Beard not eating, losing weight quickly, underbite

[stinkysmommy]

PICTURES AND VIDEO AT BOTTOM.
Tldr (but I'd appreciate if you'd read the long text anyways ); Stink stopped eating anything but bugs for a month, developing underbite because he won't ingest calcium, should I start him on an appetite booster?

Not long ago I made a post about Stink's being dewormed. We thought that'd be the end of his problems but since being dewormed he's barely eaten, unless we're offering him bugs. We've had him off them for almost a month now to see if he'd give in to hunger and eat his salad but to no avail, and now I'm worried. He's SO INCREDIBLY THIN compared to how he was before, and his skin hangs loose- part of it has to be dehydration but I'm convinced that he's just lost that much weight. By now it has to be far less than 630 grams which is what he weighed at the vet's last month, whereas he was up near 700 prior to contracting the pinworms. I thought a bit of variety might do it so I've incorporated even more squash into his diet as well as colourful foods like tomato and apple, but he'll only have a SINGLE bite or so of each and no greens. Period. He'll watch to make sure you aren't trying to slip him some so I'm not able to give him his calcium and vitamin dust either . He eats less than our little girl, who's a runt (granted, she's incredibly fat :lol:.)
Now on top of this, he's developed a slight underbite. I believe it's solely because we haven't been able to give him his calcium, because his lighting and setup was fine by the vet.

Anyways, down to the point, is it time to put him on an appetite booster? And should I start him on a bi-monthly pinkie mouse as well if only to plump him up?
I've also considered force-feeding him syringes of greens slurry with vitamins but I'm not sure if that's appropriate, or if he'd come to loathe me because of it. I'm just a desperate beardie mommy watching my baby deteriorate and it's agonizing, so any advice is GREATLY appreciated.

BEFORE;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ofjzK0t3w0&feature=youtu.be

AFTER;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRaemTXYo3E

(Both photos with only his basking lamp on)

BEFORE;

AFTER;

 

[keith167]

Can't tell that he has lost a lot of weight from the videos. And he's not moving like a sick Beardie.
Can we assume you have perfect temperatures and husbandry?
Does it look normal when he poops?

 

[stinkysmommy]

Can't tell that he has lost a lot of weight from the videos. And he's not moving like a sick Beardie.
Can we assume you have perfect temperatures and husbandry?
Does it look normal when he poops?

I guess it doesn't look much like it but when he's basking and you see him from the side it's a different story
You can assume that; it's been vet-approved, at least!
His poops weren't normal for a while, but then again he did have worms. They're much better now- except that he's rarely pooping, because he isn't eating.

 

[keith167]

One of my guys had a coccidia issues a while ago. Took him quite sometime to develop an appetite again.
I would give him baths to encourage drinking water.
Offer some Dubias and other insects.
And maybe introduce a syringe of liquid greens with liquid calcium a few times a week. And keep putting mixed greens in his enclosure even if he isn't eating them.
At least you know then that most of the nutritional needs are being covered even if only in small quantities. Then hopefully his appetite will increase naturally...

Can't tell that he has lost a lot of weight from the videos. And he's not moving like a sick Beardie.
Can we assume you have perfect temperatures and husbandry?
Does it look normal when he poops?

I guess it doesn't look much like it but when he's basking and you see him from the side it's a different story
You can assume that; it's been vet-approved, at least!
His poops weren't normal for a while, but then again he did have worms. They're much better now- except that he's rarely pooping, because he isn't eating.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Sorry your boy is not doing well.
Which UVB are you using currently?
I would get him started on some appetite stimulant such as either Jump start by Zilla or some bee pollen powder to help him out. Did the vet not do a fecal exam on him?
Since he has lost weight, I would think he had a worm or parasite affecting him.
At the moment, syringe feedings would help a lot. There is critical care powdered formula you could try also. I do recommend getting some liquid calcium for him since he has developed an underbite right now.

Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie

 

[Madzilla101]

Keep giving baths and attention and when he poops again you should bring the vet a stool sample so that they can make sure he's healthy. Keep us updated.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Keep us posted on how he is doing. I hope he is feeling better.

Tracie

 

[stinkysmommy]

Hey guys. So as I've said, we had already brought him to the vet not long ago and his stool tested positive for pinworms, which we'd supposedly treated. I just got back from a week-long vacation, during which I left my Stink in my boyfriend's care, and in the course of the week he went from recovering to wasting away again. Here's the rundown, and a couple of pictures towards the end;

I came home on Thursday night. I hadn't seen him poop yet but I noticed that his eyes looked different than usual- kind of squinty. I could tell that he was doing worse than my boyfriend had let on during the trip. On Friday he didn't eat anything besides 2-3 supers, and that morning he had two massive urates but no poopie (yet.) I decided to take him outside, to see if running around would stimulate his bowel movements. I left him on the bed for a second while I ran downstairs to grab his morning salad and when I'd returned there was a small, slimy stool on the bed with a considerable amount of blood. I immediately suspected impaction, so after his run-around I took him to the bath. Stink drank a LOT of water, something he hasn't done in months, and paddled around for a while. I replaced him in his tank and carried on with my day. When I returned from work that night, there was a urate and a massive amount of fluid- so much so that it'd soaked through his rug.

