Failure to thrive, or ill-timed brumation?

[leftayy]

Hi, Montero is a 1.5-year-old female bearded dragon. Early November she tested positive for coccidia and received two rounds of oral antibiotics. A fecal sample after treatment tested negative for coccidia.

I originally tested her for parasites because she was losing her appetite and sleeping for longer periods each day. Even though coccidia is apparently cleared from her system, her symptoms are getting worse. She went from being active for at least a few hours every morning, to not getting up at all. She refuses to eat her salad, and I don't want to give her live feeders if she isn't basking. (For some reason she still perks up when I offer a raspberry. But she can't live off raspberries!)

I would assume she's going into brumation, except that she's barely pooped. Last week she pooped, but only after I gave her a leftover sugar solution (lactulose) from the vet, prescribed for constipation last year. Before the sugar solution, she hadn't pooped for a couple weeks (!!). My fear is that her most recent fecal sample gave a false negative, and she still has coccidia.

She's getting lots of baths. I'm also feeding her a couple ML of watered-down Oxbow Herbivore Care each morning, hoping to give her some nutrients and keep her hydrated. When she poops again, I'm sending another fecal sample to the vet. Other details about her care are on my profile. One notable thing is that she was gravid over the summer; ever since laying eggs, she's been a little skinnier and less peppy.

So, basically I'm trying to figure out if she's brumating or still sick. Is there anything else I should be doing? (or anything I should quit doing?) Just want my baby to feel better!

 

[KarrieRee]

Hi, Montero is a 1.5-year-old female bearded dragon. Early November she tested positive for coccidia and received two rounds of oral antibiotics. A fecal sample after treatment tested negative for coccidia.

I originally tested her for parasites because she was losing her appetite and sleeping for longer periods each day. Even though coccidia is apparently cleared from her system, her symptoms are getting worse. She went from being active for at least a few hours every morning, to not getting up at all. She refuses to eat her salad, and I don't want to give her live feeders if she isn't basking. (For some reason she still perks up when I offer a raspberry. But she can't live off raspberries!)

I would assume she's going into brumation, except that she's barely pooped. Last week she pooped, but only after I gave her a leftover sugar solution (lactulose) from the vet, prescribed for constipation last year. Before the sugar solution, she hadn't pooped for a couple weeks (!!). My fear is that her most recent fecal sample gave a false negative, and she still has coccidia.

She's getting lots of baths. I'm also feeding her a couple ML of watered-down Oxbow Herbivore Care each morning, hoping to give her some nutrients and keep her hydrated. When she poops again, I'm sending another fecal sample to the vet. Other details about her care are on my profile. One notable thing is that she was gravid over the summer; ever since laying eggs, she's been a little skinnier and less peppy.

So, basically I'm trying to figure out if she's brumating or still sick. Is there anything else I should be doing? (or anything I should quit doing?) Just want my baby to feel better!

It's hard to say - make sure your uvb is directly above the basking decor 12-15 inches and it's not expired - lay off the baths too many will dry her scales out- will she eat the live insects? Are you giving calcium? Your watered down oxbow will keep her hydrated- if she still has coccidia it should show up in the fecal

 

[AHBD]

Really sounds like brumation, they generally don't poo at all when they go to sleep. Many dragons are sleeping this time of year, it causes most new owners to panic but it's perfectly normal. Messing around with them too much can cause problems because you're fighting against their biological instinct. Can you post pics of her ?

 

[leftayy]

UVB is about a foot away from a raised platform, but the platform is not the hottest spot. Hottest spot is on the ground, next to the platform. Now that I'm writing this out, realize I might need to adjust this set up.

Should I quit baths altogether while she's less active, or do them once a week or so?

When she's on her normal schedule, I dust her bugs with calcium and vitamins twice a week. Should I reintroduce bugs even if she is not basking?

I will post pics tomorrow morning. Thank you Karrie and AHBD, appreciate it!

 

[KarrieRee]

UVB is about a foot away from a raised platform, but the platform is not the hottest spot. Hottest spot is on the ground, next to the platform. Now that I'm writing this out, realize I might need to adjust this set up.

Should I quit baths altogether while she's less active, or do them once a week or so?

When she's on her normal schedule, I dust her bugs with calcium and vitamins twice a week. Should I reintroduce bugs even if she is not basking?

I will post pics tomorrow morning. Thank you Karrie and AHBD, appreciate it!

What is the temp on the floor and how far is the uvb- I would lay off the baths they don't need them that often unless she likes them-- and they drink from the bath

 

[leftayy]

Here is a photo of the set up, I circled the area that I consider to be the basking spot right now. Her tank looks pretty sparse because I had to replace a lot of her decorations to get rid of the coccidia.

She was sleeping again all day but came right out for a super worm. Should I keep giving her bugs, if she's interested, even if she usually goes back to sleeping?

Here she is, after being lured out of her hide with a bug:

 

[AHBD]

It's O.K if she comes out for food on her own, that's different than waking them to try to get them to eat.

 

[leftayy]

Ah, I didn't wake her. Just put the super worm on the ground and she ran out. Does that count?

 

[AHBD]

Yeah that's O.K

 

[leftayy]

It does seem like she's going into full-blown brumation now. Do you think I should try to get her to poop one last time, since she had a couple superworms, or leave her alone?

 

[KarrieRee]

It does seem like she's going into full-blown brumation now. Do you think I should try to get her to poop one last time, since she had a couple superworms, or leave her alone?

She should be fine -