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[Zucchini]

We got our guy Lenny in February. He is alittle over 6 months old now. We absolutely adore him but he constantly has us worried.

We haven't brought our guy to the vet yet. I have been worried about finding one that knows what they are doing. I don't want to create a problem with him but his behavior is changing a bit. If he is in his cage he goes strait to his cave after a few minutes of running around and he wont come out till we take him out. So i have reached out to a local reptile rescue to see who they use.

When he is out of his cage he seems super happy and had no stress marks. When he is in his cage he spends most of his time in his cave and wakes up in the morning with stress marks.

He is in a 40gal tank with a 100 watt basking bulbs and a zoo med HO 10 T5 24 inch light.

Is basking temp is at 97.

He is pooping normal. He currently isn't eating much but I think he is a bit over weight.

I would like to get him a basic fecal test and bloodwork just to make sure everything is working as it should.
He refuses salads but we are trying. He eats primarily hornworms and Dubia's. Which we gut load the Dubia's with squash and greens. The most he will do is lick a veggie. We get him bsfl and he will eat some but he is so lazy we won't get up for them. Out daughter has to pick him up and put him near the food.

He doesn't lick much water off his nose when we try but his poops always have a ton of extra juice to them.

How does he look? Does anybody see any concerns with how he looks?

 

[acidburn01]

Reading acidburns post made me think of something else also. When i first got Sinatra he didn't have line of sight into the house, he was really jumpy, but he was knew to me so i didn't know him yet. After a while he didn't calm dowm much and i knew something was off. I moved him so that know he has line of sight and he chilled right out.

That's a good idea. The room in general could be throwing him off, if only they made some sort of noise to let us know.

 

[xp29]

That's a good idea. The room in general could be throwing him off, if only they made some sort of noise to let us know.

We would all sleep better for sure lol

 

[Zucchini]

That's a good idea. The room in general could be throwing him off, if only they made some sort of noise to let us know.

Reading acidburns post made me think of something else also. When i first got Sinatra he didn't have line of sight into the house, he was really jumpy, but he was knew to me so i didn't know him yet. After a while he didn't calm dowm much and i knew something was off. I moved him so that know he has line of sight and he chilled right out.

We moved him to his current spot in April and this behavior didn't start till June but I have seen him jump when we come into a room. So I know he does get startled sometimes.

 

[Zucchini]

That's a good idea. The room in general could be throwing him off, if only they made some sort of noise to let us know.

Thank you.... he has a vet appointment Thursday. If his health is ok then we will start getting him a bigger tank and stuff. Although last time we moved things around he sulked about that. I had to put it all back the way it was.

 

[xp29]

My boy is the same way, if i even put his food dish in a different spot he gets upset lol.
When you take your dragon to the vet, don't let them do an enema under any circumstances. There was a beardie here just last week that the vet killed doing so. We see it way to much. If they want a fectal, collect one and take it in. They want it within 24 hours and don't refrigerate it.

 

[Zucchini]

My boy is the same way, if i even put his food dish in a different spot he gets upset lol.
When you take your dragon to the vet, don't let them do an enema under any circumstances. There was a beardie here just last week that the vet killed doing so. We see it way to much. If they want a fectal, collect one and take it in. They want it within 24 hours and don't refrigerate it.

Thank you for the heads up.

My husband was worried about even doing a blood test. I have been avoiding going to the vet because I don't want any horror stories like that.

 

[xp29]

Your welcome
They did one on Zen without my consent once and i nearly lost him. Just be careful, vets are a business first and a hospital second (if it suits them a lot of the time) especially with exotics.

 

[acidburn01]

Thank you for the heads up.

My husband was worried about even doing a blood test. I have been avoiding going to the vet because I don't want any horror stories like that.

They do tend to sulk when you move stuff, they don't respond well to change. If he's jumping when you come into the room, that may be part of it. How often does everyone hold him/is he socialized.? See if he's interested in hand feeding. Maybe something is scaring him and a little love/bonding from his owners is all he needs. They aren't social with each other, but they're super social with us.

