6mo to young to burmate? if so i've got a problem...need hel

[edevildude]

So my beardie is just about 6 months old, and latly only sleeps, he is only up for maybe 2 or 3 hours a day, my concern is that if he is too young/small to burmate then what can i do because if he's not burmating something is wrong for sure. He eats maybe 6-12 crickets a day on a great day, yesterday ate nothing just slept all day and all night, ussually was pooping every day but poop was kinda small, was eating his salad but over the last 3 or 4 days he hasn't touched it, been giving him baths to keep him hydrated but really donno what to do next, Should i try giving him some baby food? I would take him to the vet but if they dnt come up with anything insurance wont cover it. He's about 12" long would be longer but his tail was nipped as a baby, as i said 6months old, he was in a 20 long w/ reptisun 10.0 and a full spectrum basking light temps were 108-112/80's humidity was less then 25% most of the time. He has been getting antsy in the tank though and i built him a 4x2x2, which over the last week or so he has been loving playing then going to sleep in there so the 2 nights ago he was playing in there and went to sleep so i just left him in there and he seems (from what i've seen from the 3 hours he was up) to love it in there not a stress mark on him. And in that tank it's a 100w megaray SB and 2 5000k sunshine tubes, temps are 95-100 (I know it's a little low but he's been just sleeping in there so far and when he was up i put a log on there to get the 105-110) and 75 on the cool side.

I mean he looks healthy, his belly is all pail and he looks real happy when sleeping, and when awake he's normal and alert as can be other than always wanting to sleep somewhere, so im really at a loss here, i dnt wana make a misstake thinking its burmation and it turns out to be parasites or something bad.

 

[Buggsy]

Well the lighting all seems up to par, what are you taking those temps with??

Are you sure he is 6 months? Did you get him from a pet shop/resuce??

I would be tempted to get a fecal test done, even if the insurance dosnt cover it, its cheap to get done and would put your mind at rest. That way you only take him in to see the vet if something is wrong!

 

[edevildude]

My temps are measured with the acurite themometer from walmart, both the one with a probe and wireless probe (Used mainly for cool side temp), he was bought from a very good local breeder who works a a pet shop, she only breeds 1 clutch a year and only sells them when she knows there healthy and good weights, the day i picked him up she was bringing 2 of them home because she didn't think they were big enough/eating enough to be sold just yet. and as for the fecal how do i go about that, Because He didn't poop yesterday or today and i cleaned his old tank out completely when i put him into the new one. Should i just wait until hopefully he poops today or tom. and just put it into a zip-lock n the fridge until i bring to vet like u do with a dog? Like today his lights had been on for 3 hours and he never got up and when i checked on him he looked perfectly ok just sleepy/sleeping, so i made it so i can see his head but he's still in the dark just so it's easy for me to keep checking up on him without waking him up all the time. Should i pick up some rept-aid or something for now? im used to mammals having issues so im still on a learning curve for reptiles and this little dudes got me worried n i hate not knowing what to do...

 

[edevildude]

O and yes i know for a fact, his b-day is 8-1-09, she gave me his egg, b-day, and weights for the first 8 weeks of his life, she even noted it was a sat lol Ok and i called my vet and since they havn't seen him yet they would have to give him an exam and it's gonna cost $90 ($65 exam, $25 fecal) dose that sound about right? im thinking i'll do like u said though and get the fecal done, anyways just to be sure, and if i have to i'll take him in, money dosn't bother me i just want my little dude to be alright, but now i have to wait and see if he poops :|

Heres some pics of him

This was him a few days ago

This was the same day as prior picture, just to show you his "Awake" colors

And these are him sleeping in the middle of the day, last one was taken maybe 2 min ago in his 4x2x2 viv See he's not really under weight and other then looks ultra tired looks alright(2:30ish in the afternoon)

 

[crickest]

So, he's been in the new viv for just a couple of days and is now acting lethargic? It might be the Megaray. I'm pretty sure there was a post on BD.org where I read that they had recalled some of the megarays because there was something wrong with them. You might double check.

