Skinny and Dehydrated?

[CoolioTiffany]

It varies from vet to vet and city to city. I have one vet that charged me $150 and another who charged me $30. The cheaper one was a friend of a friend so they didnt charge me a vet visit and didnt even need to see the animal.

How long have you had him/her? By the extra looking skin it reminds me of a female that recently laid and is all streched out. The good part is curing internal parasites is not too difficult with beardies.

She very well may be approaching brumation which will cause her to sleep alot and not be very interested in eating. The only bad part about that is they should have alot of stored fat to live off while sleeping. I have had beardies brumate for over 3 months and as little as 3 weeks. A good soaking is always a good idea.

As far as the poop stinking that is normal with beardies. I have my beardies in a room with 75 snakes and one beardies poop can smell way more then 10 snake poops. The fact that she pooped is good. If you have any specific questions feel free to PM me. I have been keeping and breeding dragons for over 15 years.

Hope you guy is feeling better soon

I've had her since November 14, so I've had her for two weeks now. I checked her over at the reptile expo, and she did seem healthy. Hopefully that hopper kicks in and gives her some weight if she does go into brumation. I do soak her a few times a week, but she never really even crap sin the bathtub, she just sits there LOL. The only two solid feces she's had was when she pooped in the container she was in at the show and a few day after I brought her home.

After contacting LLL, here's our conversation so far:

Me: Hi,



I purchased a Bearded Dragon from you guys at LLLReptile at the Phoenix Reptile Expo on November 14. She seemed healthy and everything, until now. She seemed very skinny, not lethargic, and no bones are showing besides the spine which is popping out just a little bit. She loves her superworms and her squash, but I offered her both tonight and she refused. I fed her a hopper mouse yesterday because she looked very skinny, and I see no improvement. The other day she ate two superworms, but refused the rest. She also seems to not be eating her greens as much as she used to. I have her husbandry spot on, I've checked over two different forums and made sure everything is correct. I think she may also has parasites because her feces is not solid, it's more liquid than it is solid, and it smells BAD.

Them: If she just ate a hopper mouse- she probably won't want anything else for at least a few days. Mammals are much more difficult for them to digest than insects and greens.
If the watery feces started after you got her, it may have to do with her set up or what she has been eating. (the squash will cause that if she eats a lot of it). Her enclosure temps may also be too hot, which would cause that as well.
What is the size of your cage and the temps in the basking spot?

Me: I have a 40 gallon enclosure for her, and she seems to fit perfectly in it. She spends most of her time basking on her log, so the only time she gets off the log is when she eats her greens or sleeps. Her basking temps stay between 100F-105F. I also heard a 40 gallon is the minimum size cage you want to go, but I will be upgrading her to a 55 gallon whenever I get the chance.

Them: Try sticking to feeding her crickets and greens- stay away from the superworms and other veggies just for a few days to see how that affects how the stool looks. As I mentioned before, the water in the squash and other veggies can cause the loose stool.
You can also purchase an over the counter de wormer called Panacur or Safeguard if you are concerned about parasites. Since the stool was normal when you got her, it is unlikely you purchased her with worms, but it won't hurt to de-worm her if she is not gaining weight.

So, if she isn't gaining weight and/or losing weight, should I try those products?? I'd rather go to a vet, but since my money is tight right now, I'm not looking forward to needing help from my mom with a vet bill again. I really should've saved my money I got for my birthday LOL.. but at least I got a Pastel BP to make some Bees with and a cool Beardie

[CoolioTiffany]

How long have you had him/her? By the extra looking skin it reminds me of a female that recently laid and is all streched out. The good part is curing internal parasites is not too difficult with beardies.

Well, they could have used her to produce some Beardies, so I guess I will ask about that in the next email I get from them. She is about 3-4 years old, so I wouldn't see why they wouldn't use her to produce eggs.

[jjmitchell]

LLL Doesnt produce any animals to my knowledge, they buy bulk from people and resale.. seriously doubt any qt or supliments... any who I bought a beardy last year that had worms... but it was obvious, There are no reptile vets within 2 hr drive from me so I did the best i could... got him over it.. doing good. What ever you find good luck.... your beardie still looks to have a fat tail thats a good sighn a bath will help with dehydration again good luck

Hope you enjoyed the phoenix show.... i know i did

[CoolioTiffany]

LLL Doesnt produce any animals to my knowledge, they buy bulk from people and resale.. seriously doubt any qt or supliments... any who I bought a beardy last year that had worms... but it was obvious, There are no reptile vets within 2 hr drive from me so I did the best i could... got him over it.. doing good. What ever you find good luck.... your beardie still looks to have a fat tail thats a good sighn a bath will help with dehydration again good luck

Hope you enjoyed the phoenix show.... i know i did

Ohh alright, then they could've bought it from someone who was breeding Beardies?

