bearded dragon ill

gardener88 · #1 (**permalink**) 06-15-2008, 11:22 AM

hi all, basically i have 2 beardies, one older than other, eric is the oldest and dinky is the youngest, well the person at the pet shop where we bought our 2nd beardie, said they would be fine being housed, well oviously not, as eric attacked my youngest and done alot of damage, we have now separated them, but the only problem is now its been 2weeks since he has eaten, the vet gave us supplements, but its now at that point where we need to get him on food!
he has had 5 pieces of lettuce, little bits, but that we had to wedge into his mouth, but he will not eat any live food, he wont even move at all, he is very lathargic, the vet said its a case of if he survive than good, but if not then, well uno. is there any tips on how we can get him to eat? thanks all.

Jason · #2 (**permalink**) 06-15-2008, 11:35 AM

This is gross but i have had to do it for Snakes and other lizards that cme to me to ill to catch there own food or even have the power to eat veg. pick up a few dozen crickets and pinkie mice...this is where it gets a tad sick.... also pick up a little thing called a magic bullit. a small hand blender and toss them in and add some suppliment. you can pick up a syringe type tool used for baby meds or for the food industry and inject it into the back of the mouth of your BD in very small amounts as not to drown it. I dont know how big he is but the amount of food should be 2/3 of what he would normally eat in a day given in small doses over a few hours. You will also have to possably themoregulate him manually and ajust the temp in the tank higher to help him metabolize the food faster, IM no vet and this is a tricky method but has worked for me in the past, talk this over with your vet first as he may have a better method, and good luck.

Rainfrog · #3 (**permalink**) 06-16-2008, 04:48 AM

Good luck. I hate to hear some one loose a pet. I get so pissed at the suposedly trained and experienced "Reptile experts" at Local pet shops. I had an incident that almost got me banned from my local Pet Co. The manager of the Herp section agreed his "experts" should not try to cold sale me BS when I am looking over their stock and I only deal with him now. I got an awsome deal on a beautiful Pueblan Milk Snake from him the other day

J-rock · #4 (**permalink**) 06-24-2008, 01:55 PM

My beardie eats when he wants to eat. When in brumation he'll go weeks without eating. Just make sure you always put some food in there no matter what. If he won't eat live foods make sure you dust his veggies with a calcium powder every couple days and multi/D3 supplement twice a week.

You really shouldn't feed your dragon lettuce. There is no nutritional value and its really just water and fiber. Stick to collared or turnip greens. I linked you a caresheet that will explain what you should be feeding. Its nice because it is color coded.
Nutrition Content

froggsong · #5 (**permalink**) 06-24-2008, 03:35 PM

I lost my first water dragon because the stupid guy at the petshop told me it would be fine to put him in my mixed tank (he was an impulse buy, and I am very ashamed of purchasing him since he didn't make it.) I have two different species of frogs and a FBT, and my anole was still alive at that point too. I think he was already sick when I got him too, but I can't be sure. I think that the combination of him being so young, sick when I got him, and sharing water with the FBT killed him. When I complained at the pet store that they told me that he could be housed with them, they told me I never mentioned having a FBT, which is bull. Why oh why did I listen at the pet store? I've been keeping herps for 4 years, and I was still stupid enough to believe the idiot at the pet store? They really need to have better training. I'm trying to get a job at my LPS right now, just so I can help people actually be informed about the pets they are trying to purchase.

Whatever happened with your beardie, gardener? Did he make it? Is he doing better? The same?

janelc · #6 (**permalink**) 06-26-2008, 03:30 PM

Jason's idea of raising the temperature is something I heard that is really good for sick herps. Something I have done in the past for my sick beardies (I used to rear them) was to get this electrolyte stuff from the reptile section and basically force a few drops down thier throats (gently, of course!). I also gave them water this way as well. I have also given my beardies a good soaking as well. I put them in a plastic container with warm water and they will often begin drinking it. Beardies can also absorb water through their cloaca. Frequently, during the soaking the beardie will defecate and I remove the beardie immediately. I wrap it in a towel (a beardie burrito) until it is dry and then put it under its heat lamp to warm up.

Collard greens, mustard greens, carrot tops, shredded carrots,etc... are an excellent source of nutrients for beardies.

Let us know what is happening!