Not eating, Not doing anything. Halp ;-;

[Rozen]

Hello! I've been an owner for about 5 months now so im still quite new.

I don't really know whats going on with Dudley, He used to be active and eating loads of crickets. Then Probaly about a week ago he stoped basking on his log and just kept basking on the ground. Then about 2 days ago he stoped eating crickets. He is about 6 months old right now so i went out to the pet store and got him some superworms, He seems to be eating them just not crickets. Should i take him to the vet?

I really don't know what to do. I have a 45 Gallon tank with a T-rex MVB I havent been dusting his food for a long time becasue the only dust that i have is with D3 I dusted them about 2 days ago to see if it would bounce him back but still nothing. I have some pictures of him just to see if anything looks wrong.

I really want him to be as happy as he can be...even if thats not with me. I try so hard to make sure he is doing great and i really want him to stay with me, but if im just making him sick then i dont know if i should be caring for him.

 

[Tigg]

When was the last time he had a bowel movement?

Does he lay like that often? any trouble walking around?

You really should start using a calcium supliment withOUT D3, with the high amounts of UVB that he is getting from his MVB bulb, his body is likely already producing sufficent D3... Too much can become toxic. If you are unable to find it locally you can try online.

How often have you been offering super worms? Beardies can become spoiled very easily, and most tend to prefere worms over crickets... Once they know worms are around they can be pretty stupborn, almost as if they know we will cave and give them what they want.

Do you offer water in the cage? Give baths? or mist your little one?

Perhaps it would be best to answer these following questions as well just to ensure all bases are covered....

How old is your dragon?
How long have you had your dragon?
How long is your dragon?
What is the sex of your dragon?
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in?
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank?
Do you use UVB lights?
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb?
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)?
How old is your UVB bulb?
How close can your dragon get to the UVB?
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage?
What are the basking temps?
What is the cool side temp?
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun?
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps?
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad?
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)?
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc?
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them?
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)?
Do you bath your dragon? How often?
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath?
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon?
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done?

 

[spurlee01]

Don't give up, that sweet face needs you! Answering the questions above will definitely help us help you. He looks like he might be a bit dehydrated. If you havn't bathed him today, you might want to give him a bath in warm water up to his armpits.
Sara

 

[Rozen]

How old is your dragon?
Most likely around 6-7 months
How long have you had your dragon?
6 Months
How long is your dragon?

What is the sex of your dragon?
Male
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in?
46 Gal
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank?
Rep Carp
Do you use UVB lights?
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb?
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)?
T-rex 100watt MVB
How old is your UVB bulb?
3 months
How close can your dragon get to the UVB?
15 inches
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage?
150 watt Solar glo
What are the basking temps?
109.4
What is the cool side temp?
70-80
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun?
Digital probe
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps?
Right next to where he is.
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad?
No~
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific.
Crickets but now super worms
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)?
3 times a dau
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc
Yup
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them?
Used to but not anymore
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)?
So far yes
Do you bath your dragon? How often?
3-4 Times a week
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath?
No
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon?
No
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done?
Not yet

Thanks so much for the fast replys

 

[Tigg]

OK going on your response I would say that your beardie needs a nice loooong soak tonight... 20 min, keep the water warm, and the level up to his arm pits. make sure the vent is submergerg.

Try lightly flicking your finger in the water just enough to cause ripples in front of him, hopefully he will take a drink, if not drip some water off your finger onto his nose until he starts to lap up the water. you can even try very, very gently pressing down on his head to bring his mouth to the water, some people have a lot of success with this... If he resist, struggles, or becomes very stressed stop right away.

Get yourself some Calcium suplement WITHOUT D3 and begin dusting 1 meal per day 5 times a week this is extremely important!

You can also pick up some multi vitamins at the same time and dust his meals 1 time a day on the 2 days per week you are not offering calcium.

Lastly, dropping off a stool sample to your local reptile specialist would be a great idea just to be sure he is in good health, this can be done very cheap.

 

[spurlee01]

Your setup looks great overall. The only thing that might be of concern is the temp. Some dragons do not like it to be that hot. I try to keep Lilly's (my 6 m/o) under 105 otherwise she doesn't want to eat or bask. 109* could also cause some dehydration. If that doesn't help, you should probably get a fecal exam done. Keep us updated.
Sara

 

[Rozen]

Will do. Anyone know a site where i can get good Calcium dust and vits that ship to canada?

