(Long Post)
Background:
I have owned two dragons since 2013. I did a ton of research before getting into it and have always tried to be careful and pay very close attention to detail. I rescued my first dragon from a pretty rough spot at about 2 years old. He was always temperamental, and was a very picky eater. He eventually passed after about a year of owning him from an unknown illness. He just got very sick in a matter of a couple days and passed after I took him to the local (non-exotic) vet.
After a few months of grieving and even more research, I decided to purchase a hatchling from a breeder. I wanted to start from the beginning so I could be sure of the dragon's background, and start off on the right foot. I did a lot of research on breeders and eventually decided to go with Dachiu Bearded Dragons. I looked at their available dragons at the time (February 2015), selected one I really liked, and made the call. The new dragon was set to arrive in two days. I already had an enclosure (40 gallon Exo-Terra), Some ceramic tile, heat lamp fixtures, and a fluorescent tube fixture for the UVB, a light timer, a couple thermometer/hygrometers, and a UT heater hooked up to a thermometer so it would only turn on in the event that the heat lamps fail and it gets below 60 degrees F. I purchased new Zoo Med 75/50 watt basking bulbs, a Zoo Med Reptisun 10.0 fluorescent tube UVB bulb, a new basking rock, another smaller rock, food/water dishes, and supplements (calcium powder w D3, calcium powder w/o D3, multivitamin, and a probiotic). I washed everything meticulously, set up the enclosure, and made sure temperature and humidity were okay before the dragon arrived in the mail. The basking spot was around 105-110 F depending on how long it was under the 75 watt lamp, around 80-85 F in the cooler side of the tank, and around 75-80 for the ambient temperature, with a couple colder spots between the lamps.
I started using two basking lamps this enclosure since my first dragon, as I live in Montana (US), and it gets really cold her during the 7-9 month winters. I had a very hard time keeping the cooler side of the tank above 75ish before I started using two. I used to use a 75 watt for the basking spot, and a 50 watt for the cool side a bit farther away from the top of the enclosure. Nowadays I use two 50 watts that are much closer to the top of the enclosure, so it averages in the 80s but the basking spot stays around 100-105 because the rock is closer to the bulb.
A couple days later (March 10, 2015) the dragon arrived. He was gorgeous. He is a Hypomelanistic/Translucent Dunner. His parents are: "Hypo Belgium Blood Dunner (Het Trans) X Citrus Leatherback (Double Het)". He looked very healthy, great colors, super alert, full belly, and no cosmetic issues other than a very small bite mark at the end of his tail which has never been a problem and one of his eyelids sits very slightly lower than the other one so it makes him look like he is pouting when he looks up, it's adorable. I let him adjust and warm up for the rest of the day, I didn't handle him much at all the first couple weeks either. I fed him 3 times a day with either very small dubia roaches or phoenix worms, and various greens and vegetables (most often collard or mustard greens and a few different types of squash). I gave him calcium powder with his bugs Wed-Sunday, multivitamin on Monday, and no supplements or bugs on Tuesday,just veggies or greens. I continued this feeding pattern for a while, slowly increasing the bug sizes as he grew. He was gaining weight fast, eating/pooping very well and seemed as healthy as ever, not to mention super friendly and well-tempered, he never showed any signs of aggression (and still hasn't to this day). His name is Crowley.
I kept the same patterns going for a few months, mixing up the vegetables, and every so often I'd try a different live feeder like hornworms or super worms, but it was most often dubia, I eventually started breeding them to keep up with his appetite, although he wasn't so voraciously hungry as he was when he was super little so I decreased the feeding to twice a day. He still seemed very happy and healthy and all was well, except he did not like baths, some just don't.
The start of the issues:
After a few months (about 5 or 6), he started eating less on his own and being less responsive to live feeders. Normally even at the sight of the feeding tweezers he would jump around and try to open the cage doors to get to the bugs, but then he started just looking at them uninterested. Around this time I noticed one of his eyes (not the one that gave him the pouty look), stuck out of his head a little further than the other and the "socket" was just a little bigger than the other also, I got really worried and thought maybe he had some sort of growth or he couldn't see out of that side or something. He didn't seem at all bothered by it, but his appetite and energy started to decrease more. It was less than ideal for him at this time, but I ended up having to move to a new house and I was pretty worried it would only make things worse. The new place did have more room, had a lot more natural sunlight, and central air so I could maintain the ambient temperatures better, it seemed okay at first. I had been monitoring his weight since a month after owning him, and it went from constantly increasing to a bit of a plateau. He was 40 grams when I first weighed him and was around 425 grams at this point. After a few more weeks he just stopped responding to live food at all, and wouldn't eat anything else on his own, his poops started to look unhealthy, he didn't run around or want to come out of his cage like normal, his eye thing seemed to be a little bigger also and I was really convinced he was partially blind or something else was really really wrong.