I'm glad she doesn't look severely underweight, I've seen some Beardies that were BAD. Like, extremely skinny with the hip bone showing and everything. I caught her eating greens today, so I'm glad that I know she's eating her greens. There is a vet I went to for my Kingsnake's RI, so I might as well go to him, he's a pretty knowledgable vet too.

You went to the Phoenix Show?

[Beardedragon]

The hopper may be a reason shes not eating as well. Beardies are made to eat insects, hoppers are going to give her a hard time Digesting, she could even become impacted. Make sure she is super hydrated, because she will need it because of the hopper.

Also, I doubt that one hopper will help with her weight at all.

[flynn]

I didnt even realize beardies would take a hopper. I give out the occasional pinky and they seem to be just the right size. But thats besides the point.

I read earlier in this thread someone mentioned beardies will not drink from a water bowl. This is not true as mine will drink from a water bowl. It can be difficult to GET them to drink from the bowl, as they cannot see the water unless its moving (I assume). To counter this, I place an ice cube on top of the screen over the water bowl. As the ice melts, it drips into the water. When the beardie sees the splash of water she realizes what it is and goes for a drink!

[Beardedragon]

I didnt even realize beardies would take a hopper. I give out the occasional pinky and they seem to be just the right size. But thats besides the point.

I read earlier in this thread someone mentioned beardies will not drink from a water bowl. This is not true as mine will drink from a water bowl. It can be difficult to GET them to drink from the bowl, as they cannot see the water unless its moving (I assume). To counter this, I place an ice cube on top of the screen over the water bowl. As the ice melts, it drips into the water. When the beardie sees the splash of water she realizes what it is and goes for a drink!

They shouldnt be eating pinkys, let alone something as big as a hopper.

Also, you have a Drip system going on, which is perfectly fine, but thats not a lone water bowl. Im not saying that cant drink from a water bowl, it is just extreamly difficult to get them to, and there may be problems with Dehydration when your trying to teach them to.

[flynn]

Also, you have a Drip system going on, which is perfectly fine, but thats not a lone water bowl. Im not saying that cant drink from a water bowl, it is just extreamly difficult to get them to, and there may be problems with Dehydration when your trying to teach them to.

This is true. I've had one dragon that never took to the water bowl, another one that drinks out of it like a dog. The method I posted shouldnt be a substitute for the standard husbandry methods however. Just a simple way to get the dragon interested in the water.

[sporty02]

lll reptiles are not very good i bought a female beardie from them at teh daytona expo and she almost died didnt eat or drink for 4 days and just layed there with her eyes closed i soaked her 2-3 times a day and slowly got her eating again i also bought a male from sandfire dragon ranch he has almost doubled her in size (they were the same when i bought them) he is definetly alot better breeding. i feed crickets daily and meal worms nightly and a veggie mix every other day and dust thier crickets every other day

[Big Gunns]

I weight her tonight and she's 247g, and I did try offering her superworms but she refused them. I also tried offering her squash, but she refused them. She loves both of those, but I have no clue why she's refusing..

Guess what Kiddo, Big Gunns just happens to be a Beardee expert also(bred a ton of them). It's not gonna hurt anything to take your Dragon to a qualified Vet...and I(no third person) don't want to discourage that, but Dragons will brumate like WCJ said in the winter. A change of environment(you just bought it) can cause them to do so.

It does look a little skinny though. How long is your light cycle? This is another thing that can cause it. Also, you could bump up that basking spot a little. 125 is not too hot if it can get away from it. Make sure the cool end of the cage is not too cool also. This Dragon may have been kept in a very bright cage. Tanks are never very bright unless you have some great florescent lighting.

Are you using any Calcium powder? This, along with vitamin powder is important with Dragons...more so with babies.

Like I said earlier, the change of environment may have caused your Dragon to start to brumate. It's hard to get them out of this mode sometimes once they're in it, but a very bright cage and hot temps can work. It's scary for the newbie to try and understand why their Dragon won't eat. It's kinda impossible for us to say from here, but if the top of the eyes start sinking in, you need to see a Vet ASAP.


This is another case of "you need to know". You need to know how this Dragon was kept. People keep Dragons differently and they thrive, but if you change that, they may not. Since this is an adult, and it was bought from a "wholesaler", it might have been harder for you to find out exactly how it was raised though. Always find out how an animal was kept when you purchase it. Sometimes it does make a difference.

You're gonna need to keep a close eye on this guy. Dragons are known to have a problem with Coccidia(they all have it). This needs to be treated quickly if it gets too high.

I found something good to read.

http://www.beardeddragon.org/articles/parasitecare/

Good luck.