Something Strange! anything to improve etc.? (also pics!)

[alkemisten3]

Update:
Yesterday I got some new small crickets finally and she ate 12 so that is great! She has not pooped now for 4 days and is quite lethargic. I am bathing her every night now and the last few ones she finally started to enjoy it and then we have snuggle time in sofa afterwards where she will fall asleep on me.
And YES! Finally my order from Germany arrived, 70 EUR total I paid for a da*m tube - reptisun 10.0, I got the 36 inch one so it will cover almost the whole terrarium. Question: Should I cover (or cover with a mesh) a small part of the tube so that the UVB is not shining everywhere? Second question: How far from the lizard should be tube be ? Should I try to put it on the back wall or in the roof? Remember my terrarium is only 50 cm / 20 inch tall...

Another great thing: At the same time I also got a huge delivery of 250 crickets, locust and loads of reptiworms/phoenixworms/calciworms (same thing different name, basically). Question: How many calciworms should I feed her and can I/is it a good idea to put them in a bowl in the cold side of the terrarium and leave them there so she can go and eat whenever she wants?
Another question: She has stopped totally eating greens now, she will not touch any and has not done this in over a week, what ever greens I am trying. Any suggestions on that?

I am thinking about forcing some pure apple juice 25%, a tiny bit of dehydration powder for babies and bottled water in her, since her skin and eyes still tells she is dehydrated although I bathe her so much... Well, not super strange, she is not eating anything with liquid and will not lick syringes no matter what I attempt.
STUBBORN LITTLE THING!
Thanks!

 

[Beardednoob]

Update:
Yesterday I got some new small crickets finally and she ate 12 so that is great! She has not pooped now for 4 days and is quite lethargic. I am bathing her every night now and the last few ones she finally started to enjoy it and then we have snuggle time in sofa afterwards where she will fall asleep on me.
And YES! Finally my order from Germany arrived, 70 EUR total I paid for a da*m tube - reptisun 10.0, I got the 36 inch one so it will cover almost the whole terrarium. Question: Should I cover (or cover with a mesh) a small part of the tube so that the UVB is not shining everywhere? Second question: How far from the lizard should be tube be ? Should I try to put it on the back wall or in the roof? Remember my terrarium is only 50 cm / 20 inch tall...

Another great thing: At the same time I also got a huge delivery of 250 crickets, locust and loads of reptiworms/phoenixworms/calciworms (same thing different name, basically). Question: How many calciworms should I feed her and can I/is it a good idea to put them in a bowl in the cold side of the terrarium and leave them there so she can go and eat whenever she wants?
Another question: She has stopped totally eating greens now, she will not touch any and has not done this in over a week, what ever greens I am trying. Any suggestions on that?

I am thinking about forcing some pure apple juice 25%, a tiny bit of dehydration powder for babies and bottled water in her, since her skin and eyes still tells she is dehydrated although I bathe her so much... Well, not super strange, she is not eating anything with liquid and will not lick syringes no matter what I attempt.
STUBBORN LITTLE THING!
Thanks!

The Reptisun 10.0 shouldn't be covered, in fact if you have a reflector panel behind it, it will be better. Let the dragon decide if it wants out of the UV rays be supplying a hide or some sort of cover. Three of my dragons prefer to retreat under their hammocks, this gives them the effect of shade while still getting a little UV. When the dragon is basking it should be able to get 6-8 inches from the tube.
About the greens, maybe she is on a insect binge, this from what I hear happens. Keep offering her the greens you know she likes, she should come around. The worms can be placed in a dish on the cool side so if she has some left over no biggie. If they are left in there too long though they will die. I have had those particular worms die in ~ 45 minutes to an hour. Just an FYI.

 

[alkemisten3]

She loves the calciworms/reptiworms, they are awesome!
She is now eating quite some crickets as well and did indeed snack on one peace of her favorite fruit, cactus fruit/prickly pear! Still bathing her. Just cleaned the terrarium totally and will be ready to start using the reptisun on monday... Will rest her eyes now as she has blinked a lot lately from the bulb (yes the repti-glo bulb is gone for ever).
She pooped yesterday as well, which is fantastic, she seems so happy after that. Was a huge poop, and now she is getting perfect size feeders, so hopefully she will get bigger. I also noticed, to my surprise she has gained 20 G in a week!

