Sleepy dragon doesn't poop + vet opinion needed

[Sue E.]

They do have sleepy days and sometimes dont come out of their shady spot most or all of the day. Mine tends to sleep all morning and bask in the afternoon after his bug meal. Since your boy had that recent perky day, is pooping and eating well, it is just probably his preferred spot to relax. Gaping is not necessarily related to digestion or to a specific temp. He has just reached his optimal temp and is cooling himself down (like a dog would when he pants). As long as you are providing the correct basking and ambient temps and the proper uvb lighting, it is up to him when and for how long he chooses to use it. He sounds like he is doing well right now
Since he is stubborn about not eating his greens, try to keep up his hydration by dripping water on his nose with an eyedropper, giving him hornworms here and there (92% water), letting him drink in the bath, however you can get him to drink. That should help with the frequency of his poops and will be especially important when he starts the meds.

 

[xp29]

I'm not sure what effect pinworms have on them. The only parasites I've had to deal with so far is coccidia. If he has a large load of the pinworms, maybe that's why his behavior is off. Hopefully the antibiotics help him get back to normal.

 

[Drageth]

They do have sleepy days and sometimes dont come out of their shady spot most or all of the day. Mine tends to sleep all morning and bask in the afternoon after his bug meal. Since your boy had that recent perky day, is pooping and eating well, it is just probably his preferred spot to relax. Gaping is not necessarily related to digestion or to a specific temp. He has just reached his optimal temp and is cooling himself down (like a dog would when he pants). As long as you are providing the correct basking and ambient temps and the proper uvb lighting, it is up to him when and for how long he chooses to use it. He sounds like he is doing well right now
Since he is stubborn about not eating his greens, try to keep up his hydration by dripping water on his nose with an eyedropper, giving him hornworms here and there (92% water), letting him drink in the bath, however you can get him to drink. That should help with the frequency of his poops and will be especially important when he starts the meds.

Like i said, it's not that he just has a sleepy day here and there, it's more like he would stay in his cave for 5+ days without coming out at all. In the first 2 months he would at least bask a few times a day, but even then he wouldn't move an inch more than he needed to, to reach his basking spot from his cave. That's the whole reason i contacted a vet and started this thread.

That one day he would move around was because he needed the movement to get his poop out.

Like i said, there is no problem with him eating his greens, i spray them with water for hydration, he is hydrated to the point that he wouldn't even lick water from his nose when i drop it onto him. He has access to a water bowl too if he ever decides to drink from it.

I'm not sure what effect pinworms have on them. The only parasites I've had to deal with so far is coccidia. If he has a large load of the pinworms, maybe that's why his behavior is off. Hopefully the antibiotics help him get back to normal.

From what i've read, a huge load of pinworms could be a reason for lethargic behaviour, i will continue to give updates on that.

Any input in general is welcome though

 

[xp29]

Like i said, it's not that he just has a sleepy day here and there, it's more like he would stay in his cave for 5+ days without coming out at all. In the first 2 months he would at least bask a few times a day, but even then he wouldn't move an inch more than he needed to, to reach his basking spot from his cave. That's the whole reason i contacted a vet and started this thread.

That one day he would move around was because he needed the movement to get his poop out.

Like i said, there is no problem with him eating his greens, i spray them with water for hydration, he is hydrated to the point that he wouldn't even lick water from his nose when i drop it onto him. He has access to a water bowl too if he ever decides to drink from it.

From what i've read, a huge load of pinworms could be a reason for lethargic behaviour, i will continue to give updates on that.

Any input in general is welcome though

By all means please do continue to update, I for one worry about every one of them as much as my own (I'm a weirdo I know lol)
I take in rescues when I can, and have seen what bad keepers can do to them, so when someone is trying so hard to do right by them, like your are, it means a lot to me

 

[KarrieRee]

please take a fecal in if you havent already and have it tested- that needs to be ruled out for the behavior -

 

[Sue E.]

please take a fecal in if you havent already and have it tested- that needs to be ruled out for the behavior -

They just gave the OP the results of her dragons fecal..high level of pinworms.

 

[Drageth]

By all means please do continue to update, I for one worry about every one of them as much as my own (I'm a weirdo I know lol)
I take in rescues when I can, and have seen what bad keepers can do to them, so when someone is trying so hard to do right by them, like your are, it means a lot to me

I understand, i'm the same. That's why i can't really look into other posts with dragons that are clearly suffering, i tried to and felt really bad for weeks.

I just want my beardie to be happy and healthy and make sure to do everything i can to make that possible.

I will continue to give updates on him until he is completely recovered.