We don't have a reptile or even any exotic veterinarian in MT, and the last time I took a dragon to the local vet, he died two days later, so I wasn't sure what to do. I talked to a few people and they all asked about my temps, lights, his diet and everything else as they should. His temperatures were good, lights were still good, I replaced all the bulbs to be sure, and always made sure his tank was clean, I did everything I could. I did notice that his humidity was a little higher than it should be, so I moved his cage further away from the hallway the bathroom was in, and that solved that issue. I kept his diet the same, but he just wouldn't eat. I figured he was trying to go into brumation, but that seemed strange because it was summer. I was running out of options, so I contacted the breeders. I mentioned the eye, and his lack of energy and appetite. They asked whether I was worried for the sake of cosmetics or his healthy, but they never gave me a clear answer, and didn't respond after that.
Things start to look up: Crowley still wasn't eating, so I looked into a few other options for live food and tried to force feed him veggies. I couldn't force feed him bugs, but I could manage with veggies and supplements, although I had to switch to liquid supplements. I was as gentle as possible, but he still didn't like it. I discovered Repashy Grub Pie and thought I'd give it a try. I knew I couldn't get the "slurry" to work so I just let it solidify and cut it into strips. He still wasn't fond of me getting his mouth open, but once I got the Grub Pie or greens or veggies into his mouth, he ate it and didn't put up any fuss. I eventually got it down to a pattern. I fed him The Grub Pie in the morning, with Greens, liquid calcium Wed-Sun, liquid multivitamin on Monday, and just veggies or greens if I could get him to eat them on Tuesday, which was more often not the case. After a few weeks of this, he seemed to be a little more active, and one day he just perked up. Out of nowhere all of his energy and alertness from when he was little came back. He would claw at the cage to be let out, and run around for a couple hours even sometimes all over the house until he got tired or a little chilly. I would put him back in his cage, & sure enough a few hours later he'd be all over the place in his cage again, and if I ever forgot to latch the doors, he would push them open and jump out onto the carpet to run around even more. He seemed really happy, and although he wouldn't eat food on his own, he was more easy going with the force feeding, gaining weight rapidly again, his poops looked how they should, and his eye thing didn't seem to get any bigger since the last time I thought it was growing. He had a really thick tail and limbs, a full body and was almost 500 grams at this point. Things seemed to be going better. I still didn't understand why he wouldn't eat on his own, I ended up getting rid of my roach colony and just sticking with Grub Pie and different veggies, which sounds like a bad idea, but he seemed to be doing much better than before.
More issues:
Just like when Crowley perked up out of nowhere that day, the opposite happened. He started acting really lethargic and stopped running around all the time, the only time he would perk up was when he had to poop. Since he was little he would always get really active and glass dance all over the place right before he pooped. He was even less willing to eat, and was less responsive in general. He also started to leave his mouth slighty open all the time (not all the way like when they regulate temperature, but just slightly) I thought maybe he was just having a bad week, the batch of grub pie wasn't as good as before, or that he was sick with something. His temperatures and humidity and lighting were still good, and again, I changed the bulbs again just to be sure, but it only seemed to get worse. To make things even less ideal , I had to move locations yet again.
Currently: Crowley is a little over a year and a half old, weights in at about 530 grams, still has a very thick tail and limbs, a full body and really good color. He still won't eat on his own (and is even less willing to eat with me helping), is very lethargic, doesn't even seem to perk up when he has to poop, and pretty much just sits in the same spot all day with his mouth slightly open and his eyes closed. I want to say he looks sick, but thats only because of how he's acting, otherwise he looks good, besides one thing I noticed a couple days ago. The opposite side of where I usually feed him from looks like he got cut or something. Its just a little spot on the inside of his lip thats a little crusted over, its not super dark brown or black, its just darker than the rest of the lip & it looks like he bit down too hard on something, but I'm not sure what exactly it is...I didn't notice anything earlier this week. I still monitor his temperature and lighting, try to feed him at least once a day (sometimes he just will not let me), mist him with water because it's really hot this time of year, give him baths (instead of not liking them like usual, he's just indifferent now), clean his enclosure, and try to get him to run around for some exercise, but he just won't. He just lays down and doesn't really want to be bothered it seems. He's still never been in the least bit aggressive, I've never seen his beard turn black, I've never seen him puff his beard out (other than in the mornings to stretch), and he's never hissed or charged at me or anything (my first dragon always got super aggressive whenever he was in natural sunlight, so I'm well familiar with how that response works). I have no idea what t do at this point.
As I mentioned before, we don't have any sort of exotic vet in Montana (the nearest one is in Colorado) I don't have reliable transportation or the money to travel to other states right now, and I feel as though I've been doing everything as well as I possibly can. Any sort of help is appreciated.
