Has this happened to anyone?

[jss0123]

Not a specific health question but I was wondering if this has ever happened to anyones bearded dragon before. My bearded dragon who is 10 years old went through what can only be described as a very worrying period around 2 months ago (apologies in advance for the length of the query, want to provide as much context as possible to try help understand what happened). Over a 5-6 month period in 2022 I began to notice a decline in overall mood and inactivity of my bearded dragon. Notable behaviours being not eating, lack of movement and the most concerning being not going to the toilet once. I didn't have much of an idea the extent as during this time I had moved out and was living at university, sadly both areas I have lived haven't provided adequate space or allowance to set up his enclosure so I was going off what I was being told from back home. Around November during a visit back home we took him for a check up at the vet where they noticed a mass around his intestinal area and we were told to expect the worst. I was given a decision to make over the next month which if there was no sign in an increase in health he was most likely going to be recommended to be euthanised due to the high possibility it was a cancerous growth around that region. Whilst I was away for the next month he was having daily electrolyte baths and although he still wasn't eating, was being fed water daily with lizard electrolytes. Strangely upon my return for the Christmas break within two days he made almost a full recovery, went to the toilet for the first time in what seemed like nearly a year, eating bugs voluntarily and actively wanting to come out his enclosure to run around the room something which he hasn't done for over a year. We have always suspected that he may suffer slightly with separation anxiety as he overall has quite a strong personality and can occasionally decline in activity whenever I am away for significant periods of time. Also over the years he has also seemed to of developed a way to let me know when he wants to come out of his tank, by tapping on the glass repeatedly until I let him out for a run around, which I have often used as an indicator of when he is beginning to brumate and just generally his overall mood. He has always been a very picky eater, very rarely deciding to eat his greens and also suffers with a spinal defect meaning he struggles to turn sharply, often toppling over and having to correct himself leading us to need to hand feed him for around 7 years to ensure he can catch the bugs successfully. Over this time when he was inactive he did lose quite a bit of weight so I am currently in the process of trying to feed him as much as he wants to try regain some weight before I inevitably leave home for another couple of months. What I suspect is during the initial period of inactivity his digestive system became blocked with hardened faeces as the first time he pooed it was practically rock solid. Both myself and also the local reptile shop who the owner sold him to us and has looked after him periodically for the last 10 years whenever myself and my family are away are completely, was baffled by this series of events, I can almost describe it as a reincarnation of his former self, as if he's suddenly aged 2-3 years backwards. I have no idea and can't find anything online where something similar has happened so was wondering if anything remotely similar has happened to anyone else's bearded dragon. It does seem like both him and myself got very lucky here but the main thing is he appears to be back to good health for his age.

 

[Sadie]

Not a specific health question but I was wondering if this has ever happened to anyones bearded dragon before. My bearded dragon who is 10 years old went through what can only be described as a very worrying period around 2 months ago (apologies in advance for the length of the query, want to provide as much context as possible to try help understand what happened). Over a 5-6 month period in 2022 I began to notice a decline in overall mood and inactivity of my bearded dragon. Notable behaviours being not eating, lack of movement and the most concerning being not going to the toilet once. I didn't have much of an idea the extent as during this time I had moved out and was living at university, sadly both areas I have lived haven't provided adequate space or allowance to set up his enclosure so I was going off what I was being told from back home. Around November during a visit back home we took him for a check up at the vet where they noticed a mass around his intestinal area and we were told to expect the worst. I was given a decision to make over the next month which if there was no sign in an increase in health he was most likely going to be recommended to be euthanised due to the high possibility it was a cancerous growth around that region. Whilst I was away for the next month he was having daily electrolyte baths and although he still wasn't eating, was being fed water daily with lizard electrolytes. Strangely upon my return for the Christmas break within two days he made almost a full recovery, went to the toilet for the first time in what seemed like nearly a year, eating bugs voluntarily and actively wanting to come out his enclosure to run around the room something which he hasn't done for over a year. We have always suspected that he may suffer slightly with separation anxiety as he overall has quite a strong personality and can occasionally decline in activity whenever I am away for significant periods of time. Also over the years he has also seemed to of developed a way to let me know when he wants to come out of his tank, by tapping on the glass repeatedly until I let him out for a run around, which I have often used as an indicator of when he is beginning to brumate and just generally his overall mood. He has always been a very picky eater, very rarely deciding to eat his greens and also suffers with a spinal defect meaning he struggles to turn sharply, often toppling over and having to correct himself leading us to need to hand feed him for around 7 years to ensure he can catch the bugs successfully. Over this time when he was inactive he did lose quite a bit of weight so I am currently in the process of trying to feed him as much as he wants to try regain some weight before I inevitably leave home for another couple of months. What I suspect is during the initial period of inactivity his digestive system became blocked with hardened faeces as the first time he pooed it was practically rock solid. Both myself and also the local reptile shop who the owner sold him to us and has looked after him periodically for the last 10 years whenever myself and my family are away are completely, was baffled by this series of events, I can almost describe it as a reincarnation of his former self, as if he's suddenly aged 2-3 years backwards. I have no idea and can't find anything online where something similar has happened so was wondering if anything remotely similar has happened to anyone else's bearded dragon. It does seem like both him and myself got very lucky here but the main thing is he appears to be back to good health for his age.

Its possible the separation contributed to his behavior -- but the UVB and surface basking temps are crucial to the dragons over all health and behavior--- not going to the bathroom for a year is unheard of to me which points directly to UVB and surface basking temps being off and in correct husbandry - the toppling over and not eating is also a indication of incorrect UVB meaning it sounds like he has MBD -- please tell me what your using for the UVB and how your getting surface basking temps and what they are