Still wondering about trying to force some liquid in her as eyes are slighly sunken and skin slightly wrinkled. It seems like bathing is not all you need, but they also need liquid in digestive system, right?
I also bought a cheap hamster water feeder-thingie, so hopefully she will eventually learn how to use this.

She has gotten something strange around the eye and nose on one side of the head, looks greyish like dark mould, could be fungus?
I will post pics later, please comment on this.
I baked the wood on 180 C for around 1.5 hours in order to get all things away from the wood (as I presume this is no1 spot for fungus/bacterias to collect iin the terrarium), and I also cleaned everything with 1/10 part of bleach and water.
Oh, by the way, I have just gotten information that there are no reptile vets in this island! "Great!" ... :|
Thanks!

 

[alkemisten3]

Hi again. It is a challenge to keep a dragon I noticed.

I also noticed that dragons just decides not to eat sometimes. My dragon is evidently happy, shows good colors, no stress marks, active, and pooping now very regularly! From one day to another though, she ate 0 crickets and then 15 fat nice crickets, and now, well down to 0! Today she was so hungry after 2 days of refusing crickets, she grabbed 2. I have tried with many types of salads and she just will not touch it at the moment. She has been shedding before as well, whole body now except one single leg!

The "problem" in my eyes: Spoiled by reptiworms! I bought loads of them and she eats any she can and tail goes up like a dog if she even sees one. But crickets?? Nah! So since my worms are all eaten and no orders could be made from UK - I do not have any choice than to wait until she starts eating crickets! I have now proper sized crickets and split the large ones in half ...
I guess she either has some worms or perhaps parasites but poop is so good now, I do not know anymore... Weight is also constant and she is now up on 149 G. So not very much difference at all but I see that she is quite happy...

I got the reptisun 10.0 installed and *not in pics/ also with a reflector. Temps are perfect and manged to get humidity down to 50%. She has two hides basically, a evidently large and nice swimming "pool"
I have tried everything to get her to eat the crickets (I think). I know she is not afraid of them, just does not like them. She sometimes looks at the interested and then tries half-hearted attempt to bite one but then she is too slow and it jumps away haha.
Going for vacation now and has some friends taking care of her.
Any input is nice thanks! 8)
Pics: *NOTICE: THE BULB IS A LOW WATTAGE NORMAL BULB FOR LIGHT - NOT UVB BULB!

Close up: Handing slighly under eyes, sometimes it does, sometimes not. Black spots around the eye are now gone!

Shedding! Cranky cranky

 

[Beardednoob]

May I ask what was black that was around her eye?

 

[alkemisten3]

May I ask what was black that was around her eye?

Yeah no idea. A pimple?
Maybe just some fungus ... It is gone anyhow

 

[wckdbtch]

We taught our little one to drink from the hamster bottle by dripping water from it onto her nose after every feeding. It didn't take very long for her to catch on - she would open her mouth every time she saw it. After a while, we mounted inside the viv with a little bowl underneath, but we haven't once seen her drink from it again. However, when we bring the bottle close to her mouth, she still opens her mouth for a drink.

 

[Buggsy]

she really dosnt need that large water disk, it will be responsible for the high humidity, which can promote fungal growth and respiritory infections! i hope it isnt a fungus around the eye as they are very tricky to get rid of! I might suggest a vet visit just to get it checked out!

i would also remove the sand. Not only is it an impaction risk but its very unhygenic. Some of the symptoms of parasite infection include loss of appitite. So when you are getting her eye checked out take a poop sample with you and ask for a fecal test.

As for crix, yes they all go off them in the end, but as we are in the UK we get to buy lovely locusts! They love them, they are very good feeders and are much nicer to keep then crix! Just get the right sixe, prob 3 week. As the bodies are nice and soft you can go a little larger then the space between the eyes, but no too much as then the legs get too big!

 

[alkemisten3]

she really dosnt need that large water disk, it will be responsible for the high humidity, which can promote fungal growth and respiritory infections! i hope it isnt a fungus around the eye as they are very tricky to get rid of! I might suggest a vet visit just to get it checked out!

i would also remove the sand. Not only is it an impaction risk but its very unhygenic. Some of the symptoms of parasite infection include loss of appitite. So when you are getting her eye checked out take a poop sample with you and ask for a fecal test.

