occasionally he’ll try to catch one if it walks by him but if he misses, he gives up. He is no longer eating his greens. I tried mixing it up with dandelions, mustard greens, endives, parsley, enticing him with thinly sliced carrots, blueberry bites, strawberry bites, bell pepper bites, grape sliced up and nothing. Sometimes he acts lethargic but he’ll perk up on other days. Also, we recently found two small weird dark spots on either side of his chest. And a dark area at the top of his tail. His sheds always had a whitish opaque coloring and never the weird dark coloring. He also has a few orangy color on his chest. It might be his coloring but I want to rule yellow fungus. I’ve taken him to the vet a few times, he had a dose of deworming med. his stool sample came back positive with parasites but nothing alarming. The vet claims that it is normal for reptiles to have a bit of parasites in them. I clean and sanitize his tank every time he poops and gives him a bath. When he used to poop everyday, he would get a bath every day. His dubias are dusted with calcium everyday, and multivitamins twice a week. His stats and tank set up is as follows:
age: 1
length: approx 17”
Basking temp: 93-107 (depends on where he is on the branch
Cool side: (depending on season): 73-90 (we live in Cali so the temp affects the states.)
uvb: reptisun 10.0 on a t5 hood (recently changed in July)
substrate: non adhesive shelf liner

I mist him when it gets hot. I feed him water with a syringe 3-4 times daily. Now that he only poops every 4-5 days, I soak him every three days. Please help, I’m at wits end. Attached are photos I’ve taken today.
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0J89RPByPZSsxmR27B91uFMVQ
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0c0tnGQyY_SG_XH4cy4LyogKw
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0UySPAFdawXFK_yo2eNHgNq4w
https://share.icloud.com/photos/0-xGyiB_QzR4mPrWb-Zcy6cOw

I want to seek everyone’s advice before taking him to the vet. We’ve been to the vet three times this year and I don’t want to seem like such a worry wart and bring him to the vet for something that I don’t have to worry about.

Thank you everyone for your input.

 

[Claudiusx]

Hi there,

All the pictures look normal. Nothing alarming. The last picture is just some shed that hasn't come off. How long has it been there?

I understand what you mean about the cali weather. Weve been having heat waves here and there are days where I just have to turn off the basking bulb as the tanks start to get too hot.

So firstly, not pooping is just a result of not eating. If he doesnt eat, there isnt much that can come out.
He looks outwardly healthy in the pictures.
Why are you syringe hydrating him? Are his urates showing signs of dehydration?

Syringe feeding/hydrating is usually pretty stressful, and I wouldn't recommend it unless absolutely necessary.

How are his activity levels?
Can you elaborate on what hes like on the days he acts lethargic and how long it lasts?

Sorry for so many questions! I know you already gave us a lot of info to go off of.

-Brandon

 

[Mamameeshe]

Hi Brandon,

I use a syringe to hydrate him to make sure he’s well hydrated since he doesn’t drink water. It’s just a precautionary measure that I do and he doesn’t seem to bothered by it. My bearded dragon is alert on most day but it doesn’t meant he moves around a lot. He either just stays on his branch basking or move in over to the cool side. His head will be up and alert. Then on some other days he’ll just look really sad and lethargic. He’ll lie completely flat under his branch or hiding under his log the whole day without basking. He barely moves and his eyes would blink so slowly that it looks like he’s falling asleep. However, we make it a habit to take him out and let him roam around the house on daily basis ; he’s usually very alert then and runs around. I tried everything with the food and nothing seems to entice him. Not sure if it’s because of the weather, but considering he was only 8 months old four months ago, it didn’t make sense to me that his diet can change so drastically. Even after his poop his appetite won’t increase . The size of Dubias I’m offering are around 3/4 and some slightly bigger.

 

[MelRun2129]

Hi,

Any updates on your dragon? I’m experiencing the same with my 1 year old and was looking for advice and saw your post. The only difference is mine has always refused to eat veggies unless I trick her. I’ve just been gut loading the Dubias and praying. Today, our girl only basked for a couple hours and then went in her hide at 11am! Her basking areas are 100-105, cool side is 80. Any advice would be appreciated!