TeddyLC
Member
Hello, all! I haven't been here in a while... life kind of got crazy over the winter and into spring, but everything had been going well with Wade. Now, I've been kind of freaked out...
My beardie is just shy of 11 months old now. I've had him since November. He was pretty mellow, but had a great appetite and good energy when out of his tank. Great sleeping habits, ate greens, loved roaches - easily ate 15-30 a day depending on the size - and pooped reliably once a week, etc.
For the last couple of weeks, however, he's been extremely listless. He still runs around outside of his viv just fine and has no issues with mobility or balance, but inside of his tank, he barely moves and has pretty much stopped eating. It's a struggle to get him to even eat five roaches a day - some days he won't eat any - and he's only been picking at his salad at best, leaving more than half of it untouched every day. He has been staying in the same spot for 12-24 hours at a time, whether it's at the edge of his basking spot or in his enclosure; I know because even his limbs will be positioned exactly, or maybe one leg will have moved. The lack of eating worried me, but only a little; he always seems to lose his appetite when he's due to poop, and gets it back roughly 24 hours after defecation is complete, and sometimes he just doesn't eat very much but then his appetite picks up again after several days.
The part that freaked me out completely was when I woke up yesterday to find that he had pooped in his bed while sleeping so that he was lying, eyes still closed, in the middle of very wet stool. Once I started mopping around him to pick up the worst of the mess, he woke up and seemed to realize how gross it was because he began edging away, but even that was pretty lazy. I've never seem him just let loose in the middle of the night before. His bowel movements have always been very purposeful, out in an open area of his tank, away from his cave. For just the last few days, once in a while, he'll also close his eyes and give a little head twitch. He doesn't shake or shiver in general, and the twitch is mostly when I'm annoying him by trying to get him to eat... I haven't noticed any twitches at all when he's left alone to just hang out. The bizarre defecation plus the lack of appetite for over a week plus the lethargy plus the occasional twitching has me completely freaked out, although I'm relieved that when he does move, his energy is totally fine. He doesn't look skinny to me, either; his belly still hangs nice and solid.
I know he probably has some degree of calcium/vitamin deficiency because for the past couple of months he absolutely refuses to eat anything that's been dusted with either his Herptevite or Repticalcium. I manage to sneak some into his salad sometimes before he cottons on and avoids it, too. His temps seem fine - 105-110 under his basking lamp, 75-80 on the cool side of his tank. I tried giving him some sugar-free organic apple sauce, but he won't open his mouth for it... I wondered if it was dehydration, but A) he drinks some water about every other day when I pester him with it, and B) his stool has always had moisture, so I don't think that's it. His salad alternates mustard greens and collard greens and the occasional little bit of kale; if he's not drinking I'll give him just a tiny bit of lettuce, but I haven't needed to in like two months. He won't touch anything else. :\ Hates squash and pumpkin and such. Absolutely won't eat at all outside of his tank; never has. How do I get him to eat? He's still too young to be brumating, isn't he? Does he look okay? The pooping in his sleep is weird, isn't it?
EDIT: Sorry, forgot to add - he's got a Reptisun 10.0 UVB lamp plus a basking bulb. Both are from late November, so only about 4.5mo old. His main protein is dubia roaches, or was when he was eating. No loose substrate of any sort. He responds normally to physical stimuli. Legs work fine. Both eyes seem to be responsive to movement. He just finished a half-shed about a month ago.
My beardie is just shy of 11 months old now. I've had him since November. He was pretty mellow, but had a great appetite and good energy when out of his tank. Great sleeping habits, ate greens, loved roaches - easily ate 15-30 a day depending on the size - and pooped reliably once a week, etc.
For the last couple of weeks, however, he's been extremely listless. He still runs around outside of his viv just fine and has no issues with mobility or balance, but inside of his tank, he barely moves and has pretty much stopped eating. It's a struggle to get him to even eat five roaches a day - some days he won't eat any - and he's only been picking at his salad at best, leaving more than half of it untouched every day. He has been staying in the same spot for 12-24 hours at a time, whether it's at the edge of his basking spot or in his enclosure; I know because even his limbs will be positioned exactly, or maybe one leg will have moved. The lack of eating worried me, but only a little; he always seems to lose his appetite when he's due to poop, and gets it back roughly 24 hours after defecation is complete, and sometimes he just doesn't eat very much but then his appetite picks up again after several days.
The part that freaked me out completely was when I woke up yesterday to find that he had pooped in his bed while sleeping so that he was lying, eyes still closed, in the middle of very wet stool. Once I started mopping around him to pick up the worst of the mess, he woke up and seemed to realize how gross it was because he began edging away, but even that was pretty lazy. I've never seem him just let loose in the middle of the night before. His bowel movements have always been very purposeful, out in an open area of his tank, away from his cave. For just the last few days, once in a while, he'll also close his eyes and give a little head twitch. He doesn't shake or shiver in general, and the twitch is mostly when I'm annoying him by trying to get him to eat... I haven't noticed any twitches at all when he's left alone to just hang out. The bizarre defecation plus the lack of appetite for over a week plus the lethargy plus the occasional twitching has me completely freaked out, although I'm relieved that when he does move, his energy is totally fine. He doesn't look skinny to me, either; his belly still hangs nice and solid.
I know he probably has some degree of calcium/vitamin deficiency because for the past couple of months he absolutely refuses to eat anything that's been dusted with either his Herptevite or Repticalcium. I manage to sneak some into his salad sometimes before he cottons on and avoids it, too. His temps seem fine - 105-110 under his basking lamp, 75-80 on the cool side of his tank. I tried giving him some sugar-free organic apple sauce, but he won't open his mouth for it... I wondered if it was dehydration, but A) he drinks some water about every other day when I pester him with it, and B) his stool has always had moisture, so I don't think that's it. His salad alternates mustard greens and collard greens and the occasional little bit of kale; if he's not drinking I'll give him just a tiny bit of lettuce, but I haven't needed to in like two months. He won't touch anything else. :\ Hates squash and pumpkin and such. Absolutely won't eat at all outside of his tank; never has. How do I get him to eat? He's still too young to be brumating, isn't he? Does he look okay? The pooping in his sleep is weird, isn't it?
EDIT: Sorry, forgot to add - he's got a Reptisun 10.0 UVB lamp plus a basking bulb. Both are from late November, so only about 4.5mo old. His main protein is dubia roaches, or was when he was eating. No loose substrate of any sort. He responds normally to physical stimuli. Legs work fine. Both eyes seem to be responsive to movement. He just finished a half-shed about a month ago.
But I'll try leaving him alone, and if he poos in his sleep again, I'll look up a reptile vet. It seems strange to me for him to go into brumation at this time of year when it's getting warmer instead of colder... I guess his instincts are still on Australian time!
