Yellow beard, not eating

[RobertKirk]

Hi everyone,
We bought this little “guy” (not actually sure of their sex) at the end of July. We think it got blocked up and stopped eating for about a week and had blood in their poop. We gave Beardo baby food and bathed him. It then started eating, very excitedly for a few days- 15-20 per day. This then caused them to, we think, get blocked up again.

It has now been almost three weeks of them almost not eating, it will randomly eat 1-2 crickets and some baby food/fruit when prompted. We called the vet and they would like us to bring in a fresh stool and to test for parasites. He went poop today, but it was dry and flakey by the time we got home.

Here are a few pictures of him, does this look like yellow fungus?

Any other tips or advice??

 

[KarrieRee]

Hi everyone,
We bought this little “guy” (not actually sure of their sex) at the end of July. We think it got blocked up and stopped eating for about a week and had blood in their poop. We gave Beardo baby food and bathed him. It then started eating, very excitedly for a few days- 15-20 per day. This then caused them to, we think, get blocked up again.

It has now been almost three weeks of them almost not eating, it will randomly eat 1-2 crickets and some baby food/fruit when prompted. We called the vet and they would like us to bring in a fresh stool and to test for parasites. He went poop today, but it was dry and flakey by the time we got home.

Here are a few pictures of him, does this look like yellow fungus?

Any other tips or advice??

Your dragon could be dehydrated --- please offer him some water by dropping it on his nose- do this till he quits licking- what kind of baby food were you feeding? He should have insects no bigger than the space between his eyes - what are you using for a UVB? a coil or a long tube fixture? What are the surface basking temps and how are you taking them? NO stick ons please you want a digital probe thermometer --- 105-110- the UVB and the surface basking temps are the most important things in the tank -- I can help you get the tank set up properly - this would cause impaction of these things are not correct ---

 

[RobertKirk]

Your dragon could be dehydrated --- please offer him some water by dropping it on his nose- do this till he quits licking- what kind of baby food were you feeding? He should have insects no bigger than the space between his eyes - what are you using for a UVB? a coil or a long tube fixture? What are the surface basking temps and how are you taking them? NO stick ons please you want a digital probe thermometer --- 105-110- the UVB and the surface basking temps are the most important things in the tank -- I can help you get the tank set up properly - this would cause impaction of these things are not correct ---

We bought the ZooReptile dual light and upgraded the basking lamp to 150 watts since the 100 w wasn’t mAking his basking temp warm enough. We tried a digital probe but it was reading the room temperature not the actual temp in the enclosure and wasn’t rereading once in the setup.

Do you have a better digital probe thermometer recommendation? (I’ve attached a picture of the one we had bought).

Yes I offer him droplets of water and he enjoys licking it up. I also put fresh water in his water dish each day. But he doesn’t drink from it, or at least I’ve never seen him do so. We have been bathing him every other day since he hasn’t been eating. And he does, sometimes drink water in the bath. Most of the time he does seem to enjoy the bath!

The baby food I had offered him was squash, plum and I think apples. We ran out of that and recently was going him organic (no added sugars, etc) apple sauce and a smashed up banana. He didn’t like the banana, but did lick some of the apple sauce. I bought escarole today and chopped that up into small pieces/put water on it. And left it in his cage. He did eat one cricket during bath time tonight.

 

[xp29]

Please get a long tube uvb, those coil/compact are garbage. You need a tube that is 2/3 the length of your habitat. Work with Karrieree to get the distances correct, she is a wiz.
If your uvb and basking aren't correct you will have all kinds of problems.

 

[RobertKirk]

Your dragon could be dehydrated --- please offer him some water by dropping it on his nose- do this till he quits licking- what kind of baby food were you feeding? He should have insects no bigger than the space between his eyes - what are you using for a UVB? a coil or a long tube fixture? What are the surface basking temps and how are you taking them? NO stick ons please you want a digital probe thermometer --- 105-110- the UVB and the surface basking temps are the most important things in the tank -- I can help you get the tank set up properly - this would cause impaction of these things are not correct ---

Would this be the correct UVB light that he needs?

 

[xp29]

24 inches for a 40 gallon.(bulb will be 22 inches, the fixture is 24) the t8 work but need to be closer to your beardie. T5 are stronger bulbs. But either is usable.

 

[RobertKirk]

24 inches for a 40 gallon.(bulb will be 22 inches, the fixture is 24) the t8 work but need to be closer to your beardie. T5 are stronger bulbs. But either is usable.

 

[RobertKirk]

Here’s his current set up.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

The tank overall is very nice, he should have plenty of room right now.
You could start him on either the Reptisun 10 T5 or the Arcadia D3 12% T5 tube bulb & place it on
top of the screen at a 10-12 inch distance. The picture you posted of the Arcadia would be a great
bulb for him, it is nice & bright also.
Have you had a fecal exam done on him to be sure he doesn't have worms or parasites right now?
Be sure any crickets are smaller than the space between his eyes to avoid impaction issues.
You can add in some chicken or turkey baby food with his applesauce, or even some squash or
sweet potato baby food, too for nutrition.
The yellow pigmentation/coloring on his beard area is just natural coloring but definitely not any
yellow fungus.
Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie

 

[KarrieRee]

Would this be the correct UVB light that he needs?

I would go for the T 5 bulb as Tracie mentioned -they are better suitable for a 40 gallon tank --

 

[RobertKirk]

We ordered the UVB light and are picking it up tomorrow. He’s pooped three times, the first two had blood in them. And the one tonight had no blood! He still won’t eat crickets and actually didn’t want to drink water, either. We weren’t home all day, so I think he’s cranky. I gave him his bath and will try to give him water before bed. We are putting in his light tomorrow.

Thanks again to everyone who has been helping/offering advice. It is greatly appreciated.

 

[xp29]

Babies dehydrate faster than adults, if your having trouble getting him to drink you can use an eyedropper to drop a drop at a time on his snout. If he still won't drink you can add in a little none citrus fruit punch to give it flavor. Be careful not to choke him though, go at his pace and don't force it into his mouth. If he still won't lap at it you can gently pull down his lip(on the side) and drop just a tad outside his gums to get him to taste it. Also if you add fruit punch be sure to take a wet paper towel or wash cloth and wipe away any that got in his beard or on his body, no need to take a chance of starting bacteria to grow.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

How is your boy doing today? Were you able to get some fluids into him? Using an eye dropper to
drip water onto his nose is always helpful as xp29 suggested. Be sure it is plastic & not glass in case
he decides to bite down on it. Go slowly with him. I hope he is feeling better soon.

Tracie

 

[RobertKirk]

Which digital thermometer probe do you all recommend? Our cage is currently reading 120 degrees (stick on thermometer) and I know it’s incorrect!

 

[RobertKirk]

Would this work?