Something's not right!

[Stacey89]

Hi I have a 5 year old female bearded dragon and for the past 2 weeks she's been acting increasingly out of character. For the first week she wasn't really eating very much but pooping 1/2 a day (usually she goes 1/2 a week) this past week she has stopped pooping but also stopped eating.

She is constantly dark but not puffy under her chin, she's very reluctant to open her eyes except for a drink of water but when she does they do not seem swollen or droopy. Also, she seems to be quite sensitive on her right side and twitches away if you stroke her there and the underneath of her stomach is a little bloated.

Here is some background information; she lives in a 5 ft viv by herself with day basking temperatures of 110 & 80 and night time of around 75 though out the entire tank. She also has a repti glo 10 uvb lamp which is changed once every 6 months. She is bathed 1/2 times a week for 15-20 minutes.
She's a fussy eater and will only eat morio worms which we gut load with varied veggies, she likes baby food and we alternate her with a fruit and a veg on days she won't eat live food and occasionally crushed strawberries, bananas and freshly squeezed orange juice.

She's normally very sociable and her behaviour is worrying me! It seems to be more than justo lethargy, any advise would be greatly appreciated, sorry if I've missed any important information I've included everything I can think may be useful.

Thanks, Stacey - worried beardie owner

 

[Stacey89]

I forgot to mention, I have already tried increasing her baths, she's had one a day for the last 3 days, and she's been drinking lots of water. The extra water makes her perk up but within an hour she's back to this unusual behaviour. We've also tried just leaving her alone to get some peace and quiet and rest

Stacey

 

[Oki05]

One problem I notice is you have a reptiglo uvb. Reptiglo is known to be very bad on their eyes so thats why she is keeping her eyes closed. The ideal uvb lights to get are the Reptisun 10.0 tube or the Arcadia 12% tube

 

[Bwalter]

Just a thought here only because I am going through a lot with my girl right now. 2 months ago, my girl seemed a little bloated and was touching on her right side, I took her to the vet, he checked her over, said she was fine. A few days ago I noticed her legs are getting skinny, fat pads going away, will only eat a few roaches and she is still looking bloated. I took her in to a new vet yesterday, did an x-ray and found a big mass on her right side. I am not sure what will happen today as the vet did blood work and will call today. I am not trying to scare you but PLEASE get to a vet and have an x-ray to find out and not wait like I did when my girl has been suffering for 2 months because a vet said she was fine. I might have to end up putting my girl down depending on what the mass is. Hope your beardie gets better. I just thought I would tell you what I am going through.

 

[Stacey89]

Thanks for sharing, I think we're going to monitor her for another week incase it's just a phase then take her to the vets. We wanted to avoid it really, sadly we had a bad experience with our local reptile specialist so aren't keen on going back. Sorry to hear about your beardie I hope theres something they can do for you.

We've used the reptiglo make since we got her so I don't think that may be the issue but ill look into changing it all the same, it can only help if it rules something out.

 

[kittenmaster1234]

Do not wait to go the vet vet - go now. I doubt her condition is a passing phase, she will only continue to get worse.

Black beard + lethargy are usually the symptoms of a dying bearded dragon.

 

[LoveMy4BeardieGals]

You also want to be careful with the orange juice, as oranges are something to give to a beardie occasionally. They are high in Vitamin C so you want to be careful. I also wouldn't wait on taking her to the vet, I would get her there now! Good luck

 

[NikTait]

Can't say much for the tender stomach - but lethargy and loss of appetite can definitely be a UVB problem. We had Dexter under a ReptiGlo for 3 days, and by the third day he would barely open his eyes, had no appetite and was very lethargic. As soon as we switched to an Arcadia, he was bright eyed, active and eating within 2 days.

 

[Stacey89]

Well she had a bath yesterday and drank lots of water, a few hours later she passed something that looked a little like an unfertilised egg only it was quite dark coloured. She seemed happier after that and stayed awake most of the afternoon basking. Today however she seems worse again, she's had another bath but wouldn't take any water, her stomach has stopped twitching but shes very bloated and her eyes are sunken. Got an appointment at the vets tomorrow evening, fingers crossed they'll shed some light.

 

[MsWanda10166]

Have you tried setting her up in a lay bin? There is a great tutorial on this site in the breeding section. Its super simple, and could resolve your issue within a few hours. If dragons do not have a suitable place to lay they will hang on to their eggs and that can cause big problems.

 

[ArchimedesBane]

Yeah, a lay bin was my next thought as well. If she's formed eggs, she'll need to lay them whether they've been fertilized or not. This egg-box tutorial really is great: http://pogopogona.com/breeding-bearded-dragons/information-on-bearded-dragon-eggs

That will pretty much give you everything you need to know about females and laying behaviors. Hope this helps!

 

[Stacey89]

So just an update, dink had her vets appointment today. They gave her an X-ray which revealed she has no eggs and no impaction so as a first attempt he gave her a calcium injection and I have a follow up appointment on Tuesday.

I've force fed her some baby food this afternoon, she's been a little more sociable but still very sleepy and very bloated and very inactive. Taking a faecal sample with me if she passes anything before then to look for parasites before running blood tests if the calcium doesn't work.

 

[Bwalter]

I am glad the x-rays came out clean for you. Its still frustrating trying to figure out whats wrong with the bloating. Keep us updated on the reason, if its figured out.

 

[Stacey89]

Thanks for all your advice and concerns. Sadly dink died this afternoon.

 

[Esther19]

I'm so sorry for your loss.