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Slow moving slow growing female. Help appriciated.

B

bekers71

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One of my females has been a concern ever since I got her. I bought her here from another breeder that was getting out of the business back in March. When she arrived she looked great and was 120 grams. She was 5 months old. The day after she arrived she pooped and had visible blood and worms in it. She was refusing to eat any thing offered and had never moved from the spot she was in the previous day. The breeder was contacted asap and this is what he told me:
"As for her slow behavior this also normal this time of year when receiving a new/younger dragon...My house recently has been cooler than normal and it wouldn't surprise me if her body began to slow down as if she would be preparing for possible brumation, and yes I know they techniqually don't brumate until their second winter, but I've seen it happen before! I"....."Here is what you need to do, make sure the lighting cycle is at least 14-16 hours long her day and her basking spot is hitting at least 110-115 degrees! My dragons are use to a hotter basking spot that's closer to 115 degrees and believe me 5 degrees can make all the difference in the world in their activity level."

"As for bloody stools that's either one of two things: she ate to many hard shelled worms like supers or something else that was hard that caused digestional distress, or she has a higher than normal Coccidia count which is normal for a stressed out dragon. (which she will be for the next week or so...)"
Click to expand...

So I followed his instructions and continued the next couple of weeks to update him on her progress. After a few more emails he didn't respond again.

Her disposition isn't much better. I did treat her for parasites and got that issue taken care of. She hardly ever moves and it's almost like her food has to be right in front of her face before she'll eat it. If I dangle food above her she'll eat it most of the time. She loves dubia but I have to put them close to her and upside down so she'll eat them. In the morning when I turn on her basking light I move her under it and once she's warmed up she moves back to the other end and stays there. She is in a 36x14x12 cage with a basking light(115*) and a 10.0 UV 18" light. Every thing she eats is dusted with calcium+D3. She is given dubia, mealies, herb mix, spring mix and pellets. There's no way some thing can be lacking in her diet. Is there? On occasion I give her a small pinkie mouse dusted with herp vitamin. She is only up to 204 grams now.

Any one have any idea what could be the issue? Why is she so lazy? My other dragons run to their food bowls and chow down every time. They bask in the heat and are really active. Do I just have a super lazy dragon?
 
Assuming the parasite problem has been completely taken care of and recognizing she is now over a year old have you considered brumation as a possible cause of her lethargy? As to her size, while it could be partially attributed to poor early husbandry, some dragons are just naturally smaller than others. In addition, I would suggest that you let her pick her own spot in the enclosure, she will bask when necessary.
 
After re-reading your post a few other things stood out….
In my experience, dragons, besides hatchlings seem to prefer a basking temp of give or take 100F, if you can offer a wider (higher) basking range while maintaining a cooler side of the tank this would be fine. You don’t mention the temp of your cool side, which might be quite high with this size tank and basking temp?
Also you say, “Every thing she eats is dusted with calcium+D3.”. This is over supplementation. With proper UVB, once a week with D3 is adequate and one dusting per live feeding (I only dust live prey, just a preference) at the most once a day is plenty. Personally don’t see the need for pinkies for anything other than post-gravid dragons and find even they do quite well without them, gain personal preference.
Cheers
Rik
 
Thank you for your insight. I'll change things up a bit and see how she does. I appreciate your help. :)
 
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