Not eating. High liver parameters

[slewis]

Hi
I have a bearded dragon whose about 18 months ago. He has always been a fussy eater and veg wise, he only really eats rocket and kale. He doesn't really eat any fruit.

About 7 weeks ago, he's food intake started to decline. About 6 weeks ago, he had his last wax worm and he hasn't eaten since. We have been to the vets. He has checked his mouth and body. All seem OK. He put him on a course of antibiotics and treated him for a common gut bactaria. We also started syringe feeding him and upped the baths to daily. No change.

Back to the vets for a poo sample and bloods. Poo sample was clear but the bloods shows low calcium, understandable due to lack of food (we are putting nutrobal in his syringe food) and the Vet said that his liver parameters are high. He is now on a course of hepaticare and we were advised to up his feeding to twice a day. Still no change.

At first I thought it might be brumation but he is so active. In fact, far more erratic than normal. He is constantly stratching at the doors to get out, when we let him out, he stratches constantly at the back door.

I've changed the UV and temps are 110 hot end and 80 cooler end. There have been no other environment changes.

Any ideas or help would be really appreciated.

Thanks

Sally

 

[CooperDragon]

It's a good sign that he is alert and active. How is his weight holding up? I'd encourage him to run around and explore if he wants to, if you have a safe area for him to do so. I also suggest providing him with plenty of water via drops on his nose. You may want to offer some milk thistle to help his liver. The milk thistle and extra hydration may help out so a new blood test might be a good idea after a month or two of that.

 

[slewis]

Thanks for your reply.
His weight hasn't changed a gram. Still 570g.
We do put drops on his nose with reptoboost in the water.
Shall I add the milk thistle too or instead of reptoboost?

 

[CooperDragon]

OK that's a good sign that his weight is stable. I'd try some milk thistle in addition to the water/reptaboost and see if that helps. It's been known to help with some liver problems.

 

[slewis]

Can you recommend one? Liquid or powder? Do you know what quantities I should use?
Thanks so much.

 

[CooperDragon]

I think liquid would be easier to dose, but I'm unsure of the specifics. I don't think you need much. Tracie may be able to help you with that. I would send her a PM if she doesn't come across this thread. Her username is Drache613.

 

[Taterbug]

Just FYI, one of the active ingredients in Hepaticare is Silybin which is essentially the same (though I think more potent) component in milk thistle.

What is your dragons insect diet like? Pepper had a similar issue (low appetite, high bile acids) and was put on hepaticare (bacon flavor, he loved it. weird booger). Diets with a fairly high fat content (how often did he get wax worm?) and even fasting can put on a strain on the liver as it balances processing, storing and releasing fats. In peppers case his love of superworms seems to have ben the culprit.

You'll need to have more bloods run after using the meds for a while, thought your vet may be able to run just the bile acids for a lower fee.

Pepper still doesn't have a huge appetite but the hepaticare did help get his numbers back in order (the liver is pretty regenerative) and he is on a low fat diet now.

 

[CooperDragon]

Just FYI, one of the active ingredients in Hepaticare is Silybin which is essentially the same (though I think more potent) component in milk thistle.

Ah, that's good to know! Thanks.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Just checking to be sure your dragon is a male & not a female, in case she could be developing follicles or reabsorbing eggs.
It is a great sign he is active & maintaining weight, too.

Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie

 

[slewis]

Hi Tracie,

He is still the same. And he is definitely a he.

Sally

 

[slewis]

Just FYI, one of the active ingredients in Hepaticare is Silybin which is essentially the same (though I think more potent) component in milk thistle.

What is your dragons insect diet like? Pepper had a similar issue (low appetite, high bile acids) and was put on hepaticare (bacon flavor, he loved it. weird booger). Diets with a fairly high fat content (how often did he get wax worm?) and even fasting can put on a strain on the liver as it balances processing, storing and releasing fats. In peppers case his love of superworms seems to have ben the culprit.

You'll need to have more bloods run after using the meds for a while, thought your vet may be able to run just the bile acids for a lower fee.

Pepper still doesn't have a huge appetite but the hepaticare did help get his numbers back in order (the liver is pretty regenerative) and he is on a low fat diet now.

He generally has locusts but wax worms and Morio worms a couple of times per week. How did you encourage Pepper to start eating again?

 

[Taterbug]

He still doesn't have a big appetite and doesn't eat nearly as much as some other dragons seem to.

I'll give him a salad every day, somedays he eats it all and other doesn't touch it. I offer him bugs at random rather than in a schedule and I'll offer healthy options first (roaches or soldier fly larvae) and things like morio worms infrequently so he doesn't expect them. If he is hungry he will eat them. He also has the option to hunt or free feed on roaches in his cage.

Still. Sometimes he eats, some times he doesn't. He has maintained good body condition and weight so I just leave him to his preference at this point. Next checkup I'll probably get bloods done again but since he doesn't have other symptoms of ill health I just don't best not to worry over it.

 

[slewis]

How long has it been going on with Pepper?
I hope he fully recovers soon.

 

[Taterbug]

How long has it been going on with Pepper?
I hope he fully recovers soon.

He was on the hepaticare 1.5-2 years ago, and was taken off after a round of it (I forget how long he took it). His bile acids went down but he seemed more off his appetite (but love the flavor of it). A recheck after being off it his numbers were still down and he was put on his lower fat diet (limited super worms).

Other than his food habits he is active and a happy, healthy goober as far as we can tell. Hopefully the treatment helps your little one

 

[slewis]

Wow. I wasn't expecting that timescale. I better get ready for a possible long haul! We are back to the Vets this Saturday for a check up.

Thanks for your help and good luck with Pepper. I hope he continues to do well. ?