Sick baby

[trinity040400]

Ok it seems no matter what I do Drago just keeps getting worse! I have only had him for 17 days. He is 6" long and I dont know how old, I got him from petco. At first in the pet store he was the biggest and most active, glass danceing and everything, then once I got him home all he would do is sleep all day. I know it is not normal for babies to sleep during the day so I did some research and it looks like he is dehydrated. So I have been mysting hime and he seems to perk up whenever he gets water. He was only eating about 1 cricket about every 3 or 4 days. I got a dimmer for my basking light to bring the temp down to try and help with his dehydration, It was 108, now it is 105. He just seems to be getting worse!! The last time he ate a cricket was 4 days ago, he ate 4. Spaying him and giving him a bath doesnt perk him up anymore. He is EXTREAMLY THIN. I have started to feed him baby food to get something in his body, that worked ok yesterday but today he wont lick it.

Ok now for all my stats,
20gl long fish tank
24" reptisun 10.0
hidding log
tile floor
greens eveyday
temps are 105 basking
97 hot side
82 cool side
repcal when he eats
herptivite on his greens

On top of all this he is shedding and know when he licks there is a clicking sound which I know is bad. I dont get paid for 2 weeks so I cant take him to the vet and I think the trip would kill him anyway. There are only 2 vets that take reptiles but they take all exotic pets so I dont know how much they know about beardies.

I have a friend how took his snake to get sexed at one of them and they sexed it wrong. The only other one is at the spca and I cant get through because the phone is always busy.

Please help!

 

[trinity040400]

This is a pic of my setup

This is him about a week ago

And this is him now

 

[trinity040400]

No one has anything to say???? I wont be supprised if I find him dead in the morning.

 

[MissT]

Oh poor baby.
He doesnt look great.
The shedding is probably putting him off eating right now but as this has been going on for a while, this cant be the whole problem.
Firstly, I would try to get the temp on the basking spot surface up to between 105 - 110 F.
I would also take out the hide log so that he cant hide during the day.

How close can he get to the reptisun?

Also, dont mist him in his viv as this will raise humidity. Try, instead, to get him to take some water orally by dripping some on his nose.
The clicking could be a sign of an RI as a result of the humidity. Do you have a night time heat source? Try to keep his night time temps at around 80 for now.

Honestly, I dont have anything else to suggest right now. I believe a vet would be the best option :?

 

[trinity040400]

He doesnt go in the log at all, he is always on the heated side. Someone else told me to lower the temp to 105 since he has been dehydrated. Basking spot is 8" away from uvb. I have stoped misting already and I dont have a night time heat source. I guess I will keep doing what I am doing but raise the temp a little, thats if he doesnt die overnight.

Oh whenever I pick him up in the last 2 days his head starts to shiver too. He is really doing bad.

 

[trinity040400]

bump

 

[Vacren]

Is he from a bigbox pet shop? Petco/petsmart?

 

[trinity040400]

Yes petco I have such a headace from stress and my mother keeps sobbing over him.

 

[Beardednoob]

http://www.floridaherps.com/products/Fecal-Collection-Kit.html
This can avoid the vet visit. The dragon should have a fecal done with the rapid weight loss.
I would pick up some bene-bac gel if at all possible, bring the dragon beneficial gut flora back up in hopes to help stimulate feeding.
Put a smaller then pea sized dab on the dragons nose.

 

[trinity040400]

I would pick up some bene-bac gel if at all possible, bring the dragon beneficial gut flora back up in hopes to help stimulate feeding.
Put a smaller then pea sized dab on the dragons nose.

Do they make one for reptiles or is the one for dogs ok?

 

[Beardednoob]

The one with the blue highlight colors is for mammals, the one with green is specific for birds and reptiles.
http://www.amazon.com/PetAg-Bird-Bene-Bac-Pack-15grams/dp/B0002ASS34/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1317000991&sr=8-10

 

[trinity040400]

Thanks I ordered it. I think I am going to try and watch my movie to take my mind off it, doubt it will work though . I will do an update tomorrow on his condition. Please pray for him and thanks for your concern.

 

[trinity040400]

Well he made it through the night at least. I picked him up and gave him a bath, I cant believe how skinny he is, his tummy is caved in! He wouldnt move in the tub just layed there and didnt drink anything. I am down to force feeding him baby food since he wont lick it off his nose anymore. I dont really know how to get his mouth open to feed him though. Is there a specail way to get his mouth open? It is really hard since he is so small.

It kinda feels like he has already given up.

 

[MissT]

You can use a credit card- slide it in at the side of his mouth and he *should* open it for you to pop the syringe in. Just remember to go very very slow and make sure he is licking at whatever is going in.

 

[trinity040400]

Just wanted to update everyone on drago, I got home today and he was dead.

I dont know what I did wrong, from what I can tell everything was good.

I should have started feeding him baby food earlier because by the time I thought I had to start force feeding him I couldnt get him to eat. He just went down hill so fast......

Its hard to tell when relocation stress stops and sickness begins.

Thanks to everyone who tried to help the little guy, I really apprecate it.