wikidinc528
Member
First just let me answer these questions and get them out of the way.
How old is your dragon? I am guessing 9 mo. to 1 year, but have no idea. I was told six months but don't believe it.
How long have you had your dragon? 8 days
How long is your dragon? A little over 13 inches
What is the sex of your dragon? male
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in? 4'x2'x18"
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank? Slate tile
Do you use UVB lights? Yes
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb? Mercury Vapor
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)? Powersun UV 100 W
How old is your UVB bulb? A week and a half
How close can your dragon get to the UVB? 8 inches
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? no, just the MVB
What are the basking temps? They range from 95F to 115F (There are steps of stones and wood so he has choices)
What is the cool side temp? Low 80s
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun? Proexotics Temp Gun
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps? I aim the gun at the surface of the basking stone/wood.
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad? No
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific. Protein: Combination of superworms, phoenix worms, and turkish latteralis roaches. Veggies: I use the Beautiful Dragons nutrition guide as a personal guide. Currently he receives Collards, acorn squash, occasionally some yam. I have given him prickly pear before, too. I have only seen him eat collards, a bite of p.pear, a bite of strawberry and some squash baby food since I have had him.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)? I place a fresh, misted (water) salad in his viv in the morning along with a bowl worms. Sometimes if I can't get him to eat protein in the morning I will try again after I get home from work around 5 ish.
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc? Yes
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them? Calcium: RepCal w/ D3, 5x week. Vitamin: Herptivite, every four days.
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)? First two days I had him, he had a BM twice a day, then it went to once a day. I am not sure if he had a BM today as I was away and he is now asleep so I don't want to disturb him.
Do you bath your dragon? How often? I want to bathe him 3x a week, but have only been able to do it 1x a week as I don't want to over handle him and stress him out because he is still adjusting. I bathed him 4/12 and 4/19.
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath? He has a water bowl that is changed daily and is also sprayed at least once a day, sometimes twice.
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon? No, he's flying solo.
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done? No. I have a vet appt. on 4/29. I did a fecal check myself today. See my post below.
Okay my problem is that I think I am getting conflicting information. I have heard that "fat and lazy lizards will be fat and lazy" and then I have heard that healthy beardies will be more active. I know that my bd is going through relocation stress and I have been trying to cause him as little stress as possible. He was not offered proper veggies in his previous two homes and I understand that it will take time before he learns that he should eat them. I understand that his parasite loads can be all out of whack and that with time it should stabilize. However, I am noticing things that I don't think are normal. I used to have Green Anoles and Iguanas and I don't think I ever witnessed this.
My bd seems to have narcolepsy. He sleeps all night, sometimes refuses to wake up in the morning, and then sleeps on his basking spot all day. This seems like too much sleeping to me. He will not go to his food dishes, I have not seen him drink any water while misting or from his dish (I know they don't like water dishes so much.) In order to get him to eat, I have to wake him up. Once he is fully awake and aware of his surroundings then he will notice the movement of the bugs and eat them. I feel that if he wasn't hungry then he wouldn't eat and that I am not forcing food on him in this way. However, if I don't wake him up, then he won't eat. As soon as he is done eating, he runs to his basking spot and falls asleep. The only other activity I notice from him is him getting all antsy right before he has to poop. Then he poops and promptly falls back asleep. I have talked to a few folks and they don't think it is normal that he is sleeping this much, however, another person I know says he is fine.
I posted before about a lump he has on his beard, and that will also be addressed on 4/29 with the vet. However I have read about different things that can happen when a lizard is infested with parasites and so I ran a fecal on him. Parasite infestation can lead to decreased appetite and lethargy. Before I start getting rude comments, understand that I am a biochemist and have access to a full lab. Not only that but I work currently with slide preparation. So I did a wet mount of my bd's feces taken from three different areas in the stool. I saw pinworms, a coccidia oocyst (or possibly a pinworm egg, I didn't want to go to oil immersion) and spirochete bacteria. The fecal I ran today is in no way replacing the fecal count that the vet will run. I just wanted to see for myself. I have considered Reptaid as a treatment but want to speak to the vet first. Also I know this vet, he works in my hospital and is seeing my bd out of the kindness of his heart, so I am pretty sure that he won't push unnecessary treatments on me. I plan to take a stool sample with me when I take my bd on 4/29.
So does he sound sick or just extremely lazy? I know I am worrying and probably a little unjustly, but it is only because I care.