 

[Zucchini]

They do tend to sulk when you move stuff, they don't respond well to change. If he's jumping when you come into the room, that may be part of it. How often does everyone hold him/is he socialized.? See if he's interested in hand feeding. Maybe something is scaring him and a little love/bonding from his owners is all he needs. They aren't social with each other, but they're super social with us.

He gets held for probably 3 hours a day. He will eat anything moving with hand feeding. We didn't feed him for 24 hours other then offering a salad and today he did eat a couple pieces of Arugula 5 pieces of squash and some bslf.

 

[xp29]

They do tend to sulk when you move stuff, they don't respond well to change. If he's jumping when you come into the room, that may be part of it. How often does everyone hold him/is he socialized.? See if he's interested in hand feeding. Maybe something is scaring him and a little love/bonding from his owners is all he needs. They aren't social with each other, but they're super social with us.

I'm finding some of mine actually are social with each other. Ruby and Sweet Pea will go to each other pretty much any time they are out. They both will snuggle with whoever they can get close to. They prefer each other but will snuggle with Snickers or Sinatra if they can't get to each other. I still would never co-hab them, they do vie for dominance once in a while. but they are absolutely besties . I know this won't apply to every dragon but they are capable of bonding with each other. This is pretty much every night now. Those two will climb over whoever else is there to get to one another.

 

[acidburn01]

He gets held for probably 3 hours a day. He will eat anything moving with hand feeding. We didn't feed him for 24 hours other then offering a salad and today he did eat a couple pieces of Arugula 5 pieces of squash and some bslf.

Try taking a fat hornworm, like a good sized one for his size and wrap it half in a leaf and offer it to him, he'll eat the worm and a leaf. I'm betting he eats more than you think. My 1 year old are the same but I notice their salad bowls look a tiny bit less full some days. Just keep giving salad and he'll nibble as he wants. He won't let himself go hungry, as long as all else is okay. They're just like toddlers, he may just being picky. Did you try crickets.?

 

[Zucchini]

Try taking a fat hornworm, like a good sized one for his size and wrap it half in a leaf and offer it to him, he'll eat the worm and a leaf. I'm betting he eats more than you think. My 1 year old are the same but I notice their salad bowls look a tiny bit less full some days. Just keep giving salad and he'll nibble as he wants. He won't let himself go hungry, as long as all else is okay. They're just like toddlers, he may just being picky. Did you try crickets.?

Oh... he won't touch crickets. He is very picky. My kids are super picky why not the lizzard too. I just don't want him to have any health problems. Thanks for all the suggestions. We will keep trying things.

 

[Zucchini]

I'm finding some of mine actually are social with each other. Ruby and Sweet Pea will go to each other pretty much any time they are out. They both will snuggle with whoever they can get close to. They prefer each other but will snuggle with Snickers or Sinatra if they can't get to each other. I still would never co-hab them, they do vie for dominance once in a while. but they are absolutely besties . I know this won't apply to every dragon but they are capable of bonding with each other. This is pretty much every night now. Those two will climb over whoever else is there to get to one another.

I'm not telling my daughter about this she is already asking for another because she wants to breed them. My daughter is 11 and absolutely adores reptiles.

 

[xp29]

That-a-girl lol
Not all beardie will be social though, I've got a couple I've got to watch pretty close. I've got a very dominant male that is over 1000 grams, he would kill my smaller male in a heartbeat given the chance. And my youngest female is just a darned bully, she is 1/3rd the size of Zen (my big male) but she bullies even him.
The two that are besties are both rescues and were neglected pretty bad before i got them, i think that plays a huge part in their demeanor.

 

[Zucchini]

That-a-girl lol
Not all beardie will be social though, I've got a couple I've got to watch pretty close. I've got a very dominant male that is over 1000 grams, he would kill my smaller male in a heartbeat given the chance. And my youngest female is just a darned bully, she is 1/3rd the size of Zen (my big male) but she bullies even him.
The two that are besties are both rescues and were neglected pretty bad before i got them, i think that plays a huge part in their demeanor.

Guess who came out of his cave ate a great meal of bsfl, hornworms, and veggies today. He is still going to his first vet appointment tomorrow just to make sure his fecal and bloodwork is good. We had new furniture delivered today and he hid when they were here. I think you guys are right something is scaring him.