Hi I'm new to this site I don't know if this would be classified as very urgent but I'm very concerned with my bearded dragons health. I've had him for about 3 months now, but he's about 3 years old. up until now he seemed to be perfectly healthy. He has uvb, uva and a basking light, and it's the correct temperature.
He won't eat his crickets or worms (he usually tries to eat them too fast so its alarming to me he wont eat them at all) that I try to give him and won't eat his vegs either and he's starting to lose wieght, he won't drink water and hes getting dehydrated. (Although I did get him to drink a little the other day) I've tried to put him in a bath several times this week and he just tried to get out and he hates baths. I don't know what to do he's acting lethargic and just lays in the same spot or barely moves. What could be wrong with him?
Hey I'm new here too, I have a 6 week old beardie, I'm in the same situation as you. I have done some research and it doesn't apply to my BD bc of his young age but you might want to see if yours is in burmation.
"Burmation is a naturally occurring hibernation cycle that bearded dragons go through. Bearded dragons will go through a brumation stage in the winter or fall in response to the change in lighting or temperatures."
, I was thinking brumation too at first, but I've read a few articles and it says that he should be not wanting to be under his basking light or in the warmer part of his cage and that's where he mainly stays. Also, he doesn't seem to be sleeping while he's standing, he just seems to sit and stare.
At night he usually lays on the heat rock I have for him and goes to sleep. But there's been a couple times lately that he moved to a different corner of his cage instead.
I don't think it's impaction cause I got him to poop in a bath a few days ago. But maybe he didn't get it all out, I will put him in another bath and see what happens.
Update: I gave him a bath for almost 15 minutes and he did not poop. he drank very little water and his beard is a very dark brown colour. Also I've noticed something weird that I never notices before, he's slight moving his head up and down (not bobbing, I know what that looks like) almost like it's in tune with his heartbeat? I don't know if that's significant. I'm highly considering taking him to the vet tomorrow (they're closed now)
At night he usually lays on the heat rock I have for him and goes to sleep. But there's been a couple times lately that he moved to a different corner of his cage instead.
I don't think it's impaction cause I got him to poop in a bath a few days ago. But maybe he didn't get it all out, I will put him in another bath and see what happens.
First off - get rid of the heatrock's power cable , heat rocks are very dangerous and frequently overheat resulting in very severe burns to the reptiles who try to warm up on them.
You need a colourless par38 incandescent or halogen spot globe mounted over his basking spot and he needs a basking spot surface temperature NO HOTTER THAN 42 degC.
Warm zone air temperature about 30-35 degC.
Cool zone air temperature about 26-30 degC.
Your dragon will be unable to process / digest it's food without proper temperatures for digestion and thermoregulation.
How long has he been behaving like this ? is it weeks ? months ? this is important .
Do you have a record of his weights presents as a graph over time ?
What exactly is the feeding schedule and what do include in his diet ? need details .
Exactly what are the temperatures in his tank during the day AND how are you measuring them ?
And overnight ?
Exactly what lights basking and UV do you have ?
>> and how are they mounted ?
>> how far from the basking spot ?
>> ontop or under the lid ? is the lid mesh ?
What is the lighting schedule ?
What has the weather been doing where you live while the problems have been happening - might be weather related.
Substrate you have him on ?
can you feel any hard lumps in his tummy ?
I think you should get your dragon to an emergency vet hospital pronto , he may not make it past New Year otherwise.
Better off installing a CERAMIC HEAT EMITTER and placing a plywood top over the lid to keep the warmth in the viv overnight. I'd have the CHE controlled by a dimming thermostat who's probe is located in the cool zone and is set up to keep the viv at about 24 degC overnight.
He has only been acting like this for a few days.
I have him on reptiles bark at the moment just cause I am about to get him a new cage that's bigger so that's temporary but there's the Sandy carpet in the new cage. Yes there is a hardish lump in the center of his belly near the bottom.
I leave his vegetable bowl in his cage all day, its includes broccoli, lettuce, carrots, mustard greens, kale, and a squash and green bell peppers. I put crickets jn his cage every other day for him to eat (only 2 or 3) and also I feed him some meal worms on days I'm not feeding him crickets.
No I don't have a record of his weight, but he was healthy weight when I got him and up until now he's stayed that weight. He has about even lightin schedule with 12 hours of darkness and 12 hours of light. They are mounted inside his cage about 2 or 3 feet from the basking spot,
It's also very cold where I live now (almost freezing now)
The only problem is I have no money for a vet even though I hate seeing him like this cause I know he's sick but I don't know why. I'm hoping I can figure out why very quickly and take care of it myself.
I'd like to correct myself I do NOT feed him meal worms !! That's was a typing error on my part I feed him max worms only ! I know meal worms are very bad for them.