Beardie not eating and digging? Now sleeping!

[abbysa]

Hey guys.

My little baby boy is about 7 months or so old. For the past 2 weeks he hasnt really eaten, and is constantly trying to dig in the corners of his viv.When I take him out he is fine. Could it be that he just wants to be outside?

All of the temps and uv is correct. I dont understand the hunger strike though. Could he be going into brumation and looking for a place to settle down? A friend of mine bought one at the same time from the same guy and his one is acting as normal. But my baby is almost 40cm in lenth and more than twice the size of his one.

Any advice please!!

 

[abbysa]

Grrr. Its annoying not knowing why he is acting like this.

He is just scratching on the sides the whole time. I took him out now and held him for a while and he sat still, then he walked along my desk and tried to dig and scratch his way to be covered by some cd's.

 

[LJean]

Does it look like he is about to shed?
I know it's annoying for them to constantly scratch to get out of the viv.

 

[abbysa]

I am in South Africa and I think that he is going into brumation. He is sleeping on the cold side of his tank at the moment.

I dont understand as he is only 7 months old. He has barely eaten for the past 2 weeks but isnt really losing weight. He also hasnt pooped alot lately.

This is my first dragon, so I am super paranoid and over protective! :mrgreen:

 

[whiskersmom]

Have you had a fecal done on him? It could be parasites.
Could you be more specific on the UVB and temps, like what kind of UVB - how old is it and how far away is it? What are you taking the temps with? Do you have a temp gradient - a cool side, warm side and basking area? Are there other animals in the same room with him - especially birds?

7 mos old is pretty young to be brumating, I wouldn't assume it's that right off, at least not until you've eliminated other possibilities.

 

[abbysa]

Hi there.

I am using a reptisun 10.0 that is about 30cm away from the ground. Temps in the basking area area around 32deg, the cooler side around 24deg (these are celcius).

The only other animals I have is dogs.

I have not done a fecal on him as there are no reptile vets in the area. I will take a nice long drive on Saturday to a popular reptile vet.

He is still sleeping and its only 2:23pm!

 

[whiskersmom]

Sorry to keep harping about temps but could you tell us what you are taking the temps with? Is it an analog type or stick on?

 

[abbysa]

Its a digital thermometer.

thanks

 

[whiskersmom]

I would definitely get a fecal then. If that comes back good then I guess you'll have to chalk it up to puberty. My male stopped eating for almost 3 mos when he turned 8 mos old...I ended up syringe feeding him twice a day that entire time. He finally started to eat again on his own and has been fine ever since! And there wasn't any thing we could find wrong!

 

[abbysa]

Hehe. Sounds like I might have a teenager on my hands then.

I will take him to the vet on the weekend.

When you syringe feed him, what do you put in the syringe? I want to know for just in case!

 

[whiskersmom]

Well, you could use baby food like chicken, squash, green beans, sweet potato, applesauce or you could get out your blender and blend up greens and bugs which is probably the best for them but it is gross.

 

[rywiz79]

Mine is doing the same thing. If you look at the site you can see that alot of people are saying the same thing about their dragon acting like this. Both my dragons are doing this right now. Tis the season for burmation. It will be ok. Everyone thinks its parasites. Im pretty confident its burmation. Good luck and happy sleeping to the beardie.

 

[abbysa]

Ok. I took him to the vet and all is good! So looks like Brumation it is! at 7 months!

Now my next question....

WHAT NOW??? :s

People have said I must put in a t-shirt in the viv, which I did and he burried himself straight under there.

Must I leave him there and just check the temps etc? Must I take him out to force feed? (he hasnt eaten in almost 2 weeks) Must I bath him still? How often? How long will he big like this for? Will he be sleeping all the time? Can i still take him out of his viv??

Any help would be much appreciated!!!

 

[whiskersmom]

All beardies are different, some beardies sleep for a few months - others only a few weeks.

Being that he's still a little young, I would bath him every few days so that he doesn't become dehydrated.
If he's pooping then offer food, bugs or baby food, but if it is brumation then he'll be fine without eating for awhile.

 

[abbysa]

My baby has been sleeping now since last week. Under a towel in the viv.

Do I just leave him there now? Im going to bath him tonight. I check on him all the time. I lift up the towel once a day and get a quarter opened eye barely looking at me as though to say "who turned on the lights?" hehehe.