Sickness or brumation?

[Kpb1990]

Hi, I adopted a 5 year old beardie last week and I am very new into having a bearded dragon but it is bothering me that he doesn’t move much, doesn’t want to eat, doesn’t want to drink water or anything. He is sleeping most of the time, when we come in the room he opens his eyes and looks at us for a few minutes then he goes back to sleep. The first days I had him I could tell he was malnourished, his pelvic bones were protruding, his legs were very skinny, his color was a dull brown greyish yellow color haha if that’s a color. So I read online that he could have MBD, (he came with a heating lamp but no idea if they had him with a uvb lamp or not)so I got him a uvb lamp right away to prevent mbd from getting worse. Anyways since he was not eating I started giving him some repta-boost and some calcium with vitamin D3 and 1ml of water per day. His tail, color and legs look way better now but his head pads are still a little bit sunken. He takes the food but doesn’t love it, he moves a little when I am feeding him but also his head trembles a little bit when he tries to look up. He has pooped everyday except for the first day I got him, his poop has been different all those times. The first time I noticed his poop it was all white solid, the second time he pooped the white and green but the white had a very faint tinge of orange or yellow, the other poops have been kind of watery but there was green and white no more yellow or orange. I am not familiar with the smell of healthy poops are they supposed to smell a little or not have any smell at all?

My big question is how long does it take for them to recover from dehydration or mbd? And how to know the difference between MBD and brumation? Can he be affected by both at the same time?
I would love to take him to a vet but since we just passed the holiday season, I really can’t afford it right now.

 

[Kpb1990]

Hello,

That would be a good idea to wait just a short bit before getting a fecal done on him, to let his system
try to normalize from relocation stress. That alone will cause stress levels to elevate normal levels of
the worms & parasites.
I hope he starts to feel better soon. We are all pulling for little Pancake to get better. Please keep us
updated on him.

Tracie

So he pooped today and it was all solid, with green and white. I have stopped the reptaboost now, I have given him some oxbow but this morning I got him to eat some arugula, squash, apple and a small cherry tomato cut in half. He is looking less stress but still not moving much. How long it takes them to start looking better after mbd if it’s a mild case?

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I hope he is doing better soon. They all respond differently but with metabolic bone disease
it can take some time. Are you giving a liquid calcium for him right now?
Did he like the critical care? Go easy on tomatoes since they are higher in oxalic acid & can
bind calcium in large amounts.
Has he perked up any yet?

Tracie

 

[Kpb1990]

Hello,

I hope he is doing better soon. They all respond differently but with metabolic bone disease
it can take some time. Are you giving a liquid calcium for him right now?
Did he like the critical care? Go easy on tomatoes since they are higher in oxalic acid & can
bind calcium in large amounts.
Has he perked up any yet?

Tracie

Yes I am giving him calcium, and thank you yes that’s what I read about tomatoes but I gave him only very small pieces just to see if he was interested in veggies. I still don’t know how picky he is, but I am not planning on giving him tomatoes regularly.
He has perked up since that day he looked black and stressed. He also ate two dubias yesterday I think he definitely is progressing, slowly but surely.

 

[AHBD]

That's really good to hear ! Eating on their own is at least 1 good sign .

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Ok, great to hear he is doing well. Sure, a little bit of tomato is ok, everything in moderation!
I'm happy to know he has perked up & is eating some too. He should continue to improve day
by day for you!
Keep us posted on his progress.

Tracie

 

[love]

Hi I am in same boat as you since the holiday. My beard dragon was diagnosis with parasites. We got him treated him medication . I gave him booster and all the supplements . That I can do for him to eat on his own. He still will not eat own. I change his salad. I still feeding him on syring. He is7 month old. I am so stress out. I don't what else I can do more . I did everything under sun To get him eat own

 

[KarrieRee]

Hi I am in same boat as you since the holiday. My beard dragon was diagnosis with parasites. We got him treated him medication . I gave him booster and all the supplements . That I can do for him to eat on his own. He still will not eat own. I change his salad. I still feeding him on syring. He is7 month old. I am so stress out. I don't what else I can do more . I did everything under sun To get him eat own

@love please start your own thread or new post and we can better help you - this is so we can keep the dragons separated on helping them and you

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Any updates on your dragon? I hope his appetite is doing good & continues to do better.