Thanks,
Jenny
How old is your dragon? I am guessing 9 mo. to 1 year, but have no idea. I was told six months but don't believe it.
How long have you had your dragon? 8 days
How long is your dragon? A little over 13 inches
What is the sex of your dragon? male
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in? 4'x2'x18"
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank? Slate tile
Do you use UVB lights? Yes
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb? Mercury Vapor
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)? Powersun UV 100 W
How old is your UVB bulb? A week and a half
How close can your dragon get to the UVB? 8 inches
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? no, just the MVB
What are the basking temps? They range from 95F to 115F (There are steps of stones and wood so he has choices)
What is the cool side temp? Low 80s
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun? Proexotics Temp Gun
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps? I aim the gun at the surface of the basking stone/wood.
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad? No
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific. Protein: Combination of superworms, phoenix worms, and turkish latteralis roaches. Veggies: I use the Beautiful Dragons nutrition guide as a personal guide. Currently he receives Collards, acorn squash, occasionally some yam. I have given him prickly pear before, too. I have only seen him eat collards, a bite of p.pear, a bite of strawberry and some squash baby food since I have had him.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)? I place a fresh, misted (water) salad in his viv in the morning along with a bowl worms. Sometimes if I can't get him to eat protein in the morning I will try again after I get home from work around 5 ish.
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc? Yes
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them? Calcium: RepCal w/ D3, 5x week. Vitamin: Herptivite, every four days.
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)? First two days I had him, he had a BM twice a day, then it went to once a day. I am not sure if he had a BM today as I was away and he is now asleep so I don't want to disturb him.
Do you bath your dragon? How often? I want to bathe him 3x a week, but have only been able to do it 1x a week as I don't want to over handle him and stress him out because he is still adjusting. I bathed him 4/12 and 4/19.
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath? He has a water bowl that is changed daily and is also sprayed at least once a day, sometimes twice.
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon? No, he's flying solo.
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done? No. I have a vet appt. on 4/29. I did a fecal check myself today. See my post below.
Okay my problem is that I think I am getting conflicting information. I have heard that "fat and lazy lizards will be fat and lazy" and then I have heard that healthy beardies will be more active. I know that my bd is going through relocation stress and I have been trying to cause him as little stress as possible. He was not offered proper veggies in his previous two homes and I understand that it will take time before he learns that he should eat them. I understand that his parasite loads can be all out of whack and that with time it should stabilize. However, I am noticing things that I don't think are normal. I used to have Green Anoles and Iguanas and I don't think I ever witnessed this.
My bd seems to have narcolepsy. He sleeps all night, sometimes refuses to wake up in the morning, and then sleeps on his basking spot all day. This seems like too much sleeping to me. He will not go to his food dishes, I have not seen him drink any water while misting or from his dish (I know they don't like water dishes so much.) In order to get him to eat, I have to wake him up. Once he is fully awake and aware of his surroundings then he will notice the movement of the bugs and eat them. I feel that if he wasn't hungry then he wouldn't eat and that I am not forcing food on him in this way. However, if I don't wake him up, then he won't eat. As soon as he is done eating, he runs to his basking spot and falls asleep. The only other activity I notice from him is him getting all antsy right before he has to poop. Then he poops and promptly falls back asleep. I have talked to a few folks and they don't think it is normal that he is sleeping this much, however, another person I know says he is fine.
I posted before about a lump he has on his beard, and that will also be addressed on 4/29 with the vet. However I have read about different things that can happen when a lizard is infested with parasites and so I ran a fecal on him. Parasite infestation can lead to decreased appetite and lethargy. Before I start getting rude comments, understand that I am a biochemist and have access to a full lab. Not only that but I work currently with slide preparation. So I did a wet mount of my bd's feces taken from three different areas in the stool. I saw pinworms, a coccidia oocyst (or possibly a pinworm egg, I didn't want to go to oil immersion) and spirochete bacteria. The fecal I ran today is in no way replacing the fecal count that the vet will run. I just wanted to see for myself. I have considered Reptaid as a treatment but want to speak to the vet first. Also I know this vet, he works in my hospital and is seeing my bd out of the kindness of his heart, so I am pretty sure that he won't push unnecessary treatments on me. I plan to take a stool sample with me when I take my bd on 4/29.
So does he sound sick or just extremely lazy? I know I am worrying and probably a little unjustly, but it is only because I care.
Thanks,
Jenny