Help Please!

[Teage29]

I dont post much but i really need help with time. I have a male bearded dragon that i adopted about a year ago. The previous owners said he was about 5 so now hes should be about 6. My dad and I think he is older just by the way he is slowing down and thats whats concerning us. He had about half of his tail amputated this past May due to him being dropped on his tail when he was younger. The old owners told me he was dropped and thats why there were 2 kinks in the tail then he started to get tail rot that i noticed after his tail shed. I dont know if he is going into Burmutation or if its hes slowing down from the surgery. He went from i couldn't give him enough salad and incects to him not wanting a thing. Its like night and day.,The only that has changed since the day i got him is part of his tail is gone. He went through a Burmutation last year but he didn't go into it until late October of last year. Could the surgery send him into an eary Burmutation. Oh and he has gone to the vet and she said he seems like a healthy active adult male. The vet even checked for impaction and everything was clear. Sorry this was long but i felt like i needed to explain everything so you can help me. Any help is appreciated.

 

[AHBD]

Hi there....sorry that your beardie is having this trouble. You say he was eating + acting fine before the surgery ? Is he a good weight? That is a traumatic event, and depending on how he's healing there will be a certain degree of pain. Is he on any meds. right now, if so, what are they ? That will also upset his appetite. Do you have any pics of his tail before + after surgery ? I'd hate to think the vet was inexperienced and did this if it wasn't absolutely necessary. Tail kinks [ even bad ones ] don't often need surgery at all, and unless there was a real iinfection in the tail, that doesn't warrant surgery either. But that experience will cause a dragon to hide, lose appetite, etc.

 

[Teage29]

Hi, yes he was eating and acting fine before the surgery. He has only lost a little bit of weight but nothing i thought i should be concerned of. We layed him off the rapshberries if that has any effect on weight. And he was looked at by 2 different vets each at a different practice. They both said the something... amputation. His tail was starting to get all black and a blood test result showed there was an infection that was spreading. He was on a heavy pain medicine for 10 days after the surgery then we slowly weened him off of them. He doesn't hide he just sleeps more, almost like Burmutation but its really early for him. Also i would upload pics but i don't know how to upload pictures from my ipad.

 

[AHBD]

Well, hopefully he's just taking time to recuperate.....and it IS close to brumation time for some dragons, but his behavior is def. linked to his surgery. He'll get back to eating when he feels better. Just keep an eye out for any infection at the site of the wound. For pics, you can upload pics to a site like Photo bucket or Tinypic, then copy/paste the IMG code here.

 

[Teage29]

Ok thanks for your help i can now sleep a little easier. Also do you think the surgery could cause him to go into an early Burmutation?
And here's a pic of my boy Ace in the bath last week. He doesn't really like baths as you can tell my his black beard.

 

[AHBD]

Cute ! Blackbeard and a raspberry smudged mouth. Do you have a pic of his tail ? As for brumation, it's not that he should be brumating now because he's still recuperating, but they do can into a lethargic state that can seem like brumation when they have had a trauma. Just keep his schedule pretty much the same as far as lights, etc. You might try some squash + chicken baby food via syringe. One other thing, try squishing a cricket [ or whatever insect he eats ] and lightly rubbing it on his snout. Sometimes that will get them to start eating again. If he has no appetite at all, you might need to get him some probiotics like Benebac or Acidophiliz+ to help his tummy.

 

[Teage29]

Thats one of my favorite pictures of him, lol. Also i dont have any of his tail currently i will get one tomorrow because its bath day. His ligh schedules havnt changed since the day i got him. Ill try the cricket trick but with supper worms. I think hes gotten bored with crickets as thats all the previous owners told me they fed other than his salad. I did try some squash in his salad and he didn't eat it but he hasn't been eating period. What baby foods would be good to try? Sorry for the questions i just need help with his odd behavior. Hes my first and only reptile but im working on convincing my mom into letting me get another beardie from a breeder, not from Craigslist again.