Background:
I have owned two dragons since 2013. I did a ton of research before getting into it and have always tried to be careful and pay very close attention to detail. I rescued my first dragon from a pretty rough spot at about 2 years old. He was always temperamental, and was a very picky eater. He eventually passed after about a year of owning him from an unknown illness. He just got very sick in a matter of a couple days and passed after I took him to the local (non-exotic) vet.
After a few months of grieving and even more research, I decided to purchase a hatchling from a breeder. I wanted to start from the beginning so I could be sure of the dragon's background, and start off on the right foot. I did a lot of research on breeders and eventually decided to go with Dachiu Bearded Dragons. I looked at their available dragons at the time (February 2015), selected one I really liked, and made the call. The new dragon was set to arrive in two days. I already had an enclosure (40 gallon Exo-Terra), Some ceramic tile, heat lamp fixtures, and a fluorescent tube fixture for the UVB, a light timer, a couple thermometer/hygrometers, and a UT heater hooked up to a thermometer so it would only turn on in the event that the heat lamps fail and it gets below 60 degrees F. I purchased new Zoo Med 75/50 watt basking bulbs, a Zoo Med Reptisun 10.0 fluorescent tube UVB bulb, a new basking rock, another smaller rock, food/water dishes, and supplements (calcium powder w D3, calcium powder w/o D3, multivitamin, and a probiotic). I washed everything meticulously, set up the enclosure, and made sure temperature and humidity were okay before the dragon arrived in the mail. The basking spot was around 105-110 F depending on how long it was under the 75 watt lamp, around 80-85 F in the cooler side of the tank, and around 75-80 for the ambient temperature, with a couple colder spots between the lamps.
I started using two basking lamps this enclosure since my first dragon, as I live in Montana (US), and it gets really cold her during the 7-9 month winters. I had a very hard time keeping the cooler side of the tank above 75ish before I started using two. I used to use a 75 watt for the basking spot, and a 50 watt for the cool side a bit farther away from the top of the enclosure. Nowadays I use two 50 watts that are much closer to the top of the enclosure, so it averages in the 80s but the basking spot stays around 100-105 because the rock is closer to the bulb.
A couple days later (March 10, 2015) the dragon arrived. He was gorgeous. He is a Hypomelanistic/Translucent Dunner. His parents are: "Hypo Belgium Blood Dunner (Het Trans) X Citrus Leatherback (Double Het)". He looked very healthy, great colors, super alert, full belly, and no cosmetic issues other than a very small bite mark at the end of his tail which has never been a problem and one of his eyelids sits very slightly lower than the other one so it makes him look like he is pouting when he looks up, it's adorable. I let him adjust and warm up for the rest of the day, I didn't handle him much at all the first couple weeks either. I fed him 3 times a day with either very small dubia roaches or phoenix worms, and various greens and vegetables (most often collard or mustard greens and a few different types of squash). I gave him calcium powder with his bugs Wed-Sunday, multivitamin on Monday, and no supplements or bugs on Tuesday,just veggies or greens. I continued this feeding pattern for a while, slowly increasing the bug sizes as he grew. He was gaining weight fast, eating/pooping very well and seemed as healthy as ever, not to mention super friendly and well-tempered, he never showed any signs of aggression (and still hasn't to this day). His name is Crowley.
I kept the same patterns going for a few months, mixing up the vegetables, and every so often I'd try a different live feeder like hornworms or super worms, but it was most often dubia, I eventually started breeding them to keep up with his appetite, although he wasn't so voraciously hungry as he was when he was super little so I decreased the feeding to twice a day. He still seemed very happy and healthy and all was well, except he did not like baths, some just don't.
The start of the issues:
After a few months (about 5 or 6), he started eating less on his own and being less responsive to live feeders. Normally even at the sight of the feeding tweezers he would jump around and try to open the cage doors to get to the bugs, but then he started just looking at them uninterested. Around this time I noticed one of his eyes (not the one that gave him the pouty look), stuck out of his head a little further than the other and the "socket" was just a little bigger than the other also, I got really worried and thought maybe he had some sort of growth or he couldn't see out of that side or something. He didn't seem at all bothered by it, but his appetite and energy started to decrease more. It was less than ideal for him at this time, but I ended up having to move to a new house and I was pretty worried it would only make things worse. The new place did have more room, had a lot more natural sunlight, and central air so I could maintain the ambient temperatures better, it seemed okay at first. I had been monitoring his weight since a month after owning him, and it went from constantly increasing to a bit of a plateau. He was 40 grams when I first weighed him and was around 425 grams at this point. After a few more weeks he just stopped responding to live food at all, and wouldn't eat anything else on his own, his poops started to look unhealthy, he didn't run around or want to come out of his cage like normal, his eye thing seemed to be a little bigger also and I was really convinced he was partially blind or something else was really really wrong.
