Bearded dragon not eating and drinking lots of water

[KaadianSmear]

Hello, I've had my bearded dragon for about a year and a half now. Over all she's been very healthy, and she's seen the vet to make sure of that. I just readjusted her lighting for optimal heat and UVB, vet recommended raising temps so I have. My bearded dragon has a diet of collard greens, blueberries, dandelion leaves, squash, super worms, hornworms, and crickets. She used to be far better with her eating, but over the course of a month she's eaten littler and littler amounts. But now she's straight up not eating. But she is consuming a lot of water. Her poops look the right color they're just super small, and she's got a calcium deposit.

Having been change of season here in Canada, I'm wondering if brumation can be a culprit? She's still interactive with me, she'll bask on and off, but she's been sleeping a lot more than usual. She's happy when I give her a bath, and she drinks a lot of water. She's just sleeping a lot on and off through the day and she has no appetite.

Anyone else have experience with this?

 

[Sadie]

Hello, I've had my bearded dragon for about a year and a half now. Over all she's been very healthy, and she's seen the vet to make sure of that. I just readjusted her lighting for optimal heat and UVB, vet recommended raising temps so I have. My bearded dragon has a diet of collard greens, blueberries, dandelion leaves, squash, super worms, hornworms, and crickets. She used to be far better with her eating, but over the course of a month she's eaten littler and littler amounts. But now she's straight up not eating. But she is consuming a lot of water. Her poops look the right color they're just super small, and she's got a calcium deposit.

Having been change of season here in Canada, I'm wondering if brumation can be a culprit? She's still interactive with me, she'll bask on and off, but she's been sleeping a lot more than usual. She's happy when I give her a bath, and she drinks a lot of water. She's just sleeping a lot on and off through the day and she has no appetite.

Anyone else have experience with this?

Please post pics of her and the tank especially the lighting- her being dehydrated has me concerned- but it could be nothing -- I am going to get someone else to look at your post -- you dont want her going into brumation w/ her drinking a lot of water now --- what is her weight? Please weigh her on a kitchen food scale weigh in grams

 

[KaadianSmear]

Please post pics of her and the tank especially the lighting- her being dehydrated has me concerned- but it could be nothing -- I am going to get someone else to look at your post -- you dont want her going into brumation w/ her drinking a lot of water now --- what is her weight? Please weigh her on a kitchen food scale weigh in grams

Please post pics of her and the tank especially the lighting- her being dehydrated has me concerned- but it could be nothing -- I am going to get someone else to look at your post -- you dont want her going into brumation w/ her drinking a lot of water now --- what is her weight? Please weigh her on a kitchen food scale weigh in gram

Here's some photos of her and her enclosure. I checked her temps recently, and her basking area is 39c, her hot side ranges from 34-36 and her cool side is about 27. She's been either in her cave, or just outside of it. She's sleeping on and off throughout the day but always tends to be slightly alert. She does not have coil lighting, it's flat lighting and a tube reptisun light. She weights 385 grams, and she's 16.5 inches from nose to tail. She has lost about 7 grams over the course of a month. I really don't know if she's sick or trying to brumate. But she is refusing nearly all food, although has healthy looking poops just really tiny. No visible physical changes that I can see, and she's still very interactive in the bath tub. She still likes cuddles but she's just less energetic and keeps choosing the cool side to nap all day on and off.

 

[Sadie]

Here's some photos of her and her enclosure. I checked her temps recently, and her basking area is 39c, her hot side ranges from 34-36 and her cool side is about 27. She's been either in her cave, or just outside of it. She's sleeping on and off throughout the day but always tends to be slightly alert. She does not have coil lighting, it's flat lighting and a tube reptisun light. She weights 385 grams, and she's 16.5 inches from nose to tail. She has lost about 7 grams over the course of a month. I really don't know if she's sick or trying to brumate. But she is refusing nearly all food, although has healthy looking poops just really tiny. No visible physical changes that I can see, and she's still very interactive in the bath tub. She still likes cuddles but she's just less energetic and keeps choosing the cool side to nap all day on and off.

Here is what the vet tech recommended

Her dragon appears healthy with good fat pads. Brumation is a likely possibility, especially with her
being up in Canada.
If she is that thirsty, they could reduce protein intake for now, to see if that helps. If she is really
concerned, I would recommend having a blood test done, just to be sure her kidneys are functioning
optimally. Be sure though the vet doesn't mistake brumation with an infection & begin medicating her.
That is often a disaster leading to health issues or death if medication isn't warranted.

 

[KaadianSmear]

Here is what the vet tech recommended

Her dragon appears healthy with good fat pads. Brumation is a likely possibility, especially with her
being up in Canada.
If she is that thirsty, they could reduce protein intake for now, to see if that helps. If she is really
concerned, I would recommend having a blood test done, just to be sure her kidneys are functioning
optimally. Be sure though the vet doesn't mistake brumation with an infection & begin medicating her.
That is often a disaster leading to health issues or death if medication isn't warranted.

Thank you for the reply! I'm nearly certain my bearded dragon is brumating. She's now been sleeping for three days, and I've been doing nothing but researching brumation. I'll be doing what I can to accomodate her, and if I find she's losing weight rapidly I'll be taking her to a vet asap for a fecal and blood test.

 

[Sadie]

Thank you for the reply! I'm nearly certain my bearded dragon is brumating. She's now been sleeping for three days, and I've been doing nothing but researching brumation. I'll be doing what I can to accomodate her, and if I find she's losing weight rapidly I'll be taking her to a vet asap for a fecal and blood test.

NO enemas at the vet please

Beware of vets giving enemas to your dragon | Beardie ER

Just a warning about this because there are at times very bad reactions afterwards including beardie dying within a day to a week . Some vets give an enema when a dragon is going in to brumation and not pooing during this time, not recognizing that beardies rarely poo during their " sleepy "...

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