Possibly Dehydrated Bearded Dragon! Need HELP Fast!

[TheRealGamer03]

Ok, I got the UVB tube installed today, there is an image down below (sorry for bad quality, I took this at night). I took him to the vet again today, and he has lost 3 grams since I saw them 2 weeks ago, and he now only ways 7 grams. The actual exotics specialist wasn't there today, but I had talked to him a few days before, and he said to just keep doing what were doing, which is force feeding Spike the Repta+Boost and the vegetable slurry. They did give him an antibiotic today, just to see if its an infection, parasites, worms, etc. I am very worried for him, and is there anything else I can do?

PS. He did eat one cricket today, but I literally had to pick him up, put him right in front of the cricket, and then he ate it while he was still sitting in my hand, showing that he seems very lethargic.

New Setup:

 

[TheRealGamer03]

Oh and one other thing. Whenever I go into the terrarium, even the basking side doesn't feel super warm, or what I would think 105 degrees F. would feel like, but I know the rock is between 95 - 100 degrees F. Is he still getting the heat, or do I need to lower the lamp, and get a lower basking rock?

 

[Ofthelime]

The basking spot should be the warmest point, slightly cooler on the ground is fine.

 

[TheRealGamer03]

So as long as the rock is warm, that means he is getting warm right?

 

[Ofthelime]

To an extent, typically if the basking spot is hot enough the warm end is fine. What does it read out to be on the floor?

 

[TheRealGamer03]

On the floor, it is about 95-100 degrees F.

 

[Ofthelime]

As long as the cool end is 75-80 degrees as well then you are all set.

 

[TheRealGamer03]

Update:

Yesterday, he became a whole different lizard! The day before (2/11/15) we had taken him to the vet and found out that he had lost 33% of his body weight from when we last weighed him at the vet (about 2 weeks ago, more or less). We were down to very little options, and the vet gave him some meclizine (or something along those lines) as a last hope kind of thing. Well, the next day (yesterday 2/12/15), when I got home from school, I was completely shocked. He was standing on all fours on top of his rock, eyes fully opened, and very alert. I was curious, and put in a cricket or two, and for the first time in a month, he actually flew off his rock, and snatched the cricket right up. I lefts some crickets in his cage to see what he would do, and by the end of the day I calculated he had eaten 4-6 crickets, and through the entire day I was watching him run around his cage, being extremely alert, and acting like a completely different lizard! I am still completely and utterly amazed, as is the rest of my family, considering the fact that we were coming very close to having to make the decision to put him down, and out of his misery, to him eating, being active, and being super alert.

Now today (2/13/15), he doesn't have as much energy than he did yesterday, but he was still 10x better than what he has been in the last month. He ate 3 crickets, was still alert, and I am still very happy and excited to see how well he is doing. He is a bit more tired and lethargic (by that I mean, not moving as much as yesterday, but still moving a lot. When I came to check on him at about 6:30, he was laying down, appearing to try to be sleeping. I am assuming this is because this is the first time in weeks that he has been this active and actually had something in his stomach. I did wake him up, and force-fed him some more Repta+Boost (I have been force-feeding him it for about a week now, but I didn't do it yesterday, as part of a treat for him doing so well). I then gave him a very short, like 5 minute bath, because he didn't seem to want to take a bath, so I caved and put him back in his cage, and he is now soaking up the heat on the bottom of his basking rock. He is still alert, and like I said, he ate 3 crickets today, and he did chase after one of them, he didn't exactly chase the others because they kind of stupidly came to him, but he still chased on of them.

He is doing very well it seems, but I'm not going to be to naive, as I know that this has only been going on for 2 days, and could take a very sharp turn back to where we were. However he seems to be doing much better, obviously as described above. My only questions are, is there anything else I can do, that might keep him active? Is it normal that he has been trying to go to bed sooner, now that he is being so active, and eating, and tiring himself out?

Thank you all for your help, and here 2 pictures of how well he was doing yesterday (I didn't take pictures today, because I figured I would give him some alone time)

 

[Ofthelime]

Well this is quite the thing to hear, very good that everything worked out.

 

[TheRealGamer03]

So, is it normal for him to be acting more tired, due to the abrupt change in attitude, movement, diet, etc.?

 

[DovahDad]

Interesting... are you sure the vet gave him meclizine? As far as I can tell, it's an anti-vertigo, anti-nausea medicine. If we know for sure what medicine the vet gave him, it might help us figure out what was/is wrong.

 

[TheRealGamer03]

No, i was just about to edit that, I had heard it wrong, the drug that they gave him was called metronidazole. Sorry for th confusion, given how different they are.

 

[DovahDad]

I see. How has he been today - tired? Has he been eating? Let's see how he's doing tomorrow.

If the metronidazole really helped him so much, he may have had an overgrowth of protozoan parasites. It may have knocked them out, giving him back his energy. Not sure why he'd be flagging again - maybe the meds were hard on his system, or maybe the parasites weren't all knocked out. Only your vet could say for sure.

You could try to get a poo sample in a ziploc baggie while it's still wet and bring it to your vet, who can then check it for parasites (if it's still pretty fresh). You can keep it in the fridge. Weird, I know, but that's life with a bearded dragon!

 

[TheRealGamer03]

Well I wouldn't say he is starting to get worse, just that he wasn't as active. He still was all around his cage, it was just around like 6 or 7 o clock that he started to get a little drowsy, but after I woke him up and fed him the Repta+Boost and gave him a bath, he was still decently awake and alert until about 8:20, because when I went back up to check on him at about 8:50ish, he was asleep. I normally turn off his UVB and Basking light at 9:30ish, and turn on the red night light. So I wouldn't say he's flagging again, just that he was slightly less active, but he was still a lot better than the last month, but I will see how it goes.

Thanks again for all the help!

 

[TheRealGamer03]

Ok, ever since he has been better, I haven't seen him poop. I did find a few white urinates I believe yesterday, but no big poop, or anything brown. He ate another 4 crickets today. Do I need to worry about an impaction now? He just gave himself a bath in his water dish, but the water was really cold, so I picked him up, dried him off, and put him on his basking rock to warm him up. His belly was I bloated, he has done it a few times before, and he said they do it sometimes when they are startled. He also tried to puff his beard I think, when I looked into his cage. He didn't puff his beard, but then he opened his mouth, and held it open for a few seconds, and that's the first time I have seen him do that. His energy was a tad bit lower than yesterday, but he still chased after his crickets. So do I have to worry about an impaction, and if so, what do I do?