Desperate help =[

[Reptiglo]

Hey everyone

my lizard reptar is around 2 yearrs old. He used to be healthy looking and lively, but now in the past month or two, he has become very sluggish and dull, due to the fact i havent been able to take him out. With SATs and regents, its been tough handling him and a father dying of heart disease. Things have been rough and i blame myself for not taking proper care of him. I love Reptar, but he hasnt eaten in two weeks. Its gotten to the point where im nervous he will die. I bought the T-rex hydro life to jumpstat him again, and it has been working, hes been running around while im at school, and when i take him out he runs around too. Heres the thing; he hasnt eaten in neraly three weeks. Ive tried it all, from the meat he loves to eat, to lettuce and fruits, but he just wont eat. ATM i have a mini pinkie inside his tank; his favorite treat to see if he will eat. Not a nibble... I dont want him to die, and atm i dont have money for a visit with the vet. Ive also been giving him gatorade and protien baths, wheich seem to get him active. Also, the ppl at friggen petland sold me a hundred watt bulb and said it was perfect for the tank, not to mention a reptiglo 2.0. I take the temp and ts 75 tops, wtf? isnt it supposed to be 90ish. Its a 55 gallon, and i need advice. Can someone help me?

btw the red stuff is gatorade, the little bugger upturned his water dish full of it and spilt in EVERYWHERE lol

plz save reptar! ='[

 

[Lennifer]

I'm sry to hear that u r having some issues. Lettuce has no nutritional value. When u say u are fedding him meats, what kind of meats?? He should be eating mustard greens, turnip greens, collard greens, butternut sqaush, acorn squash. U can go to Beautiful Dragons.com for a complete list of good & bad nutrion to feed your dragon. FOr the lighting...u should have a uvb (long tube, not the coil) & it should run across the entire top of your enclosure. ReptiGlo's have been know to cause many health issues. I would suggest purchasing the ReptiSun 10 for the UVB. If u prefer to stay w/ ReptiGlo, use the ReptiGlo8. It is the only one that hasn't reported any issues. You temps should be between 90-100 depending on your dragon. You should measure the temps using a digital probe because those stick on ones are no good and inacurate. If you are having issues getting the temp for basking spot currect, try a diff wattage light bulb/basking bulb &/or you can move the light closer or further away from the basking spot.

~Sandy

 

[Reptiglo]

Hi sandy

by meats i mean crickets(stopped liking them recently), mealworms, waxworms, megaworms, anoles. He used to love that stuff
he wont eat it now
im going to switch the uvb bulb i have from the 2.0 to the reptisun
also reptar is a picky eater, but he needs to eat
i was wondering of using the tube i have for the Trex hydrolife to force his mouth open, shuld i stick in one of the pinkies he has in his tank in?

 

[Lennifer]

Honestly, I don't feed my bearded dragon pinkies so hopefully someone else would be able to help more. In my opinion tho, it probably wouldn't be best to force feed him something so big. If he's not eatting at all, maybe try mixing up a few foods you feed him in a blender & make it slushy like & use a syringe to feed him. Has he been pooping normally? Just asking because it's possible he could be impacted or constiapted & that's why he won't eat? I'm so glad to hear u are switching to the ReptiSun 10! U won't be dissapointed & in fact, u will prolly notice a change in him for the better, after having that light for a few days. I always have an issue finding this particular bulb in the store so if u have trouble also, u can order it from LLL Reptile. They have pretty good prices.

~Sandy

 

[Reptiglo]

thanks again sandy

as for the poop, he hasnt gone in a couple of days, but b4 that he pooped every other day i belive
and the pinkie i bought is minsucle, less than an inch,unlike the ones he used to eat, which were about the size of his head
should i go buy some squash and mash it into paste and feed him that?

 

[Lennifer]

You might be able to get him to go poo if you give him a warm soak. Whenever I give Drago warm baths, he noramally goes! lol. You could def try smashing up or blending some squash! Just squash or add some greens in with it. He looks very good by the way! He's a healthy looking big chunk to me! lol

I didn't mean anything bad when I said I don't feed pinkies...I don't feed them because I'm too much of a softie & can't watch that lol! But I will feed him Crix all day! I haet bugs! haha!

~Sandy

 

[Reptiglo]

lol, Drago sounds alot like Draco, my first beardies name from my childhood
thanks =D
no worries, according to google, pinkies are high in fat -_-
i hate bugs too, and apparently so does reptar, he doesnt like crickets since he got bit, but hes recovered, just wont take a nible at them

 

[xJaZx]

You feed him Anoles? Is that bad for them??

 

[utahrapture]

One thing to do is to buy a syringe and mix ensure vanilla calorie drink with baby food like vegetable/turkey combos or fruit and what not. It's a good way to make sure he's getting calcium too, because you can mix the powder right in with the food. My beardie went cold for like 4 months when he was about a year and that's what I fed him...sometimes it seems seasonal or depression related, and the temp you mentioned certainly will have a lot to do with it. I have a 55 gallon long and a 100 watt bulb and 60 or 100 watt ceramic heating element depending on the season, you should also get something with 5.0 uvb. Beardies generally like the ensure/baby food combination.

 

[Reptiglo]

thanks rapture, will do
i just got back from the store, i bought the yeloow squash and im gonna puree it to mush now

i have droppers/ seringes already, but when i make the mix, do i do it 50-50, or just a little bit?

 

[utahrapture]

Yea, do it about 50/50 or so the texture isn't to mushy or runny. Try and see if you can put a little drop on his "nose" and get him to kind of taste it. Then I usually put give them the tip (make sure they don't bite it off!) and give about a cc at a time. Then usually they get the idea of what's going on, if you haven't syringe fed before, ask with any questions, you don't want to "force feed" because there is the risk of aspirating. I used to do vegetable mixes then fruit ones for "dessert".

 

[Reptiglo]

uhoh....aspirating?

the dude at petland who sold me the stuff told me to push the dropper against his mouth so he opens its and then just squirt it in
bad advice?

 

[utahrapture]

Yea, very bad advice. Don't trust people at places like that, and I used to work at Petsmart. You want to make sure they gradually take it down on their own, once you can get him to do the "smacking" sound with his mouth, keep squirting some onto the tip of his tongue or thereof and let him take his own pace. My big guy has no problem taking a cc down real quick, but I used to take care of a little one who needed a lot slower pace, it's pretty easy to tell. They need to stop to take a breath, so give him some, wait and see how he takes it and start again when he starts breathing.

 

[Reptiglo]

ill try that, thanks. What i do when i give him the supplement is put it up against the side of his jaw and he opens up and bites the tube, but doesnt have a prblem taking the meds. is that wrong, so i know for future references?

 

[utahrapture]

I used to that...and yea, it's not the best idea. The proper way is actually supposed to be by using two hands and kind of using the beard to pull open while holding the head. I've found getting a little food on the tip of the tongue they sometimes open up. By kind of gently wedging the syringe tube end into the tip of the mouth, then you can hold the tip on the little bone ridge in front of the teeth and they'll kind of lap the food up. It takes a little practice, so be careful!