As for crix, yes they all go off them in the end, but as we are in the UK we get to buy lovely locusts! They love them, they are very good feeders and are much nicer to keep then crix! Just get the right sixe, prob 3 week. As the bodies are nice and soft you can go a little larger then the space between the eyes, but no too much as then the legs get too big!

Thanks for ur reply!
I will look in to something smaller as a wather dish. Although, the humidity has not gone up since I put in this larger dish instead really. Now I also got some dehumidifier called Pinguin something, see how that goes. Regarding sand, nope she does not have any sand, I do not know where you see that?
I have tried with locust as well as I had them ordered as well, but they are not interesting either really. Now I have an 60 GBP order from rickslivefood with 700 reptiworms though, hope they will last a while.

Regarding the vet, there are no reptile vets at all in Malta, can I just take her to a normal one? And can they possibly do a fecal anyway? I have the number I might just give em a call too.
Once again, thanks a lot!

 

[alkemisten3]

So,
She is now eating only 1 cricket per day basically, and again I have tried everything.
She is very much sleeping most of the day in her hide and quite inactive. When she is awake, she is generally active and happy and basking as well. She is neither losing any weight at all even though she is barely eating. I bathe her every second day or so, and she likes it a lot. She poops reguarly now, and if poop can look good, these do, if slighly underdigested but barely noticable, no liquid anymore in the poop.
She does not seem very dehydrated at all, poo contains white urates...
So it seems like all signs of hybernation, but I remind you: She is too young for this, according to facts!
About 7 months, only 13 inches and 155 G...

One reason why she is so inactive could maybe be the night time temperature.
Daytime is very good, but night time, temps dropped lately very much - now to merely 55 F / 13 C !
I know it is too cold, I am working urgently on finding a solution, which is temporarily a normal electric element.
Could this affect her overall behaviour and create a hibernation-like behaviour?
So the "problems" are:
1) She is sleeping a lot
2) She is eating very little

Could this still be a parasite problem?
The humidity is now down to 50% so I am happy with that for now...
Thanks

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I would definitely recommend readjusting the basking temperature to a range of 95-110. When you begin to have the basking temperatures above 110, it can greatly affect the overall ambient temperatures of the entire tank.
Dehydration can be shown in different ways. Overheating can cause diarrhea while the body fights to preserve & hold onto water. Maybe you could try getting some pedialyte or gatorade whichever you can find. However, whichever one you choose, you will need to dilute it down a little bit. Use 1 part pedialyte or gatorade to 2 parts filtered water to avoid too high of sugar intake.
Do you use filtered water to bathe him? If you know there are a lot of chemicals in the water I would try to use filtered water to bathe him in to ensure he doesn't absorb any toxic chemicals in the water.
Also, what size are the crickets? They should be smaller than the space in between the eyes to avoid impaction & digestion issues.

Tracie

 

[alkemisten3]

Hi!
Thanks for the reply.
The temperature is a constant problem now in winter time in Malta. Problem is that temps are VERY unstable here in winter time. Today outside temp is around 70 F / 20 C and a few days ago around 55F / 14 C..
I think I have to invest in either ceramic heat emitter (how many watts for a 72 gallon/275 litres glass terrarium ?) OR heat mat (I use both outdoor carpets and on top some nice shelf liner for substrate)..
Which is really best? I do not have circulation anywhere else than some net on top, so I presume heat would escape much easier if I use ceramic heat emitter?

I need to get the ambient temperature in more stable temperatures, basically.
Today it was around 80F/27 C degrees on the cool side of the terrarium since I used element during the whole night, and I she did not sleep like the last few days, and not only that but she is shedding what looks like old skin from one of her legs... Could this be what was affecting appetite so much? I heard they get really cranky from shedding. Is there anything I can use in the water to make her shed easier, or anything I can put on her skin etc?
Also, is it a good idea to try to force some liquid in her? Once again, I do not think the is very dehydrated, but could be slightly.
Yes, the water I use for bathing comes from the tap in Malta, which you are not recommended to drink because of .. Do not know, I presume quite high chloride levels and some junk. I guess I need to buy bottled water and heat it up then ...
She is still happy and active and not losing any weight, but appetite is basically zero.