Captain Jack, my 2 year old beardie, has been slowly losing his appetite over the last year, and as of May 2013 he has stopped eating completely. I’ve listed details below, but his temps are normal and he is well hydrated. After a clean fecal and blood sample, I am now force feeding him via syringe a mixture of Oxbow critical care and Oxbow carnivore care daily, but he still refuses to eat. I’m very concerned now because he has now gained quite a bit of weight from the Oxbow and still uninterested in any kind of food.
The following paragraphs include detailed information. I’m sorry for rambling on, but I want to try to give as much detail as possible in case the vet or I have missed something.
When he was a baby, he had a huge appetite until around 7-8 months of age when he was diagnosed with coccidia. After 2 months of medication (panacur and albon), he was free of parasites and hasn’t had any problems since, but he never regained his appetite.
The temperatures are stable in his tank (around 100-105 under his basking area). I check them with an infrared thermometer. I have even tried to raise them and lower them, but he still won’t eat. He has a 3 month old 10.0 reptisun bulb inside of his tank and his basking light bulb is a 50 watt halogen that I can raise and lower depending on the temp of the apartment. He’s in a 55 gallon tank with sliding doors on the front.
We have been to the vet, and his fecal and blood samples are clean. The only thing that the blood sample revealed is that his blood sugar is low (most likely related to not eating). I’ve tried feeding him horned worms, silk worms, super worms, wax worms, butter worms, collard greens, turnip greens, butternut squash (which has always been his fav), celery tops, carrots, tomatoes, zucchini, and grapes. He won’t even look at any of it. The vet even gave him a shot of B12 to increase his appetite, but it hasn’t helped. I am now giving him 6 cc of a mixture of Oxbow critical care and Oxbow carnivore care once daily per the vet’s instructions.
He is well hydrated (15 min soaks every other morning). The vet has said to continue to force feed him the Oxbow mix until he starts eating on his own again; however, it has been 3 weeks and he still refuses to eat. He has always been extremely lazy, but he is alert and acting normal.
Thank you so much for your time, and if you have any questions please let me know and I will do my best to answer them. I appreciate your help!!!!!
The following paragraphs include detailed information. I’m sorry for rambling on, but I want to try to give as much detail as possible in case the vet or I have missed something.
When he was a baby, he had a huge appetite until around 7-8 months of age when he was diagnosed with coccidia. After 2 months of medication (panacur and albon), he was free of parasites and hasn’t had any problems since, but he never regained his appetite.
The temperatures are stable in his tank (around 100-105 under his basking area). I check them with an infrared thermometer. I have even tried to raise them and lower them, but he still won’t eat. He has a 3 month old 10.0 reptisun bulb inside of his tank and his basking light bulb is a 50 watt halogen that I can raise and lower depending on the temp of the apartment. He’s in a 55 gallon tank with sliding doors on the front.
We have been to the vet, and his fecal and blood samples are clean. The only thing that the blood sample revealed is that his blood sugar is low (most likely related to not eating). I’ve tried feeding him horned worms, silk worms, super worms, wax worms, butter worms, collard greens, turnip greens, butternut squash (which has always been his fav), celery tops, carrots, tomatoes, zucchini, and grapes. He won’t even look at any of it. The vet even gave him a shot of B12 to increase his appetite, but it hasn’t helped. I am now giving him 6 cc of a mixture of Oxbow critical care and Oxbow carnivore care once daily per the vet’s instructions.
He is well hydrated (15 min soaks every other morning). The vet has said to continue to force feed him the Oxbow mix until he starts eating on his own again; however, it has been 3 weeks and he still refuses to eat. He has always been extremely lazy, but he is alert and acting normal.
Thank you so much for your time, and if you have any questions please let me know and I will do my best to answer them. I appreciate your help!!!!!
