lorenrickmar1214":pptyf0nh said:Hello,
So I’ll have to give some background. My beardie was adopted from my cousin who was not taking care of him properly. He is now housed in a custom cage with the correct lighting, temps and humidity. He is an adult, probably around 2-3 years old.
When I first got him he didn’t eat well, but he slowly came around and had a great appetite and was gaining weight. Over the last week and a half he stopped eating. No greens, or even his Dubia. He was still pooping though, normal poops.
I took him to the vet on Monday who did an exam and said he was dehydrated. She didn’t do a fecal on him.
Since the vet I’ve been doing daily soaks,
<<< unless the dragon is actually drinking the bath water , bathing will not help hydrate it, unlike some animals who can absorb moisture via the skin and their vents, bearded dragons who are evolved for very arid hot regions will not absorb moisture through their skin or vent, they only get hydration via the food they eat and when the drink.
Rx liquid calcium twice daily
Is that oral or via a needle ?
If it's via a needle , I'd buy a bottle of VetaFarm CalciVet , and give the calcium to him orally via small syringe with a long nipple on the end , is very nice tasting and I've found my rescues take it very willingly, even licking my fingers clean.
Much less stressful than sticking a needle in a reptile.
, and attempting baby food. He just started eating some baby food (and I mean 0.5mL in a syringe) and ate that much yesterday and today. He opened his mouth today and I could see his mucous membranes did not have the thick “spit” like they did when he was at the vet.
So today he has a bowel movement. First one in 4 days. There was a LOT of liquid, and then quite a bit of brown/tan mucous. The mucous concerns me. There was also signs of food (which he hasn’t ate in a week and a half). I couldn’t take the poop to get a fecal today, so I’m hoping he goes again Monday.
<<< if he's only been fed very infrequently , don't expect regular poos , no food in there ==> not much to poo.
I wouldn't be overly concerned about a no poos for week , even for two weeks, some adult dragons have very slow metabolisms and like to save up their poos to then give you the motherload once a week or even once a fortnight.
Check the zone temperatures --> very strong influence on a dragon's metabolic rate --> pooing interval.
Mucus in the poo - can indicate the GIT flora are not good, and may also be just dietary, I'd take a fresh sample of the next poo to a vet in a sample bottle to have it checked for the presence of GIT paracites and to assess the microorganisms present.
May just be one of those issues that comes good once his diet is normal and balanced.
I am concerned about the poop. After he pooped that out he was much more active than he has been. What is the brown mucous a sign of? And it smelled horrid.
<<< MAY just be he's had an upset tummy with the location stress and change in diet , and the poo was saved up for a long time and was rotting in his gastro intestinal track .
Can be an indication of parasites too.
Sorry for the long post.
*Edited to add that I have electrolytes, critical care and probiotics that are supposed to be delivered Monday*
Thanks.
AHBD":grc89ocg said:Thanks for the pics, they are always helpful....the set up is quite niceThe dragon is somewhat underweight but not immensely. And as mentioned, your uvb bulb is MUCH too far away. Your dragon is probably feeling the effects of lack of uvb . Mount the bulb on top of the tank , down where the heat bulb is. It looks like you could set it across the top.
AHBD":2u5kgitp said:I don't understand how you have your lights positioned....is it different than in the picture ?
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