# Dehydrated bearded dragon



## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

I did post on a bearded dragon forum but there is rarely anyone actually on there so I am chancing it on here too.

He is very dehydrated... Shows he was not cared for at all. Pinched the skin and it stayed up. During his much needed (stinky) bath, he gulped and gulped and gulped water. He will not eat his greens. He literally spits it out no matter how hard I try!

On another site (browsing google) it says to use baby food with some calcium to feed him, through a syringe. Anyone have tips on that? Or what I can do other than bathe him on a daily basis?

First picture is before I gave him up
Second picture is when I got him back. Cannot see much difference, unless you see him in person!

If he does not get better we are going to the vet in Edmonton.


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## Drafeara (Oct 17, 2012)

Does he go into bermation? Maybe he is not eating because he wants to go to sleep for the winter. I have 2 dragons and both are asleep right now. Will prob wake up around March. But the week or so before they went to sleep they stopped eating. They do this because if they have any food in their bellies while they sleep they could end up with parasites  Has he pooped at all? that will help in telling you his state of health


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## Drafeara (Oct 17, 2012)

He is very cute by the way


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## Drafeara (Oct 17, 2012)

Here's my 2 boys Landen & Klaus <3


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

I thought brumation too but it is dangerous when they are dehydrated for them to go into it. He nose dives into the water every time he gets new water. He has been pooing but it is awfully smelly and more runny.

He is awake, usually watching the TV (since he faces it :roll or sitting in his water bowl. Or nose diving into the water bowl.

I am not as worried for the eating part I am worried since he is dehydrated.


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## Drafeara (Oct 17, 2012)

Sounds to me like he is taking in lots of water so that's good. I think if u keep up the baths and he continues to take water on his own you will find him more hydrated in no time. If not then maybe there already is is bad parasite going on  in that case only the vet can help. Was he already in burmation when you got him again or was the other person not familiar with their diet? Stress can do a lot as well. So him just getting used to everything can take time and can affect them in many different ways. Sounds like you know what your doing as well so I'm sure you will know at what point you should bring him to a vet. I hope he starts to get better soon.


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

He had not been in brumation when they had him. On the ride to my house he did get a bit chilly and fell into an awfully dead sleep :lol: Scared two grown men with that. I made sure to tell them what he should and should not eat, gave them a sheet of foods they can feed him, and explained he needed vegetation alongside the wormies. I got him back about... 2 weeks ago? And he has not eaten anything other than the worms (which I tried the "don't eat your greens, you don't get the worms" for a couple days with no luck... usually works on him).

He snubbed both his papaya and sweet potato.

At what point would I get him to the vet?


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## Drafeara (Oct 17, 2012)

Wow all the favorites snubbed!! How old is he? I think if you start to see his legs thinning out maybe you should get his poo tested for parasites. They thin out just as fast as they plump up. so if he starts to look skinny probably best to get him checked out. I just adopted Klaus in June and he was pretty skinny and dehydrated himself. But it didn't take long with the right foods to plump him up. He shed 4 or 5 times before he went to sleep lol and he went to sleep beginning of October. He made a very good transition with all the attention though. Most Dragons are pretty curious in their own lil way. If he is acting normal to you in terms of his behavior then that is another sign that he may need vet attention.


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

Hmmm okay. What are signs for parasites? I will say from what I remember him, and now, his legs do not look as thick as they used to (like he was a macho tough guy look LOL) he also had a bigger belly on him before whereas now, it's not as big. Which still could have been from an improper diet.


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## Drafeara (Oct 17, 2012)

Sounds like he wasn't fed properly thats for sure. A good sign of parasites are dark runny poo. Also I can't remember what it's called but there should be a white part, that's the pee. It should be soft. If its hard or not ever present that can be parasites. Really bearded dragons naturally have parasites it's just some of the parasites they can get are really bad. Others don't bother them. Sudden lose in weight also good sign of parasites. There is really a lot of information on parasites online because they are so common.


