juvenile rankins dragon going into brumation?

[rhendriks]

i have a 7-8 month old rankin's dragon that i believe is trying to brumate. he hasn't eaten anything in a few weeks. he's laying in one spot, half sleeping most of the day. i've given him a warm electrolyte bath which seemed to perk him back up for a day, but still no eating, and hes back to sleeping in his hide today. im very very worried about him going this long without eating as he doesn't have adequate weight to lose. i've tried contacting the exotic vet in my area several times to which they just say bring him in for an appointment but are disregarding my question of if i should be waking him up during this time or if i should just let him do his thing-im not trying to stress him out or mess with his rhythm. my temps are all correct, i'm monitoring them daily, and my UVB bulb is only from september so it should still be perfectly fine. please let me know any advice/if i should be trying to keep him awake & basking.

 

[KarrieRee]

i have a 7-8 month old rankin's dragon that i believe is trying to brumate. he hasn't eaten anything in a few weeks. he's laying in one spot, half sleeping most of the day. i've given him a warm electrolyte bath which seemed to perk him back up for a day, but still no eating, and hes back to sleeping in his hide today. im very very worried about him going this long without eating as he doesn't have adequate weight to lose. i've tried contacting the exotic vet in my area several times to which they just say bring him in for an appointment but are disregarding my question of if i should be waking him up during this time or if i should just let him do his thing-im not trying to stress him out or mess with his rhythm. my temps are all correct, i'm monitoring them daily, and my UVB bulb is only from september so it should still be perfectly fine. please let me know any advice/if i should be trying to keep him awake & basking.

What uvb are you using? Coil- long tube fixture-- he's too young to brumate-- how are you taking surface basking temps? Digital probe thermometers are the most accurate - what are you feeding for a staple insect feeder?

 

[rhendriks]

i know hes too young for brumation, i need to know if i should be waking him up/bathing/getting him to bask or if its okay to bring him to a vet. this has been going on for several weeks, my lighting is all correct & i know what different insects i can feed. T5 10.0 reptisun uvb 24" tube with T5 HO hood fixture bought september 15th. using a digital probe thermometer. crickets daily, dusted with calcium every other day. daily salad of kale, carrots, bell pepper, berries. again, he is going into brumation-he will not eat. food has never been an issue neither have my temps. i just need to know if i should be waking him up.

 

[KarrieRee]

i know hes too young for brumation, i need to know if i should be waking him up/bathing/getting him to bask or if its okay to bring him to a vet. this has been going on for several weeks, my lighting is all correct & i know what different insects i can feed. T5 10.0 reptisun uvb 24" tube with T5 HO hood fixture bought september 15th. using a digital probe thermometer. crickets daily, dusted with calcium every other day. daily salad of kale, carrots, bell pepper, berries. again, he is going into brumation-he will not eat. food has never been an issue neither have my temps. i just need to know if i should be waking him up.

Ok so lets make sure your UVB is correctly placed - where is the UVB top of screen or inside the tank - if its on the screen the screen needs to be a wide holed type if its a fine mesh it needs to be inside the tank - screens block out approx 30% of the rays and if its off w/ placement and distance he wont eat -- so we need to rule this out for a cause - what about a parasite test? too many can cause lack of appetite and brumation type of behavior (lethargic)

 

[rhendriks]

Ok so lets make sure your UVB is correctly placed - where is the UVB top of screen or inside the tank - if its on the screen the screen needs to be a wide holed type if its a fine mesh it needs to be inside the tank - screens block out approx 30% of the rays and if its off w/ placement and distance he wont eat -- so we need to rule this out for a cause - what about a parasite test? too many can cause lack of appetite and brumation type of behavior (lethargic)

its on top of the screen, this product is made to go on top of zoo med terrarium screens (high output hood). its never been an issue since i got him, this behaviour only started when the days started getting shorter. how is a parasite test conducted?

 

[KarrieRee]

its on top of the screen, this product is made to go on top of zoo med terrarium screens (high output hood). its never been an issue since i got him, this behaviour only started when the days started getting shorter. how is a parasite test conducted?

