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Appetite Decreased

UpstateNYPets

UpstateNYPets

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My 3 year old Bearded Dragon recently (over the past few weeks) has had no appetite AT ALL. I'm lucky if I can get him to eat 1-2 superworms and a slice or two of greens/fruits. Everything else is normal (pooing, activity, coloration, etc). I've offered him different veggies/fruits, and 3 different feeder options of supers, crickets, and phoenix worms. I want to order hornworms, butters, and silkworms, but I don't want to waste my money on them if he won't eat!

I really don't know what to do... He hasn't seemed to have lost any weight, but I don't have a scale to weigh him. However, his fatty areas still seem plump and healthy.

Anyone have any ideas?
 
Maybe wants to go in to early brumation.If he seems healthy+ not sluggish that could be it.Has he brumated in the past? You know,like hibernate[ not everyone knows what it means]
 
haha, yes, I know what Brumation is.

Anyway, no he hasn't brumated for me. I do not breed him so I've never induced it and he's never wanted to go into Brumation before. I wouldn't rule it out as a possibility, but if that's the case then I don't know what to do as I've never dealt with this before.
 
Well,he may look for a place to "flop",give him a hide log or if you aren't picky even an upside-down shoebox with one end cut out.He may just take a break from eating without brumating...but if he does go to sleep,he'll be fine.Put small amount of food every few days and decrease the wattage on the basking bulb.Since it's summer/fall you can turn it off completely and just watch for him to become active again.I've had them brumate for over 3 months with no problems.Keep in mind that he MAY just be a little tired of his diet...but if he wants to go into partial brumation he will.
 
It might be worth a fecal to check for parasites. Although if he had parasites he would probably be lethargic...

How about the UV bulb? What type is it and when was it last replaced?
 
The UV is a T-Rex Active UV mercury vapor bulb. 100w It's not near it's replace date yet. I keep his temps between 100-105F with occasional peaks up to 107F. His cool side is 80-85F.
 
Crazy4Herps said:
Although if he had parasites he would probably be lethargic...
Click to expand...

Not necessarily, depending on which parasite he may be carrying. Bearded dragons are notorious for carrying coccidia and pinworms and show very little and sometimes no symptoms. Most of the time when they actually DO start showing symptoms from parasites, you've got a heck of an infestation to deal with. I'd do the fecal exam as soon as you can.

I wouldn't shut off the basking bulb until you are sure that your dragon is in fact, brumating. I'm sure you know, but for everyone else reading, UV is super important when it comes to these guys.

Do you offer him a variety on a regular basis? You can try all kinds of stuff with him...not only fruits and veggies, you can try fish flakes, baby cereal...you can even use pinkies and hoppers :yesnod:
 
Temps / UVB sound great. :confused: I give, I'm stumped.

JordanAng420 said:
Not necessarily, depending on which parasite he may be carrying. Bearded dragons are notorious for carrying coccidia and pinworms and show very little and sometimes no symptoms. Most of the time when they actually DO start showing symptoms from parasites, you've got a heck of an infestation to deal with. I'd do the fecal exam as soon as you can.
Click to expand...

Oh yes. When Budo (my beardie) came to me, he was absolutely loaded with both. Some mornings he wouldn't even move, poor guy. :( It took six months of vet care to get the last of the coccidia out. Not to mention he had MBD on top of all of this... anyways, I'm so glad that nightmare is over now.
 
sounds like a sleepy dragon!!!!!

After reading everything i think Angie is right.
If a dragon has parasites there a some ways you can check: i think it was mentioned but i will mention it again. a dragon that has parasites coccidia or pins. have runny really notice able stinky poo. it will also be a green color and not have any shape. another way. if your dragon is losing an appetite because of coccidia or pins, it's usually because there belly is half full or full of them, so pick up your dragon and feel his/her belly. is it a empty flat feeling, or is it a solid full round feeling??? also have you recently introduced another dragon into that dragons environment? dragons pick up parasites from walking laying in other infected poo. or when infected poo is eaten by insects, and the dragon eats the insect.

i have a male that started hiding under the paper a week ago and stopped eating 2 weeks ago. that was my sign to put him down. just remember if you go to brumate him feed lightly to nothing but make sure the animal stays hydrated and your good!

