Dragon not eating, no interest in food all week

[MikeNTalysDragon]

Hi all,

I have a baby dragon that I got 2 weeks ago and I'm starting to become very concerned as he has completely stopped eating and is glued to his basking log all day long. When we first brought him home, we were admittedly under-prepared (I apologize for this). I had a small "cricket keeper" sized tank that I had been keeping a couple tiny geckos in that I had caught in my house. I thought they were babies, but after almost 6 months they never got any bigger so we decided to release them back to the wild and get something we could actually see and handle.

To avoid writing a book, here is a bulleted list of his history so far as best I can remember

Day 1 - Brought home in the evening and placed in small cage
Day 2 - Got him a basking lamp and crickets first thing in morning, he gobbled them up and enjoyed basking
Day 3 - Ordered reptisun UVB lamp/hammock/digital therm from amazon, started shopping for 20 gallon on craigslist
Days 5/6 - Deliveries arrive, pick up used 20 gallon with lid that happen to have just the right fixture for the reptisun bulb, set him up in his new home. One side has his hide rock and small salad bowl that he ignores, put a brick in the middle for climbing and getting to hammock, hammock on right side with log to provide a little more elevation to heat lamp. This is where he spends all of his time until lights out. Lights go out around 11 and he climbs down to sleep on or under his hide rock. Temp gradient during the day is 78-115, temp at night is 74.

So this is where things started turning south.. which is odd because this is the point when I feel I have sufficiently met all recommended requirements. Once he got into his new home, it's like crickets became invisible, which is frustrating because I had ordered 500 of them from flukers. I dropped one of the cleaner worms in and he perked right up and went after it. I put a few more in and he chased them all down immediately.

The following day, he had no interest in them either. He lost interest in veggies even before this. I thought maybe he got tired of just carrot shavings, so I picked up collard greens, kale, broccoli, blueberries and strawberries. Regardless of if they are cut up, mashed up, shavings, he wants none of any of it.

This has gone on for a full week now. He won't eat a thing. If I put crickets and worms on the floor and relocate him there, he ignores them and immediately scurries back to his basking log. I have been watching his droppings closely and there has been a lot of white bird poo looking stuff (urine equivalent right), but the solid black/brown poo has steadily diminished. Yesterday he did have one small solid poo with some white.

What really concerns me is that he is now visibly thinner, been in the 20 gallon a week, and still not eating, and we have plans to leave town for the weekend leaving him in the care of my brother in law. Not sure what to do.. I would feel a lot more comfortable if he started eating before we leave Thursday night. Any suggestions?

 

[MikeNTalysDragon]

Here he is in his original and new habitat. I later moved the log onto the hammock to get him a little closer to his lamp. He sits on the log all day long and pretty much won't move. If I put him on the floor with the crickets and worms he just goes right back. I can't imagine that 78 on the coldest corner is that unbearable that it's preventing him from eating.

At this point I almost want to move him back into his cozy little cage where he seemed happier.. but then again another environment change could be a bigger set back.

 

[Canicke]

welcome. I am sorry you are having such challenges. they can go through a period of adjustment - no telling from one to the next how they will be affected. a couple of suggestions - maybe make his large enclosure a bit smaller for a time. nothing fancy - cardboard will work. or - cover 3 sides of the viv with paper (to resemble a cage) you cant MAKE him eat. little guys wont eat much in the way of veggies - they do a bit more with protein. 500 crickets is a lot. sorry. you can also try small dubia (roaches) offer a bit of veggies every day - he will eventually eat it. you can also try baby food, but you may have to hand feed him. rub some on his mouth and let him lick it off. and - you can also try feeding him crickets with tweezers. I would suggest removing the crickets legs first - makes it easier. hope he comes around. keep us posted

 

[MikeNTalysDragon]

Actually, making him eat is exactly what I ended up doing. I found some articles and videos showing how to do it, and as much as I didn't want to go this route, he hasn't eaten a thing in 5 days and he is getting borderline emaciated, so I resorted to force feeding.

I was as gentle as possible, but I opened his mouth with my thumb and pushed a few crickets and a couple worms in. He hasn't had any vitamin or calcium supplements. He stopped eating right when I bought the spray bottles, so this gave me an opportunity to use them. Now he's got a full belly of vitamin/calcium enriched crickets and worms. I think that outweighs the trauma we both just went through. He actually stopped struggling after the first insect and just relaxed belly up in my palm.. So hopefully it wasn't too hard on him. Believe me, I didn't want to do this and I sure didn't enjoy it, but I feel like we were reaching the point of emergency. I'm just glad he's gotten some nutrients in his body. He's happily basking now.

 

[Canicke]

sometimes they don't like the supplements, try feeding him without the ca and vits and see if he will eat bugs that way. I wouldn't worry too much about the supps until he starts eating on his own. a few days one way or the other is not going to make a significant difference. ps - good for you !

 

[MikeNTalysDragon]

I never had a chance to use the supplements, he had already stopped eating by the time I got them, so that isn't the problem. I think it's a combination of the new environment, new larger terrarium, and maybe some over-handling. Today I tried a gentler method. He still wouldn't eat on his own so I used a small plastic syringe to keep a steady drip of baby food on his snout. He seemed like he enjoyed it for a little while, then he started taking long pauses between slurps so I figured he was done.

That's a relief because I wasn't going to ask my brother in law to force feed him insects while we're gone for the weekend. I'll do it one more time tonight and then have the brother in law stick to baby food, assuming he continues not to eat on his own. I'm just glad we're leaving him well fed so we don't really need to worry about it.

 

[Canicke]

am glad he's enjoying the baby food. once he gets some weight back on try switchin it up a bit - they CAN get spoiled if you let it happen !! Have a good weekend ---

 

[Hdrydr31]

I hope the weekend goes well for your little one.. babies can be hard sometimes but worth it in the end..keep us posted the advise you have been given is what I would do too

 

[MikeNTalysDragon]

Sadly he passed yesterday. I never was able to get him to eat on his own, I kept him alive for several weeks by force feeding insects and dripping baby food on his snout. A coupe days ago he simply stopped chewing and swallowing the insects even when I stuffed them in his mouth.. I eventually had to pull them back out for fear he would choke. He went down hill from there. I think he was ill to begin with.. I should have never gotten one from a petsmart. I will miss little Carlitos, it really saddens me that he couldn't pull through. I do plan to get another one, but this time I'll find a reputable breeder.

 

[Elders]

Sadly he passed yesterday. I never was able to get him to eat on his own, I kept him alive for several weeks by force feeding insects and dripping baby food on his snout. A coupe days ago he simply stopped chewing and swallowing the insects even when I stuffed them in his mouth.. I eventually had to pull them back out for fear he would choke. He went down hill from there. I think he was ill to begin with.. I should have never gotten one from a petsmart. I will miss little Carlitos, it really saddens me that he couldn't pull through. I do plan to get another one, but this time I'll find a reputable breeder.

I am very sorry to hear about your loss....it's not easy when you grow a bond and try to save their lives evenear though sometimes nature has other plans....and nature will always win.

It is good to hear you will seek another beardy, they are excellent animals.

I got Odin from:

http://www.dachiubeardeddragons.com/

They ship at 6.5-7 inches and have beautiful colors available. Great family run business.

I wish you the best of luck with your future family member; and again sorry for your loss.

 

[Hdrydr31]

very sorry to hear that he earned his wings Know that you tried all that you could to help this little one, and yes most likely he was ill all along. I am glad to hear that you will be trying again. I think it's important to know that not all pet stores are bad or have ill dragons, I know many who have gotten theirs from them myself included and both of mine are just fine. My youngest I believe to have some round worms but that's no biggie most dragon's at some point will have some sort of parasite...
Good luck in your future scaly family member and we look forward to seeing him/her once you do. Again very sorry

 

[Pete33]

Sorry for your loss. When I decided to get a beardie the shop had 2 tiny babies but I am new and didn't really know enough yet, so I got a larger one.


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[Kathryn Kinney]

Sorry to hear he passed. There is a graphic horrible video that surfaced a few months ago from one of there supplier farms. I think dodo.com. Thankfully I heard they were inspected again recently and hopefully shutting them down. So sad.

 

[MikeNTalysDragon]

Thank you all for your advice, support, and kind words. I am still sad for Carlitos and I will miss him, but I have a new dragon now, his name is Dexter. He gave my wife and I a brief scare the first few days, but he's now eating regularly and seems to be well adjusted. He's still got dark stress circles on his underside, but has at least developed a healthy appetite and appears to be getting more comfortable. I think I may have rushed things a bit though.. I feel like I overpaid and I'm skeptical that he is what the breeder says he is. I have started a thread on that with pictures if anyone is interested in taking a look. http://www.dachiubeardeddragons.com/

I want to get some opinions first, but I will eventually disclose what breeder he was ordered from, what he was listed as, and what their website picture looked like. I'm happy with him and all, I have no interest in sending him back, but if the breeder is being dishonest I'd like to make it known so others don't overspend. I will say the responsiveness, customer service, delivery, and health of the lizard were all excellent, at least. I just can't shake that "ripped off" feeling...

All that aside, I am happy to have a fresh start with Dexter and am thrilled to see him chasing down crickets and gobbling phoenix worms all on his own. It's a huge relief after that first experience.

 

[Elders]

In my personal opinion and belief dachiu is a reputable breeder. My dragon came and is still in great health. Their prices are those of colored dragons. Search the Internet for more resources. They do their best to specify morphs and traits but certain characteristics can change as they age.

I do not believe dachiu is misleading at all. Animal stores like pet smart can charge 60 dollars for normal yellow dragons because they are over bred which corolates to the health issues so many experience with pet stores. Although not all are like that.

 

[MikeNTalysDragon]

In my personal opinion and belief dachiu is a reputable breeder. My dragon came and is still in great health. Their prices are those of colored dragons. Search the Internet for more resources. They do their best to specify morphs and traits but certain characteristics can change as they age.

I do not believe dachiu is misleading at all. Animal stores like pet smart can charge 60 dollars for normal yellow dragons because they are over bred which corolates to the health issues so many experience with pet stores. Although not all are like that.

Oh wow, my mistake I pasted the wrong link. I did not get him from dachiu, my apologies. I will edit that post with the correct link.

 

[MikeNTalysDragon]

I guess you only get 5 minutes to edit a post

This is the link I meant to post: http://www.beardeddragonforum.com/threads/skeptical-of-breeder-listing.14545/

I must have just copied from the wrong tab. I was looking at the dachiu webpage earlier. My apologies again to dachiu, I have no experience with them and did not mean to damage their reputation.

 

[PatsyB]

I have a Dexter dragon...mine is a girl