Could my dragon be sick?

[yolo25]

Not sure what could be wrong. Our dragon, Oscar, hasn't come out of his rock unless we take him out. He hasn't eaten really in weeks and has only pooped once in weeks ... when I put him in the bath for a little one day well before Christmas.
We got him from PetSmart at the end of June 2012. So if he was 2 months then, he would be 8 months now. Is it possible that he is bruminating? Or should I be worried?
We have:
100 Gallon tank
Slate bottom/substrate
Reptisun 10.0 bulb (36" I think)
Ceramic heat emitter in middle (80 degrees)
Basking spot is low 100's
Cool side is like 75
Hiding spot on cool side and under basking spot. He goes in both.
Sometimes, I reach in and take him out from under the rock. And he is very white on the bottom (no stress marks). He looks tired, always, when I take him out though.

He gave up eating crickets close to the beginning of December and since then, we've only gotten a few greens in him. Food scale was broken, just got a new battery...so now we can weigh and see if he's losing weight or not.
Could be be sick? Or just bruminating?

 

[Russell84]

I'm not sure if I am correct, but I think they only bruminate once they are adults. Maybe somebody else can confirm this true or false??

One potential cause of loss of appetite could be parasites. Is there anything unusual about his stools? Is he losing weight or becoming skinny because of loss of appetite?

 

[Esther19]

Do you have a basking bulb in addition to the heat emitter?

 

[daner923]

From what I understand, even at 8 months, some dragons can go into semi-brumation. That is what it sounds like, or even just a winter slow down. My dragon has been going through a slow down too; eating less, sleeping in some days, going to sleep early.

 

[yolo25]

I do have a basking bulb in addition. It is 100 watts and I have a dimmer on it, so it is low 100s on his basking spot. I take him out to bathe him every once in a while (1 or 2x a week) and he drinks water and sometimes eats very few greens but hasn't pooped. He has refused crickets since beginning of December. He isn't losing weight though... still 299 grams/7.1 oz.
How can I get some calcium and vitamins into him if he isn't really eating?
Also should I leave him alone and NOT wake him up to bask/bathe a little?

 

[YavannaV]

Sometimes they get bored with the same type of food. Maybe you could try some Reptiworms/Phoenix worms, butter worms, silk worms, horn worms, wax worms (as treats only - high fat), locusts, etc.

Also, when did you last change out his UVB bulb? It's usually recommended every 6 months to be replaced. You can also get some bee pollen and sprinkle it on his greens to act as an appetite stimulant.

Hope that helps.

 

[yolo25]

Where do I get worms and bee pollen? Is he big enough for worms yet? I wasn't sure.

 

[YavannaV]

He needs to be over 18 inches from snout to tail tip to eat morio worms (superworms) since beardies smaller than that have a 90 degree kink in their digestive tract and it could impact them. I lost a beardie to impaction so I won't feed any hard shell worms to my dragons now. If you do ever give yours the superworms, only introduce them one or two every few days to see how he takes to them. My Dreganna really loved them when she first tried them (at the 18 inch mark) and I gave her a couple dozen throughout that first week and that's how she became impacted. The Vet said to treat beardies like a baby when introducing new food, only a little at a time mixed with other insects that you know he does well with.

All the worms I listed are soft bodied worms and you can feed those to your dragon at his age of 8 months. I buy them online. Reptiworms http://www.reptiworms.com/ has a 20% discount to forum members if you type bearded20 in the coupon code. I've also purchased worms from mulberryfarms http://www.mulberryfarms.com/ They have silkworm and hornworm cups, butter worms and waxworms.

 

[YavannaV]

For bee pollen: http://www.reptiza.net/beardeddragon.co/index.php?route=product/product&path=61&product_id=272