 

[Reven1337]

First of all 109 is perfect for a dragon of his age (105-110 for juvies). It is not until they are adults that the temps need to be lowered to 100-105.

The real questing is when is the last time he has had calcium???
Where in Canada do you live that doesnt have a pet store? im in ontario and every pet store i go to has calcium supplements.

My concern is if he will only eat supers then how are you going to get calcium into him? I have found that calcium sticks very poorly to mealies and supers.

You cannot starve a beardie of calcium... i would goto the vet and get some liquid calcium asap. Once his system gets the calcium back in it he should turn around.

The only reason i think this is because your husbandry is perfect and calcium was the only thing that stuck out like a sore thumb. No calcium = MBD eventually.

 

[spurlee01]

I'm not trying to be argumentary I just want you to be aware that some dragons function better at certain temperatures within the range. Lilly refused to bask when her temps were 109* thus refused to eat much. I changed her to a bulb that gets about 97-102 (even though she's only 6 m/o) she does so much better now. She basks a much higher portion of the day and thus eats more. I wish I could tell you what sites ship to Canada, but calcium is important. As for the calcium, you could do liquid, a spray-on on veggies if your little one eats them, or you can dust 10ish crickets then feed supers. I don't know if this will work but you could also try wetting the super just a little bit then sprinkling powder on them.
Sara

 

[Reven1337]

Oh Sara i was not attempting to be argumentative either. Every dragon is of course different, but the general consensus is that juvies are better off between 105-110 so far as i have read. Adjustment can definetly be made on an individual basis of course. Im sorry if i came across more aggressively than i had intended too.

As for wetting the super/mealies. It could work but i just want to share my personal experience with it; I tried this when my little girl started her anti-cricket hiatus, i found it just created mud. the mealies couldnt move properly and therefore didnt catch her attention the way they usually did. But of course thats not to say that it will have the same effect with your dragon. He/she might love em that way

I think liquid calcium might be the best bet to get him/her back on track, but im sure there are other options that i have neglected to process lol.

Best of luck to you.

 

[spurlee01]

Sorry if I came across as rude I really didn't mean to. I was trying to emphasize the huge differences tiny adjustments will make in a beardie, I think I came off as rude. Yeah, I have never tried dusting mealworms (I don't feed them because the shell is hard to digest and they aren't very nutritious) or superworms so that was just an idea, no idea if it would work.
Sara

 

[MALIBUSMOM]

Do you know you can feed super worm as astaple n you do not need crickets? Yup!Salad n supers dusted w/o the d3!Malibu thrives this way.She also likes raspberries n clover n dandelion from the yard.

 

[Reven1337]

Supers as a staple is a good thought as long as the dragon is over 16 inches.

In this case the dragon is 6 months old, 16 inches would be rather large at 6 months i would think.

It would probably work ok, however there is an impaction risk at anything below 16 inches. To me personally it just isnt worth the risk.

Even still, supers are not the answer to not having enough calcium if that is indeed what the issue is.

To the original poster, I will ask again where in Canada you live, maybe then i can help you find somewhere that has the calcium without d3 that you need.

Keep us posted and good luck.

 

[spurlee01]

Lilly is almost 7 m/o and almost 15" so I tried feeding her the small superworms. I have gotten her to eat one two different times, but now she'll have nothing to do with them. She had no trouble digesting those two times, but these were obviously very small portions. No idea about where to get them in Canada. I pm'd a member from Canada and asked her to send you sites if she knows of any.
Sara

 

[diamc]

Hi there, I was just reading through this thread and noticed that you're using a 100 watt T-Rex AND a 150 watt Solar Glo. The Solar Glo is also a mercury vapor bulb, are you sure you aren't using a Sun Glo which is just a basking bulb? If they are both MVB's then that is really too much ultra violet rays for that tank. And, 250 watts seems like an awful lot for only a 46 gallon tank. Could you give us the measurements of the tank?

Does your digital thermometer have a long wire & probe end? If not, that's the type you need. But, if it does, make sure you are placing the probe right on (touching) the basking area, waiting about 45 min for the temp to stop rising before you get the final readings.

Once you fill us in on this, we can help with further details. :wink: