Could it be brumation?

[rhondau]

I posted awhile back about some strange head behavior and pooping issues...Max started getting better. Withing the last month he has only pooped maybe 3 times...Has not shed in at least 3 months. He is not quite a year old but my guess is he should be a year old in May/June. He stays awake during the day but sleeps EXTREMELY soundly at night and has a VERY hard time waking up. Here is the worst part...He hasn't eaten ANYTHING in at least 6 days! NOTHING...veggies, fruits and wont even look at a cricket. Today he spazzed out when my daughter and I were trying to talk to him. He did so many back flips and side flips through the air and smashing his head into the glass I thought he might give himself a concussion! he laid himself down in his food bowl, so I sprayed him with some water and there he lays soaking....giving everyone an evil eye if we go near him...I am so tired of worrying about him and so afraid to come home to a dead dragon one day. I have read the article on here about brumation and it sounds like it could be it except that he isn't even a year old...I just changed his uvb maybe a month and a half ago temps on cool side are 78 basking at 105-110. Thanks for any advice, you have all been so helpful to this beardie newbie!

 

[rhondau]

One thing I forgot to mention was what his eyes do right before he has a freak out session. They shift back and forth much like what a child does after spinning when they are dizzy, then he falls slow motion to one side then the freak out session begins where he tears apart his tank spinning and flipping in the air. Still not eating

 

[BeardedDragon6]

Don't soak him in his tank. it might raise the humidity.

also your title "could it be brumation" i guess it cant. in April they should be already awake and active. brumation starts somewhere in september ,october and ends in February or March (depends on the weather condition).



What kind of UVB do you use? is it a repti sun 10.0 tube?

also have you had him checked for parasites? and do you dust his crickets with calcium?


does he flip over when you put him on his back? (you should try that. when they dont automatically flip over back to their stomachs and just lays on his back there is a problem, because they cant breathe while on their backs).

You could try giving him baby food or chicken so he wont loose weight.

Im afraid i cant give you much more advice. maybe a more experienced member can help you.

Good luck tho. ;D

 

[rhondau]

Yes, Repti sun 10.0 just changed it about 6 weeks or so ago.

Yes I dust the crickets with calcium M-F and then dust them with the multi vitamin on Saturday and Sunday however it has been over a weeks since he has eaten anything.

How do I check for parasites...Does the vet do that?

How do they get parasites when they don't go anywhere? from the crickets?

Thanks for your thoughts I am thinking of calling the vet today

 

[rhondau]

Oh and I tried to put him on his back and he wouldn't let me I gave him another warm bath and I tried to feed him a bit of applesauce by putting it on his nose he tried to lick it but seemed to have trouble as if he was confused trying to lick it off but was persistent in trying....I put him back under his light where he sat for a bit then had another freak out session where he looks like a football flying through the air all through his tank while he tears if apart. now he sits in the cooler side away from his light...I am calling the vet today, this doesn't look good

 

[BeardedDragon6]

testing for parasites is quite easy you just take the poop to the vet and they check wether there are parasites. and if the results come back positive he'll get a paste or sirup against parasites. just like dogs. and yes they can get parasites from crickets. cause the crickets eat other crickets fecals or other dead crickets.

i ask the vet for the fecal tests twice a year or when his poop smells or he looses apetite in summer.


also. it could be glass dancing. like he wants to come out. or something. or he sees himself in the glass? and tried to attack his relfection? (mine does thatalot of times, tho mine is like 3 years old already)


could you post a picture or a video of him running around?


maybe he just saw something and got scared like a bird or a plane.

spike saw a plane once and started to run like crazy i thought he was going to break his legs cause he didnt stop for like 10 minutes. his whole beard went black and when i wanted to get him he hissed a bit. it was quite hard to calm him down.

 

[rhondau]

Thank you! I have been trying to catch him in one of his fits but I keep missing it, looks like he has had 4 of them today. He also seems to be very irritated with me because now he is showing me his beard(biggest I have ever seen it and very black) and mangled my finger while trying to give him some food. He is a very angry critter right now, have not heard back from the vet yet

 

[lwilson3]

If there is a small pet shop or a shop that sells mostly fish or reptiles, they might be able to check the fecals for you. It's worth a call, and it's usually a lot cheaper than the vet. All they do is look at it with a microscope, and they know what to look for (you might check the condition of their reptiles to make sure they know what they are doing :/). He will need to be weighed for proper dosing. If he does have parasites and the vet prescribes albon, there is a better medicine that you can order online. I think it is called totrazuril. If you do use albon you should also use a probiotic to restore the natural gut flora. I used soy yogurt.

