Won’t eat but super active

[MrSheldon]

Hey. I have an almost two year old bearded dragon. Today is day four of not eating. I know that bermation happens around this time of year accept that he is so active. He has been glass surfing a lot and always wants to be out of his cage roaming this house. Should I be concerned? Anyone experience this? Thank you.

 

[AHBD]

Hi there, can you post pics of him + his set up ? Are you positive on the gender ? Here's how to check for sure :

http://imgur.com/r/BeardedDragons/s2OIALb

Or you can just arch the tail like that , take a few pics + post them here.

 

[EllenD]

Yes, please post photos of both his enclosure and lighting, and of him...And please take one like AHBD suggested with his tail arched way over his back, with the photo showing his vent and the area on the underside of his tail directly above his vent...

If he's acting completely normally and is very active it likely has nothing to do with brumation. Has he ever gone into brumation before? And is he spending his usual amount of time on his basking spot and under his lights, or is he avoiding his lights?

When is the last time he had a bowel movement?

 

[MrSheldon]

 

[MrSheldon]

Hey guys. I have posted the pictures. He was a confirmed male by the vet. Last BM was two days ago, but was a lot of liquid then. I have paper in the bottom of the tank. I’m not sure if he is avoiding the lights. We have his lights set in timers for night and day (always have). Nothing has changed in the environment or food.

He did have parasites last November and was treated and cleared by the vet. I’m hoping this is not the case this time.

What do you think.

 

[MrSheldon]

I have weighed him and his weight in grams is 401g which is roughly 14.14 ounces and he is about 45 cm long.

 

[AHBD]

Definitely a male, he looks very healthy. His extra activity + blackbeard may be if he's in the breeding mode but it's always possible that he may have parasites again. The only way to be sure is to have a fecal test done.

 

[MrSheldon]

UPDATE! He finally ate today! I am so relieved. After his breakfast he basked on his rock in the light. He is still active and wants out of his cage.

I am still going to get a fecal sample and have it tested.
Thanks for your help. Sometimes just talking through all the details and making sure you’re not doing it wrong helps.

 

[AHBD]

That's good...nothing seems out of the ordinary + he's probably just restless. They don't have much to do in their jail cells that we put them in !

 

[EllenD]

I was going to suggest it's just hormones and he's restless, hence the black beard and the glass surfing. I doubt it's parasites, but a fecal test is always good to do if you can. The only advice I'll give you is that if he continues to eat and act completely normally, and then you get a fecal test done and it comes back for some type of parasite like coccidia or pinworms, but they are in the low or moderate range, do not medicate him again, he doesn't need it! Lately there has been so much over-medicating for parasites by vets and it's only causing them tons of problems they didn't have in the first place. It's normal for bearded dragons to have coccidia, pinworms, and other parasites and bacteria (like Pseudomonas, that's the new one they're starting to medicate for, completely unnecessary) in their gastrointestinal tracts pretty much all the time. However, unless the test comes back as the parasites or pinworms being in at least the high range, or unless your beardie is actually showing active symptoms and signs of being sick like a lack of appetite, lethargy, not basking, very runny stools or stools with blood in them (not formed stools with a lot of fluid coming out along with them, that's simply a sign of good hydration, the actual poop needs to be mushy and not at all formed), they do not need to be put on any medication for anything. It's unnecessary if they are acting normally and will only cause them to become sick, stop eating for quite a while, cause them to lose weight, and it turns into a cycle of meds causing sickness, then they give more meds because they thing it's being caused by the parasites, then the new meds cause more sickness, etc. It's getting way too common. Your boy looks very healthy, of a good weight, and he's only 2 years old, so he's right at the correct age for his hormones to be raging, which is exactly what's going on...