Question

[Irwin2010]

I am new to owning a bearded dragon (less than 30 days) I have in a good tank and his habat is great.....He is now not using one of his hind feet and seems to be always tired. He is eatting fine, should I take him to the vet or am I over worried??

THanks

 

[snowdrop]

I would reccomended you do take him to a vet! At least you can be sure if hes ok! Waht bedding are you using? What veg and live food is he eating? Do you dust his food? Bath him?

 

[Irwin2010]

I use the reptile carpet and he eats crickets (dusted with cal) and I fed him a bowl of veggies every morning (spinish, strawberries, broc) though I do not think he eats them. I have fed him meal worms too (twice a week).

 

[orionshaft]

meal worms are a nono! what are the temps in the cage? is he getting plenty uvb?

 

[Irwin2010]

Didn't know mealworms were bad, he is a juvenille, what other worms should he be eating instead? Temps on the basking side range between 95-105F and the other side are between 80-84. He has a UVB 18inch bulb that is Exo Terra 10.0, usually turn that off at night as well as the heat light. At night I turn on the Exo Terra night bulb. Was trying to read and worried he is not getting enough UVB, the bulb is at the top of the tank which is about 24 inches high, I was reading that if he is more than 6 inches from it then he will miss out on much of the UVB, is that true? Not sure if I mentioned this but one of his rear feet he has not been moving, he is also shedding right now. Oh, and I have not tried bathing him, maybe I should try that?

 

[snowdrop]

Definetly bath him, babies can be dehydrated i owuld reccommended bathing at least 3 times a week for ten to twenty mins in warm not hot water! sallow shouldn't be any higher than his arm pits. Put a towel of facecloth down on the bottom of the bath that way he has something to grip and doesn't panic! You can get a thing called repti boost which is for putting in there bath which has nutrients in it. Beardies also take water in through there bums (vents) so this will be good for him.

Spinach should only be feed occasionally. and should the other things you mentioned, pak choi or giant water cress are good, check out the nutrition page on www.beautifuldragons.com it will tell you exactly what you can feed your beardie.

I would still say please take him to a vet to get him checked out! Where are you from by the way?

Is he on sand?

 

[Buggsy]

the reptiglo (exoterra) is not a good bulb, and at 24" away im afraid he wont have been getting much UVB at all. I would suggest (along with the other suggestions) to get either the reptiSUN 10 tube, or the Arcadia 12% UVB tube (if in europe) and raise the basking spot up so he can get withing 6-8" from it.

How are you measuring those temp, and what is the actual basking SPOT??

Leg paralysis can mean one of three things:
1) impaction, caused from eating food that is too big or too difficult to digest. This includes mealworms, or being kept on a particle substrate, like sand.
2) start of MBD, caused from lack of calcium.
3) some nerve damage from an injury.

I suggest you really give him a good bath, in warm water (maybe 100f) and massage his belly. Rub your finger down the right hand underside, from arm to vent. If there is a hard lump it means your dealing with option 1, and he will need some olive oil/unsweetened applesauce to get things moving.

As for other feeders, crix or roaches, but if you want to stick with worms, butters, phoenix or silkies are all very good.