beardie has no appetite, any advice?

[simpsara8]

My beardie Albus use to eat really well, but for the past couple of months she has really took a turn in the opposite direction. At first all I could get her to eat was superworms and now nothing at all. I took her to a herp vet a couple of weeks ago and the vet said she was a bit over weight. Albus had a fecal done and it was negative. She also had a bm that day and the vet detected some hard clumps of sand in it, so there may be more in my dragon. I wonder could this affect her eating so much? Well, the sand has been out of her habitat for about 3 months before this vet visit even took place but, the vet said some could still be in there. The vet told me to increase her activity to spark up her appetite and she also gave her a syringe of mineral oil to help move things out of her system, but no mb yet. The next step is x-ray and possibly surgery if she dosen't improve. Has anyone ever went through this with their beardie? Albus is an adult female. Despite not eating she seems to be alert and normal, her legs are fine. She just went through a shed too. I am really worried about her. How long can beardies go without eating and still be ok? I know reptiles can go a long time without food also, she is drinking water and I give her baths. Any advice would be appreciated. thanks

[Jeboa]

What are her temps?

[Action Reptiles]

Hi there, as long as she is still going to the bathroom I dont think she is impacted even thought she had some sand in her digestive track. I'm leaning more towards brumation. A couple questions though how long have you had your dragon? Has she ever gone through brumation that you know of? I ask because you said she is an adult female. Adults especially females usually go into brumation this time of year. This is a rest period for them before the upcoming breeding season. This brumation can be as sever as sleeping all day, not eating, and pretty much not doing anything for weeks or months. It can be as light as acting normal just not eating, sleeping or being lazy for a couple days a week. Some even don't go through brumation. During this time the majority of dragons wont eat and usually find some place to hide and spend most of the day sleeping. Most of my dragons haven't eaten in months some still act normal some have been asleep for months its just what they do. The best thing is to have a scale and keep an eye on her weight to make sure she isn't losing too much weight. Give her a bath once a week make sure she stays hydrated and also help to pass any sand she has in her digestive track.

This is just my 2 cents on the info you have given(specifically the vet info). Sorry for the long post and hope this was some what helpful. Any questions fel free to ask or PM me...

[BPelizabeth]

I totally agree with Action....sounds like brumation and if it is a girl she could also be building an egg sac hence the weight. If she doesn't mate she will just absorb it. Also obviously she is a sand eater....I would suggest to take it out and keep it out since she has proven to be a muncher...lol!!

[papa wyrm]

I totally agree with Action....sounds like brumation and if it is a girl she could also be building an egg sac hence the weight. If she doesn't mate she will just absorb it. Also obviously she is a sand eater....I would suggest to take it out and keep it out since she has proven to be a muncher...lol!!

Have you tried switching up here food? I have one little pain in the rear that'll quit eating supers every now and again. i throw in some crfickets that get to big for the younger dragons i have and it seems to kick in her hunting instinct. after that she seems to go back to eating...just an idea...

[Exotic Ectotherms]

Try offering waxworms. They aren't good to feed as a staple, but as a treat they are fine. Waxworms are like crack to my beardie. When he isn't interested in anything else, he'll put down 50 waxworms no questions asked.

[maverickgtr]

To me, sounds like brumation. How old is she? And what and how much was she eating before?

Could be that she just wants some more variety or more crickets [if she's getting more salad] or that she wants more salad [if she's getting more crickets]. Our beardie starting eating more salad even though there were plenty of crickets, she just didn't want to chase them. We ended up having to start buying freeze-dried crickets.