Hi all,
In the past two months, my dragon (Khonshu), who is just over a year old, has definitely had some behavioral changes. He has been hiding in his cave a bit more since the spring, but as of a month or so ago he completely avoids basking almost entirely. The second his lights comes on, he will go into his cave. He will stay in the cave for almost the whole day, only coming out an hour or two before the lights turn off for the night. Additionally, if I take him outside in his play pen, he will pretty quickly seek shade (wherever the sun isn't striking in the play pen). He is also not interested in food.... outside of treats (hornworms or wax worms).
His enclosure/setup is good. I have already checked that on here (and with Tracie) due to prior concerns.
120 gallon tank (Zen Habitat)
100 Watt MVB (MegaRay) and 100W standard Basking bulb
10.0 Reptisun UVB HO uvb (he can get within 10 inches of)
Basking surface temperatures range from 95 F – 105F
Cool side surface temperatures are around 80 F
Ambient air on warm side is 90 F
Ambient air on cool side is 78 F
To be honest, I had originally attributed all this to brumation. Knowing that illnesses can often lead to similar behavioral changes though, I have been closely monitoring him.
So, about two weeks ago, I noticed that the bottom of his tail is quite dark (pictures attached). In one of the pictures, notice he's hiding in the shade of the play pen... (again, avoiding light). I also have a picture from the start of June showing that his tail didn't always look like this (again, see attached pictures).
Since noticing this change, it hasn't spread or anything. In fact, it hasn't changed at all. I'm wondering what this could be. To me, it looks a bit too dark to be a shed, but as you will see in one of the pictures from this post... he did recently shed his arm... (so, maybe?). Yesterday though, as precaution for tail rot, I started him on betadine soaks and neosporin (no pain killers) treatments. I should note that I am familiar with this process because when he was a baby (a year ago), he did have tail rot. He got this BEFORE I purchased him due to a bite from a tankmate. As a result of this, he had part of his tail amputated, which explains why the tip of his tail may look a bit different at first glance. He responded great to the procedure and had no issues until now. Furthermore, he has not had any other injuries since then, and has always been housed alone since I got him (I don't own another pet).
I'm not convinced that this is tail rot, and I'm not necessarily convinced he isn't just brumating. I do find the recent change in tail color strange and coupled with the behavioral stuff, I am just hoping for a second opinion on what all this could mean.
Thank you all in advance
In the past two months, my dragon (Khonshu), who is just over a year old, has definitely had some behavioral changes. He has been hiding in his cave a bit more since the spring, but as of a month or so ago he completely avoids basking almost entirely. The second his lights comes on, he will go into his cave. He will stay in the cave for almost the whole day, only coming out an hour or two before the lights turn off for the night. Additionally, if I take him outside in his play pen, he will pretty quickly seek shade (wherever the sun isn't striking in the play pen). He is also not interested in food.... outside of treats (hornworms or wax worms).
His enclosure/setup is good. I have already checked that on here (and with Tracie) due to prior concerns.
120 gallon tank (Zen Habitat)
100 Watt MVB (MegaRay) and 100W standard Basking bulb
10.0 Reptisun UVB HO uvb (he can get within 10 inches of)
Basking surface temperatures range from 95 F – 105F
Cool side surface temperatures are around 80 F
Ambient air on warm side is 90 F
Ambient air on cool side is 78 F
To be honest, I had originally attributed all this to brumation. Knowing that illnesses can often lead to similar behavioral changes though, I have been closely monitoring him.
So, about two weeks ago, I noticed that the bottom of his tail is quite dark (pictures attached). In one of the pictures, notice he's hiding in the shade of the play pen... (again, avoiding light). I also have a picture from the start of June showing that his tail didn't always look like this (again, see attached pictures).
Since noticing this change, it hasn't spread or anything. In fact, it hasn't changed at all. I'm wondering what this could be. To me, it looks a bit too dark to be a shed, but as you will see in one of the pictures from this post... he did recently shed his arm... (so, maybe?). Yesterday though, as precaution for tail rot, I started him on betadine soaks and neosporin (no pain killers) treatments. I should note that I am familiar with this process because when he was a baby (a year ago), he did have tail rot. He got this BEFORE I purchased him due to a bite from a tankmate. As a result of this, he had part of his tail amputated, which explains why the tip of his tail may look a bit different at first glance. He responded great to the procedure and had no issues until now. Furthermore, he has not had any other injuries since then, and has always been housed alone since I got him (I don't own another pet).
I'm not convinced that this is tail rot, and I'm not necessarily convinced he isn't just brumating. I do find the recent change in tail color strange and coupled with the behavioral stuff, I am just hoping for a second opinion on what all this could mean.
Thank you all in advance
. In the pic the very tip end caught my eye, but i don't know what his tail normally looks like. A little betadine or honey wouldn't hurt for a little bit just in case. The pics are from today, his tail goes from normal to dark all the time. It seems to darken mostly when he can hear Snickers scrambling around in her habitat.
