Please help - Unwell beardie

[slewis]

Hi

I am hoping someone may be able to help me.

We have had a beardie since November. He was 2 - 2 1/2 months when we brought him from a reptile shop, which has good reviews. We have him in a tank 4ft x 2ft x 2ft. Temperatures are digitally monitored and are 80 on the cooler side and 100-105 on the warm side. He has a UV light on for 12 hours, which I replaced recently.

Hugo was growing really well and had a wealth appetitite up until about 6 weeks ago. He mainly ate spring greens and had up to 8 locusts a day. He never really ate anything else. I tried him on a rainbow of fruit and veg but he never ate any of it.

About 6 weeks ago, he stopped eating and started sleeping a lot. When this persisted from over a week, we took him to see a specialist. We have been back twice, but they cannot find any cause. They ran his bloods, which were all ok and tested him for atadenovirus, which again was clear.

However, he is still only barely eating and sleeping for most of the day. He has maybe 4 locusts a week and no fruit or veg. He has become constipated, I guess through dehydration, perhaps due to the lack of food intake. We have been bathing him regularly and massaging his belly, which does eventually help.

His weight loss is now visible and I am really worry.

He use to love coming out of the viv, but he doesn't really like being handled at the moment. He hates baths - always has - he finds them quite stressful, which hasn't helped as we have had to increase the frequency due to his constipation.

We are at a bit of a loss really and are hoping someone may have some helpful insight or advice.

Thanks

Sally

 

[AHBD]

Hi Sally....so is his age about 8 months then ? Is he a large dragon ? It may be brumation, although he is young for it but some fast growing beardies at times will go down for a bit. It may also be that he's dehydrated . Try offering water on his snout, and to help him poo you don't need to increase the baths,one soak a week is fine. You can give him baby food squash, prunes, canned pumkin, applesauce or juice [ try to get unsweetened ] and with any combination of those you can add about 1/4 teaspoon of veg. oil or raw [ unpasteurized ] honey. You might also get a fecal test done to rule out parasites. Can you post a few pics here to show his condition as well as his tank set up ? Here's how:
https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/
Then hit XIMG

 

[Derz13]

I would agree on the fecal, a multitude of parasites could be the cause for a decrease in appetite and constipation. Since you have been to the vet already before they may allow you to just bring in a fecal sample without having to pay an exam fee, just the cost of the fecal exam.

If you have or are able to purchase a simple kitchen scale, it'd be best to monitor his weight loss weekly. I would have thought it was brumation but if he is losing weight quickly then I would most likely rule that out.

Using a dropper or syringe to drip water on his nose is a good way to get young and even adult beardies to drink some water. Continue rubbing the belly as it does help.

Are you using any supplementation for the live protein?

 

[slewis]

Hi

He is a large dragon, even the vet commented on this. We do drip water on his nose, we have even used a syringe to ensure that he has drunk something.

We did a fecal test, that was also clear.

When you say baby food, do you literally mean baby food from a jar?

I think I have attached the photos. I just went to the link and uploaded them. Hopefully it worked.

Thanks for your help.

Sally

 

[CooperDragon]

Yeah baby food from a jar dripped on his nose for him to lick up. I've had good luck using green beans, squash, and sweet potato baby food. Do add the photos to your thread, press the XIMG button and select the photo you'd like to post.

 

[slewis]

 

[kingofnobbys]

Hi

I am hoping someone may be able to help me.

We have had a beardie since November. He was 2 - 2 1/2 months when we brought him from a reptile shop, which has good reviews. We have him in a tank 4ft x 2ft x 2ft. Temperatures are digitally monitored and are 80 on the cooler side and 100-105 on the warm side. He has a UV light on for 12 hours, which I replaced recently.

.... is the UV a 10% or higher UVB ?
If not , part of the problem will be your beardie can't get close enough to it (if it's only a 5% UVB) to get the very high levels of both UVA and UVB it needs to be healthy and have a strong appetite .
UVA promotes activity and helps increase a lizard's appetite, UVB is essential at high levels to produce vitD and to assist in the metabolisation of dietary calcium.
I recommend returning the existing UV light and exchanging it for a UV light that is rated at 10% UVB (and 30% UVA) AT LEAST and try to make it possible for the beardie to get quite close to the UV light as they need extreme levels of both UVA and UVB ( ie a combined UVI higher than 14).

ALSO - 12 hours is WAY TOO SHORT , is more like winter in the natural habitat of central bearded dragons IN WINTER and likely to cause the bearded dragon to shut down thinking it's winter, I STRONGLY RECOMMEND INCREASING THE period the heat and all lights are on per day to 15 - 16 hours per day which will be like they experience in summer in their natural habitat in central tropical Australia in summer and the breeding season, this will all adequate time for the beardie to bask , warmup to digest it's food, and soak up very high levels of BOTH UVA and UVB.
.

Hugo was growing really well and had a wealth appetitite up until about 6 weeks ago. He mainly ate spring greens and had up to 8 locusts a day. He never really ate anything else. I tried him on a rainbow of fruit and veg but he never ate any of it.

About 6 weeks ago, he stopped eating and started sleeping a lot. When this persisted from over a week, we took him to see a specialist. We have been back twice, but they cannot find any cause. They ran his bloods, which were all ok and tested him for atadenovirus, which again was clear.

However, he is still only barely eating and sleeping for most of the day. He has maybe 4 locusts a week and no fruit or veg. He has become constipated, I guess through dehydration, perhaps due to the lack of food intake. We have been bathing him regularly and massaging his belly, which does eventually help.

His weight loss is now visible and I am really worry.

He use to love coming out of the viv, but he doesn't really like being handled at the moment. He hates baths - always has - he finds them quite stressful, which hasn't helped as we have had to increase the frequency due to his constipation.

We are at a bit of a loss really and are hoping someone may have some helpful insight or advice.

Thanks

Sally

I recommend you try to obtain some HerpaBoost Reptile Suppliment, many reptile keepers here in Australia use it for helping sick and injured bearded dragons recover and it is designed by reptile vets.
http://vetafarm.com.au/product/herpaboost/ , you may also need Crittacare Reptile http://vetafarm.com.au/product/crittacare-reptile/ . I've used these with injured rescued skinks and they work wonders.
Also if he's not eating much he is likely not getting sufficient dietary calcium , I recommend you also obtain some CalciVet (Solution).
http://vetafarm.com.au/product/calcivet/ ,also used this with injured / sick rescued skinks with considerable success - found they like the taste of it too, licking it off the fingers sometimes.
You'll need a proper feeding syringe and large crop needle to give these (especially HerpaBoost as it's a thick slurry).
http://vetafarm.com.au/product/reusable-feeding-syringe/
http://vetafarm.com.au/product/medication-tube-crop-needle/ .... probably a 10G for full grown bearded dragon, 14G for a juvenile bearded dragon , if you contact the supplier by email they will advise the appropriate size, I've found they are very helpful when I needed advise on using their products
I have no doubt these are available where you live , likely from your vet or by mailorder.

I notice you appear to have a sand and stone bedding of some kind - BAD IDEA. I'd remove that and replace with a non-particulate bedding ASAP as they do ingest sand with food and it can result in impaction.

I also noted you have what appears to be fake green leafy plants in the enclosure - very risky as bearded dragons have been known to try to eat plastic green leafy bits, I've actually caught Peppa trying to nibble some fake green leafy things on her grotto the on the very first day I got her, needless to say the grotto came out and took to it with a Stanley knife to remove the green plastic leafy things , fortunately I interceded in time. If your's has been eating the fake greenery , this will definitely cause impaction.