Still not eating after clean bill of health! please help!!!

[Arctopus]

My dragon, Destro, Has been to a well respected exotic animal vet 3 times now. He was diagnosed with coccidia, at very high levels. They gave him two fluid shots, and his first de-worming. I Followed his first deworming with a 10 day period of Marquis dewormer, gave him two weeks off the meds. Since his first vet visit I have been giving him Acidophilz+ twice everyday to keep his good gut floral. The vet sent Destro's fecal matter out to an external lab for testing, which it came back negative for all parasites. I was relieved by the news, but he still refuses his greens ( collard, mustard, kale, green peas, ect) and eats about 5 crickets a week, which is not acceptable at all . He has been losing weight, but his color is very good, and hes running around like a maniac. There is no sign of illness except the fact he is skinny, and getting skinnier. Destro went back for his second deworming and check up, which his was given pancur and metronitizol (not sure on spelling) and he dropped 5 grams in weight. The instructions on the Marquis dewormer said to wait two weeks until the next 10 day round, given orally, daily. After I got the call for a clean fecal, I decided not to give his second round of deworming, seeing how he was "parasite free" I dont know what to do anymore, I dont want to keep assist feeding him reptaid mixed with chicken baby food, acidophilz, and his vitamins. He is about 11 inches long, living in a 40 gallon breeder,repti-carpet for substrate, under a Reptisun 10.0 uvb, his basking spot is 105, his hot side is 90 degrees, and his cool side is 80 degrees. During his medication period I cleaned his tank daily using a steam cleaner to kill all remaining cocci. The vet said his tank is perfectly set up and meets the requirements of a desert species. Anyone have a clue why he wont devour his food like he did when i first bought him. The feeders I have offered are crickets, phoenix worms, super worms, and wax worms. He seems to eat 1 or 2 supers and crickets after they have been mixed with his calcium and vitamins, but then he instantly looses interest and goes back to basking. He spends most of his time basking, but Ive found him a couple times hiding under his Basking log. Im stumped, and I cant keep dishing out $150.00 every two weeks. Anyone have any advice would make my day!

Destro, which he's a male, poops every morning after eating the day before, so theres no blockage in his intestines.
Destro also drinks water about every other day, by himself, from his water dish filled with bottled water

 

[LasagnaTheDragon]

try to plump him up, maybe a smaller lizards( if he is old enough/big enough) or feeder mouse. High and fat and he will gain weight, or get him something special hes never had, how about silkworms, hornworms, grass hoppers, roaches. maybe he just needs a little excitement lol, and is bored with his meals. stubborn dragons =o

 

[Kaiser]

try to plump him up, maybe a smaller lizards( if he is old enough/big enough) or feeder mouse. High and fat and he will gain weight, or get him something special hes never had, how about silkworms, hornworms, grass hoppers, roaches. maybe he just needs a little excitement lol, and is bored with his meals. stubborn dragons =o

I would avoid using lizards or mice as feeders, no matter the circumstances. They're not particularly any good, and their bones can cause internal damage and scarring. Even if Arctopus' bearded dragon was larger, I would not recommend ever using any of those as feeders, even as treats or to put on some weight. If you're looking for something high in fat, at least use something that is safe, such as wax worms.

Arctopus, it seems like you're doing things fine. I just have a couple of questions, though. First of all, how old is your UVB light? Do you know how old he is? And when did you first start to notice a change in his behavior?

The only thing I can really suggest until you've provided a little more information is that it could be a seasonal mood swing; spring time is bearded dragon mating season, and male bearded dragons will go off of food, as they have "other" things on their mind. I would guess he's relatively young though, considering his size, so unfortunately, I'm not sure if he'd be riled up about the breeding season (though I do know of some cases where young bearded dragons will try to breed).

 

[Arctopus]

the UVB is about 3 months old, I actually have no clue how old he is. I started to notice a change in his behavior when he moved with me to my girl friends house, then I unfortunately had to move back two months later. He stopped eating alot when I first moved. Its been the same since. Im gonna call the vet again today to get some blood work done. Who ever said bearded dragons are easy reptiles to have is extremely wrong haha, Ive had iguanas, all kinds of snakes, anoles, geckos..... and none of them had these problems. Im getting sad seeing my dragon so unhappy, it actually affects my mood

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

What morph is Destro??

 

[Arctopus]

standard natural, nothing special

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

Ok then Ive got nothing. Sorry.
How long has your dragon been off the meds??
Ive seen them take up to a couple weeks to get back to normal after heavy doses of meds.

 

[Arctopus]

hes been off for a month or so :/

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

PM Tracy.
Drache613
She may be able to help further.

 

[AHBD]

As was already mentioned, the meds. can kill the appetite for a while. Now when he's handled, he fears the feeding syringe and on top of it all he's had relocation stress from several moves. If he's runing around, that's a better sign than constant hiding or being lethargic. At 11" , he's eating supers, which are filling and somewhat addictive to beardies....you must only use the small supers at his size. It would be better if he would eat crix or roaches, horn worms or Repti-worms, but when they have been traumatized sometimes you just let them have what they will take regularly for the time being. Once you stop the force-feeding, he should return to normal. He's pretty stressed out most likely.

 

[Denduran87]

Try using an orange in your crix keeper for hydration. I was using just a wet sponge and my beardie wasn't to into the crix then i used oranges cut up and he loves them. eats around 100 a day!