Juvenile Beardie Brumation or Sickness?

[browncb]

My beardie is 8 months old (we think) and hasn't been eating properly for over a month. He quit eating bugs and salads and I waited a couple weeks then took his poo to the vet for a fecal. The vet said he had coccidia so he was prescribed Albon. We finished the Albon and he still wasn't eating properly. After talking to this vet, I don't know if he even had elevated levels of coccidia based on what they said. I took him to another vet a week ago and she said he looks great and his bloodwork was perfect. I haven't been able to get another fecal because he hasn't been pooping regularly due to not eating much. I've been syringe feeding baby food since this all started and he hasn't lost any weight. I'll take him out of his tank to feed him (he's almost always sleeping) then he will go back to sleep after eating. Does this sound like brumation? The second vet said he could be older than we think he is since we got him from a pet store. Thanks!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

It almost sounds like the vet medicated without any justification to me. Medicating for no
known reason can really mess their system up!
If he is at least 8 months old or older, then it is a good possibility he has been brumating. A
lot of them tend to brumate over the winter to early spring, while others go at the beginning
of winter to spring.
He isn't losing any weight that you can tell? Has his beard been black at all?
Is he basking at all? If he isn't eating much then he wont go to the bathroom often.
Please review your tank setup with us, such as the type/brand of UVB light, supplementation,
temperatures, etc so we can be sure everything is correct for him. If you have pictures too,
got ahead & post some of him along with his setup.

Tracie

 

[browncb]

The first vet that did the fecal isn't a specialist but will see reptiles. I called back to find out the actual count of coccidia and was told they don't generally count so.. The second vet we went to is a specialist that's two hours away. I've been weighing him once every few days and he hasn't lost any weight. He isn't basking at all unless I sit him on his spot, but I haven't been bothering him lately. He sleeps in his hide or under his blanket. He is brightly colored in his tank but when I take him out he darkens slightly. Is he mad that I'm waking him up? He is in a 75 gallon tank. His basking spot is around 95 degrees and the cool side is around 80 degrees. Humidity level is in the mid 30%. He has a Reptisun 10.0 T5 UVB bulb that spans the majority of his tank. I honestly don't remember the brand of basking bulb. I bought one that had good reviews from this group and others. Where I've been feeding baby food, I've been mixing calcium in every couple days and giving Benebac every day. I also got some Critical Care food from the vet. I attached pictures of him and his tank. His tank is bare at the moment because I took most of his stuff out when he was on the meds for coccidia. Thanks for the help! I hope he is just brumating!

 

[CooperDragon]

I agree that it was odd that he was put on Albon. That one in particular can be pretty harsh on their systems. It's good that he isn't losing weight. He looks nice and healthy based on those photos so he may just be going through a slowdown which happens from time to time. Darkening when you take him out could be mood or it could just be that he is trying to get a little warmer or absorb some of the ambient light. If his bloodwork was normal too I'd be inclined to just let him be for now.