my chinese water dragon is sick!

[PureLine Exotics]

my 4 yr old chinese water dragon has stopped eating this past week. as soon as you offer him food he closes his eyes. his stomach is extremely tight and he wont let you near him without a fight. he is usually a very nice lizard and loves being held. we recently had a bout of mites, and was considering if he was internally impacted. he is either sitting in the basking spot, or soaking in his 72 qrt water tub. we have never seen him act so unfriendly, he was even attempting to bite. what should we do?

[alessia55]

I don't know anything about chinese water dragons but by the sounds of it he is acting out of character, and might be in a lot of pain. I'd recommend taking him to a vet who can treat chinese water dragons. Best of luck!

[Gungirl]

Take it to the vets..

[marvelfreak]

Try soaking him in a warm bath if these doesn't help him go then get him straight to a vet.

[PureLine Exotics]

i am not with him he is being taken care of by my mom. i cant get him to the vet right now, i am looking for other ways to treat him until i can get him to the vet. i am away working right now. we have given him baths and tummy rubs.

[marvelfreak]

Maybe call and talk to a vet and see if there's anything you could do to help it. till you could get it to one.

[PureLine Exotics]

so does anybody have any advice on this matter or..

[DeesBalls]

Maybe call and talk to a vet and see if there's anything you could do to help it. till you could get it to one.

this would be my vote... start here and see what the vet says.

[Gungirl]

so does anybody have any advice on this matter or..

If you want any advice beyond contacting a vet you need to provide more information. What is the set up like that its in? what are the temps? tell us everything and maybe someone will chime in with more info. Just telling us you have a sick animal doesn't allow us the needed information to help you much at all.

[PureLine Exotics]

well he is in a 4ft, by 3ft, by 4ft cage. has a 72 qrt waterbowl covering 3 quarters of the bottom. he has a waterfall, a basking spot with three large limbs for him to perch on, and various climb ables and plants everywhere. his water is changed often, and he always has a option of salad and strawberries on the floor; and is fed mealworms daily and pinkies once a month. his temps are normal, (i cant tell you the actual temps right this moment, but when i talk to my caretaker tonite i will add), but they have always been in a good range.

last night my caretaker was massaging his tummy in a warm bath, and spaz (the dragon) jumped up, once he resettled my caretaker found the tightness in his stomach had disperesed. so he either ruptured his stomach, or worked out the tightness. i am very worried about my baby :(

doesnt anyone own a chinese water dragon? because the vet on the phone didnt have a clue, and told me to bring him in (which i cant do!)

stupid vets. lol

[youngster]

1. My beardie won't eat unless I switch up his menu. I'm not sure if this applies to CWD but iceberg lettuce and spinach aren't good. Romaine is fine.
2. If he ruptured his stomach he would probably be jumping around in pain, I think you would be able to tell.
3. Vets aren't stupid. They are just busy and can't do housecalls.

I dunno if this helped. Just trying.

[Kayla90]

Look at his eyes and see if they are cloudy.. I don't know much about lizards, but if anything like a snake, it's possible that he is just going into shed.

[PureLine Exotics]

ok so hes not gona shed. no worries. but his stomach has gotten extremley tight and i dont know what to do. please no more "take him to the vet" cus i cannot do that for another 3-4 monthes. so if you own a water dragon and know what is happening please help me.

[Lankyrob]

I am really sorry to be blunt but 3-4 month before a vet visti just isnt good enough - whomever is looking after the lizard has GOT to take him to the vet. The animal is obviously not right and without either providing perfect pictures on here or getting expert opinion first hand then it is just going to suffer.

[Jenn_06]

I'm sorry but we are not vets here..

I had a snake that was tight in his stomach and i did not get him to the vet fast and he passed away my husband wanted to know what happened to him and cut the snake open and saw that the stomach got twisted. so if this is going on with your lizard there is nothing we or you can do but go to the vet...

I see you cant get to the vet for another 3 to 4 mouths but you did leave it with a caretaker and i dont see why they cant take it to the vet for you. If its money tell them you will pay them back or send the money.

[ZARADOZIA]

Need exact details of:

his physical state i.e., All outward body language, trembling/not trembling, listless/alert, clear eyes/cloudy eyes, active/inactive, last time he ate, how much he ate, most recent bowel movement, texture and consistency of feces, etc

Enclosure, i.e., current pictures detailing every angle of the enclosure & exact temps

Exact types of food in enclosure

Without all the information the only thing we can say is take him to a vet.

