4 Month old beardie suddenly stopped eating and acting weird

[HoleeJuanCanoli]

My 4 month old bearded dragon has not been eating anything for the past 4-5 days. The day before this all started happening, he was doing fine. He was eating normally, pooping normally, drinking water, etc. I was actually giving him a bath because he was almost done with his full body shed. I noticed that as soon as the lat bit of skin came off, he immediately looked at me, blackened his beard, and puffed it at me for a second, and then went back to normal.

Literally the next day, I woke up to feed him and he completely ignored everything. He didn't acknowledge a single cricket, won't eat any veggies, and would continue to blacken his beard and bask. He is not acting aggressive in any way shape or form, but he seems like he doesn't want to be handled. He likes to jump off of high places and I was worried that he might've sprained or broken something, but there is absolutely no swelling or limping.

His stool looks and smells normal as well as a normal, white urate. He drank water not too long ago so that's a plus, but he still refuses to eat. He also has not lost any weight, but he is also still pooping every other day so I know he's not impacted.

I use a ReptiSun 17w 10.0 UVB that is maybe a week old, his basking temps are always in the 100-105 range, cool side is 70-75, but his humidity is always 50% even with the dehumidifier going. His breathing is normal and there is no crackling or popping sound in his throat.

Has anyone experienced this?

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

It sounds like he is hitting puberty, possibly. Did he start acting like this before his bath?
Is he done shedding too?
I am glad to hear he isn't aggressive though. Sometimes shedding can really make them irritable & can affect them in different ways.
How high of places does he jump from, in his tank or outside of the tank?
It is always possible he hurt himself but if you aren't seeing any evidence of injury, maybe not. Could he have hurt his back?
What other foods have you tried with him? Sometimes they change their food preferences & just want something else for awhile.
How close do you have the Reptisun 10 tube bulb from him?
How often do you give calcium supplementation?

Tracie

 

[HoleeJuanCanoli]

Hello,

It sounds like he is hitting puberty, possibly. Did he start acting like this before his bath?
Is he done shedding too?
I am glad to hear he isn't aggressive though. Sometimes shedding can really make them irritable & can affect them in different ways.
How high of places does he jump from, in his tank or outside of the tank?
It is always possible he hurt himself but if you aren't seeing any evidence of injury, maybe not. Could he have hurt his back?
What other foods have you tried with him? Sometimes they change their food preferences & just want something else for awhile.
How close do you have the Reptisun 10 tube bulb from him?
How often do you give calcium supplementation?

Tracie

He sneaks in a leap of faith off the top of the couch when I'm not looking for a second and that alone is about a 3-4 foot drop. I've tried Dubia roaches not too long ago since the reptile store here finally was able to find a good roach breeder. But even after he ate those, he still would devour crickets. So I doubt he prefers a certain feeder insect over the other. As for calcium, I give it to him every other day, twice a day and the tube sits about 4 inches above him.

I set up an appointment for him tomorrow to see a vet since they finally answered their phones. I'm really leaning towards him possibly having some sort of parasite. I just hope that it isn't too serious and that I've caught it on time.

 

[HoleeJuanCanoli]

GREAT NEWS! Sorta... He doesn't have any signs of parasites in him and the vet concluded that he dislocated his back right leg. So they wrapped the legs straight back, against his tail and said to bring him back for a check up in three weeks.