beard dragon

Question
QUESTION: My beard dragon is almost 4 years old he has been doing very well then about December 2008 I put him in my sons room for the holidays the last week or so he has not eaten or pooped I got him some kale and feed it to him it is hard to do that but I get him to take some I gave him a bath hoping it would help him poop no luck can you help me what can I feed him to help him go poop

ANSWER: Hello Christine,

My main question is that does he seem depressed possibly?  If you moved him from a high traffic area to a lower traffic one, can cause depression.  Perhaps he is not getting enough attention in your sons room.  Have you considered moving him back into the main living area?
What type & brand of UVB lighting are you using, is it a flourescent tube bulb or a compact or coil light?  How old is it?  What type of basking light are you using, a bright white light or a colored light?  
What are the temps in the tank & what do you use to measure them with?  A stick on thermometer, a digital probe or a temp gun?
Perhaps he has slown down a little bit for the wintertime, for brumation?  Has he ever brumated before since he is 4 & old enough to do so?  
You can get some squash babyfood, & some sugar free canned pumpking along with a couple of drops of olive or mineral oil & mix that up.  Then get a plastic syringe or a plastic dropper to drip onto his nose so he can lick that off.  Try a warm bath too, & massage on his right side of his belly starting at the armpit all the way down to the vent.  
Has he eaten anything lately?

Tracie

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi I have moved little man to the living room were he was before I moved him to the bedroom I started feeding him yesterday baby food squashand I have been giving him baths I will try the olive oil mixed with his food tonight when I feed him again he is opening his mouth for me and eating the heat is running 98 to 100 in his cage the lights I am using are all new ones 3 days old now they are 100 watt neodymium daylight 100 watt infared heat lamp ( red ) and the other one is 100 watt basking light

ANSWER: Hello Christine,

Are you using a UVB light?  That is quite a bit of wattage of basking light for that tank.  The daylight bulb is ok, as is the basking light if it is a bright white one.  However, that is plenty for the basking.  You can take the infrared heat lamp out as he does not need that coupled with the other two lights.
If you are using a stick on thermometer, your temps are not registering correctly.  You will need to get a digital probe or a temp gun to measure them correctly.
The temps registering at 98-100 with 300 watts of heating doesn't sound right, they would be much higher than that, probably at least 110-115.  
However, you do need a UVB light.  Without it, he will develop metabolic bone disease which could be part of what is going on right now.  The best UVB you can get is a Reptisun 10 flourescent tube bulb & then you would just use that in conjunction with a basking light.
It can be bought from  www.petmountain.com
Are you supplementing calcium several times per week?
Please recheck your temps, as he could be getting too hot.


Tracie



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi my temps are reading 100 in the cage I have a circle temp in the middle of the cage and a strip temp on each side that seems to reading lower than 100 I only keep 2 lights on in the day and the red one on at night I am now looking at the web site for a UVB 10 tube bulb he is still eating baby squash with some olive oil and I am rubbing his right side how often should I be feeding him and how much. and rubbing him? what does brumation mean is that when they sleep all the time that a guess.as far as calcium I was told not to give him any due to blockage so I stopped awhile ago.

Answer
Hello Christine,
Great you are getting a Reptisun 10 for him.  I think that if he has not had any UVB at all, that he has the start of metabolic bone disease.  I would not allow him to brumate right now so if you have a cave in the tank, take it out right now as we are not sure he is healthy enough to brumate.
Yes, brumation is the resting phase that alot of the adults go through during the colder portions of the year.  You are correct though when they are brumating, they do not need any calcium as their body slows down that they don't metabolize any foods at the time.
The circle thermometer does not measure the basking temps, just the air temps or the temps on the glass.  The strip thermometers are not a whole lot better at reading the basking spot temperatures.  The best way to measure a basking spot is either a digital probe or a temp gun.
One reason why he may be having trouble going potty is when they are low in calcium it causes constipation.  The GI tract operates off of smooth muscle contraction which are prompted by calcium ions.  Anytime they become hypocalcemic it greatly affected their stools.  If he has not had any UVB exposure, he has not been able to absorb his calcium or synthesize D3 which further complicates the problem.
So we need to improve his calcium levels right now & get him hydrated so his system will begin to work more optimally.
Please begin giving him calcium 4-5 times per week right now, until he becomes stabilized.  As soon as he gets some UVB exposure, he should be able to start absorbing calcium efficiently.  
You can feed him 1cc or ml per 100 grams of bodyweight, safely.  If you feel he could use a little bit of weight gain, you can increase that to 2cc's or ml's per 100 grams of bodyweight.

Let me know how he is doing.

Tracie