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

The last few poos he has had, has been dark and smelly. There was only one poo before I remember that had a smidge of white in there (not hard). If he does not get better in a week he is definitely visiting a vet.


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## Drafeara (Oct 17, 2012)

Good call. I hope he gets better before it comes to that though. Best wishes to you and your dragon.


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

Would his weight change much in the week? Just so I can start checking his weight with the scale I have.


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## pittipuppylove (Feb 23, 2012)

I agree with Drafeara. I'd say it sounds like a parasite issue - the immune system of a healthy beardie should keep the parasites that naturally occur in a balance, but if they get stressed (which it definately sounds like your little guy is/was) the immune system can be compromised which can allow the parasites to get the upper hand, and then it can be difficult for the balance to re-establish. Sounds like a good plan to get him to a vet if he doesn't start improving, but I'd be ready to take him earlier if he starts to take a turn for the worse.

Strange that he won't take his greens - all of the beardies I've ever met love to eat with a fiery passion. Maybe try some watermelon? Not a whole lot of nutritional value, but it has a high moisture content and could help with the dehydration. 

Honestly, I don't know if you'd see much change in his weight over the course of a week. How sensitive is your scale? If you figure your beardie is two pounds (a big beardie), he could loose two tenths of a pound and that'd be 10% of his body weight - which can be rather significant.


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## MidTnBetta (Sep 12, 2012)

Watermelon and iceberg lettuce is not good if watery poo, but again, good for dehydration. Sounds like he needs to readjust to proper care again. Will take a while. Mashed bananas are good. What temp is your tank at? We used to own/raised beardeds, etc and run a reptile store, so I know a little. Can you get grub worms? Try that instead of meal worms or crickets. Easier for them to digest as he gets used to good food again. Baby food fruit is another good thing to try. You don't have to use a syringe if he's drinking on his own. You should notice a slight change in weight in a week.


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

Never seen grub worms around here sadly.

My scale does down to ounces and to the decimal point. It's ones of the most sensitive scales out there lol  I've used it for guinea piggies (the one who was supposed to be 5 pounds and was 1.6)
He even snubbed his favorites which shocked me. Then he decided he was tired of me trying to give him food and wander off :roll: lol.

Not sure on temp, I ordered an under-the-tank heat pad (for a third of the tank I think) for the night since I don't think those night bulbs are any good. Used them before and he was always sleeping during the day (more lazy, less likely to eat). 

I read that during brumation they usually don't bask in the light as much or at all? He does :lol: 

Another note, before I gave him a bath he was doing a "swallowing" motion which I noticed when looking down on him.


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

Another note, on the subject of heat lamps... The bulb that was in the lamp when I got him back was an energy efficient LIGHT bulb. That did not give off an ounce of heat. The other bulb was dead.


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

Weight: 0.532 kg (1.17 pounds)

I remember weighing him before I gave him up. He was about 0.590.

The temperature: N/A. Even the new exoterra temperature thermometers are wrecked with sand. :roll: Their kid must've decided to put all of them in there. They all say past 100 F, however it does not change during the night either. 

However, I did test with my more accurate thermometer, it says 26.1 celsius (and I just turned the light on) I will test it again when I get home from work.


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

So... Was not sure what kind of baby food to get for him... So I grabbed three... Carrots, Sweet potatoes, and squash :lol: His favorite colors even lol. If he tastes it even, at least he will be eating some! And be unable to spit it out.


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## ThePearlFish (Mar 31, 2009)

Wow, your boy is an impressive looking lizard Sena. Very pretty color.

I hope he starts to feel better soon and let us know if you end up taking him to the vet.

Just be careful that you don't give him too much carrot. Can give them Vit. A toxicity I believe? Moderate amount is okay. I'd have to look it up again though.


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

Thanks  About the carrots...nI believe so.