 

[xp29]

I understand, i'm the same. That's why i can't really look into other posts with dragons that are clearly suffering, i tried to and felt really bad for weeks.

I just want my beardie to be happy and healthy and make sure to do everything i can to make that possible.

I will continue to give updates on him until he is completely recovered.

Well I'll keep sending prayers and good vibes your way

 

[Sue E.]

Me too!

 

[KarrieRee]

Update:

He did poop, this time it took 16 days.
I've sent it to the vet, which just replied with the laboratory results, a high amount of pinworm (Oxyurid) eggs was found and my vet recommended treatment, after i searched for information about pinworms i agreed, we agreed to send me the medication etc and i will do it myself.

His behaviour so far didn't change. He is sleepy and stays in his cave, i carefully took him out to put him near his basking spot every other day, so he gets uv and can bask if he wants to, just to keep his digestion going for the poop sample.
He usually stays there for a few hours, ending with a bit of basking before he goes back in his cave.
He is eating, greens and insects.
The day he did poop was completely different, he came out by himself to bask, followed by running and climbing around like crazy for almost an hour before he pooped. I know that's because he wanted to poop, but it was nice to see him doing something besides sleeping.

I raised the overall temps as suggested by @xp29 , so far it didn't change his behaviour, from my perspective it looks like he don't really likes the warm temps in general, he don't really basks much and even starts gaping at his chillout spot, which has a surface temp of around 31°C (87°F)

greetings

So you would need to get some disinfectant to clean the tank every time he poops I recommend F10 found on Ebay its a vet concentrate- take out all basking decor w/ exception of one and a hide - they need to be cleaned every time he poops on them - substrate is it a loose type or are you using something like tile or floor liner? If its loose get rid of it and use paper towels - you want to get rid of the pinworms completely or he will re infect him self - the tile or shelf liner can be cleaned w/ the F10 - its going to kill the pinworm-

 

[Drageth]

So you would need to get some disinfectant to clean the tank every time he poops I recommend F10 found on Ebay its a vet concentrate- take out all basking decor w/ exception of one and a hide - they need to be cleaned every time he poops on them - substrate is it a loose type or are you using something like tile or floor liner? If its loose get rid of it and use paper towels - you want to get rid of the pinworms completely or he will re infect him self - the tile or shelf liner can be cleaned w/ the F10 - its going to kill the pinworm-

You can see my setup details in the original post above.

From what i've read, pinworms are pretty common in reptiles and even said to be helpful with digestion in small amounts. They can only be harmful in high concentration, like my beardie has right now.

Cleaning the poop spot with F10 afterwards seems to be a good thing in general, i didn't find anything about it being helpful with pinworms when i searched it though.

 

[KarrieRee]

You can see my setup details in the original post above.

From what i've read, pinworms are pretty common in reptiles and even said to be helpful with digestion in small amounts. They can only be harmful in high concentration, like my beardie has right now.

Cleaning the poop spot with F10 afterwards seems to be a good thing in general, i didn't find anything about it being helpful with pinworms when i searched it though.

I used it for blaze when had them

 

[xp29]

I think f10 is ammonia based, ammonia kills most anything.

 

[Drageth]

Small update/question:

I received his parasite medication "Panacur 10%". I was told to give him 0,19ml for his 365g bodyweight once a week for 9 weeks in total, with another fecal test after that.
If he wouldn't be so sleepy, he would get the 0,19ml 3 days in a row with 14 days pause in between, 3 times.
The vet said in his sleepy state the lower dose over a longer time period would be better.

I think i will do the following in those 9 weeks:

If he stays inactive and won't leave his cave by himself, i will take him out every 2 days or so and place him in the open, near his basking spot. I did it like that when i needed the poop sample.
Like i said he would stay there for a few hours at max with a bit of basking by himself, before he would go back into his cave.
That helped me keeping his digestion going and hydrating him, i think that's a good idea in those 9 weeks, better than just letting him sleep for 6 days and just give him the medication with no food or hydration in between.
I asked my vet about this, he was against taking him out of his cave, but since i'm not sure if i can trust my vet, i would like to hear your opinion on that.

What would you do?


(i need to go out of town for a few days next week, i will start the treatment when i'm back, in like 10-12 days.)

greetings

 

[Sue E.]

I personally agree with you on doing what you need to do to get him to drink while he is on the medication. If he is at a healthy weight, dont worry too much about his eating right now, he may not have much appetite while he is on the med. You can give him a probiotic like Reptophilus if you want (available online from bug-de-lite.com). The site is a good one, it belongs to our vet tech here, @Drache613. The probiotic is safe and will help with his gut and digestion while he is on the med.