Chinese Water Dragon - eating concerns

Question
QUESTION: Hi,

I currently own a baby/juvenile CWD (approx 6-8 months old, assumed) named Mushu that I bought about a month ago. He/she has recently started refusing food (I gave him chicken baby food mixed with calcium powder on his snout for the first 2 days, and now hasn't eaten for the past 2 days). I do offer him a variety of appropriately-sized food items such as crickets, mealworms, butterworms, and phoenix worms, and up until about 4 days ago, he's been hand-fed. Since he started refusing food, I decided to just leave prey items in a bowl in his tank for him to eat from when he wants in case he was tired of being hand-fed.

He's currently going through a shed, but otherwise has been active, alert, bright green color, regularly passing stools in his water (which I clean out daily) and otherwise appears to be his normal self in every other respect.

When I first got him, I did take him to the herp vet to get checked for parasites or other issues, and other than some snout rubbing (which I've treated by taping a paper strip around the bottom of his enclosure and using tear gel on his face) he was deemed healthy.

I don't understand why he stopped eating, and I am concerned because of how young he is, I don't know how long is safe to let him go without eating. Is it normal for CWDs to sometimes just go off food for a bit? Could it be because he's shedding and just not in the mood? How long should I leave him be before contacting my vet? I do have some Reptaid on hand if it's required (I was thinking about giving him some if he doesn't eat today either).

Up until 4 days ago, Mushu would eat between 2-5 prey items daily. I'm really worried about this recent change and hope nothing is seriously wrong.

Some info on his setup:

-60 gallon tank w/ paper covering 3 sides and a strip along the bottom of the open side
-Temps are 90-95F in his basking spot, and about 82-88 in his enclosure during the day, and drops to about 75-80 at night.
I'm currently running a daytime heat lamp, a 24 hr red heat lamp, and a reptiglo 10 UVB tube light
-I've been having a difficult time maintaining humidity, which ranges from about 45-80%. I covered up half of his screen lid with packing tape, and I mist several times a day. There is also a water fall, a pool, and a live pothos plant in his enclosure to help with the humidity. I also bathe him for about 15-20 minutes every evening, partly to help with his shedding and partly to ensure he's hydrated. I'm planning on getting a fogger soon to also help with his humidity.
-I use paper towel as substrate
-I add liquid calcium daily to his water that he drinks out of
-I dust all prey items with multivitamin and calcium powder

There are other reptiles in the house, but all are in separate enclosures and not in sight of my CWD. I also have 2 cats who I was worried might be stressing him out, so I cover the open side of his cage with cardboard when I'm not home to watch him.

I hope that about covers everything, thanks for any and all advice you can give me. :)

ANSWER: Hi Cassi,

Thank you so much for the detailed husbandry description, that is very helpful. Your care is excellent and you have obviously done your research. It is so nice to hear of someone consulting their vet for preventative treatment.

Shedding can absolutely turn them off eating temporarily. It is an itchy and uncomfortable time. With no other indicators of health problems (lethargy, sunken eyes, poor colouring) I suspect that is what is going on.
Four days is really not that long to go without food for reptiles with their low metabolic rate.

The daily bathing is fine as long as he is taking the handling well. If it is producing any "fright and flight" stress reaction then I would suggest letting him use the pool you have provided on his own.

Since you are not quite certain of his age, be aware that CWDs can go through a drastic but temporary personality change around puberty  which is around a year or so. It can manifest as fearfulness or aggression. Your previously tame "baby" may suddenly act terrified of you but it passes. Iguanas often go through a similar phase.

The couple small suggestions I would make regarding his care would be to switch to a ZooMed UVB bulb when it is time to replace yours. They are a better performing bulb in terms of UVB production.

I would also cut back a bit on the use of the multivitamin to no more then once a week. You run the risk of overdose with the fat soluble vitamins with daily use.
The liquid calcium in the water is probably fine but makes it a little more difficult to monitor just how much calcium he is actually consuming in addition to the dusted items. Too much calcium is not a common problem but can occur with over zealous supplementation.       

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

QUESTION: I apologize, I forgot to come back on here and rate your answer (which was excellet, btw) but can't find where to do so? If you could let me know, then I'll gladly do it. :)

Thanks

ANSWER: Hi Cassi,

Don't worry about trying to rate the answer. I'm not concerned about that in the least. I'm very glad you found the response helpful.

Cheers,

Thea


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

QUESTION: The information was quite helpful, and I'll use it for future reference.

Unfortunately, as an update, she ended up passing away after a long stint of antibiotics and force-feeding. The vet believes she just had too many health problems when I got her, and it was at the point that we couldn't know everything that was wrong with her, and she was too little to save. It was devastating, but I learned many valuable lessons about dealing with this species, and doing better research when acquiring reptiles second-hand.

On the good news front, I picked up another water dragon from a much better place in May, and so far she's doing great!

Some of the advice about behaviors and personality you provided for Mushu is actually quite applicable to my current water dragon.

I do have some feeding questions though, and wondering if I should ask them as part of this question, or post a new one?

Thanks

Answer
Hi Cassi,

I'm sorry to hear about Mushu. That must have been disheartening, especially after getting a clean bill of health from the vet. Mushu was lucky to have ended up in your care and I know  your new CWD is in good hands.

I think the site limits the number of follow-up questions so feel free to start a new post with any enquiries you think I might help with.