So it sounds like hes just ready to go down. but hey its 30 bucks for a fecal test, why risk it? but its that time a year again when all the dragons want to relax, eat less, sleep more. Feed them less and give them less light, take advantage of it. i save so much on my electric bill and insect bill this time of the year. i love it come on winter!!!!!!!!
 
dragonluver83 said:
After reading everything i think Angie is right.
If a dragon has parasites there a some ways you can check: i think it was mentioned but i will mention it again. a dragon that has parasites coccidia or pins. have runny really notice able stinky poo. it will also be a green color and not have any shape. another way. if your dragon is losing an appetite because of coccidia or pins, it's usually because there belly is half full or full of them, so pick up your dragon and feel his/her belly. is it a empty flat feeling, or is it a solid full round feeling??? also have you recently introduced another dragon into that dragons environment? dragons pick up parasites from walking laying in other infected poo. or when infected poo is eaten by insects, and the dragon eats the insect.
Click to expand...

Really, the only way to know if an animal (or human, for that matter) has parasites is to have a trained eye examine a fecal sample under a microscope.

They don't always have diarrhea and pungent smelling bowel movements. Like I said, I have seen MANY dragons with pins and coccidia show NO symptoms at all.

I could be wrong, and it could be something compleately different. We could all be way off base. That is why we shouldn't try to diagnose one another's animals over the internet. ;)
 
JordanAng420 said:
Really, the only way to know if an animal (or human, for that matter) has parasites is to have a trained eye examine a fecal sample under a microscope.

They don't always have diarrhea and pungent smelling bowel movements. Like I said, I have seen MANY dragons with pins and coccidia show NO symptoms at all.

I could be wrong, and it could be something compleately different. We could all be way off base. That is why we shouldn't try to diagnose one another's animals over the internet. ;)
Click to expand...

that why i said for 30 bucks why risk it... but have you ever dealt with a dragon that's had coccidia and pins and have no signs???had did you know it had parasites if there are no signs??? interested in learning more, dont mistake my questioning for trying to be a$$
 
dragonluver83 said:
that why i said for 30 bucks why risk it... but have you ever dealt with a dragon that's had coccidia and pins and have no signs???had did you know it had parasites if there are no signs??? interested in learning more, dont mistake my questioning for trying to be a$$
Click to expand...

When Budo had coccidia and pins--and he was absolutely loaded, I saw the microscope pictures, the poor guy--he was lethargic and refused food, but his poo seemed fairly normal. He did have a somewhat lumpy-feeling lower stomach. I've also had a snake with pins (I know, totally different scenario) that didn't show any symptoms whatsoever, but since it came from the same place as Budo, I got a fecal done, just to be sure, and she was also loaded.

(For future reference, I do not recommend buying animals from the East Bay Vivarium.)
 
Thats weird that the poo was normal. that's how i knew my friend had parasites. i got out the scraper puts some on the slide and you could def. see the parasite eggs. but i knew by the poo very abnormal and really horrible smelling... But i think i asked this and got no answer
Danielle, have you recently got any new dragons??? there shared the tank with your three year old?
 
dragonluver83 said:
Danielle, have you recently got any new dragons??? there shared the tank with your three year old?
Click to expand...


Nope, it's just him. He's my one and only, however I do have a baby coming soon. But I don't believe in housing them in the same enclosure anyway since they are solitary animals. Of course I can't house a baby with a big 3 year old anyway.

I know it doesn't mean anything, but I thought I would comment about his poo... It's not runny, the urates aren't hard, and the other stuff is what I would consider normal. It's always brown and white, not green or any weird colors.

I give him a variety every time I feed him. If he doesn't eat something I offer, I try again.