I gave him a little bit of the squash one, he ate about 1/2 teaspoon though I think he was aiming more at the white measuring spoon as if it were an intruder :lol: then he just licked the spoon lol.

Temperature: 32 Celsius. Now that the thermometer is not in his mouth. :roll:


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## ThePearlFish (Mar 31, 2009)

Oh! One more thing. Do you have a Mercury Vapor bulb or UVB bulb for his basking spot? they need that to synthesize his food. I saw you mention a regular light bulb as a heat source. i just skimmed the posts so I am not sure if I missed it.


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## Bsalem05 (Oct 30, 2012)

Drafeara said:


> Sounds like he wasn't fed properly thats for sure. A good sign of parasites are dark runny poo. Also I can't remember what it's called but there should be a white part, that's the pee. It should be soft. If its hard or not ever present that can be parasites. Really bearded dragons naturally have parasites it's just some of the parasites they can get are really bad. Others don't bother them. Sudden lose in weight also good sign of parasites. There is really a lot of information on parasites online because they are so common.


 
Urates.. lol 
had to just add that... birds and reptiles "pee" when they poo and it's white like you said. =)


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

PearlFish: he came with a LIGHT bulb (40 watt energy efficient) and I had to change it out to the only "best" light I could find which is a day basking light ( I THINK sun glo, it's a 60 watt). If it were summer Jim would just be chilling by the screen door or outside with me :lol:

I ran out the day we got him back and we looked through the limited supply of bulbs for that :/

Edit: apparently I need to find "solar glo" -.- (you'd think a pet store with half a store of reptiles would carry it...) looks like no matter what next weekend we are going to Edmonton

Is the fact they used a energy efficient light bulb why he is not eating?


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## ThePearlFish (Mar 31, 2009)

Can you get one of these bulbs where you are? I am not confident that the solar glo is the best one.

This has different wattages. I use 100W for mine. (You need a reall deep dome fixture for this since it is bigger and wider)










This one you need the straight fixture for.










The compact fluorescent light bulbs aren't BAD per se, but they don't give out as much spectrum input as the other kinds and they were thought to possibly be sensitive on some people's eyes, so some people don't use them with their reptiles.


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

I have the deep dome style lamp. I'll see if I can find that or if he can order it in for me ^_^ I need to ask if he can get a few other things for me anyways :lol: I recognize "power sun" by the beardie lol so he might actually cary it. I'll check today


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## ThePearlFish (Mar 31, 2009)

The power sun is an MVB bulb, so should last longer than a regular UVB bulb, but keep in mind that 18mos. is probably the longest you should keep it before you replace it. It also is more expensive, but it really is one of the best for the price. It also gives off really good heat in addition to the good stuff, so you might or might not need the heating pad with it.

How big is your tank?


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

looks to be about a 50 terrarium? It was his original one. However, my bf agrees it is too small for anything really (after you add the slate rocks, driftwood etc) so we are probably going to be getting a 4 foot one that has two levels.


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## ThePearlFish (Mar 31, 2009)

Cool! My Beardie only has a 40g breeder. When I first got him he was an adult in a 20g long!! (I used the 20g long later for a fish tank, lol!)

I moved him into a 120g, but when I moved I moved him into the 40 breeder because he was getting older and less active. The smaller seemed to work for the old man better .

The big tank sounds neat .


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

Lol Ryan picked it out :lol: He wants it for Jim before summer since Jim is still really active.


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

This is what I mean by wrinkly skin.

He also held his mouth open, which is odd considering he has never done it. A female beardie my old roomie had did when she was dehydrated and over heated :/

EDIT: almost forgot to mention, but the urinates are harder than they should be. Not rock hard, but a lot harder than the poo.


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## ThePearlFish (Mar 31, 2009)

Mine has those wrinkles too on occasion, not that many though. I dunno..

Sometimes when my Beardie is sunning he keeps his mouth open. I think they can regulate their heat in that way.


