Purplestag
New member
Hey - so the background:
We have a rescue dragon called Derek. Advised that he was about 5 when we took him in 18 months ago.
Full of the joys of his new home, he settled in well, but went into brumation and slept solid (except for the odd bath) for 12 weeks, about 6 months after we first got him (which as we all know is quite a long time!) I started to get concerned, so I took him to a local reptile specialist vet to see if there was something wrong with him. They x-ray'd, took blood samples, tested his faeces - all the usual stuff, then paid a home visit to check the viv set up... She was happy with ALL the results and the set up - and after charging me hundreds of pounds, diagnosed laziness, probably brought on by finally having a decent home and being looked after properly for the first time in his life.
Another 6 months on and he was still sleeping most of the time - I bathed him once a week, managed to tempt him with crickets maybe once or twice a week, but he just wouldn't poo... We'd wake him up for cuddles each day and a run around the house, but after maybe 15 mins he'd find a hole and go back to sleep - kind of like a really rubbish Duracell bunny... Worse thing though is he would only poo if I feed him a little olive oil with a syringe and gave him a couple of baths - on the vets advice.
Decided to contact a different reptile vet for another opinion as he was just no different - more money and loads more tests later, other than being a little dehydrated (I now have to syringe 5ml into his mouth every day) he was yet again given a full bill of health...
So... as of now, he still sleeps - a LOT... Not that interested in food, some days he wolfs loads but mostly flatly refuses anything that doesn't move - so currently supplementing with "Emeraid". He's not interested in climbing - or sitting in the basking area, so we try and move him there at least once every day. He still doesn't poo without the use of olive oil... He wakes up a little when we take him out of his viv and he seems to enjoy being handled and bath time, but as soon as you put him down he just finds somewhere to go back to sleep...?! Same when he goes back in the vivarium...
He's currently making my teenager look like she's full of energy?!
Having had two seperate specialists tell me he is just lazy - the vivarium set up correctly and ALL the tests coming back normal, i'm at a loss, so thought I would reach out on here to see if anyone has ANY ideas or come across a super lazy dragon before...? (Fingers crossed)
We have a rescue dragon called Derek. Advised that he was about 5 when we took him in 18 months ago.
Full of the joys of his new home, he settled in well, but went into brumation and slept solid (except for the odd bath) for 12 weeks, about 6 months after we first got him (which as we all know is quite a long time!) I started to get concerned, so I took him to a local reptile specialist vet to see if there was something wrong with him. They x-ray'd, took blood samples, tested his faeces - all the usual stuff, then paid a home visit to check the viv set up... She was happy with ALL the results and the set up - and after charging me hundreds of pounds, diagnosed laziness, probably brought on by finally having a decent home and being looked after properly for the first time in his life.
Another 6 months on and he was still sleeping most of the time - I bathed him once a week, managed to tempt him with crickets maybe once or twice a week, but he just wouldn't poo... We'd wake him up for cuddles each day and a run around the house, but after maybe 15 mins he'd find a hole and go back to sleep - kind of like a really rubbish Duracell bunny... Worse thing though is he would only poo if I feed him a little olive oil with a syringe and gave him a couple of baths - on the vets advice.
Decided to contact a different reptile vet for another opinion as he was just no different - more money and loads more tests later, other than being a little dehydrated (I now have to syringe 5ml into his mouth every day) he was yet again given a full bill of health...
So... as of now, he still sleeps - a LOT... Not that interested in food, some days he wolfs loads but mostly flatly refuses anything that doesn't move - so currently supplementing with "Emeraid". He's not interested in climbing - or sitting in the basking area, so we try and move him there at least once every day. He still doesn't poo without the use of olive oil... He wakes up a little when we take him out of his viv and he seems to enjoy being handled and bath time, but as soon as you put him down he just finds somewhere to go back to sleep...?! Same when he goes back in the vivarium...
He's currently making my teenager look like she's full of energy?!
Having had two seperate specialists tell me he is just lazy - the vivarium set up correctly and ALL the tests coming back normal, i'm at a loss, so thought I would reach out on here to see if anyone has ANY ideas or come across a super lazy dragon before...? (Fingers crossed)