We don't have a reptile or even any exotic veterinarian in MT, and the last time I took a dragon to the local vet, he died two days later, so I wasn't sure what to do. I talked to a few people and they all asked about my temps, lights, his diet and everything else as they should. His temperatures were good, lights were still good, I replaced all the bulbs to be sure, and always made sure his tank was clean, I did everything I could. I did notice that his humidity was a little higher than it should be, so I moved his cage further away from the hallway the bathroom was in, and that solved that issue. I kept his diet the same, but he just wouldn't eat. I figured he was trying to go into brumation, but that seemed strange because it was summer. I was running out of options, so I contacted the breeders. I mentioned the eye, and his lack of energy and appetite. They asked whether I was worried for the sake of cosmetics or his healthy, but they never gave me a clear answer, and didn't respond after that.
Things start to look up: Crowley still wasn't eating, so I looked into a few other options for live food and tried to force feed him veggies. I couldn't force feed him bugs, but I could manage with veggies and supplements, although I had to switch to liquid supplements. I was as gentle as possible, but he still didn't like it. I discovered Repashy Grub Pie and thought I'd give it a try. I knew I couldn't get the "slurry" to work so I just let it solidify and cut it into strips. He still wasn't fond of me getting his mouth open, but once I got the Grub Pie or greens or veggies into his mouth, he ate it and didn't put up any fuss. I eventually got it down to a pattern. I fed him The Grub Pie in the morning, with Greens, liquid calcium Wed-Sun, liquid multivitamin on Monday, and just veggies or greens if I could get him to eat them on Tuesday, which was more often not the case. After a few weeks of this, he seemed to be a little more active, and one day he just perked up. Out of nowhere all of his energy and alertness from when he was little came back. He would claw at the cage to be let out, and run around for a couple hours even sometimes all over the house until he got tired or a little chilly. I would put him back in his cage, & sure enough a few hours later he'd be all over the place in his cage again, and if I ever forgot to latch the doors, he would push them open and jump out onto the carpet to run around even more. He seemed really happy, and although he wouldn't eat food on his own, he was more easy going with the force feeding, gaining weight rapidly again, his poops looked how they should, and his eye thing didn't seem to get any bigger since the last time I thought it was growing. He had a really thick tail and limbs, a full body and was almost 500 grams at this point. Things seemed to be going better. I still didn't understand why he wouldn't eat on his own, I ended up getting rid of my roach colony and just sticking with Grub Pie and different veggies, which sounds like a bad idea, but he seemed to be doing much better than before.
More issues:
Just like when Crowley perked up out of nowhere that day, the opposite happened. He started acting really lethargic and stopped running around all the time, the only time he would perk up was when he had to poop. Since he was little he would always get really active and glass dance all over the place right before he pooped. He was even less willing to eat, and was less responsive in general. He also started to leave his mouth slighty open all the time (not all the way like when they regulate temperature, but just slightly) I thought maybe he was just having a bad week, the batch of grub pie wasn't as good as before, or that he was sick with something. His temperatures and humidity and lighting were still good, and again, I changed the bulbs again just to be sure, but it only seemed to get worse. To make things even less ideal , I had to move locations yet again.
Currently: Crowley is a little over a year and a half old, weights in at about 530 grams, still has a very thick tail and limbs, a full body and really good color. He still won't eat on his own (and is even less willing to eat with me helping), is very lethargic, doesn't even seem to perk up when he has to poop, and pretty much just sits in the same spot all day with his mouth slightly open and his eyes closed. I want to say he looks sick, but thats only because of how he's acting, otherwise he looks good, besides one thing I noticed a couple days ago. The opposite side of where I usually feed him from looks like he got cut or something. Its just a little spot on the inside of his lip thats a little crusted over, its not super dark brown or black, its just darker than the rest of the lip & it looks like he bit down too hard on something, but I'm not sure what exactly it is...I didn't notice anything earlier this week. I still monitor his temperature and lighting, try to feed him at least once a day (sometimes he just will not let me), mist him with water because it's really hot this time of year, give him baths (instead of not liking them like usual, he's just indifferent now), clean his enclosure, and try to get him to run around for some exercise, but he just won't. He just lays down and doesn't really want to be bothered it seems. He's still never been in the least bit aggressive, I've never seen his beard turn black, I've never seen him puff his beard out (other than in the mornings to stretch), and he's never hissed or charged at me or anything (my first dragon always got super aggressive whenever he was in natural sunlight, so I'm well familiar with how that response works). I have no idea what t do at this point.
As I mentioned before, we don't have any sort of exotic vet in Montana (the nearest one is in Colorado) I don't have reliable transportation or the money to travel to other states right now, and I feel as though I've been doing everything as well as I possibly can. Any sort of help is appreciated.
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