History: my little guy/girl (not sure yet) is very disabled. We adopted him from Petsmart because they couldn't sell him and they really didn't have a good place to keep him other than temporarily. Not sure what his exact problem is but he doesn't hold his hands flat. He actually walks sort of on the tops of them. I'll add a pic. His hind legs don't work well at all. He kind of flails them around when he tries to move. And a portion of his tail is missing as well. Other than these physical disabilitis he's always been a great eater and happy to have attention. We got him end if March 2015 and I'd say he was any where from 2-4 months when we got him. He wasn't real small but he was small. But since he has this disability I wasn't sure if his growth was stumped along the way. No one knew what was wrong with him just that they couldn't sell him. No, I've not take him to the vet. He has been healthy and growing like crazy since we got him so I felt there was no need to take him in.
Habitate: 20 gallon terrarium. With a long uvb light and a heat spot light. Cool side averages 82 hot side averages 100. He has carpet and a little bark with a hidy hole. Bark is propped so he can bask closer to uvb. I bought the set up at Repticon from a reputable breeder. His tank is in our living room so we interact with him throughout the day.
Food: we have fed him mealworms but not to worry we no longer do that. We feed him crickets and super worms now. I offer greens and veggies but he hardly ever touches them and I always dust the crickets with calcium and also vitamins a few days a week. He always has a shallow bowl with fresh water as well.
Problem: having a lizard is new to us but I have read up on it and have talked to other pet owners and breeders when I've had the chance.
Draco, our beardie, has been a gem. Great pet, super friendly, and always ate great. Always pooped on his own. We soak him several times a week and he seems to be ok with it but doesn't love it.
About last week (aug. 6ish) I noticed he wasn't eating as much. And he wasn't pooping as much. Makes since if he wasn't eating much. During this time I got a new shipment of superworms (first time for those) and crickets. They are both new suppliers for me as well. I noticed that after a few days he just wasn't eating. His first day of not eating was this saturday. He wouldn't eat anything. He seemed skittish and paranoid. Any movement or sound and you could see him flinch. I also noticed his eyes would look scared. Big eyes. Not sure how else to describe it. I guess pupils would enlarge. He has been shedding his head thst week as well so I didn't really worry much cause I know that can bother them. But then by Monday morning he just looked rough. You could tell he was getting dehydrated and really lethargic and he wanted to hide all day which isn't normal for him. I had been doing my research and I could see there could be a few reasons behind this change. So, Tuesday I took a stool sample to an exotic animal vet. They tested for parasites and thst all came back clear. There wasn't anything in his sample to this k he had parasites. The vet wants me to bring him in but I honestly don't have the funds to take him in now. I started to force feed him tuesday. I read on here somewhere that stage 1 baby food chicken flavor and children's pedialyte fed through a syringe would be a good start to hydrate him and get some protein in him. So I've been doing small doses of that off and on for the last 2 days. He looks better but still refuses food. I even bought Dunia roaches and kind of half peed his mouth and he ate about half of it. I was hoping a different type of food would entice him. I hate to force feed him. He absolutely hates it but not sure what else to do with him. I mixed some calcium and vits with the concoction I made. I even mashed up a bit of mango hoping the sweetness would make him eat more. He kind of gives in once I start to feed him. I have to hold his head still so he doesn't have much choice. Lol poop little guy. I haven't seen any sores or anything wrong with him. Sometimes I feel he wants to eat but can't. Not sure that makes sense. He checks the food out and sometimes he looks like he might go for it then he turns away and closes his eyes. It's so frustrating cause I just want to see him eat one little bug!
I think I've covered everything and anticipated any general questions. Any advice would be great. Worse case scenario if he's doesn't improve over the next week I'll scrape up the money and take him to the vet. I just don't want to spend the money and have the vet say he doesn't know or give me some generic diagnosis. I'd like to try everything I can before I dish out money.
