Brain Damage?

[dragginfly]

What type of thermometer are you using? Some can be incredibly inaccurate. I'll be off for awhile, but I'm sure others will chime in here and try to help out.

 

[diamc]

Please let us know about the thermometer you're using. Dehydration can also cause strange behavior. Did you turn off the coil light to see if there is any improvement?

 

[dragginfly]

Also, on the crickets that they were being fed, are these crickets light brown or black? The black ones are more aggressive, bit our baby. I saw it happen and immediately did away with my whole order of 500 black crickets. Just another possiblity I'm throwing out there.
Hugs to you, it is absolutely no fun when one of our beardies is not doing well.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Any improvements on your baby today? Were you able to get your basking temperatures up any?
Please keep us posted on how she is doing.

Thanks.
Tracie

 

[Snowflake]

Okay, apparently my hubby hijacked my thread. He's the technical writer, I'm the emotional one, in case you were getting two different "vibes" ...

Anyhow, the little dudes are separated now. We put a plastic bin into the center of the tank so he had access to the heat, lined it with felt, food, cave, perch, etc. Hubby said it's a little New York apartment. I'm hoping it's okay until we figure out what's going on. We're getting new lights today and will keep you all posted. If I could figure out how to post a video, I would do that so you could see Zane's behavior.

Thank you for your advice. It's nice to know we're not in this on our own.

Oh - the thermometer we're using is Zilla brand, Humidity & Termperature Gauge, umm.... that's about all the info I can get from the package. The crickets are small and light tan in color.

Another question - how to wash the felt? How often, what detergent, etc?

-Jodi

 

[TASTIGER]

you can upload the video to youtube and send us a link

 

[diamc]

Is the Zilla thermometer a round gauge (dial) type or is it a digital with long wire & probe end?

 

[Snowflake]

We have a round dial thermometer. Our local pet stores don't have any of the lights you guys suggested, so we're going to order them online.

Zane didn't eat anything today. When the food came out he got all excited like he usually does, and even made a lunge at a cricket (missed). But then he just seemed to forget what he was doing and either just sat there or ran around bumping into walls. He didn't respond to crickets being hand fed to him, and he ignored a pile of green food I put directly in front of him. I put him into a warm puddle of shallow water, but he didn't seem to like that and didn't drink anything.

Oof, this is hard to watch. How long (sob) before he'll just starve to death? I think we need to prepare the boys to lose one of their new little buddies. This sucks.

-Jodi

 

[Claudiusx]

Hi Jodi,

Unfortunately, the dial stick on thermometers are extremely inaccurate. They have been known to be off by as much as 20 degrees. All they can really do is measure the temp of the air around the glass, which isn't want you need.

You need either a digital thermometer with probe end, or a temp gun. This is the only way to get accurate readings that you need, and its very important to have good temperatures.

You might want to order one online too while your buying the lights unless you can find one in a store around you. A very good one, the acu-rite digital thermometer with probe, measures the temp at the probe, and the temp at the base unite, and the humidity all at once, and is only around 12$. You can find them at walmart (usually).

I am sorry he hasn't ate anything for you today But tomorrow is another day and you need to keep trying :mrgreen:

You will be surprised at how long (stubborn) they can go without food, but eventually they should come around to eating.

If you have tried sweet smelling fruits or bright fruits in the salad you might want to try that. It works for some beardies to get them more interested in their salads.

-Brandon

 

[diamc]

Brandon is right, an accurate thermometer is essential as well as good lighting.

Did you try handfeeding him any crickets or greens? You could pick up some chicken and squash baby food, mix a little of each together diluted with a little water, heat in the microwave for a few seconds to take the chill off, then use a plastic medicine dropper and put drops on his nose for him to lick off. Might take a few minutes for him to get the idea but once he gets a taste, he should really like it. The chicken baby food will help give him some protein and squash is very good for them.

Hope you can get him to improve, good luck.

