Hiding for Several Days - Concerned

[Mirrorakay]

About two weeks ago, my beardie Zeke, started camping out in his cave for several days on end. He is awake and alert while in the cave, but he is refusing to come out to eat or bask. At first I let him do as he pleased, but he his in his cave for four solid days. I started to get really worried and have been taking him out of the cave every morning, but by the time the afternoon rolls around, Zeke is back in the cave. Thing is, once I get him out of the cave he will eat and bask like normal. Then all of a sudden he'll go back into the cave and do nothing until I pull him out again. I would take him to a vet, but the only herp vet in my area is awful. The vet throws medication at every problem without properly looking Zeke over; when Zeke went into brumation in November the vet put him on a dewormer because captive dragons aren't "supposed" to brumate so he wanted to treat for parasites.

Another question is how often should an adult beardie shed? Zeke's last shed was September and he has showed no signs of shedding since.

Anyways, some info about Zeke.
2 years old
Basking Temp 103 F
Hot Side 90 F
Cool Side 80 F
UVB Reptisun 10.0 (4 months old) mounted inside tank
Tile floor
Poo is about every other day and is normal, if a bit small
Gets a 20 min bath 3 times a week
Staple Food: collards, mustard greens, turnip green, butternut squash
Occassionally gets variety of veggies and a bit of fruit once a week
He gets a variety of live feeders: butterworms, hornworms, superworms, occasional wax worm (he won't touch crickets or roaches)

 

[shygurl0189]

Sorry to hear that your zeke doesnt seem to be doing well. I can think of maybe 2 things that you could try. First is if you can try to lower the temp on the warm side about 5 degrees. Maybe hes trying to cool off some? my second suggestion depends on how old your UVB bulb is. My big male did the same thing about 3-4 months ago and someone told me to change my UVB bulb. About 2 days after i did he was back to normal. I guess my bulb was old so he wasnt getting enough rays.


hope he does better

 

[Mirrorakay]

I did lower my temps today and so far he is still out after I pulled him out of the cave this morning. The warm side is still at 90 F, but his basking is now sitting at 100 F. He is sitting on his basking spot. Strange thing is, when Zeke first started this, my basking temp was at 100 F and I upped it slightly to see if he wanted it warmer. It seems like some months Zeke likes the temps a little warmer and others he likes them cooler. However, he's never done this hiding thing because the temps weren't where he liked them.

My UVB is 4 months old.

 

[bayoupig5]

My Emmalee always brumates (my vet doe not think this is unusual), first was at 9 months old, for two months, second was at 1 year for 5 months, third year was only for two weeks. This refers to straight hiding in cave brumation. However, in saying that she always seems to take a while to completely come out, even when awake, and will often try to hide in her cave, every now and then. What I try to do is plug up the entrance, which seems to work. She does tend to cool side quite a bit, and sleep, but cannot use the cave. She will do this cool side routine for a few days, and then go back to normal. She seems to be very in tune with the current weather condition here, so if it's cooler even by a bit or cloudy this increases her sleep time. Emmalee is never fully awake until June, every year.

UV bulb should be fine, Reptisun 10 says it is good for a year, but I change mine every 6 months.

One other point Emmalee has never been on anti parasitics just as a measure, and this was not suggested by my vet. What I have done is let her brumate, and wait for the first poop which can take as long a 6 weeks! Take the sample to the vet for testing to see whether she needs an anti parasitic, and so far she has not.

I think that as long as he is eating, his weight is good, he's pooping and eating as normal your beardie should be fine. He just may be slow to get back to normal like my Emmalee.

 

[Mirrorakay]

That's the thing. He fully came out of brumation in February. He was running around his tank, eating, basking, and doing everything perfectly normal until two weeks ago. This isn't brumation or anything to do with it.

And the vet I've used doesn't like to test poop for parasites; he pushes the meds for no good reason. When I want him to test the poop, he says there is no need because Zeke has had parasites before. We're talking when Zeke was 9 months old! It's been over a year since then and the vet still thinks it is a reason to put Zeke on meds for everything.

Also, I should mention the adjustment of temps didn't turn out to be the solution. Almost immediately after posting Zeke went back into his cave

 

[bayoupig5]

Sounds like you are in a catch 22 with the vet!!

The only other thing that springs to mind is this...meds are hard on the dragons system and sometimes upset the normal gut bacteria, therefore throwing off the natural balance in a dragons metabolic system. This can cause discomfort, and a whole bunch of other things.

Feeding yogurt helps to promote good bacterial growth, but it has to be non dairy, low sugar. So if you are going to try it use a soy yogurt. You can also search around in this site for post regarding this.

You may also want to contact Drache613, you can usually find her on Beardie ER. She is very knowledgeable .

Lastly, one year I had tried Reptaid for Emmalee when she was really having a hard time breaking out of her brumation (even though you are sure this is not what your dragon is experiencing), she was sleepy, not eating, hiding all the time. This lasted for two months before the Reptaid, and it really seemed to help. You can find post about Reptaid on this site a s well.

Good Luck, I know I am currently having trouble with mine too, they really like to keep you guessing and worried...don't they?