When I feel the underside of his belly, I don't feel lumps nor is it hard. Soft and squishy like usual.

I think a fecal is in order here, now I just gotta make some phone calls to see who's the most experienced in my area.

Thanks for all the advice guys. I also agree that we all shouldn't try to diagnose each others beardies over the net, but it's always nice to see suggestions and advice from other (experienced) beardie owners. :eek:
 
UpstateNYPets said:
Nope, it's just him. He's my one and only, however I do have a baby coming soon. But I don't believe in housing them in the same enclosure anyway since they are solitary animals. Of course I can't house a baby with a big 3 year old anyway.

I know it doesn't mean anything, but I thought I would comment about his poo... It's not runny, the urates aren't hard, and the other stuff is what I would consider normal. It's always brown and white, not green or any weird colors.

I give him a variety every time I feed him. If he doesn't eat something I offer, I try again.

When I feel the underside of his belly, I don't feel lumps nor is it hard. Soft and squishy like usual.

I think a fecal is in order here, now I just gotta make some phone calls to see who's the most experienced in my area.

Thanks for all the advice guys. I also agree that we all shouldn't try to diagnose each others beardies over the net, but it's always nice to see suggestions and advice from other (experienced) beardie owners. :eek:
Click to expand...

yea, if you havent had any other dragons intro'ed i doubt pinworms. from what i've heard most dragons carry coccidia but its normally lower levels of it. its when it amounts to high levels its starts to aggravate the animal. yea you should get a fecal but like you said "personal opinion" its nap - nap time...
usually any vet place does fecal samples. hell i do my own fecals. its not really hard. if i needed a fecal for every animal once or twice a year i'd be broke. flat broke. but it usually runs 20 - 25 dollars. and some times they tell you it needs to be sent out they'll have the result in a week. look for another vet. try to find one that offers same day response. they just take a week to get to your sample. they dont send it out. they send it to the back room, and joe schmo looks though a micro scope and looks for things moving or little round circles, which are usually parasite eggs.
when it all comes down to it thats your kid. take care of it, right?
 
.

UpstateNYPets said:
Nope, it's just him. He's my one and only, however I do have a baby coming soon. But I don't believe in housing them in the same enclosure anyway since they are solitary animals. Of course I can't house a baby with a big 3 year old anyway.

I know it doesn't mean anything, but I thought I would comment about his poo... It's not runny, the urates aren't hard, and the other stuff is what I would consider normal. It's always brown and white, not green or any weird colors.

I give him a variety every time I feed him. If he doesn't eat something I offer, I try again.

When I feel the underside of his belly, I don't feel lumps nor is it hard. Soft and squishy like usual.

I think a fecal is in order here, now I just gotta make some phone calls to see who's the most experienced in my area.

Thanks for all the advice guys. I also agree that we all shouldn't try to diagnose each others beardies over the net, but it's always nice to see suggestions and advice from other (experienced) beardie owners. :eek:
Click to expand...

so i been racking my brain in my spare time here, and i am trying to figure out how a 3 yr old pet dragon thats been by its self no other dragons got coccidia and pins or what not, and it just occured to me. i havent asked you what you have fed your beardie. as far as like pinkies or fuzzies roaches what?. you said you offer them a variety but you didnt say what, did you??? i need to go back and read this dam thing from the begining, again!
 
Oh, I thought I'd mention it although it might not be much help... Over the last couple days he's been restless, glass dancing, running back and forth, giving me the black beard until I let him have some free roam time, and even after the lights go out, he will still run around and mess around for almost a half hour. He's doing it now as I type, I forgot his lights were on still and thought someone was in the house, lol.
 
For a long time he was on crickets, but he stopped being interested in those months and months ago. He's been on supers, phoenix, and waxies. I try to rotate. I offer more fruits and veggies though. (collards, apples, kale, spaghetti squash, and strawberries are the most recent).

I don't think fuzzies/pinkies are good for them, so he's never had them before. Strictly just insects and veggies.
 
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