@love, were you able to start your own thread? We can go over your tank setup with you to
be sure everything is correct.

Tracie

.

 

[xp29]

Yes I am giving him calcium, and thank you yes that’s what I read about tomatoes but I gave him only very small pieces just to see if he was interested in veggies. I still don’t know how picky he is, but I am not planning on giving him tomatoes regularly.
He has perked up since that day he looked black and stressed. He also ate two dubias yesterday I think he definitely is progressing, slowly but surely.

I was going to suggest taking an old blender and making a slurry out of some insects to add in with the Oxbow (gross I know lol) but if he will eat them on his own that is much better. I'm glad your seeing improvements. It's scary when they won't eat.

 

[Kpb1990]

Hello,

Any updates on your dragon? I hope his appetite is doing good & continues to do better.

@love, were you able to start your own thread? We can go over your tank setup with you to
be sure everything is correct.

Tracie

.

He is doing way better! He is moving more and more, his head doesn’t tremble as much when he tries to look around. He is eating better too, still not very mobile so I have to make sure I put the food very close to him or I give him water and his oxbow and calcium with a syringe but he has eaten some dubias when I put them close to him and some veggies when I feed them to him. I am starting to see what things he likes and what things he doesn’t like at all. His poop is solid now, I am still going to get him tested for parasites but I am waiting a little bit longer, just so he settles down as you guys were saying. I will keep you updated in a couple of days to see how he is progressing.

 

[love]

Yes

 

[KarrieRee]

He is doing way better! He is moving more and more, his head doesn’t tremble as much when he tries to look around. He is eating better too, still not very mobile so I have to make sure I put the food very close to him or I give him water and his oxbow and calcium with a syringe but he has eaten some dubias when I put them close to him and some veggies when I feed them to him. I am starting to see what things he likes and what things he doesn’t like at all. His poop is solid now, I am still going to get him tested for parasites but I am waiting a little bit longer, just so he settles down as you guys were saying. I will keep you updated in a couple of days to see how he is progressing.

NO enemas!! Take the fecal in for testing

Beware of vets giving enemas to your dragon | Beardie ER

Just a warning about this because there are at times very bad reactions afterwards including beardie dying within a day to a week . Some vets give an enema when a dragon is going in to brumation and not pooing during this time, not recognizing that beardies rarely poo during their " sleepy "...

www.beardeddragon.org

 

[Kpb1990]

NO enemas!! Take the fecal in for testing

Beware of vets giving enemas to your dragon | Beardie ER

Just a warning about this because there are at times very bad reactions afterwards including beardie dying within a day to a week . Some vets give an enema when a dragon is going in to brumation and not pooing during this time, not recognizing that beardies rarely poo during their " sleepy "...

www.beardeddragon.org

Yes I know, I am actually thinking on using this small business over in vermont, anybody has used them or has heard of them?

Pet Home Tests | Home Testing Kits for Pets

Pet Home Tests offers kits for testing your pet for parasites at home. Our tests work for most pets including reptiles, frogs, snakes, exotic birds, chickens, ducks, geese, dogs, cats, rabbits, ferrets, hamsters, horses, llamas, alpacas, goats, etc.

www.pethometests.com

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That's great to hear he is doing a lot better & eating well. Hopefully he will continue improving,
just give him a little more time.
I haven't heard of that home test company but there are some that are very helpful & save money.

Tracie

 

[Kpb1990]

So Pancake is still recovering from what looks like mbd, he is moving very slow still but he is eating and pooping better than last week.

I still have another question, he started peeling some skin these last days, since I have no idea what they look when they shed their skin does this look normal to you guys? There is a patch in particular that when I touch he twitches a little bit as if it was tender to him. Is that normal when they are shedding? When I got him it looked like he had a little wound from previous shedding or some clawing himself with his back legs but now it has a small bump where the wound was, does the little bump look like scar tissue to you? The area circled is where whenever you touch he twitches as if it was tender.