central netted dragon

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irvingbro

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I have a central netted dragon hatch ling that was in good health a few days ago and now he is very sluggish and is not eating much hes body looks kind of sucked in . can any one give me so advise please
 
more details please.... housing, temps, feeding schedule, etc
 
temp is 35 to 20 , housed in a 2 foot fish tank with red soil substrate ,feed him every day on woodys and crickets and some fruit and veg and 1 starve day a week, housed with 1 other central hatchling
 
you should proberbly seperate him incase he makes the other one sick aswell,

does he eat anything?
is it as much as normal?
 
can you supply some pics of the dragon in its current state?
 
I keep my netteds for a long time after hatching on paper or on no substrate at all... Hatchies will ingest sand if given the opportunity and this will impact in the stomach. No matter how much they eat they will still lose condition.
 
Impaction is when stuff is "stuck" in their digestive systems. Sand, soil, a big poo, something like that
 
how do u manage to get such a big temp gradient in such a small tank?
 
I built a small exhaust fan into the hood which keeps one end a lot cooler but this means the heat lamp is on all day
 
Mate 35 degrees is nothin, hope thats not the hot spot..

They will happily sit under 45-50 degree hot spots then run around for a while and coming back to it. Heat up the tank mate.
 
Yeah, from what I understand their husbandry is very similar to Ackies...basking spot should be a scorcher...
 
do you have uva uvb? i use a 100 to 160watt mercury vapour bulb, the hotter the better, without the right heat they will get impaction also, i keep mine on sand and they do well,
 
Impaction is defiantly a possibility. I suggest giving him regular warm baths (at least once per day). Don’t have the water too high, he must be able to touch the bottom without issue and have the water warm but not too hot. Don't let the water go cool, as this will exacerbate the problem.

Try to encourage him to drink if he doesn't seem to much on his own - you may have to add droplets to his snout for him to lap. Hydration and warmth is key here. He must have access to clean (conditioned) water every day. I agree with the substrate of damp paper if he's still quite young, and since he's having problems it's best to take him off sand to avoid further possible ingestion.

It's absolutely necessary not to feed him anything too large - your woodies must be smaller than the width of his head but smaller is better - they will just eat more and digest them a lot easier. Make sure to calcium dust every feed - very important for a growing dragon.

He will need a UV on for approx. 14 hours per day and it needs to be 8 - 10% depending on the brand. They have very high UV requirements (at every age) and he will not be able to metabolise the calcium you give him without the UV to produce Vitamin D3.

I disagree with the 50˚ basking recommendation. 45˚ is the absolute max and it has been proven in scientific studies that at 46+˚ these dragons can lose coordination and the ability to move when necessary - 50˚ is considered verging on expiration for these guys. Plus it forces them to continually move back and forth to regulate their temp.

Another thing is substrate heat - these guys spend a lot of time on their bellies on the ground and that means they need warmth their too. Not too hot as it can cause constipation (and thermal burns in extreme cases). A heat mat or cord applied preferably to the outside underneath the tank attached to a thermostat and set at about 25-30˚. Make sure to feel it with you hand and gauge it since extra overhead heat could make it too hot if your thermostat is set high and it will struggle to regulate it. It doesn’t need to be really hot just not cool.

Apart from that if you are really concerned and don't see any progress then take him to a reptile specialist before it's too late.

Hope he gets better!
 
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