Hi I am a new member who is currently taking care of my sons 6 monyh old Chinese Water Dragon. He got totally stressed out by our cat but has now been moved so that the car cann't get near him. Unfortunately he has stopped eating and no amount of tempting can get him going again. I am getting seriously worried as the poor mite hasn't eaten for 10+ days now. Anyboy got any suggestions?
Hi Lesley if your currently feeding your dragon crickets try cooling them down in the refrigerator for 30 mins and feed him out of a bowl the crickets will not move very much whilst cool thus giving him a chance to eat them,or try waxworm placed directly in front of him,hope that this is of some help to you,Ad
Thanks for the idea - I'll give it go and let you know. He - or she - is such a sweet little thing and I feel really guilty for not realising we could have a problem with the cat. We have bought some reptiboost for him to tryand perk him up a bit so with a bit of luck we wont have to resort to force feeding ( a suggestion from our pet shop).
Dragons can also get bored with fod items and like to have an assortment of different snacks. Wax worms are a nice treat , you could also try butterworms as their orange color catches dragon attention nice and quick too both worms are easy to keep and not to bad as again a treat. Waxies are very fattening. I am currently using silkworms with my dragon which unless you could get them very small where your at I would suggest might have to wait a bit until he grows more. (Edited the spam out of the post, Stormyva. Advertisements for other sites is prohibited on Reptile Rooms.)
hi again Tried the crickets in the fridge - no interest. Through sheer desperation as its been a long time since he ate we fed him a grub thing - sorry dont know what its called - came in a tub with sawdust. Managed to get him to take one - yeh! missted him and left him in peace and quiet. Will try another one tomorrow. He is quite lethargic now and has his eyes closed most of the time. We have never had to care for anything like this before but have grown really attached to the poor little mite. Fingers crossed that after a while he will have the energy and will to wont to eat on his own soon. Does anyone know how long water dragons can go with out food?
Is there any chance he could have become impacted? Give warm baths and gently rub his tummy. I would suggest get him to the vet ASAP. Mine got impacted and had to be put down on Friday. I don't mean to scare you but I really want yours to be OK. What substrate is he on? How big is he? They generally don't go for long without food unless brumating or a couple of days before a shed. Hope this helps.
my friend has a water dragon and it did the exact same thing a few weeks ago, his went 3 weeks without eating, then all of the sudden wanted food so bad that he had to go back to the store and buy more mealworms.. She shed beforehand, and after the shed wouldn't eat. Then just magically did.. so you never know... try some soaks with warm water up to his/her belly in a tupperware container or something... after the soak, try massaging his belly for 5-10 minutes... juuuuuuuuuuuuust to make sure
Hello Lesley here. Sorry I haven't replied recently - have become totally obsessed with Puff - the poor little mite. After 5-6 days of forcing down grub things he finally had an enormous poop two days ago. YEHH! Am still having to force feed but he seems to have a bit more energy now. He still wont or can't open his eyes so have been bathing them - should we be doing this? So far we have been using the same water that we put in his swimming pool and mister. should we be using saline solution? I am a little loathe to take him out of his environment to go to the vets - thought the shock might do more damage than harm!? The main worry now is that he seems to gasp for breathe every now and then - is this normal? Totally out of my depth but learning fast. Thanks for all your help it is very much appreciated.
