I remember your post --- I am going to get some help on this for other ideasI posted this earlier in another forum, but came up short and we are desperate for any information at all that can help.. Things are getting a lot more urgent (the longer this goes on, the tougher it's going to be), and I'm hoping that I can find some people who have experience with this to chime in:
One of our juvenile (about 3 months old) bearded dragon got very sick with a respiratory infection and stopped eating. She lost so much weight that the vet was all but assuming that she would not make it. On the advice of the vet, we started syringe feeding her. After a round of antibiotics, she seems to be much more healthy.
Before all of this, she was a really good eater. But now after 4 weeks of syringe feeding, it's like she has forgotten how to hunt/eat without the syringe. She seems completely uninterested in food, even if we do not feed her for a few days. She does exhibit hunger, and sometimes opens and closes her mouth just a little bit, but will not eat unless force fed.
Her tank is set up well, 105 in the basking spot, a good T5 UV light, she still drinks water in the bath. In fact, she seems strangely thirsty much of the time, but I can't imagine she is dehydrated because of the water she gets from the food we give her.
We have tried a variety of her favorite foods, and we even try to sneak small crickets or soldier fly larvae in her mouth when the syringe is in there just to get her to remember what eating live food is like, but to no avail. The most she ever does is lick food that we put in front of her, but never tries to bite it. When she is really hungry, she will even open and close her mouth a tiny bit , expecting food to just show up.
We di get a fecal test a couple of weeks ago, and it turned up a small amount of coccidia, and we treated her for that, hoping that would solve her eating issue, but it did not.
We have tried going for a few days without food, just to see if the hunger will make her eat, but nothing. We have tried a ton of different foods.
Right now her staple via the syringe is dried juvenile food made from soldier fly larvae, mixed with repti-boost, water and calcium powder.
Is there a good procedure/strategy to gradually get a beardie eating on its own again? I feel like the longer this goes on, the harder it's going to be to the point where this might be a lifelong thing soon.
Hello,
So sorry you are having trouble getting your girl back
to health, as well as some answers.
Did you post pictures of her & her setup in your other
thread?
Which brand of T5 tube bulb UVB are you using & what
is the distance of the light to her?
What are the various supplements that you use for her?
It can take weeks or longer for them to begin to recover
after medication rounds. Have you started her on any
probiotics?
You can also try getting some bee pollen to help with
the appetite & immune system. Also, blackstrap molasses
can be used for help with appetite also. Just a few drops
mixed in with food or water, a few times per week.
Let us know how she is doing.
Tracie
I would stop w/ the pellets and start w/ fresh salads - this could be a good reason shes dehydrated -Hi Tracie - thanks so much for your reply
The bulb is an Arcadia 12% 24W bulb, it's pretty close (8 inches or so), but going through the screen top.
We are feeding her:
Exo-terra Dragon grub juvenile: Exo Terra Dragon Grub Insect Pellets for Juvenile Bearded Dragons
Fluker's repta-boost (mixed about 50/50 with the dragon grub) Boost & appetite stimulant: https://www.amazon.ca/Fluker-Labs-Insectivore-Carnivore-Supplement/dp/B000634CL4
Fluker's liquid vitamin: https://www.chewy.com/flukers-liquid-vitamin-reptile/dp/126163 (about a drop a day)
Fluker's Repta Calcium with Vitamin D3 (a bit mixed in with her food)
We syringe feed her twice a day, usually about 2ml each time.
Before we feed her, we always offer her live food - usually soldier fly larvae or small superworms. We can trick her into eating these, but she won't eat them on her own.
We actually just got some bee pollen yesterday, and will try to mix some of that in with her food (maybe 10% mix?)
We will try the molasses too.
It has been about 4 weeks or so now since her antibiotic was done. Her parasite meds only about a week.
