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Dan28

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Hello, I went to an exotic pet specialist earlier today due to my dragon not eating for a couple weeks and being lethargic. Although my bearded dragon is shedding, my vet said he hadn't accommodated to his environment and i had to force feed him baby food. The vet also said my dragon was depressed. I agreed with him until he started saying I should also feed my dragon all the bugs I could find (except fireflies) outside. Should I follow his advice? I was wondering if the community had other suggestions because I feel uncomfortable with prying his mouth open and feeding him with a syringe. My dragon is 7 inches including tail and only 8 grams. All comments and suggestions are welcome. Thanks in advance.
 

destiny1998

Extreme Poster
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Hi. Sorry he is ill. Do not feed him bugs from outside! They are not safe. Could you give a run down of his set up? Not to sound mean , but the vet doesn't seem to know much about reptiles.
 

Dan28

Member
Original Poster
destiny1998":2wccye6l said:
Hi. Sorry he is ill. Do not feed him bugs from outside! They are not safe. Could you give a run down of his set up? Not to sound mean , but the vet doesn't seem to know much about reptiles.
Yeah I know what you mean. I researched for months before I got my bearded dragon and all the vet told me was the opposite of what I read. I have a 55 gallon long terrarium with a 150 watt basking light, Reptisun 10.0 UVB, a food and water bowls that are changed daily and ceramic tiles for flooring. His basking spot is at 111 with warm side at 95 and cool side at 76. I think that covers it all haha.
 

Claudiusx

BD.org Sicko
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Moderator
What are you measuring temps with?

Your setup sounds spot on. Don't listen to your vet. In fact, don't go back to that "specialist" if you could even call him that.

What did the daily diet look like before he stopped eating?
Was he pooing every day?

Do you know how old your dragon is?

-Brandon
 

Dan28

Member
Original Poster
I'm measuring with a temp gun I got at home depot. He was nice but I never will again. Five minute consultation for 70$ is ridiculous. My dragon's diet was a mixture of fresh collard, dandelion and mustard greens available at all times with around 15 dusted crickets. I tried gut loading the crickets with the greens but don't think I was doing it right. He would poo everyday and i'm not too sure about his age. All I know is I got him at petsmart on the 29th of July and he is 7 inches long, so i'm guessing around 8 weeks or so.
 

jacody

Sub-Adult Member
I wouldn't force feed anything to my beardie unless it's medicine for a known issue.. parasites or such.. if he's eating greens and live feeders on his own that would be sufficient.. you said he's pooping normally, are you soaking him periodically?? Was this vet a certified herp vet or primarily a small animal office that usually sees cats/dogs?? DO NOT be offended when I ask that, it's just strange to me to hear that he told you to force feed..
 

Dan28

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Original Poster
I wont ever get offended, don't worry haha. He usually eats normally but he hasn't eaten at all since the 9th. At first I thought it was due to shedding, hopefully it still is, but he seems to be getting worse. He now never opens his eyes unless he feels endangered and he weighs 8 grams when a dragon of his size should weigh 14. This is why the vet told me to get baby food with olive oil that has a bunch of calories and inject it in his mouth. I've been soaking him every day for his shedding and it appears to be almost finished. I'm not sure if hes a certified herp vet, but he is apparently an exotic pet specialist. Would you recommend I go to a herp vet or do what the most recent vet said. I'm really confused on what is best for my BD cause the vet said he probably has a 50/50 chance of surviving and I want a quick solution but don't think ill get one.
 

jacody

Sub-Adult Member
Oh gee, I didn't realize he wasn't eating so by all means go ahead and force feed.. sorry I didn't catch that.. I hope it works out, I went through a similar situation w/ my Omni last Dec. but there was already a diagnosed problem she was being treated for.. let us know how he fairs.. I'll keep you in my thoughts..
 

Dan28

Member
Original Poster
Thanks, that means a lot. Ill say if anything with his situation changes. The vet said it will take a while, but some just don't live past being so young and that's why around 45 BD eggs are laid at a time. I hope things turn out ok and if anyone has any recommendations or comments on what to do, the help would be greatly appreciated as this is my first dragon and im doing the best I can with the lack of experience.
 

Dan28

Member
Original Poster
Update: I just walked by to see my dragons eyes kinda sinking in and going back to normal then he would open them and there was some white stuff in his eyes and he would fall around blindly then when he stopped moving his eyes swelled up very much for 30 or so seconds and went back down. What is wrong with him? Should I post this in the ER forum?
 

jacody

Sub-Adult Member
Regardless of what happens either way you really can't beat yourself up about it.. I know that's easy for me to say, but my first dragon had a prolonged illness that I ended up doing blood work and 3 rounds of subcutaneous fluids through her back and she just basically shut down from kidney failure. My vet had seen Omni since she was a baby and couldn't believe the amount of parasites she had though he did say at the end it really came down to over/bad breeding.. I guess nature works in mysterious ways, but sometimes it's to protect your heart too.. hard either way, but you have a great soul to try your hardest to make your pet pull through.. again I'll keep you in my thoughts..
 

jacody

Sub-Adult Member
Listen, I just read your update and honestly I think the best thing to do at this time is to hold him close to your chest and keep him warm and try to comfort him if you can.. unless you think you want to take him to a 24 hour vet, but please take my advice and do what's best for him and let him know you care any way you know how..
 

jacody

Sub-Adult Member
Please let me know tomorrow if he's ok.. your story really touched me/hit home and will hope to have some good news in the A.M... good night..
 

Dan28

Member
Original Poster
jacody":9h1v2hdl said:
Please let me know tomorrow if he's ok.. your story really touched me/hit home and will hope to have some good news in the A.M... good night..
Hey, everything turned out ok. I held him for a while and put him back in his tank and this morning he was fine. I just finished feeding him the baby food, so I hope he will get better soon. I'm taking him to a different vet in a couple days to get a second opinion. My dragon also appears to have so green stuff in his eyes which I think was making him fall everywhere last night.Ill keep you guys updated, and hopefully he will be ok.
 
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