We replaced the rug with a towel and cleaned him up, attempted to feed him again and sent him to bed when he wouldn't. Yesterday he had two more large urates onto the towel but no poop, and he wouldn't eat. We went out for dinner and a movie later that night and came back around 3 in the morning. We looked into his tank and found this monstrosity.

I'm not sure whether it's a bowel movement or if he threw them up (although he hadn't really eaten any in the few days I'd been home) but I suspect that this is what had impacted him. Needless to say we're laying off the superworms for a while. After picking up the towel we put him in the bath and he drank again- twice, and deeply.

I'm frightened enough to dig into my pockets again for the money to take him to the vet but I'm wondering whether I should wait on it, just to see whether that mass of worms really was the root of his problems. In the meantime I'm thinking of putting him on an appetite stimulant, and probiotics.

 

[AHBD]

Sorry that he's not doing well. That pic is definitely vomit. Are you sure the temps. were optimal while you were away ? Not to cast blame on your bf, but maybe he didn't get the lights on for enough hours of the day and/or fed him too late at night ? As long as his temps. are adequate he should be able to digest, but since he also had blood in his stool there may be a heavy parasite load , a foreign object or possibly a serious stomach problem or possibly cancer. It may be best to get an X-ray.

 

[CooperDragon]

Poor guy. I'd give him extra water along with some probiotics. I'd offer it in small amounts several times a day via oral syringe. I would also keep his food limited to soft items for a while. Try hornworms or silk worms and maybe offer some oxbow critical care or some baby food squash and green beans and see if that helps him bounce back. If he doesn't improve over the next week or so another vet visit is probably warranted.

 

[stinkysmommy]

Sorry that he's not doing well. That pic is definitely vomit. Are you sure the temps. were optimal while you were away ? Not to cast blame on your bf, but maybe he didn't get the lights on for enough hours of the day and/or fed him too late at night ? As long as his temps. are adequate he should be able to digest, but since he also had blood in his stool there may be a heavy parasite load , a foreign object or possibly a serious stomach problem or possibly cancer. It may be best to get an X-ray.

Man, I was hoping it wasn't vomit. How long could the worms possibly stay in his stomach? As far as I knew he hadn't eaten many, if any, since I'd returned so that mass of worms gave us a real shock. I just asked my boyfriend about how he'd taken care of Stink over my vacation and he wouldn't tell me exactly when he was feeding Stink and putting the lights off each night so I don't have a clear idea of what his schedule's been like. All I can say is that our other beardie is doing fine and she eats the same worms and goes to bed at the same time each night, so from that I guess it might be a parasite infestation or worse... it sucks because we just brought him to the vets too... coughed up $140 and the dewormer obviously didn't work...now we're going to have to pay another $70 just to find out what the actual problem is :roll: This lizard is costing me an arm and a leg to treat...

On the bright side Stink seemed a lot perkier this morning. His eyes weren't squinting anymore. I guess only his stool will tell whether he needs the further treatment. I just hope I'll be able to afford it :lol:

 

[AHBD]

It's hard to say how long they could have been in the stomach.....maybe there were some loose superworms unnoticed in the tank or your b.f. gave him a few later in the day. But he probably looks better because he had a good long drink, hopefully he won't have anything too serious going on, but blood is always a sign of some trouble. A few drops may not indicate a real problem, but a larger amount means something's wrong. But follow Cooper's advice, offer him softer foods and only a few supers early in the day with lots of time to bask + digest in his tank.

 

[stinkysmommy]

Okay, thanks a bunch guys! We're trying to find a place near us that sells the Oxbow so we can get it to him as quickly as possible! I'm not sure whether it was a lot of blood, honestly- the stain was the size of a quarter but light pink, so it might've been a small bit of blood mixed in with a larger amount of other fluids. Either way, if his health doesn't improve FOR REAL this time, he's going back to his vet!

 

[CooperDragon]

I'd check vet offices for the critical care. That's where I've gotten it in the past. Should be around $15 for a bag of mix that will last for quite a long time.

 

[AHBD]

You're welcome. And if the blood spot was that small and pink in color then it wasn't much at all. That's a much less serious scenario and possibly related to simply straining to poo. Keep him hydrated and offer the Carnivore care, and baby food green beans, squash as well as healthy smoothies made of blended greens + a few fruits like strawberry or blueberry.