Sick Bearded Dragon?

Question
Our 1 1/2 yr. old male beardie suddendly appears weak, possibly dehydrated (shriveled appearance), looks like he lost weight.  He is disinterested in crickets, but voraciously tries to eat veggies; however, he will dive for the food, and then flail his arms and legs, as if he cannot get out of the food bowl.  He is sleeping all the time.
We are hoping he is just brumating, but he has never acted this way before and appears sick.  We have a vet appt. tomorrow with an excellent reptile vet (in 24 hrs.), but I'm concerned he may not live that long.  
Questions:  Should we take him to a less experienced vet today as opposed to waiting until tomorrow morning?   Is it easy to tell the difference between a brumating beardie and a sick one?
                   THANK YOU!!!

Answer
Hello Ruth,

Can you post a few pictures of him for me please?  Great you have a vet visit tomorrow.  IF you feel he may not make it & needs emergency care, a regular vet would be fine.  Just be sure that he does not give Ivermectin medication of any type, ok?  That is a toxic drug to reptiles & should not be given.  
If he has lost weight, then it is an emergency.  They do not lose weight during brumation if they are healthy so this is something that needs to be addressed quickly as they go downhill very fast.  I would at least get a fecal & if you end up going to the specialist, consider getting a bloodtest too, though they do run around $100-125 or so.  
What is your setup like?  What type & brand of UVB light do you use, a fluorescent tube bulb or a compact/coil light?  How old is it?  
What type of basking light do you use, is it a bright white basking ilght or a colored light?  What are the temperatues in the tank, & do you use a digital probe or a temp gun to measure the temperatures?
Do you supplement calcium at least 3 times per week?  
Based on your description, it sounds like metabolic bone disease to me due to lack of UVB exposure & calcium absorption.
How do his eyes look, are they bright or are they sunken in?  
It is normally relatively easy to tell the difference between a healthy lizard & a sick lizard, or one that is brumating, yes.  
If you can look inside of his mouth, are his gums a pale color or a healthy pink?

Please let me know how he is doing.

Tracie