That said . . . Have you changed anything else in the viv? There might be something going on that your dragon doesn't like. My seven month old started acting the same way, . . .laying on the floor of the viv, not basking, hiding and pouting. . . . I wondered if it could be brumation, worms. . . come to find out she was sulking because I had taken her stuffed animal away. I had taken it out because it was too small. I got her a new stuffed animal and she went back to normal. If its not the lighting then it might be something in the environment that he wants changed.

 

[edevildude]

no, he has only been in the new tank for 2 days now most of which time has been spent sleeping and this was happening for a few weeks in his old tank. plus the megaray is brand new as of like 5 days ago, and nothing had changed in his old tank thats y im stumped! just one day he decided "Well i just want to sleep 24/7 for now on" he never really got the chance in his old tank because there were really no dark spots to go and sleep but now that he has one thats all he does!?! Should i take him and wake him up and force him to bask a little or just let him sleep!?!?!?

I am at a complete loss on this one, im going to take and have a fecal done, but that requires him to poop first, im going to the store now to pick up some baby food just so i have it incase he keeps this up, and i had to order some new vit. and calcium anyways so i figured it wouldn't hurt to get some retia-aid for safe keeping...

If anyone has any tips or ideas lemme kno cause i wana make sure im not missing something n he's suffering for it...as for now i'll try moving some things around/out and see how he fairs

 

[crickest]

Do you know how much he weighs? I was told that brumation is triggered by weight not age. My male, Spark, went down in October and finally showed some interest in the world in January. He was 10 months old in Oct. but he weighs in at 500 grams and is 19" long. Your dragon looks like he weighs quite a bit. Have him checked for parasites and if he's clean, it might be brumation.

 

[edevildude]

Yea, i've heard that too, but why would he burmate now at the end of January? i set his lights to 12on 12 off back in oct. i dont have a scale to measure, i think theres a package scale around somewhere but im not sure if it will weigh that little, i'll have to check. And is there anything i should do for now? and is it advised to do anything to maybe break him out of it or do u just have to let it run it's corse?

 

[crickest]

I let mine sleep and woke him every third day - he wasn't sleeping hard core - and gave him a bath and some baby food. He would bask for a little while and then go back to sleep. He showed very little interest in any food, including live feeders. The baby food I gave him was more for the liquid than anything else. And he didn't poo from the end of Oct until the end of January.

Where do you live? If you are somewhere where you are getting snow (the barometer is low) then its possible he is reacting to the weather. Is he interested in eating at all? Or just sleeping?

 

[edevildude]

hmm...i never thought of that before, i live in CT so it's been snowing crazy, And he only wants to sleep, no basking no eating no nothin but sleeping sleeping and a little more sleeping...and aaaaa....how am i suposed to get a fecal done if he dosn't poop? lol

 

[crickest]

Kind of sounds like brumation. If everything else is okay (lights, temps, foods, color) and all he wants to do is sleep, . . .

I would give him a warm bath every week or twice a week. You'll have to wake him up for it. And monitor his weight. You don't want him to lose a bunch. Otherwise, let nature run its course.

You know your beardie. . . does he feel sick or wrong to you? If he feels okay, just sleepy, then let him sleep. If it feels like there is something wrong, take him to the vet.

 

[edevildude]

yea i think i'll just have to play it by ear a w8 till he poops to get the fecal done just to be safe, and what should i do other then baths twice a week as far as keeping hydrated? and just so i know, theres no need to have the megaray on now since he just sleeps 24/7 anyways right? or should i just keep it on incase he feels the sudden urge to bask...which i doubt...and on a side note what the h3ll am i gonna do with the 100 p worms i ordered on monday and JUST got in lol (he was awake and semi eating on mon so i figured maybe he was just bord of crix...quess not lol)

 

[crickest]

I would leave the megaray on, in case this is being triggered by the weather. Every third day, bathe him, put him to bask, offer some veggies everyday (Spark came out to bask sometimes when I was at work - could tell cuz he would run through his veggies). Offer him worms. You never know when he might be interested. Take notes so you know what to expect next fall.

 

[edevildude]

Yea, def will lol especially for the girlfriend, she though he was dead the other day...took bout 20 min to explain he's pretty much hibernating like a bear would, well i'll be sure to come back and ask more questions if something comes up that i can't find the answer to by searching for it, thanks guys