 

[diamc]

Is the Repti-Sun 10.0 a strip fluorescent or coil bulb? What is the distance to your beardie while in the basking spot.

Parasites can cause all sorts of symptoms including irregular movements so I would recommend that you get a fecal checked asap.

What type of thermometer are you using to check the temps and what are they?

Since he isn't eating anything at all, you might want to mix some chicken baby food with squash baby food and see if you can get him to take some of that. You can even put a little calcium or vitamins into it.

Please keep us updated.

 

[rhondau]

Thanks so much! Yes I did hear from the vet and he thinks it is a bad case of parasites that is attacked his central nervous system. I need to give him some mashed up egg yolk mixed with pedialyte to get him to poop, since he has not eaten anything for over a week. We are hoping to inject meds by middle week, His freak out sessions are getting worse I hope he makes it! We need that stool sample ASAP!

 

[diamc]

That's what I suspected. I've actually never heard of mashed up egg yolk & Pedialyte to help them poop. Bet he won't like that at all, good luck. Poor thing, he must have more than one parasite. How long had he not been acting right?

Just to try to cover all bases, could you answer these questions? Is the Repti-Sun 10.0 a strip fluorescent or coil bulb? What is the distance to your beardie while in the basking spot.

What type of thermometer are you using to check the temps and what are they?

 

[rhondau]

the light is a strip and he is generally 6-8 inches from his basking light and the uvb light hangs in the tank 2 inches from the top on the back of the glass in a 40 gallon tank. He started acting funny a while back...months ago I noticed that he would shift his eyes and head back and forth a bit while I was walking with him, as if he was trying to focus...I didnt think much of it then. His pooping patterns changed a couple months ago from every day to every couple of days and the last month to every week and a half. Last week he stopped eating crickets and his veggies. He also started stretching his neck last week as if he was trying to loosen skin (he hasnt shed in a few months) I just kept hoping it was just change in weather, it is starting to warm up and we have more daylight. Now he seems to be getting worse by the minute. He has probably had 7 or 8 of these freak out sessions today, and when I looked into his eyes tonight while giving him the egg yolk it just looked like "no one was home". The vet said the egg yolk mixed with pedialite would hopefully pass through his system more quickly to give us a stool sample more quickly. hoping for one tomorrow... a girl can hope, right?

 

[diamc]

Good that you're using the Repti-Sun tube and it is at the right distance. I'm sorry to hear he (and you) are going through all of this, must be heartbreaking to watch.

The reason I asked about the type of thermometer and the tank temps is because I wondered if they might be too high because a tank that is too hot, can actually cause a heat stroke so I was trying to rule that out as a possibility.

I hope he gives you a poop sample tomorrow. Would the vet see him tomorrow even if you don't have a sample so they he can assess him or perhaps do something to prevent these "episodes"?

 

[rhondau]

He seemed to think that he needed the sample, does it matter what med they give them depending on the parasite? I wish they could just start him on something tomorrow. He has gotten dramatically worse since this morning. He always has that look in his eyes like no one is home, it used to be just around the time he had an episode. I am so afraid he is going to hurt himself tomorrow while I am at work. When I am home I check on him constantly...

Now the vet told me he could have been born with this parasite. Ever heard of such a thing? Or maybe from the crickets? If he makes it out of this, should we not feed him crickets?

 

[diamc]

Yes, there are different meds depending on the particular parasite unfortunately. I'm sorry that he has gotten worse. I don't like hearing about the vacant look in his eyes. Hopefully this can be caught in time. Parasites are terrible and can drain their bodies of everything. Be sure to keep him VERY well hydrated in the meantime and make sure his tank temps aren't too hot or too cold. Are you able to have someone come in to check on him when you're at work? Do you have any sick or vacation days available? I know what a worry it will be for you being away from him.

All beardies have coccidia but if it is a low count, it doesn't need treatment. But, any type of stress can cause it to become out of control making them more susceptible to other sicknesses. Crickets can have parasites especially pet store crickets because they're not cared for like companies that sell them online. There are other healthier feeders that you could order like superworms, butters, silkies, horns and even dubia roaches so something to think about.

Have you been able to get any baby food or anything into him?