Skinny dragon with other issues, advice GREATLY needed!!

[Golduck]

My bearded dragon Al is really skinny and i'm afraid his health is starting to decline too. I'm taking him to a vet on Monday but I wanted to ask for advice here as well to see if anyone has any ideas what i'm doing wrong.

He's still young so i thought it would be normal for him to be thin but its been nearly three months now and I can still see his ribs!! Also, his appetite has gradually vanished in the past four days and the end half of his tail has been very dark while the top half is white, like he's shedding, but the skin doesn't look like its peeling. He's also been somewhat sleepier than normal. Here's a quick rundown:

- He's 16 inches long and was roughly 13 inches when I got him
- I'm estimating his age to be about 8 months?? I bought him nearly 3 months ago.
- I ordered him from Dragon's Den Herp, the guy's name was Kevin Dunne and he said he was a hypo pastel?? i didn't care I just wanted a lizard to love
- Hes in a 40 gallon tank with a hot spot of about 96-102 and a cool side of 75-80. I checked the temps with a spot thermometer. His basking spot sits on top of his hide, which is an upside-down crate with a panel broken off so he can crawl inside. He has a brick and a large rock to sit on.
- Normally he eats like 8-15 large crickets a day in the evening, I sometimes give him a small superworm or two. They're dusted with ReptiCal calcium. He also has a bowl of greens, usually collared greens, kale, some little apple slices/grapes, i put vitamin powder on it about once a week. He barely touches his greens.
- I give him a bath nearly daily, he has a water bowl in his tank also but he never drinks from it as far as I can tell
- I recently switched his UVB light to the tube one everyone recommends, since his other one wasn't very strong- the brand name escapes me right now, sorry!!
-I let him run around my room for exercise in the evenings before I feed him

If you need any other info I would be really happy to give it but here's some other things i've noticed about him that might be strange?
- He never gapes, even after sitting in the hot spot all day
- He's always climbing the glass trying to get out
- His poop smells REALLY bad and strong, some people said that was a sign of parasites??
- He's been bony ever since I've had him and I thought it was something he would just outgrow

Here's some pics:

(that dark patch on his chin in the last pic is from 5 minutes ago, I was trying to get him to eat some baby food.) And in the second to last picture you can see his ribs down by his waist.


ANY TIPS are greatly encouraged!! Like I said he is going to the vet but I want to be prepared. Please help and tell me if you've encountered this sort of thing before, I'm really attached to him and if I'm doing something wrong I WANT TO KNOW SO I CAN STOP DOING IT!! thank you so much in advance!!

 

[LLBlue]

As far as the UVB light, could it be ReptiSun or Arcadia? That might be good to know.
To be perfectly honest, he doesn't really look alarmingly skinny from the pictures, but it could be the light. As far as his feeders, would he eat more? I would probably stick to things that aren't likely to cause problems like crickets, horn worms, or roaches if you have access to them. For his age, he could eat a lot of protein. If he is willing to eat more protein, can you try upping it a little and seeing if you are happy with his weight?
As a side note, I'd be careful about feeding too much kale. I try to stick with mustard greens, collard greens, or turnip greens. A lot of bearded dragons seem to like squash and that tends to put a little extra meat on them and is also good for them.
I hope the vet appointment goes well for you. The vet can do a fecal exam for you if you are worried about parasites and it certainly won't hurt anything. Have fun with him - he is cute.

 

[Golduck]

As far as the UVB light, could it be ReptiSun or Arcadia? That might be good to know.
To be perfectly honest, he doesn't really look alarmingly skinny from the pictures, but it could be the light. As far as his feeders, would he eat more? I would probably stick to things that aren't likely to cause problems like crickets, horn worms, or roaches if you have access to them. For his age, he could eat a lot of protein. If he is willing to eat more protein, can you try upping it a little and seeing if you are happy with his weight?
As a side note, I'd be careful about feeding too much kale. I try to stick with mustard greens, collard greens, or turnip greens. A lot of bearded dragons seem to like squash and that tends to put a little extra meat on them and is also good for them.
I hope the vet appointment goes well for you. The vet can do a fecal exam for you if you are worried about parasites and it certainly won't hurt anything. Have fun with him - he is cute.

The problem with feeding him is more that he just becomes disinterested after eating around 10 crickets, so I couldn't feed him more even if I tried. Even if I wait an hour or two between feedings i'm lucky if I could get maybe 4-5 extra crickets in him before he decides he's full. I'll keep trying though, maybe i'll make more attempts and see if I can get a few extra crickets in him. And yeah, those pictures are pretty bad, his lower ribs stick out a lot and they've got me seriously worried. I'm almost hoping its a parasite just so he has an treatable problem that i can fix, instead of just making guesses. Thanks for the help!!

EDIT: and yes, its a reptisun!!

 

[Spikey92]

Yea definitely get a fecal done.Smelly poo,lack of appetite ,weight loss that could indeed indicate parasites.
With spot thermometer do u mean the stick on ? If yes, you cant trust those at all.They are up to 30 degrees of. You need a digital thermometer with probe or a temp gun. We bought our digital with probe at walmart for like 12 bucks.

 

[LadyMeridius]

You could try a different feeder. Mine was not overly interested in crickets. Superworms made her day and were the love of her life until I got her hornworms. Hornworms have put a restraining order on her :shock:

She will also eat blueberries and yellow squash.

She is also a lighter weight than what most people seem to say what theirs is, but her vet says he loves her there because its easy for dragon's to get overweight in captivity.

Hopefully your visit will go well!

 

[Golduck]

By spot thermometer I meant the one with the probe, I feel like a doof for not investing in one the first day I brought him home- they're really awesome!!

He still has quite a few crickets left, so I'll feed him those at least until they run out. I ordered some wax worms yesterday as well so I think i'll give him one or two of those along with the leftover crickets to see if that plumps him up, i'll definitely look into hornworms though!! Thank you very much for your help. :>

 

[LLBlue]

Any news from the vet visit?

 

[Golduck]

The vet examined him and discovered he had a large, fluid-filled cyst the size of a chickens egg in his tummy. He managed to drain it and now we have him on antibiotics and some medicines to treat some mild parasites that he says weren't really an issue but would make him healthier regardless. He also believes that Al has deformed ribs that flare upwards at a sharp angle- which he says isn't harmful, but is definitely strange, and is why he appears so bony.

He's doing ok now, i've been feeding him a lot of soft foods like baby food as well as some waxworms to try and plump him up. He appears ok for now so here's hoping he'll start to plump up and will be healthy from now on.

 

[Golduck]

The cyst came back. He's refusing to eat and I can't afford the exploratory surgery.

I dont know what to do.