possibly sick baby, left underside very hard.

okay i have had whopper for 5 weeks and he was 2 weeks old when i got him (i know, too young) yesturday i had changed his enclosure setup a little bit but the temps are fine and he can only get within 12 inches of his mvb. he was quite dark yesturday and i assumed it was due to the new decorations. today he was basking early for about 7 hours but since then he has been hiding in his log and he is very very dark. ive never seen a dragon this dark and usually he is milky white underside and a nice yellow/peach/red upper side. i took him out to bathe which i do every other day but he didnt brighten up and i noticed the entire left side of his belly is very hard under the skin and the right side is soft and squishy like it should be. hes not as active as he usually is either. even when he is moving it seems to be in segments and quite slow. an example would be him going up to his basking spot, he will take a few steps and then stop for a bit, then take a few more steps and stop, then on the third segment he will reach the spot. usually he'll just scurry right up to it. i have felt the hard side of his belly and it doesnt seem to be causing him any pain. he pooed this morning although there was more urate then poo and the poo was semi runny and unformed. he has also eaten about 9 pw's and 7 crickets, but his body language is telling me somethings off. on the second day we had him we had an accident, he was bathing on the table on a small glass plate and it was knocked off. it happened really quick and the plate shattered but he seemed to be fine, he was standing with his front legs straight up and he looked very alert. i havent had any previous problems with him. does anyone have any idea what could be wrong or what that hardness is under his skin is? sorry if this doesnt make perfect sense, im very tired and stressed. any help would be much appreciated! thanks

I'm not an expert by any means but if you answer these questions people who are more knowledgable than me will be more able to help you.

How old is your dragon?
How long is your dragon?
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in?
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank?
Do you use UVB lights?
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb?
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)?
How old is your UVB bulb?
How close can your dragon get to the UVB?
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage?
What are the basking temps?
What is the cool side temp?
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun?
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps?
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad?
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)?
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc?
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them?
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)?
Do you bath your dragon? How often?
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath?
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done?

Sorry about your little guy. I am not a beardie expert, but it isn't normal for any animal to have a hard belly. The biggest two things that I think of are internal bleeding (will make the belly hard and distended) and impaction.

When did the baby fall? That could be part of the problem. The other thing is if he ate something too big that got stuck. How big were the bugs he ate? Could that be it?

Also, does he have a place to bask where his stomach gets warm enough to digest his food?

The last thing is bring him to the Vet. If he is hurting enough to show injury or pain he may be very, very ill. Exotic animals don't show illness until they are very sick, because in the wild that will get them eaten.

Your little dragon needs help as soon as possible. Good luck and keep us posted.

he fell a month ago. when i touch the area that is hard he doesnt show any discomfort or signs of pain. the crickets/pw's are all the right size. hes about 6 inches long now. he seems to be warming up to his new basking spot though because he has brightened up significantly. he is able to lay flat on his stomach and digest his food properly. from the sounds of it, i would say internal bleeding but i dont know if its possible to carry on for a month and for him to be alive still. its only been 1 day that hes been really dark and slower but is now brightening up. we dont have a vet anywhere near us that specializes in reptiles though. its about one third of his belly that is quite hard and its the left side.

How old is your dragon? 1 and a half months
How long is your dragon? 6 inches
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in? 40 gallon (because of lighting)
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank? paper towel
Do you use UVB lights? yes
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb? MVB
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)? Mega ray 100w
How old is your UVB bulb? 1 month
How close can your dragon get to the UVB? 12 inches
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? nope
What are the basking temps? 107
What is the cool side temp? 75-80
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun? digital with probe
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps? directly on top of basking surface
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad? no
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific. pw's, crickets
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)? 1-2 hours after waking, 2 more times, 3 hours apart.
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc? yes
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them? Zoo Med repti calcium (once per day) Zoo Med reptivite (once a week)
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)? yes, once every morning
Do you bath your dragon? How often? once every other day
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath? no water dish, although i have one i have heard theyre useless and can cause RI. dont mist anymore (RI), i dribble water on his nose with a syringe.
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done? no. cannot find a reptile worthy vet.

Hello,

Your setup looks great, by the way. Great job on doing your homework on the setup.
The best thing you can do is to get an x-ray to determine whether or not something is amiss, or could be broken.
Is there a lump that is noticeable at all?
The crickets, are they smaller than the space between his eyes?
Is there anything else that he could have eaten that may have impacted him?
The calcium should be given 5 times per week so if you are giving it 7 you can drop it down to 5. Sometimes, that can dry them out & impact them if too much supplementation is given.
Try increasing oral fluids to see if that helps a little bit.
I would like to see some pictures of him, as well. Thanks.

Tracie

i would like to know too mine has the same thing and im a bit worried

hes doing alot better today, really bright and very active so im thinking he was just stressed out and needed some time to adjust to his new decorations, although the hard area is still there. i have many photos on my camera i just need to figure out how to upload them onto my pc. Once theyre on my computer i will post pictures. how old is your dragon venom508?

Venom508":2b993 said:

i would like to know too mine has the same thing and im a bit worried

Click to expand...

how old is your dragon and has it ever fallen from a high area ?

Hello,

That is good to hear that he is doing better today. So, he is basking & active then?
Is his entire stomach on the left side hard? Or, just a small area of it, are you sure you are not feeling a kidney possibly, how deep are you pressing? They are fairly buried underneath the stomach & should not be palpable unless they are enlarged.


Tracie

yeah i dropped him when i fisrt got him and that was 5 months ago i checked on him when i got up and it seems to have gone away if its still there in a couple of days i will take him to the vet i gunna shut up now cuz i dont wanna hyjack this thread and turn the attention to me

Drache613":2e0c6 said:

Hello,

That is good to hear that he is doing better today. So, he is basking & active then?
Is his entire stomach on the left side hard? Or, just a small area of it, are you sure you are not feeling a kidney possibly, how deep are you pressing? They are fairly buried underneath the stomach & should not be palpable unless they are enlarged.


Tracie

Click to expand...

yes hes basking and running around exploring. the hard area is on the left side and wasnt sticking so out that i could see it through the skin but i could feel it without trying to, i was holding him and just noticed it. it is consistent with the length of his belly and is now in the center. but not quite as hard. i think if it where something serious he'd be laboring and favoring it a little bit more. hopefully ill have some pics up soon.

Hello,

That is excellent he is up & running around then.
Well, if it is or was the length of his belly, then perhaps he was a little impacted or something. I would try to push some fluids for the next few days as well. Good that the area is not quite as hard though.
Some pictures of him would be helpful, also. I hope that he is doing much better for you now.

Tracie