Dehydrated bearded dragon

[Sena Hansler]

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.

[Drafeara]

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

[Drafeara]

He is very cute by the way :)

[Drafeara]

Here's my 2 boys Landen & Klaus <3

[Sena Hansler]

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 ) 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.

[Drafeara]

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.

[Sena Hansler]

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 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?

[Drafeara]

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.

[Sena Hansler]

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.

[Drafeara]

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.