The screen will still block uvb rays- we always recommend the uvb go in the tank for a fine mesh or unblock the uvb- take the screen off cut it - you want the bulb unobstructed - coincidence for the behavior - he won't eat if that uvb is being blocked - parasite test are done by the vet take a fecal in NO ENEMAS please they can end in disaster - call the vet ask them if you can drop a fecal off for parasite test - they like a 24 hr sample
www.arav.org if your in a small town type in a bigger city zip code

 

[rhendriks]

The screen will still block uvb rays- we always recommend the uvb go in the tank for a fine mesh or unblock the uvb- take the screen off cut it - you want the bulb unobstructed - coincidence for the behavior - he won't eat if that uvb is being blocked - parasite test are done by the vet take a fecal in NO ENEMAS please they can end in disaster - call the vet ask them if you can drop a fecal off for parasite test - they like a 24 hr sample
www.arav.org if your in a small town type in a bigger city zip code

I just don't understand because he's eaten completely fine with that UVB set up since i got him. He's not pooping because hes not eating, so i dont know how i could collect a fecal sample

 

[KarrieRee]

I just don't understand because he's eaten completely fine with that UVB set up since i got him. He's not pooping because hes not eating, so i dont know how i could collect a fecal sample

Feed some baby food pumpkin w/ a drop of olive oil and 2 drops of honey- you may haft to force feeding w/ syringe- I would adjust the uvb first- see what he does - dragons will stop eating if they cannot absorb the calcium they are ingesting-

 

[rhendriks]

i have a 7-8 month old rankin's dragon that i believe is trying to brumate. he hasn't eaten anything in a few weeks. he's laying in one spot, half sleeping most of the day. i've given him a warm electrolyte bath which seemed to perk him back up for a day, but still no eating, and hes back to sleeping in his hide today. im very very worried about him going this long without eating as he doesn't have adequate weight to lose. i've tried contacting the exotic vet in my area several times to which they just say bring him in for an appointment but are disregarding my question of if i should be waking him up during this time or if i should just let him do his thing-im not trying to stress him out or mess with his rhythm. my temps are all correct, i'm monitoring them daily, and my UVB bulb is only from september so it should still be perfectly fine. please let me know any advice/if i should be trying to keep him awake & basking.

went in to the exotic vet in my area after trying to get ahold of them over the phone for 2 weeks and got no where. explained the situation, asked if they could do a parasite test. vet told me "its not a parasite. if it was he'd be eating more" (which i know makes no sense, didn't even give the test a chance). vet told me to keep waking him up and force feed mealworms. i said won't that cause impaction? vet said "no. if you're not doing your research from a university then it is not true or valid". vet said i need to bring him in for a physical exam. i said "so you don't think bringing him in would cause more stress/make matters worse?" vet looked me in the eyes and said "he is going to die." and told me to go elsewhere. i am mortified. i can only get in to the other exotic vet after new years holiday. I STILL DO NOT KNOW IF I SHOULD BE WAKING HIM UP/BATHING HIM/GETTING HIM TO BASK IN THE MEAN TIME. i need this question answered asap!!!!!!!!

 

[KarrieRee]

went in to the exotic vet in my area after trying to get ahold of them over the phone for 2 weeks and got no where. explained the situation, asked if they could do a parasite test. vet told me "its not a parasite. if it was he'd be eating more" (which i know makes no sense, didn't even give the test a chance). vet told me to keep waking him up and force feed mealworms. i said won't that cause impaction? vet said "no. if you're not doing your research from a university then it is not true or valid". vet said i need to bring him in for a physical exam. i said "so you don't think bringing him in would cause more stress/make matters worse?" vet looked me in the eyes and said "he is going to die." and told me to go elsewhere. i am mortified. i can only get in to the other exotic vet after new years holiday. I STILL DO NOT KNOW IF I SHOULD BE WAKING HIM UP/BATHING HIM/GETTING HIM TO BASK IN THE MEAN TIME. i need this question answered asap!!!!!!!!

Did you adjust your uvb? Inadequate surface basking temps and uvb will cause brumation like behavior- too many parasites will cause lack of eating as well-- find a vet that will do a parasite test but NO enemas- they can end in disaster and we never recommend them-- did you feed the baby food pumpkin?

 

[AHBD]

It's possible that he's doing a short brumation. I wish I would have seen this before you took him to the vet who seems to have wasted your time + money. You don't need to keep waking him but post a pic of the little guy to show his full body .He's probably going to be fine, try not to worry too much.