Should I be worried about her hunger strike???

[erdeem]

My lil miss dragon, Billie is about 1 year old, I don't know for sure, I adopt him when she is just 6 inches in November last year. She is now 17" long and her weight is approx 430 grams.

Since her "major" shedding three weeks she has been on "almost" hunger strike for about 3 weeks now. I said "almost" hunger strike because I can tell that she still ate her salad (mustard greens, collards greens, kale etc), but only a tiny bit. She is totally has no appetite for her food (Superworms and Butterworms). It is so unusual since she used to be a very good eater, and loves the butterworms so much (she would run and jump to get her butters). She usually at 2X a day and could eat around 10-20 superworms per meal.

I tried to offer her crix, but she just ignore them. All she wants is be outside her feeding tupperware and run around outside her viv.

Yesterday and today I "force" her to eat baby foor (turkey and vegetable), I put the food on the tip of her mouth, but she only eat a little. :?

I bathe her regularly (once a day or every other day). She still poops normally (once a day), but of course it's only a tiny tiny poop.... :|

Despite of her hunger strike, Bill is still very active and alert. She loves to be outside her viv and run around. Her viv condition is normal temperature 100-110 hot side, cool side 79-80), it has Reptisun 10.0, her light is on timer, so she has a routine schedule. She is on a 55 gal viv with slate tile.

So... what do you think....? Should i be worried? or this is just a phase of reaching adulthood (maybe she tries to watch her weight, you know how girls are )

 

[Embee]

Hi,

Billie still not eating well for you then? Watching her girlish figure is she? :wink: Cloudy has been slowing some as she reaches 1 year, but it sounds like Billie has had a fairly considerable drop off.

Only thing I can think to ask is, your ReptiSun, how old is the tube?

Aside from that, I'm just not sure what to offer. Your husbandry looks good. ??? :dontknow:

A check for parasites might be in order? She is active so that's good. Is she basking as usual? One thing that's been happening with our girl lately is that she no longer seems happy when the basking temps get above 106-7. If they run any higher, she tends to move away from the basking area, so she clearly is having a slightly cooler preference there as she gets a bit older. Less basking can certainly equal less eating.

Just throwing out some random thoughts. Perhaps someone else might have some insights??

The best,
Em

 

[erdeem]

Hi Em,

Thank you for the reply. Yes she is still on hunger strike. Oh boy, this is worrying me. I love her so much, it's crazy.

Her Reptisun is 3 months old and She is still basking as usual.
Checking for parasites, means fecal exam or go to the vet? She is still very very active and alert. Do I really have to do that?

 

[zebraflavencs]

Fecal exam, yes. Not needing to take Bill in to see the vet. I personally think she is getting ready for brumation. This does happen to adults, and I am looking at one of mine that I think is down for the count, at 8 months old. Fecal was clear, but he pulled back considerably on eating, and stays in his blankie ( thanks again Dawn !) constantly. Just do the fecal, and if it is clear, let her be. Sometimes we worry quite a bit, and that is fine, just raises our blood pressure up .
Do the fecal, and let us know.
Janie.
Oh second thought, has she ever thrown off eggs ? This too can be the reason for the activity ( is she digging or running side to side ?). Females can throw off infertiles when not having been bred, and your girl is at the age to do that

 

[Embee]

Oh second thought, has she ever thrown off eggs ? This too can be the reason for the activity ( is she digging or running side to side ?). Females can throw off infertiles when not having been bred, and your girl is at the age to do that

After I signed off last night, I thought of this also... I've read several posts on the board about females losing appetite before laying... any chance of that erdeem?

Em

 

[erdeem]

:shock: Oh no... lil miss dragon laying eggs...? I have read about this and man! this is confusing.
She hasn't been digging, so far I know... she just very active. All she want is being ouside her coffee table viv and play around the house.
Aside from digging is there any other sign for laying eggs, how do I know? Also she is just about 1 year, is that possible?

About brumation, oh wow! really.... it's still summer hot here. Areb't they supposed to sleep all the time when they brumate? She is very active... and she is doing her glass dancing now... so funny.

About fecal exam, how long does it takes usually> I might have to wait because we will go to NH tomorrow early morning(we life in DC), and will be away for about a week. Billie is going with us. This is her second road trip.... she quite enjoying her last trip there.
here is some pic from her first road trip

 

[zebraflavencs]

A fecal results depends on, if they do the float test in the office or sends it off.
Janie.

 

[erdeem]

She still not eating.... I think she is getting ready to brumate.... all she wants is go outside her enclosure, go to under the sofa, and sleep... this is frustating! I want her to enjoy the summer....

I've been so busy this week, we just back from a road trip and don't have time to go to the vet. I'm planning to go on Monday.
About fecal exam, I'm a lil bit confused. Do I have to bring her to the vet or just bring the poop?

 

[beardieaddict]

bring her too because if there is a parsite they will take care of it right then and there, and if she is about to brumate dont force feed her as this could cause yellow fungas disese before they brumate the poop everything out of them and then they shut down ur dragon will not kill itself it she wants to eat she will eat she can not and will not kill her self by starvation i know u are worried i am having the same problem with one of mine and it sucks we love them so much and we think we know whats best for them but they are the ones that knows best. if i was u i would get the fecal done and see what they say and if there is something wrong get it fixed and then if she is brumating she will continue to do so no matter what u do to try to stop it just keep putting food in her cage as normal the veg and if she wants to eat she will eat if not its ok i hope everything works out at the vet and try not worry so much about her i know its hard i worry about mine 2 but i try not to one day they will wake up and be back to normal keep us updated on everything ok good luck

 

[Embee]

She still not eating.... I think she is getting ready to brumate.... all she wants is go outside her enclosure, go to under the sofa, and sleep... this is frustating! I want her to enjoy the summer....

I've been so busy this week, we just back from a road trip and don't have time to go to the vet. I'm planning to go on Monday.
About fecal exam, I'm a lil bit confused. Do I have to bring her to the vet or just bring the poop?

Well, still not eating. Perhaps brumation is in the works, and she is just making sure she's darned ready for it. :dontknow: Is she still active and alert, and looking robust? I LOVE your pics by the way; beardie on the dashboard is priceless. :mrgreen:

Usually, you can just bring in a sample for the fecal but as beardieaddict suggested, it might be wise to bring beardie in as well. I hope all checks out well and brumation is all you're dealing with. So she is still pooping then, at least a little bit?

Cloudy will be a year next week, and since you began this thread, her appetite has gone steadily down however, not completely(yet?). She's gone from 60-90 bugs a day, to 45, to 30, 20 and then in the few days, she'll eat maybe 8 crickets. Today, she wouldn't touch crickets at all, but she did eat a few butterworms with her afternoon salad. She is eating a bit more veggies these days which is good for her, a positive change, but I do wonder, is this just her changing her eating habit due to age/size, or is it something else? She is still basking, but not as much as she used to. She enjoys being out of the viv more than in, however when out, she prefers her window seats (she has a few around the house). It will be interesting to see how the appetite works itself out... it's so disconcerting after months and months of ravenous eating. She's just shy of 17 inches, and I don't have a weight on her. I think she has gotten a tad smaller since her appetite has fallen off, but not overly so. Still looking healthy, is active and alert.

Keep us posted on dear Billie, and how things go at the vet.

Em

 

[erdeem]

Billie ate a little and poop this morning. I left three superworms overnight on the dish, and it's all gone, I'm not sure that she eat her veggies, but for sure she was messing around with them since she made a mess with them, all of the veggies on the floor.

She is still alert and robust, she lost about 10-15 grams since this hunger strike began.