 

[sweetiepie9]

I know it's the lighting, as the same thing happened to Issy, we had the wrong UVB light but as soon as we got the correct light (we got mercury vapour bulb called Power Sun) she was right as rain in 3 days. She was having seizures because of the bad lighting (Reptiglo 10.0) and we were freaking out. It's only after I found this site & found out that Reptiglo are bad for beardies, they're made for other types of reptiles, that we realized our error & got the right UVB. Beardies have to have good UVB to grow, it's their sunlight & the Vit D in the calcium helps them with digestion, so that might be the problem with Zane. See how he is with the new lighting, just make sure the UVB is Reptsun 10.0 tube, not coil. Coil lights have caused issues with eyes, too.

Hope that helps. It takes awhile to get the right temps & right lights, but once you do the difference is amazing. And separating the tank was a great idea. Even though there was no fighting between the two of them, domination by one lying on top of the other can cause all kinds of problems. Just make sure you don't have any water dishes in their tanks either, they need low humidity. Baths are better, or take them out of their tanks & mist them.

Good luck & keep us all posted, we just love baby beardies on this sight. My 4 males are all adults, I just really miss the baby stages.

 

[Snowflake]

Okay, everything has been ordered through Amazon. Tomorrow, if the technology gods are feeling generous, I'll post some pictures of the little fellows.

On a completely unrelated side note, those little yellow and green smilies jumping up and down on the side of my computer screen are mesmerizing. Up and down, up and down... I can't stop watching them... jumping...

Eek. Time for bed.

-Jodi

 

[Claudiusx]

Glad to hear the news Jodi.

Keep us updated :mrgreen:



.............

-Brandon

 

[dragginfly]

Your tank is either 16” or 18” tall correct? And you’re using a 150 watt bulb….
Does your light sit directly on top of the tank (like on a screen cover?)?
What is the height of the basking spot? And your dial thermometer reads around 90? Not that it will help much, but where is the thermometer placed in the tank?

I’m not trying to be a pain, but everyone else is talking about whether it’s warm enough or not. I have the opposite worry!!! Our starter tank (that we only used for a short time) was 12” tall…it came with a 50 watt bulb. I tried to use a 75 watt and couldn’t use it for long…too hot. Granted, my tank is at least 4” shorter…but anything 75 watt or above made the basking area incredibly hot and that’s in a 75 degree room. I could not imagine doubling that, even if the basking area I had was lowered to the floor making it 12” away from a 150 watt bulb.
Just like at a beach, the air temps may be 90 degrees (in the case of a dial thermometer in a tank that reads 90 degrees but that could be 20 degrees off-maybe 110 degrees), but the sand (basking spot/carpet) can be so much hotter!

Maybe I’m completely wrong on this, and I don’t mean to be confusing to the poster, but I am asking everyone here if overheating is a possibility, all factors considered. At this point, with the baby not eating, which would be OK for a few days, what should the temperature focus be on? Until they get a good way to gauge temps and different lights, what does everyone recommend? Since the baby isn't really eating, should the focus be on being extra warm (close to normal basking temps) or should the focus be on maintaining a livable and comfortable temp (just in case the dial thermometer they are using is not showing that it's too hot).

Once again, I truly apologize if this is confusing. I really have lost a reptile (a tropical) to temps that we thought were OK according to the dial thermometer. She had brain damage and acted completely weird. To Jodi (and spouse), I am really hoping everyone else chimes in here.

I can and do recommend a bath, hoping some of the water gets absorbed through the beardie's vents, which would help with dehydration. There are plenty of posts here concerning baths. I also recommend making a "beardie burrito" and holding the baby close - since we all know what temps our bodies are. IF the beardie lets you The baby food and dropper ideas are great as well.

Hang in there

 

[Snowflake]

Dragginfly, thank you; I just went to measure the temperature with a cooking probe thermometer thing and it turns out the tank is possibly 10 degrees hotter than what our tank gauge is reading. One gauge is reading 87, the other 97. Eek!

Phoey. I wanted to run around today getting baby food etc. for the dragons ... but then one of my non-lizard dudes got sick so he's staying home from school.

I love the "beardie burrito" idea. Maybe we'll all watch a little bit of a movie together tonight.

-Jodi