Dragon dehydrated?

[shannonlyn]

Noticed yesterday our male dragon bullwinkles eyes were looking dark and saggy....he wasn't eating very well and was staying in one spot on a branch right under the heat. I usually drop water on his and his sister roxys nose twice a day and they usually drink a little bit but not much. Bullwinkle does not eat the collard greens that we feed daily and roxy does eat them. All yesterday he was in the same spot with his mouth open for the majority of the day. we've given him a few baths and have misted him numerous times since then. His eyes are looking a little better but he is still always in one spot with his eyes closed...

Today I put some of the juvenille dragon food in water until it got mushy and then loaded it in a syringe and kind of force fed both of them by opening their mouth with it. The girl seemed to like it and would pretty much open her mouth for me so that i could give her more and bullwinkle let me put some in but I didnt want to force it too much. He's not interested in his wax worms or crickets at all. The heat is at 105 on one side and 80 on the other. So I have a few questions.....1) is there anything else extra i can do to hydrate him or will it maybe just take some time for him to start feeling better? and 2) is it okay to feed them like that with a syringe??? 3) once hes feeling better...how am i supposed to get him interested in the greens/dragon food....we always spray the collard greens down with plenty of water and I'm sure thats a good source of water for them if he'd only eat it.

This is the dragon food I've been giving them out of a syringe...

Also I'm not sure of their age but the female is almost 9 inches and he is 7.5 inches...

thanks for any help!

 

[shannonlyn]

one more thing....this might sound dumb but since he is dehydrated should I maybe not let him sit on his basking spot under the heat???

 

[sunkist]

Give him longer baths just keep the water warm. I have one boy that likes to swim for 30 minutes or so each day.

 

[shannonlyn]

will he start acting normal again soon tho??/ weve been putting him in the sink since he started acting sick

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

What type of thermometer are you using to measure the temperatures with? Is it a stick on type of thermometer, a digital probe or a temp gun?
What type & brand of UVB are you using, a flourescent tube bulb or a compact or coil light?
No, he needs to bask if he is receiving food otherwise, he wont be able to digest his food properly.
You could lower the temps to 98-102 range if you wanted to.
Just continue with the baths & oral fluids.
What do his stools look like, are they really runny & smelly? What about the urates, are they hard, soft, white or off colored?

Tracie

 

[shannonlyn]

What type of thermometer are you using to measure the temperatures with? Is it a stick on type of thermometer, a digital probe or a temp gun? its a digital probe and its reading 104.3
What type & brand of UVB are you using, a flourescent tube bulb or a compact or coil light? the uvb were using is... http://www.zilla-rules.com/products/mini-reptile-fixture.htm and his basking light is a 75watt
No, he needs to bask if he is receiving food otherwise, he wont be able to digest his food properly.
You could lower the temps to 98-102 range if you wanted to.
Just continue with the baths & oral fluids.
What do his stools look like, are they really runny & smelly? What about the urates, are they hard, soft, white or off colored? He just pooped today and it was really small but it was regular.

Today his eyes seem to be looking better but he is still just laying around and his eyes are always closed. I bought some pedialyte and have been giving them that and also giving turkey baby food just so hes atleast eating some...the female is also acting funny and just laying around, they arent active at all. She ate about 7 crickets today and is munching on some greens right now. hes only eaten 3 crickets today...does it just take a while for them to get back to feeling better??

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Your dilema, unfortunately, is going to be your UVB light. The Zilla flourescent tube & compact or coil lights are the absolute worst UVB lights that you can get. They are very hazardous. Please turn the Zilla light off. He will need to go without UVB for 1-2 weeks until he is feeling better & has his eyes open. It emits a low wavelength frequency of UVB light that is particularly hard on their eyes & their entire body. The condition he is probably getting is photo kerato conjunctivitis.
The best light you can get here in the US is the Reptisun 10 flourescent tube bulb. You can get that from: http://www.petmountain.com

Here is a report for you to read, regarding the Zilla lights:

http://www.uvguide.co.uk/phototherapyphosphor.htm

In the meantime, you should try to get more oral fluids into him right now for the next week or so as this light has overexposed him to UVB radiation & dehydrated him.

Let me know how he is doing.
Tracie

 

[shannonlyn]

thank you so muchh. I literally JUST finished reading that same article....boyfriend is not too happy because we've spent so much on lighting alone and it feels like we just keep messing it up lol. I did turn off the light...Will they start progressively feeling better??? It didnt cause any permanent harm did it?? I'm going to keep on them for liquids(even tho they arent too thrilled with me about it)...I read somewhere if theyre dehydrated that force feeding them can cause damage...is that true?? I just want my lil guy to eat and be happy.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Great you were educating yourself. I am very sorry that you have spent too much money already on the lighting, it is very unfortunate.
He should begin to feel better within a few days. I would not expose him to any UVB lighting for at least 1 week, maybe 2 depending on how he is doing for you.
No I do not think that it has caused any permanent harm for him, but it is very important to get him hydrated back up & get a better light for him.
Please keep us posted on him, thanks!

Tracie