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

He never had those wrinkles before I gave him up :/


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## ThePearlFish (Mar 31, 2009)

Maybe that DOES indicate some dehydration??


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

Probably. I remember him having very little wrinkles and that was when he was turning around. Here he was chilling on my lap falling asleep :lol:


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

Found a sun-glo bulb chilling around my house. Then found a sun glo UVB 10.0. I did not know if it was dead or not so I screwed it into the fixture and it shattered in my hands -.- I'll take that as... "dead".

Oh yeah, there are no bulbs anywhere here in town. Wow. Unless you want to order in the heat and UVB duo bulb which is MASSIVE and 80.00 minimum. -_- So I'll just look for the non-heating but UVB giving bulbs.

How high should the number be? There's everything between 2.0 and 10.0

AAAAaaaand some pictures because I can


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

So, my friend and her bf came over and he hand fed Jim. We got him to eat some sweet potato (not by his choice of course). Boy does he act like a reptilian baby turning his head away and backing away from that food :roll: But he finally took it (though he may have been aiming for fingers lol)

And this is him now, splayed out in an odd position, resting on the thermometer :roll:


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## Drafeara (Oct 17, 2012)

The 10.0 buld is best. He is such a handsom boy!!!!!


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

That is good to know! Heck if I must order it online I WILL (will check petsmart site hmm). 

And thanks ^_^


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

He is now .511 kg. -.- He LOST weight. And refused live food today.


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## purplemuffin (Aug 12, 2010)

Ask if your local reptile vet can just run a fecal test without the office fee(as in, bring in a fresh stool in a plastic bag to the vet) though they will need to weigh him themselves to give any medication. Fecal exams are usually somewhere between 15-30 dollars depending on the type of tests they run. They'll probably give him some panacure or some other dewormer to get rid of the worms. which it looks like he has(weight loss despite eating, dehydration, etc)

Make sure his hot spot is warm! He will need all the warmth he can get to get better. I would also advise against too much handling at the moment, as stress can contribute to not eating.

For the dehydration--unflavored pedialyte can be found in grocery stores and it does wonders to help hydrate reptiles. A soak in warm(not hot) water/pedialyte will help him out. His runny poo is helping dehydrate him more than usual, so we need to get that cleared up as soon as possible.

Honestly I really suspect stress and parasite load are the cause of all this mess, and once that's taken care of you should be home free.


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

Will a local non-exotic vet actually work? Because these guys know nothing outside of cats and dogs with the odd bird type here and there. If so, good, I don't need to travel considering I cannot get a weekend day off :/ which is the only time I can get to the city.

He doesn't mind being held, he will actually come to you and crawl onto your lap :lol: he prefers to wander, though. Temperature for basking spot is warm, luckily that's the one thing that is working. He's getting a bath today.


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## purplemuffin (Aug 12, 2010)

The fecal tests should be able to see whatever parasite eggs are there no matter what it is.

I know banfields (petsmart vets) aren't known for being the best vets, but they do see petsmart animals, which are often exotics like bearded dragons, so they do have the ability to check for parasites. They will have to make you check in because of the way their computers work, they can't give medication to a pet they haven't seen before. Call your petsmart with a banfield and see if they know of any local vets who see exotics.

The issue with over handling is reptiles often don't show signs of stress other than long term signs-like not eating. He might be fine, it's just something I would do to play it safe.


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

Don't worry he is not handled all the time lol. I make sure to handle him at least evey couple or few days, or at least let him out and about in a supervised area.


Petsmart is in the city. We have two vet clinics here. That's all.


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

I'll just leave this thread open, just to tell you his progress if there is any.


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## ThePearlFish (Mar 31, 2009)

Good 

I'd def. like to know how your boy is as you keep caring for him.


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## Sena Hansler (Aug 24, 2011)

He did eat today. About 13 wormies, sprinkled with calcium. He was more lively, and he did drink on his own.


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