Jimmety Cricket isn't eating now, which is odd. Yesterday I fed him quite a bit of food and he ate it all. Now however, he refuses to eat anything. I haven't handled him much except for checking that his vent was clear and that he shown no signs of illness. He is still a baby and we bought him rather thin. We have a nice set up for him and a nice size cage. He is about 7-8 inches long. We fed him pinhead crickets and a few mealworms yesterday. He has been drinking a lot but does seem hydrophobic oddly. Any ideas why he isn't eating?
Hello again! Can you please be more detailed in describing his setup? Some important things we need to know include: --Cage dimensions --Basking and cool/warm side temperatures --What kind of thermometer you are using --Humidity --Type of UVB bulb --Distance of basking spot from UVB bulb surface --Amount of time dragon spends basking as opposed to hiding A picture of your setup could be useful as well.
Right now I have him in a temporary home of about 4 1/2 ft long, three feet tall, and 2 ft wide. Im using a digital thermometer and i have the warm side of about ninety to ninetyfive degrees and cool side eighty to eighty five degrees. Humidity normally around 80% but rarely below that point. I'm using a Zoo Med UVB Bulb, that being a foot away from his basking point. And he spends most of his time basking but will come to the cool side for a drink and to cool off in a shallow pool of water we have for him. He is starting to turn green and is more interested in food but still won't eat.
Well, if he's spending most of his time basking, that's a very good sign. A lot of juvenile water dragons get freaked out once they realize they're in new territory and hide away all day. Your setup and everything sounds great. (Assuming the zoo med bulb is the MVB, not the fluorescent, judging by the distance you mentioned--correct me if I'm wrong though.) At this point I would just chalk up his lack of appetite to stress from his new surroundings. While the initial move may not have phased him (meaning he was fine with eating the first night), he may have been stressed by something about his new home environment--different noise levels, activity levels, or anything like that no matter how small. If he's brightening up and at least showing an interest in food already, again, that's a good sign. Just be patient and keep offering food and he should come around in a few days. Let us know how he's doing and feel free to share some pics of your lizards! =)
Thanks, he still finally ate! I don't know why but he won't set foot on the bottom of his cage, and that's where is food was. So I thought about it and put his mealworm on his log and ate it up! I don't know why risk starving to death if it means going on the floor but he doesn't feel secure on it I guess. Which saves us the trouble of snout rubbing since he won't get on the floor to do that. He eats kinda slowly for some reason (like he will stalk it for twenty minutes) then eats it. But the good news he is eating.
Never mind, he stopped again. He ate one mealworm and then seemed discontent with eating. Mealworms, waxworms, crickets, small feeder fish, all of those he looked at and thats basicly all he did with it. Any one know how to force feed? I'm on my last leg.
Well, how long has it been since he ate again? It seemed to me from what I read it was only a day-which isn't that big of a deal always. Maybe he just got full for now. Force feeding is always a last resort. Correct me if I'm wrong though and I don't have much experience with water dragons, but just lizards in general-he seems somewhat young now still too, right? The setup you have for him sounds great and how long have you had him? Is he fairly new?
Well, when they're newer, sometimes it can take them even a few weeks to adjust to their new home. My friends beardie took about that long when she first got it. I'm sure she should be fine in a few days, but maybe a little longer. If she starts not looking well though, you might want to have her looked at.
Thanks, well he is pretty active and his droppings aren't at all unusual. Aren't runny or anything. He is just skinny because he refuses to eat. But Im worried that he may not have a few weeks because he is so skinny and young.
Well, if you got him not that healthy, then it may be a problem-could you post some pictures of him? It makes me sad when I see all the unhealthy one's at the pet stores :/
I think I know what's wrong with him. We ruled out the disease and parasites when we took him to the vet. I did however notice what looked to be severe scars on his face (healed up and around the eyes). Well I think it is either that he was wild caught and is stressed because of being moved to captivity or maybe mites. Maybe. I'm leaning more towards stress though because we took him to a good vet with some extra money we found. Any idea how to get him situated to living in captivity?
oh and sorry ut my only camera is broke (don't let little kids play with your electronics) and my cell phone is stubborn with interent.
Sucks that the camera broke! Well, could you tell me what all you have in the enclosure now and how big it is? The temps and all also, it would help. So, you took him to a good vet then? or are you planning on it? If you did, what did they say? They should've had some ideas for you if they were good.
Havent taken them yet, but consumer report says they are good with reptiles. I think he is fine because he is active, basking regularly, drinking, everthing except eating. I have him a temperary home of 4 1/2 ft long, three feet tall, and 2 ft wide. The temperatures of his basking sight is ninety to ninety five and cool side is eighty to eighty five. The humidity is 80%. We have paper towels for substrate (again we arent rich) and a pretty good size basking log, a deep water dish and a rock with a dent in we use as a water dish.
Found a camera on my laptop, I thought it was broken. But I had to edit it on Windows Movie Maker and now it won't let me post it. I'm bad with electronics. (n)
You're enclosure sounds great! The paper towel substrate is fine too, don't worry!(I don't have much money to spend at all either)I think since he's young, that substrate may even be better for him! It's awesome he's looking good again too! Are you going to take him to the vet anyways for a check-up? It would probably be a good idea if you can-and I would too if there was one closer and I had the money! Your'e fortunate to have one fairly close to you. Cool that you found a camera! Is it one like built into your laptop then? Still good you have one and I hope you figure it out! lol You could look up a tutorial online or bring it into an electronics store and they would help you I'm sure
Cool, I don't live that close to any major city-I'm in Ohio and closest is Cleveland, there might be a vet somewhere around there, but there would be way more towards Columbus(the capital). While Cleveland is north in the state and right by the lake, which gets colder of course :/ At least there's a reptile show there, even if it's sort of small.
