Update on sick red flame/midnight wraith baby dragon and force feeding question

[Greg West]

Well after around $160.00 at the vet, the vet has said my baby has made an improvement and should be fine to come home with me tonight. Im not sure what the baby weighed when I bought it, or during my keeping of it (im sure it lost weight in the last week), but it weighed 4 grams when at the vet with a very grim outlook on life. When the vet was looking over my baby, he had little energy, but enough to fidgit when she did something that it didn't like. I was given 2 choices, put it down, or try and rehydrate, force feed etc, with a slim chance of survival. She had said she wasn't sure what had happened, but the baby was severly dehydrated, and maybe a vitamin deficiency.

Because I could see some life left in him with the fidgeting with the vet, I decided to leave him with the vet and let them take care of him with the intention that if he didn't show signs of improvement, that it would be put down. After that night, I phoned in the morning and he had made a good improvement, and would stay there another day for the same treatment.

I hope it makes a full recovery and starts eating properly. I think it has sight problems as it misses crickets quite frequently if it sees them at all. All it would eat is maybe 3 crickets per day, and hasn't grown since the day I bought it.

I had informed the breeder as it seems that the black eyed beardies she sells seems to have problems as I know of 6-8 babies that have never grown with other keepers. She said locally where she lived that the only problems buyers were having was that they were eating too much. Sounds like a cop out answer to me which I don't believe, but I have voiced my opinion and that is pretty much all I can do.

Sorry for the long post, but wanted to post my experience at the vets, as it was my first visit to a reptile vet.

As for the force feeding, I am assuming that I will have to keep that up for a while as well as hydrating. I have an electrolyte solution that I am going to use, but I was wondering what people use for force feeding food? What do you feed them? How is it prepared?

Any help would be great.

Greg West
Cornelsworld Terrariums

[Big Mike]

I also have one from the same clutch that Greg has mentioned. I have the same problem with mine. He eats very little and has grown very little since I got him.

Check this thread (click here) to see pictures of the two I bought at the Calgary show. The lighter one was from a different breeder and is growing quite well.

I also took mine to the vet. The vet said that he could find nothing physically wrong with him besides being obviously under wieght. I am currently feeding him a liquid mixture of high-protien cat food (from vet), electolyte drink and some calcium/D3 powder.

[Dragon_Slave]

Sounds like this breeder should be avioded and that she isn't being too truthful.