burmutation or seriously sick

[belladonnamini]

I have a male dragon, approximately 4yrs old. (I got him from a rescue 2 years ago, so not completely sure of his age). He has always been very active. I have changed nothing about how he is kept, fed, and washed. About 2 months ago he shed off, and acted normal for the duration. Shortly after he was completely shed, he moved in to his hide-hole, and that is where he has been staying 24-7 unless we pull him out. When we do pull him out he will eat some, but seems lethargic as he won't chase the crickets- only eat the ones in front of him.

I've checked his cage temp and everything is as it should be. He's shed twice since I got him, but this is the first time he has ever done anything like this. He appears to have lost some weight, his skin is looser than it usually is.

Cage: Glass 2ftx4ft terrarium with mesh top, Reptile carpet, circular rock cave, about 8x8" that sits on the glass, but not the carpet. AVB+Heat lamp+Nocturnal red lamp, on timers.

I live in West KY, and finding local help has been problematic, as the vets here don't have much experience with exotic pets (in most cases they said they won't even see/treat them). Local help would be very appreciated, just to take a look if all else fails. Thanks.

I was unsure of which forum page this question should be on as it could fit in to a few of the categories so i posted here and ER because i am so very worried about him
yet again a sincere thank you in advance for any help given

 

[bumblebee]

It does sound like brumation to me, but it would be best to have a fecal exam done just to be sure he doesn't have any parasites. From what I understand, a lot of vets can/will do a fecal exam for you even if they don't normally see reptiles because it's a pretty simple process. If not, you can try asking Cheryl or Jessica at beardeddragon.co, as they do mail-in fecal exams for $5 (http://www.beardeddragon.co/index.php?route=information/information&information_id=11). I don't know if you've seen this, but this website is a decent resource for herp vets: http://www.herpvetconnection.com/ It doesn't look like it's been updated in a while, so I'm not sure how accurate the info is.

Also, if you haven't read the brumation article, here it is: http://www.beardeddragon.org/articles/brumation/

Hope that helps