Thanks for your time in reading this book I've written. Lol any help or aduce will be greatly appreciated. Also, a little Fyi about me and my family. Draco is actually my 5 yr olds. He's absolutely in love and fascinated with animals and insects. Very smart and not your typical 5 yr old. He's very good with Draco. Everything he does is with my supervision. I am a nursing student so I have some medical knowledge.
Habitate: 20 gallon terrarium. With a long uvb light and a heat spot light. Cool side averages 82 hot side averages 100. He has carpet and a little bark with a hidy hole. Bark is propped so he can bask closer to uvb. I bought the set up at Repticon from a reputable breeder. His tank is in our living room so we interact with him throughout the day.
Food: we have fed him mealworms but not to worry we no longer do that. We feed him crickets and super worms now. I offer greens and veggies but he hardly ever touches them and I always dust the crickets with calcium and also vitamins a few days a week. He always has a shallow bowl with fresh water as well.
Problem: having a lizard is new to us but I have read up on it and have talked to other pet owners and breeders when I've had the chance.
Draco, our beardie, has been a gem. Great pet, super friendly, and always ate great. Always pooped on his own. We soak him several times a week and he seems to be ok with it but doesn't love it.
About last week (aug. 6ish) I noticed he wasn't eating as much. And he wasn't pooping as much. Makes since if he wasn't eating much. During this time I got a new shipment of superworms (first time for those) and crickets. They are both new suppliers for me as well. I noticed that after a few days he just wasn't eating. His first day of not eating was this saturday. He wouldn't eat anything. He seemed skittish and paranoid. Any movement or sound and you could see him flinch. I also noticed his eyes would look scared. Big eyes. Not sure how else to describe it. I guess pupils would enlarge. He has been shedding his head thst week as well so I didn't really worry much cause I know that can bother them. But then by Monday morning he just looked rough. You could tell he was getting dehydrated and really lethargic and he wanted to hide all day which isn't normal for him. I had been doing my research and I could see there could be a few reasons behind this change. So, Tuesday I took a stool sample to an exotic animal vet. They tested for parasites and thst all came back clear. There wasn't anything in his sample to this k he had parasites. The vet wants me to bring him in but I honestly don't have the funds to take him in now. I started to force feed him tuesday. I read on here somewhere that stage 1 baby food chicken flavor and children's pedialyte fed through a syringe would be a good start to hydrate him and get some protein in him. So I've been doing small doses of that off and on for the last 2 days. He looks better but still refuses food. I even bought Dunia roaches and kind of half peed his mouth and he ate about half of it. I was hoping a different type of food would entice him. I hate to force feed him. He absolutely hates it but not sure what else to do with him. I mixed some calcium and vits with the concoction I made. I even mashed up a bit of mango hoping the sweetness would make him eat more. He kind of gives in once I start to feed him. I have to hold his head still so he doesn't have much choice. Lol poop little guy. I haven't seen any sores or anything wrong with him. Sometimes I feel he wants to eat but can't. Not sure that makes sense. He checks the food out and sometimes he looks like he might go for it then he turns away and closes his eyes. It's so frustrating cause I just want to see him eat one little bug!
I think I've covered everything and anticipated any general questions. Any advice would be great. Worse case scenario if he's doesn't improve over the next week I'll scrape up the money and take him to the vet. I just don't want to spend the money and have the vet say he doesn't know or give me some generic diagnosis. I'd like to try everything I can before I dish out money.
Thanks for your time in reading this book I've written. Lol any help or aduce will be greatly appreciated. Also, a little Fyi about me and my family. Draco is actually my 5 yr olds. He's absolutely in love and fascinated with animals and insects. Very smart and not your typical 5 yr old. He's very good with Draco. Everything he does is with my supervision. I am a nursing student so I have some medical knowledge.
The foot + leg problems would be calcium deficiency [ weak bones causing him to walk on the back of his wrists + cause weak back legs ] so you've probably kept it from progressing further. The tail would have been bitten by a former tank mate. If he was 2-3 months when you got him, he could be somewhere around 8-9 months ? You say he's pretty big ? Sometimes they can go through a period of lack of appetite as they near full size. 