Useful reading:

Stomach or bowel blockage:
Dragons may develop blockages from swallowing bedding such as bark chips or gravel. Small amounts may be passed with the aid of oral mineral oil. Severe cases may need surgery to remove the obstruction. Cool temperatures slow the bowel and increase risk of blockage or constipation.
SOUTHWEST ANIMAL HOSPITAL Caring For Your Water Dragon (http://www.swanimalhospital.net/html/infosheets/waterdragoninfo.html)
What is Reptile Impaction (http://whitney05.hubpages.com/hub/Impaction)

[PureLine Exotics]

/Users/MikeReardan/Downloads/IMG00028-20101120-0816.jpg/Users/MikeReardan/Downloads/photo (3).JPG/Users/MikeReardan/Downloads/photo (2).JPG

[PureLine Exotics]

hello i will describe the photos in another post once i can the order they are in i do have more

[PureLine Exotics]

okay so the first photo is of his basking spot the top dowel is at 96 f the second to the left is 92 f and the third to the right is 87 f
The second picture is just of his cage and the water bowl this picture was taking about 2 weeks after cleaning
The third picture to the left is just another of his cage and him he is very attenative ( he is a extremly alert lizard)
The fourth to the right is a PICTURE OF HIM AS OF THIS MORNING at 7 am you can see how wide his stomach is this is not unusual though because he is a very strong eater
The fifth picture is another from this morning just side view

He has ate 4 fuzzy worms sep 15 and from there on he has been snacking on super worms until mid last week he went from his usual 3 a day to zero last week he had ate just one before all this was noticable

his eyes are not cloaded and he is not shaking at all he is a little bit skittish when the fella try's to handle him to give a bath and a massage

speaking with him he says that once he settles down a bit you can feel kind of a harder texture from his front shoulders down the center to his rear legs after a massage nd a warm bath this lightens up but does not complety disappear

he complety refuses to eat anything just closes his eyes (for him thats a sure sighn to leave him alone )

does this help i do have a couple more pic we have had the kid complety clean the cage and water as of yesterday and take out all gravel and plants and just put the air bubler in and the water fall and heater

any help would be greatly appreciated

[Xochiquetzal]

these guys are pretty sensitive , we had ours for just under ten years . I understand you are saying a vet visit is not possible but i believe it is your only option!

[lady_bug87]

has he pooped?

[PureLine Exotics]

We have not been able to see anything that will give definite proof, but iam going with a no there we have cleaned the water bowl removed the gravel and the plants just to be certain ..

[lady_bug87]

I only ask because when my bearded dragon was really impacted he was acting the same way for him it was the super worms that impacted him

If impaction is the case and the baths aren't working then its possible that he will need an enema the tightness is him tightening because he's in pain

[PureLine Exotics]

Yes That is what iam thinking to iam defiantly trying to get someone to take him in to the vet but iam having a hard time finding anyone that is
1- comfortable handling them ( my mother feeds him but not so much handles)
2- can drive in there

i have managed to squezze him into a 3 pm app at the vets in red deer but now need to work on a ride for him there

did your dragon require a enama ?? and also when this happens are they ever the same and how much did it end up running you dollar wise

and also maybe if anyone else can chim in about this procedure ??

[PureLine Exotics]

see about 3 months ago we had someone living there for free as long as they would take care of our reptiles now this went on for about 3 months again

this is the first time in 5 years that anything and i mean anything has ever been sick so to me iam thinking that this lady was not taking proper care of anything and this is just the tail end result we also had a episode with our yellow german giant previosly ( not impaction or anything to this extent) just loss of appitete i would say a deep hybernation state we had to get some one he knew to feed him for some time and baby him as we do then he quickly snaped out of it

[lady_bug87]

Luckily no mine did not require an enema I caught the problem while talking to a friend of mine who owns a herp store I increased the temperature of his bath water by a couple degrees and let him soak in there for about 15 minutes, I put enough water in there so he could kind of float (i had my hand there so he couldnt drown) and then did that for a few days and poof a BIG poop came out, there was a little blood as well nothing too dramatic

since then he has been just fine back to his normal grouchy self

[PureLine Exotics]

Hmmm that is good to hear.. My major question is why he is not showing any sighns of being in pain, he is still very active from water tub to uv bulb to water tub to heat lamp no cloudyness in eyes and so on ..

see i also have a worry about taking them to the vet just due to the shear stress of transporting and handling and i have heard so many horror stories and have experianced this myself, Directly after or during the vet visit a animal kicks the bucket

That is the main reason why i try at home remady's first they are comfortable with us and look at us for help without the stress and the shear rough handling factor

[lady_bug87]

Hmmm that is good to hear.. My major question is why he is not showing any sighns of being in pain, he is still very active from water tub to uv bulb to water tub to heat lamp no cloudyness in eyes and so on ..

