Beardie losing too much weight

[peatrie109]

I’m very concerned about my bearded dragons (Peatrie) weight. A couple weeks ago I noticed he looked smaller and his skin was sunken in/bones sticking out so I took him to the vet. The vet said it was impaction so they gave him fluids and told me to give him baths everyday so he would poop. He also didn’t have an appetite which the vet said was because of him being constipated.

Since then he has pooped so many times and also has drank a bunch of water. He still has zero appetite. He used to get so excited when I fed him bugs. Now I have to force feed him by opening his mouth and putting the dubia roaches in. He will chew it if I put it in his mouth, but he chews so slowly like he doesn’t want to eat it at all. I’ve also given him pumpkin.

I’ve wondered if it’s brumation because I live in PA and it’s getting cold, but he’s never gone into brumation before and he’s 6 years old. He is bright and is still moving around, he poops and drinks water, he just isn’t eating. I’ve found him in the cool side a couple times, but he’s not hiding. He also is basking.

Does anyone have any idea what this could be/have suggestions to help? I left a voicemail for my vet to get him in again.

 

[Chris.]

What are his temps and how are you taking them?
What kind of UVB light are you using and how old is the bulb?
The heat and UVB will control his digestion and his appetite.
This doesn't sound good at all and your dragon is looking like skin and bones

 

[KarrieRee]

I would get some Oxbow Critical care Herbivore --- its some good stuff you will need to mix w/ some water so its a watery consistency-- feed that for now so he starts putting some weight on - I would start out w/ 1.5 MLs two times a day you dont want to overwhelm him w/ the food all at once -- you can find it on Amazon or your vets office may have it - I cant believe the vet didnt give you this when you were in

 

[peatrie109]

What are his temps and how are you taking them?
What kind of UVB light are you using and how old is the bulb?
The heat and UVB will control his digestion and his appetite.
This doesn't sound good at all and your dragon is looking like skin and bones

His basking spot is 97 degrees and I have a temp gun and also a thermometer inside his tank. I change the ubv bulb every 6 months and this one is about 3 months old now. It’s the zoo med 10.0 HO T5 24watt. I’ve been getting those since he was a baby and it’s always been fine.

 

[peatrie109]

I would get some Oxbow Critical care Herbivore --- its some good stuff you will need to mix w/ some water so its a watery consistency-- feed that for now so he starts putting some weight on - I would start out w/ 1.5 MLs two times a day you dont want to overwhelm him w/ the food all at once -- you can find it on Amazon or your vets office may have it - I cant believe the vet didnt give you this when you were in

Omg thank you. I’ll order some right now. Yeah the vet didn’t mention anything about that. The vet just got back to me and said I should take him to this special vet in Philly. He just vomited…

 

[Chris.]

His basking spot is 97 degrees and I have a temp gun and also a thermometer inside his tank. I change the ubv bulb every 6 months and this one is about 3 months old now. It’s the zoo med 10.0 HO T5 24watt. I’ve been getting those since he was a baby and it’s always been fine.

Sounds picture perfect.

Please let us know how the visit with this vet goes. When will you be able to bring Peatrie in?

 

[peatrie109]

Sounds picture perfect.

Please let us know how the visit with this vet goes. When will you be able to bring Peatrie in?

I just called them again because he threw up. They said to take him to a special vet that’s over an hour away from here. After doing more research I believe it’s coccidiosis

 

[KarrieRee]

Omg thank you. I’ll order some right now. Yeah the vet didn’t mention anything about that. The vet just got back to me and said I should take him to this special vet in Philly. He just vomited…

What did he throw up

 

[peatrie109]

What did he throw up

 

[peatrie109]

The bugs I fed him yesterday.

 

[KarrieRee]

The bugs I fed him yesterday.

Ok lets get some help on this
@AHBD
@Drache613

 

[AHBD]

Poor Peatrie, I'm sorry he's going through this. Did the vet take a blood test ? That can show if the glucose is very high and there's a tumor [ sadly it's common in beardies ] in the stomach. If not, have them do that, although in reality there would be no hope .
Did the vet by chance give him an enema ?

 

[peatrie109]

Poor Peatrie, I'm sorry he's going through this. Did the vet take a blood test ? That can show if the glucose is very high and there's a tumor [ sadly it's common in beardies ] in the stomach. If not, have them do that, although in reality there would be no hope .
Did the vet by chance give him an enema ?

No he didn’t. He just have him fluids under the skin and said if he didn’t poop in the next two days to bring him in for an enema, but he pooped the next day. So then I gave him baths to make sure he was hydrated and fed him pumpkin and he pooped a lot. I was waiting to see if his appetite would come back, but he started to lose so much weight in just a week even after feeding him bugs and pumpkin. I have an appointment on Monday at another vet because that’s the soonest they had. I’m not sure what I should do until then to make sure he doesn’t get worse

 

[FlareBear123]

I am going through the almost exact same thing right now with my Flare. Sadly looking at your pictures, they look like they could be the same dragon. The vet game me a powder called Critical Care Omnivore and a curved syringe so that I could get some food into her. I mixed up a half a TBSP with equal water and slowly fed it to her and she was able to keep it all down. My vet had this in the office, im not sure if you have a vet or something that is close and open today but you may want to call around and see if they have it. Other than that you can get it online but it isnt going to get to you until Monday or Tuesday.

 

[KarrieRee]

No he didn’t. He just have him fluids under the skin and said if he didn’t poop in the next two days to bring him in for an enema, but he pooped the next day. So then I gave him baths to make sure he was hydrated and fed him pumpkin and he pooped a lot. I was waiting to see if his appetite would come back, but he started to lose so much weight in just a week even after feeding him bugs and pumpkin. I have an appointment on Monday at another vet because that’s the soonest they had. I’m not sure what I should do until then to make sure he doesn’t get worse

an enema, NO ENEMAS!!!!!!!!!!! It can do more harm than good -- I recommend the Critical Care Herbivore as mentioned above - see if the vets office has it or you can get it on line from Amazon

Beware of vets giving enemas to your dragon | Beardie ER

Just a warning about this because there are at times very bad reactions afterwards including beardie dying within a day to a week . Some vets give an enema when a dragon is going in to brumation and not pooing during this time, not recognizing that beardies rarely poo during their " sleepy "...

www.beardeddragon.org