Strange, worrisome behaivor by Rojo (Pics)

[Roja]

Hi guys...

So yesterday while I was working from my home office I heard a lot of scuffling from Rojo's enclosure. I peeked in to see him glass dancing (which he never does). When he got done... I was horrified to see him INK BLACK from his throat all the way onto his chest to his belly, his shoulders, everything. Literally like ink. I've never seen anything like that. He'll blackbeard every now and then but its just that... his beard only. I've never seen him go that dark and all the way into his chest and shoulders. VERY scary.

I got him out and put him in the bath. After a few minutes it started to go away some. I realized I should snap some photos for you guys at that moment so here is what it looked like after it started going down quite a bit:

It's kind of hard to tell how far down it goes in this photo, but its neck, throat, shoulders and all the way under his arms onto his chest.

Here's one that is clearer after its gone away even more. This was after his bath.

After I put him back in the tank, he wouldn't get up off his belly and was dragging himself (including his back legs) along the floor all over. Slowly he started to stand up and since he's been walking normal. (he was swimming in the tub, which he likes to do, so maybe he was still mimicking swimming when I first put him back.. I know that the dragging legs is a MBD sign, but he eats well (normally), gets regular calcium and has a good reptisun 10)

I've posted many times his enclosure stats so I hate to go thru the list each time but its 40 gal breeder (will be upgrading to a larger one this summer) he has papertowel substrate, cleaned regularly. Basking spot 103, warm side high 80's low 90's, cool side about 75-80. (reptisun 10 bulb 5 months old). Rojo is is 8.5-9 months old and is 17" long. Don't know how much he weighs.

He normally will eat about 40-50 large crickets a day and a couple waxworms a week. He eats black kale, green kale, mustard & dandelion greens regularly.

About 10 days - 2 weeks ago he just stopped eating crickets. I'd put 15 or so large in his cage in the morning and they'd be in there all day. He might eat 1 if it crawled right onto him, but other than that... didn't seem interested. He'd eat his salad and never stopped loving the occasional waxworm... but just seemed to be done with crickets. I'm looking into ordering Dubias right now.

I got some superworms out of desperation yesterday because he'd hardly eaten any protein in 2 weeks. (I forgot that I dust with flukers calcium daily and multivitimens about 3x a week). He's eating those now with the fervor that he use to eat crickets with. It's like he just decided he's DONE with crickets all of a sudden and wont touch them.

Here's my guy when he's happy & healthy.

What do you guys think? Whats up with this sudden strange behavior and what do I make of the crazy jet black thing yesterday? How about that he is refusing crickets now all of a sudden? Can I just give him superworms in the mean time before I can get dubias? If so, how many superworms equal crickets?

Thanks!!

 

[spurlee01]

When did he last poop? Also, Kale should be fed a couple times a week at most.

 

[Gail]

Something really had him upset, could he see out a window at all? Usually thats the behavior you'll see when 2 males meet, maybe he got a good look at his reflection. Either way, I wouldn't worry about it, it normal.

Going off crickets is fairly common, especially with adult dragons. Supers are fine as a staple, just make sure he is digesting them well. At his age he should start eating more greens, I'd only feed 15 supers a day.

 

[Roja]

When did he last poop? Also, Kale should be fed a couple times a week at most.

Yea he only gets Kale every now and then. Daily its mustard & dandelion greens.

He poops every day for the most part. They are geting HUGE though. Like giant snakes. ew! Always with the urates, so it looks normal.. just giant. Like 2-3" long sometimes. and the smell! The older he gets the worse it is.

But yes.. usually every day. Although this last week its only been about 3 times because he's hardly been eating.

 

[Roja]

Something really had him upset, could he see out a window at all? Usually thats the behavior you'll see when 2 males meet, maybe he got a good look at his reflection. Either way, I wouldn't worry about it, it normal.

Going off crickets is fairly common, especially with adult dragons. Supers are fine as a staple, just make sure he is digesting them well. At his age he should start eating more greens, I'd only feed 15 supers a day.

I have a cloth on each side of the tank to minimize reflection, but there still is some. Yeah that was crazy. I've seen him blackbeard 5-6 times but it was always just his beard. never onto his belly like that. Glad to know its normal.

Is 9 months considered a young adult? What is the age? He may be closer to 10 months, I'm not sure. He was born last June or July.

So just look at his poo to make sure there isn't too much shell or whole worm pieces? About 7 in the morning and 7 at dinner? I can do that. Will the calcium and vits stick to the superworms?

Thanks so much for your help!

 

[spurlee01]

Have you had a fecal exam done? Going off food and smelly poops can both be a sign of parasites.

 

[Roja]

Have you had a fecal exam done? Going off food and smelly poops can both be a sign of parasites.

I had one done about 3 months ago and it tested negative for any parasites. I suppose I could do another one but at $75 a pop... its not cheap. Plus he's eating veggies and worms great.. its just the crickets he wants nothing to do with anymore.

 

[spurlee01]

$75? are there no other vets in your area? Mine runs $12.50.

 

[imaginarium]

He actually looks very similar to my beardie. Same story... went off crix in January, won't touch them since. Started eating supers like crazy but now he's picky about those too. He'll randomly blackbeard all the way to his belly. He otherwise seems fine, so I just feed him a mix of baby food and calcium on his off days and keep him hydrated, and it seems to be fine. I just chalk it up to his first spring as a male...