update on baby bearded dragon not eating.

[wfdenham]

Hello all,

I'm updating anyone intrested in the status of a small bearded dragon.

Please see my previous posts here for more info:

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=211773

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=210240


Update:
So after not eating for a week I decided an updated vet visit was needed. The vet basically stated he had a high level of naturally foundd bacteria in his stomach. He has been treated by the vet and me following the vets meds etc etc. Whole viv has been santized to avoid further bacteria growth.

At this point in time I feel the only option I have left is to force feed.

I have heard of three different methods of doing this:
Baby dropper with baby food on snout.
syringe in mouth.
force feeding live food physically

Right now I have been trying the baby dropper with some success. I don't feel as if this amount I'm feeding him or that he will eat is enough to let him grow.

I'm more partial to trying the manual live food method.

Has anyone had any success with force feeding and can give any advice with it?

Has anyone seen any lasting side effects of force feeding? (High stress levels, bad behavior, won't eat with anything besides force feeding etc etc.)

Thank you for your time.

 

[CooperDragon]

If you aren't getting enough food to him with the dropper, then you could try hand feeding live food. That's great if he is receptive to it. Do keep a close eye on his weight (maybe keep a chart to help monitor progress). I've been using syringe feeding for about 4 months now. It's difficult to get them to open their mouths (you can often drop a little on the nose and get them to lick, once they start licking it's easier to empty the syringe). It takes patience, but you can offer a pretty good amount of food. Patience really is key. It often takes over an hour for me to feed a full syringe to my little guy. The advantage of this is you can blend up a well balanced salad (and add protein via baby food chicken or turkey mixed in). I feed what is fresh, usually some combination of collards, turnip greens, dandelion greens, green beans, squash, and bell pepper. Blended and strained (First through a wire strainer, then through a cheesecloth or clean kitchen towel/pillowcase to get the excess water out). Hopefully he will eat live food, but if not, or if he loses weight, then syringe feeding may be worth a shot but I'd consider it last and if his weight is dropping off.

 

[wfdenham]

So does your dragon never eat on his own now? Hand feeding has never worked and it seems the dropper is just creating a mess.

I'll try the syringe I like the idea, don't see a large difference between it and manually feeding crickets however so I'm going to try both.

Where did you get a good size syringe from?

I'm hoping as he gets bigger he'll eat on his own. With his weight stagnating like it is I'll just have to do this for now I guess.

 

[CooperDragon]

I can occasionally get him to eat a worm or two on his own, but he doesn't have an appetite because he is sick. I have 6 and 10ml syringes from the vet and from the drugstore. They are pretty cheap. If you have any questions about putting together a smoothie let me know and I'll do what I can to help.

 

[wfdenham]

Just blend some greens, strain out the water, and add some baby food right?

How much do you end up feeding him?
My dragon is about 19 grams 8 in I want to feed him enough that he will grow

 

[Taterbug]

Cooper, I'm curious why you strain your mix?

 

[CooperDragon]

Just blend some greens, strain out the water, and add some baby food right?

How much do you end up feeding him?
My dragon is about 19 grams 8 in I want to feed him enough that he will grow

Yeah you pretty much just want to get the mixture to baby food consistency so it will fit in the syringe and come out smoothly. Dundee is around 430g and 18'' and an adult. He gets a 10ml syringe every day. For one as small as yours, I'd use quite a bit less to begin with. Just a guess but I'd start with maybe 1-2ml and see how he does with that. Maybe offer two smaller meals at different times rather than one larger one.

 

[CooperDragon]

Cooper, I'm curious why you strain your mix?

I have a hard time getting the mixture in and out of the syringe if it isn't about the same consistency as baby food. Esther suggested using cheesecloth so I started doing a two stage strain after the blender where I run it through a mesh kitchen strainer and push all but the biggest bits through. Then I take what went through the strainer and run that through the cheesecloth to get the excess water out and then I put what's left on top of the cheesecloth into a container for the week. It comes out at a really easy consistency to work with. Then I take the bigger bits and the "green water" and use it as a base for a smoothie for myself =).