Something wrong or brumation?

[emilys]

I have an eight-nine month old bearded dragon and his behavior has changed over the past week. He is suddenly eating much less and pooping a lot less often. He also likes to spend a good portion of his day in his hide. He has the correct UVB and temperatures and has been growing and acting wonderfully until now. Is it possible that he is trying to go into brumation? I'm not sure if I should be concerned. It is summer where I live so I didn't think he would do this, especially at under a year old.

 

[KarrieRee]

Is the UVB correctly placed? For him hiding now at this age tells me something is off w/ the basking temps and / or UVB -- what bulb are you using for the UVB ? where is it ? Top of the tank or inside the tank and how old is the UVB bulb?

 

[emilys]

The UVB is new. I changed the bulb last week. It's a reptisun T8 mounted inside the tank. It's 6-8 inches from his basking spot. He does spend some time under the bulb. Just not as much as he used to. I was wondering if he could be dehydrated. I ordered an electrolyte soak just in case.

 

[KarrieRee]

Place him in the bath or drop water on his nose - how does his poop look? If the urate is dry and chalking looking then yes hes dehydrated but I dont think that would acct for the not basking --- what color is the basking bulb ? Is it a off white or yellowish bulb? If so replace it w/ a bright white bulb solid NO coil bulbs --- the UVB fixture has NO cover over the bulb correct?

 

[emilys]

It is a tube without a cover and it's white. His urates were chalky for the first time earlier this week. I'm guessing that's why he's pooping less too. I syringe fed him water this morning. He has always refused to drink on his own even when I spray it on his nose. He will bask for short periods. But I typically have to put him there. I'm wondering if it could be the result of lethargy?

 

[KarrieRee]

You need a fixture w/ a reflector--- Is it just a tube itself? Please get a fixture w/ a reflector and I would up grade the fixture to a 24" like a Zoo Med Sunblaster Nano or a Arcadia Pro T 5 --- w/ the Reptisun 10.0 T 5 or a Arcadia 12% --- the tube alone is not giving enough UVB if any at all w/ out the reflector the rays are bouncing all over that tank - the reflector directs the rays downward toward him of which he needs--- did I read the post wrong ---? the tube is white is this the UVB we are talking about or the basking bulb ?

 

[emilys]

It is in a zoomed T8 fixture with a reflector.

 

[KarrieRee]

Ok good on UVB what about the basking bulb?

 

[emilys]

He has a 100W flukers basking bulb

 

[KarrieRee]

Ok and that bulb is a solid bright white ---- if that is the case I would keep track of his weight and get a fecal from him take to the vet have it tested for parasites / worms--- my guess he might have parasites' causing this behavior --- NO ENEMAS ---- call your vet ask about dropping off a fecal for testing for parasites etc ---- then go from there in the meantime get a weight on him kitchen food scale weigh in grams and keep track

 

[emilys]

He seems to be fine. His weight is still increasing (60 grams this month) and he has started eating crickets again after I switched up how I fed them to him. His urates are also back to normal My guess is he got bored. He won't touch his greens though. Again, I think he is bored of them. I have tried adding BSFLs (he just picks them out), changing the types of greens and veggies, changing the bowl, hand feeding, and bearded dragon salad dressing. My next step is syringe feeding him a slurry just to get the nutrients in him. Any other suggestions before I move onto that? I want that to be my last resort.