She has not eaten on her own in about a month and a half now that I look at the dates. We got her when she was likely about 4 weeks old, and I think she was already sick with the RI when we got her. So, we had her about a week before all of this started happening. So much stress on the little girl.
Here are some pictures of her setup, we are using paper towel until we get things sorted out and stable. This fixture on the right is a ceramic heater for night time, the one on the left is the basking light - 150W.
She spends all of her time up top in the hammock, almost as if she's always trying to get more heat/UV, but we have experimented with more of both, and it just seemed like it was getting into dangerous territory.
View attachment 77767
View attachment 77768
I would stop w/ the pellets and start w/ fresh salads - this could be a good reason shes dehydrated -
Nutrition Content ignore the kale info its outdated
use the BSFL and small super worms and drop on the salads to lure her there - see if that will work - you can also get some dubia roaches and do the same thing www.dubiaroaches.com -- are you placing the probe on the hammock to get the temps- it needs to sit where she sits for basking
Probe only please temp guns are inaccurate off of hammocks - they cannot read off of it-- ok so no dubias see if you can entice her w / some silk worms-- Home - The Worm LadyThanks for the reply and ideas!
The pellets are being soaked in water to make a slurry with the repta-boost and other supplements, so there is plenty of water she is getting. She is not eating dry pellets. I'm not quite getting why she seems to want so much water.
We do offer her a good salad every day, but she is not interested. Adding BSFL or anything else to the salad I don't think will work because she is not interested in those either. We cannot even get her to eat even when sticking it right up to her mouth at the moment, so the idea of luring her is a bit of a non-starter for the moment. I expect that might be the next step if we can somehow manage to get her hand feeding.
We can't get Dubia roaches (not legal for feeders in Canada)
The probe is on the hammock right in the basking spot, and we are also spot checking with a temp gun.
Probe only please temp guns are inaccurate off of hammocks - they cannot read off of it-- ok so no dubias see if you can entice her w / some silk worms-- Home - The Worm Lady
I am stumped as to why shes not eating --- could still be the effects of the meds but for her NOT to be eating at all is not good --- so lets try this please unobstruct the UVB so shes getting full strength of the bulb --- this could be a factor - you want the distance directly above her basking decor piece 12-15 inches then watch and see what she does
Yes ---- you need a tank of 24" for a 14% bulb --- I would swap the bulb out for a 12% and try what I posted above--- is she basking under that UVB and for how long?SORRY! I just took a better look at the bulb - it's a 14% UVB bulb, not 12%. I t was in a 12% box (!).
Should this matter? Can too much UVB going to cause this?
She basks the entire day, and even tries to reach up as high as she can, even propping herself up on the wire to the probe. It's like she always wants to be closer to the heat/uv - she'll climb to within 3-4 inches of the UV sometimes, and we move her when she does. I've always been reluctant to move the UV below the mesh because it seems like she's getting too much as it is!Yes ---- you need a tank of 24" for a 14% bulb --- I would swap the bulb out for a 12% and try what I posted above--- is she basking under that UVB and for how long?
That is odd --- that 14% bulb is very strong- and for her to be getting 3-4 inches thats a lot - what is your meter reading for UV? I wouldnt put the UVB in the tank I would remove the screen so its sitting on top but nothing in between - but I would not do that w/ the 14% bulb - only a 12% bulb - I did use the 14% bulbs at one time w/ it in the tank but my tank is a 24" and I had it strapped to the top w/ the basking decor piece 17-18 inches under it - ok so w / the other dragon getting less UV and is doing great I would get it set up like his then and see what she does --She basks the entire day, and even tries to reach up as high as she can, even propping herself up on the wire to the probe. It's like she always wants to be closer to the heat/uv - she'll climb to within 3-4 inches of the UV sometimes, and we move her when she does. I've always been reluctant to move the UV below the mesh because it seems like she's getting too much as it is!
But the heat is good, and I have measured the UV with a UV meter, and it's WAY more than our other beardie has, and the other one is doing great.
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