see i also have a worry about taking them to the vet just due to the shear stress of transporting and handling and i have heard so many horror stories and have experianced this myself, Directly after or during the vet visit a animal kicks the bucket

That is the main reason why i try at home remady's first they are comfortable with us and look at us for help without the stress and the shear rough handling factor


good point I unfortunately have no experience with water dragons, I know mine was as active or as inactive as he was, you could try the bath or call the vet and ask if there is anything you can try at home or the bath if you like Goodluck I hope it works out and he is OK

[PureLine Exotics]

Ty iam going ahead and getting this little guy to the vet he deserves the best if anyone knows about what the procedure for this type of sickness and or maybe what i could expect from a vet visit be awesome good

[PureLine Exotics]

today we took our water dragon to the vet. it was 68 dollars for the visit and 100 dollars for blood tests. the vet said he MIGHT have impaction, and it COULD help to give him warm baths. WOW. it doesnt matter how good you think your vet is, all of the knowledge we put here together was much more informing and WAY cheaper and easier on my dragon. he had to be in a container for 4 and a half hours. but the vet doesnt know for sure whats wrong, you cant really tell. So cheers to everyone who helped me on this forum, and cheers to this forum.

[ZARADOZIA]

I'm sorry the vet is clueless but I am happy that it isn't anything noticably serious.

If he was mine, I would increase his temps by 2-3 degrees (between 90 -95) and give him 2 warm baths a day with a little bit of mineral oil in the water. Keep massaging his belly during the bath. Honestly, it sounds like he is constipated.

Increase his greens & veggies (dandelions, kale, collards, mustard greens, and papaya )and cut out the worms/pinkies/meat foods until he has had a bowel movement. The veggies will help him have a bowel movement.

[PureLine Exotics]

we took him to a different vet today. i will update exactly which kind in a cpl hours, but the vet gave us meds and we are going to spoon feed him. it has been 12 days since spaz has eaten and 2 weeks since he has pood. but he did pee today!

[ZARADOZIA]

Thanks for the update. Keep us posted. Poor baby!

[PureLine Exotics]

Hello all again!
so after a very hard week, and lots of trips to the vet.. we have found our cwd is a girl! she is in her pre-ovulatory stage. Since we have no idea how to treat our little baby further (because we were not prepared for this lol) i am asking for some help :) any tips on handling, feeding, setup, etc will help! heres the lowdown.
we have changed around her cage, she now has a smaller waterbowl (taking up about 1/3 of the cage), which still has the waterfall and aerator in it. there is one big rock in each corner to help her get out. left of that is her laybox, about 1/3 of the cage, a smallish opening and a lid and moist dirt inside. outside we have dirt all around everything else and we installed a mister, which shall be on for 45 secs every 3 hours. we are still offering her 1 worm covered in calcium daily (she still hasnt eaten tho) and her familiar spring mix :)
we will be removing the lid of her laybox every second day and spraying the dirt (to keep it moist) and have upped her daylight hours slightly. so far so good :)
all feedback helps! thank you :)

[lady_bug87]

I feel like I am missing something... do you have more than one housed together?

[millertime89]

^that's what I was thinking. that said I don't know enough of CWDs to know how their reproductive cycle works.

[lady_bug87]

"Female water dragons may produce, and lay eggs whether the have copulated with a male or not. The eggs wont be viable, of course, if they haven't been with a male, but the information below is very important if you have a female dragon."

makes sense

[Nismo89]

Female green iguanas can also lay eggs without any male contact.

[ZARADOZIA]

Wow that is some crazy news Amber! I am relieved it's nothing too serious. A female...go figure! I didn't see that coming!

[PureLine Exotics]

neither did we hahaha, well we think we brought this on ourselves actually.. we decided to house our male beardie above her large cage, and after some research we found his pheromones can actually set her off, and above that we decreased their light schedule right around the time you would to breed cwd's haha so we did do everything right, maybe too right lol, and no she is housed alone. we must have just gotten the temperature perfect and she began to develop eggs for the first time! we are hoping that she will use the extras we put in her cage to help her, and hopefully this will be a positive experience from here on in :)

[beardeds4life]

wow I am glad she is ok that is why the only females in my collection will be ones that are actually breeding.

[KORBIN5895]

I hope I am not being rude or mean here but after reading this I am confused and very concerned about something. I noticed that you have placed a python and boa rescue add. Would these rescues be living with you where are right now or at the place where you won't be for four months? If they aren't staying with you I would suggest finding someone more comfortable with your reptiles who also is able to get your rescues to the vet if necessary.