Baby Beardie walking funny

[Nichole0113]

I got Smaug a week and a half ago, he looked okay when I got him but I think he's sick now. He has been coming to the glass when I get home to be fed, but when i got home today he was laying completely flat with his eyes squinted. He stood up, when I gave him a few drops on his nose for water, and started to stumble. He walks like he's drunk and goes back to lay down. Any ideas?

Details
- he's about 6 inches
- 95-100 degree basking spot, 85 on the cool side
- UVB bulb
- using Flucker's cricket quencher and dusting with Flucker's calcium

 

[kittenmaster1234]

Hey there,

Incoming wall of text:

How old is your dragon?
How long have you had your dragon?
How long is your dragon?
What is the sex of 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, and where is the UVB bulb located?
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? Is it a white or colored bulb?
Di you have any type of night time heat source (ceramic heat emitter, colored bulb, etc)?
How long are lights on each day?
What are the basking temps?
What is the cool side temp?
What is the night time 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)?
How many live feeders do you offer at time?
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 bathe 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?
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon?

The symptoms you describe are pretty vague, and if you could fill this basic questionnaire out it can really help us help you. If he is not getting any better, I also strongly urge you to make an appointment with a reputable reptile vet. Also, has he stopped eating?

 

[Esther19]

I'm sorry Smaug is not well. What are you using to measure temps? What is the shape and brand of your UVB?

 

[Nichole0113]

How old is your dragon? A MONTH OR SO
How long have you had your dragon? 1 WEEK
How long is your dragon? 6 IN
What is the sex of your dragon? UNKNOWN
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in? 10 GALLON TANK
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank? REPTILE CARPET
Do you use UVB lights? YES
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb? COMPACT
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)? REPTIGLO 10.0
How old is your UVB bulb? 1 WEEK
How close can your dragon get to the UVB, and where is the UVB bulb located? 6 IN
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? Is it a white or colored bulb? 100w BASKING SPOT LAMP
Di you have any type of night time heat source (ceramic heat emitter, colored bulb, etc)? NO
How long are lights on each day? 14 HOURS
What are the basking temps? 100 DEGREES
What is the cool side temp? 85 DEGREES
What is the night time temp? 65 DEGREES
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun? STICK ON AND TEMP GUN
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps? BASKING ROCK AND LOG
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad? NO
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific. CRICKETS
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)? 1 CRICKET, 6am 4pm 9pm
How many live feeders do you offer at time? 1
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc? YES (Flucker's cricket quencher)
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them? FLUCKER'S CALCIUM DUST
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)? YES
Do you bathe your dragon? How often? NO
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath? MIST ONCE A DAY
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done? NO
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon? NO

He normally gets excited when I place the cricket carrier in front of him, he won't even look at it now.

 

[dragontamer13]

The main things i saw was the small amount of crix and the compact UVB bulb. You should feed him ( smaug i think you said ) as many crix as he can eat in 15 minutes. He should also be offeres veggies such as collard greens mustard greens buttuernut squash etc. On this site the Reptisun 10.0 or arcadia 12% Uvb is reccomended.

*Edit* You should probably upgrade his cage size soon as well. The minimum cage size for an adult is a 40 gallon breeder I believe although it may be some where 50-55 gallon and i think it is best to have a 75 ( i think... not completely sure )

 

[Esther19]

Okay, let's try giving him a bath in warm water up to his shoulders. Monitor him constantly. He might feel more secure with a washrag under him. Babies get dehydrated very easily. Try to drip some water over his lips with a dropper or syringe. He might not be eating because he knows that he does not have the ability to digest due to dehydration.

Are the temps you are mentioning taken with the temp gun?

Please turn off the UVB bulb. It is probably hurting his eyes and is not giving the UVB he needs. This forum recommends the ReptiSun 10 tube UVB bulb mounted inside the tank, with all plastic covers removed so that there is nothing between Smaug and the bulb. Basking distance should be 6"-8" from the bulb. Another bulb recommended here is the Arcadia 12%. Here are links where you can find the bulbs:

http://www.petmountain.com/
http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/

How often does he get calcium? Any other supplements, like vitamin/minerals?

We'll get this figured out. Hang in there!

 

[AHBD]

Hi Nichoelle....along with the problem with lights, he may be dehydrated. Do you see him drink anything when you mist him ? Rather than " misting ", beardies will drink from a small trickling of water on their nose with an eyedropperor syringe... but misting may raise the humidity too much without actually giving them a drink. They can also benefit from a daily soak, about an inch deep and lukewarm for 5 - 10 minutes but be VERY careful in his condition he can drown.*** EDIT** I was writing same time as Esther, same thought !

 

[Nichole0113]

I read that babies don't usually like greens until they're a bit older. I've just fed him crickets since I've had him. I don't see a lump in his belly so I don't think it's impaction. He seems to get happy temporarily when I mist him, maybe he is dehydrated.

 

[Spikey92]

But dehydration is not his only "problem" .You really really need to offer him more crickets! At least twice a day for 15 min as many as he wants to eat. That should be up to 50- 70 a day for a beardie his size.
Please follow the advices you were given.

Food
UVB
Hydration

Upgrade to bigger tank soon. It is very hard to get the temps right in a tiny 10 gallon.you cant really have a cold and warm site.

& yes, most babies dont eat their salads until they get a little bigger.But this is not always the case.Mine for example started eating her salad when she was only 8 " long.So always offer at least

 

[Nichole0113]

I guess I'm just unsure about how many crickets can fit in his tiny tummy. And as for the terrarium, I'm moving my two red eared sliders into a home made out door enclosed, and Smaug will inherit their 40 gallon tank.

 

[Spikey92]

Trust me we all were surprised at some point about the amount they can eat
But its very important that they get as much protein(crickets) as possible to thrive. Just offer & see how much he wants

 

[AHBD]

Yes, another good point we overlooked like Spikey mentioned the baby needs more food. Right now, though, it's probably dehydrated and a dehydrated beardie won't usually eat. So try to get him hydrated, you might also get a product from the pet store called jump start to help him out, or Oxbow critical care from online or from a vet. Once a baby is sick, it will take a while before he eats any big number of prey items. Once he starts eating again, it may only be a few at a time as he regains his strength + health, and some beardies never eat those huge amounts, but more like 20 - 30 average, plus you can add Phoenix or Reptiworms and also offer very finely chopped turnip and mustard greens as well as yellow squash. Hopefully he will improve for you.

 

[Nichole0113]

The reptile vets around my house are only there on Thursdays, which is why I got on here to ask my questions. Should I take him to the vet tomorrow for a check up anyway? And how much does a check up normally cost?

 

[AHBD]

It's honestly hard to advise whether or not to take him simply because some vets don't have experience with tiny babies. If you know of one that has good reviews and actual experience with baby beardies it may be a good call. An inexperienced vet that is just guessing may prescribe antibiotics without determining the actual problem and make things worse. Your baby probably needs supplemental nutrition like Oxbow critical care which will also help with the dehydration.

 

[DTRM30]

I don't think anyone has mentioned the size of the crickets / worms. Just for reference in case you don't know, none of his food items should be larger than the space between his eyes. For a small dragon like him, he's probably going to be eating 1/4" or so sized crickets. (very small ones).