Reptar is showing signs that he is going into brumation, but I am worried it is too soon. We live in South Dakota and the temp is still in the mid 70s. I know parasites can also cause these symptoms, but I am not sure he has them. I have been getting his feeder insects from the same source for the last year and we have never had a problem with them. Should I take him to the vet just incase?
Temperature: Basking Spot- 100 F, Cool Side- 83 F
UVB: Reptisun 10.0 (note: I bought this last November, so it is almost time to replace it. Could this be the cause of his lethargic behavior?)
Food: dubia roaches, collard greens, mustard greens, red bell peppers (every three weeks), prickly pear cactus (occasional), turnip greens (occasional)
Calcium: three times a week
Multivitamin: once a week Bath once a week and Reptar drinks water from an oral syringe daily.
It is a bit early but that doesn't mean it's not brumation. Some dragons do go down early.
Had it been awhile since his last fecal? It's never bad to have one done just in case.
Actually we have one that goes down in June every year! So, they can go into brumation early in the fall. As long as he is healthy there is no reason why he shouldn't be allowed to slow down some. How old is Reptar? You could get a fecal done on him just to be sure worms/parasites are not an issue.
Your tank setup looks fine to me, also.
Update: So I took Reptar to the vet this morning. He has developed some sort of bacterial infection in his stomach. I am supposed to give him 0.3 cc of Baytril 100 mg/ml every day for the next week or so. Hopefully that will fix the problem. I am also considering giving Reptar Bene-Bac, because last time he had Baytril it really messed up his gut flora.
Benebac is good, too, if you can find it locally. Then you can order from Tracie.
Give him the probiotic opposite time of day as the med. So if you medicate in the am, give it to him before bed. That way it digests in his stomach all night before the next med. That's what I've been doing.
I have 3 that are fully asleep, Cierra and Nathaniel are 2 1/2 yrs old, Castiel is 2 yrs old. Nathaniel has been down since mid July. Cierra went down, got back up and now is down again. Castiel has been down for a few weeks. Today, Imp, my 11 mo old, decided to block the opening of his hide with newspaper (his substrate) and sleep for the day. He can't brumate 100%, needs a fecal and is way too young. I'm still trying to get weight on him, he's just a slim dragon.
So yes, they can go down at any time of the year. With a fecal done and not feeding him and if so, then making sure he does a few poops before he goes down for the winter.
And there's a really good article at the top of the page and the article on brumation is really good. You should read it.
I used to like bene-bac too until I found out that it has Enterococcus in it. While that isn't likely to cause any harm to a reptile, it can cause some serious health issues for humans if it's ingested so if you do use it, be sure to thoroughly wash surfaces it comes in contact with and wash your hands well after using it. You will also want to thoroughly sanitize surfaces that are pooped on because the poop may contain Enterococcus as well. In my opinion it isn't worth the risk so I only use probiotics without it.