Sick Baby?

My 10 year old son just got a baby beardie two weeks ago. Last night "Fred" became lethargic and started laying flat on his stomach. My son would pick him up and Fred could barely hold his head up. My son was up almost all night crying because Fred is sick. We have Fred in a 10 gallon aquarium and have been feeding him mostly crickets. Sunday we did give him 9 meal worms. He has a UV sun lamp suggested by the pet store we purchased him from. They are a local well know pet store. This morning I turned on his lamp and put him up on the rock thinking the light would help if he was having digestion problems but he quickly climbed down to lay under the rock. We use paper towels as the substrate and have rocks and a water dish in the tank. My son is getting over a cold and I'm wondering if beardies can get colds too? My son spends a lot of time with Fred playing video games and watching tv. He is very attached to him. Any suggestions on what to try? I would really appreciate it.]

Sorry to hear fred is not well, hopefully going over your set up can find out what may be causing this.

What are you using for heat, and what brand UVB do you have?
What temperature is his basking spot, ambient temp of the tank, and cool side?
and what are you measuring those temps with.

Just to let you know a 10 gal tank will only last a few weeks if fred is a baby, if he is any older he will need a new tank immediatly. It is recommended a single adult should have a 40 gal breeder.

Well there are a few things but we would need to know more specifics about the setup you have. Please provide the exact name of the bulbs you are using. Also what is Fred's basking temperature and how are you measuring it?

You are going to want to stay very far away from Meal Worms, since you have fed these to Fred have you noticed him poop at all? Please provide this information and that will allow us to get enough information to form a hypothesis on what may be going on with your little buddy.

My husband purchased the light and he got a 100W sun glo lamp. Fred did go poop after he ate the meal worms only once though since Sunday. He has crickets in there now but he is not eating them. I will go home on my lunch and take the temperature. I do not have a probe thermometer but my husband will get one tonight. We are just so worried and did everything according to what they told us at the pet shop. We have done a lot of research also and he was doing very good until Tuesday night.

The Sun Glo bulb I believe is just a basking bulbs. Do you have any sort of a UV light over him? You really really need one for the proper absorption of Vitamin D3.

This is what I would do to start.

1. Make sure you are getting basking temps of around 110 deg for proper digestion, mealworms are horrible they have no nutritional value and are very hard to digest especially for young dragons so getting the heat right and alloing him to get a core temp of around 85f will allow and help him to digest these.

2. Get some Cod Liver oil in a small Syringe and give him a few drops, this will help him pass anything that may be caught in his digestive tract and will help more come out if something is blocking which is what I am leaning torwards given the mealworms. Some people also do use other things I have just always used Cod liver oil to help pass bowel movements for them if they eat something too large or have a hard time pooping.

3. Make sure he is getting his soaks it is very important to keep him hydrated through all this so soak him in warm water once a day and make sure he is able to drink at least twice a day.

Thanks for the info! I will try the cod oil today and no more meal worms. Is there an easy way to open his mouth or a trick of some sort? We have an aquarium lid that has a light on it. Kind of gives off a purple hugh. Would that be a uv light? Stupid question I know but I'm not educated on the different types of lights yet. Thanks for your help!

It might be, but I am not sure... but it is VERY important you get one. Your dragon without one could develop something called Metabolic Bone Disease and could cause some MAJOR issues in bone development.We were all new reptile owners at one point. What is important is that you are here and are making an effort to learn and understand like a responsible pet owner!

For your tank I would recommend only a linear type UV bulb ... out of all the bulbs out on the market there is really only one that can get the job done without harming your dragon and pretty much everyone on this site seems to have the same feelings about it:

http://www.petmountain.com/product/reptile-fluorescent-bulbs/504983/zoo-med-reptisun-10.0-uvb-bulb.html

Also be sure you are dusting with Calcium 5 days a week one feeding and Vitamins 2 days a week.

Oh and the trick to opening their mouths can indeed be kinda difficult at times. What I have always done is either GENTLY open their bottom jaw they will instinctively bite down and try to close their mouths if they are babies I just let them naw on my finger a little while i drop it in... I would not recommend this if you are not experienced doing this, I have heard of some people accidentally breaking jaws.

Another technique I have had success with is taking one of those rubber frosting spreaders (I have no idea what they are actually called but they are used to spread frosting on a cake) And gently insert that between the lower and upper lips eventually they will open their jaws and insert that in GENTLY they will again start biting down over and over, then just drop in the fluid... do not inject it though as it can cause respiratory issues.

I went home and put Fred in a warm bath and I couldn't get him to open his mouth and I did not want to try in case I might hurt him so I just rubbed a little cod oil around his mouth and he did lick some. And he pooped twice which was great! I put the uv light back on and took off the basking bulb as he was hiding from it. I will order one of the uv bulbs you suggest. Any bulb that will provide uv and basking light? Thanks for your help. We have only had him a short time but we are already so attached to him.

You might want to think about getting a smaller watt bulb for basking. A 100 watts on a 10 gallon tank seems to me to be too much. I use a 40 watt on my 50 gallon during the summer when its warm. Either that or upgrade your tank to a much larger one. He really needs to be able to thermoregulate his temp. The cool end should be 75 - 85. He could be really dehydrated if your temps are as high as they sound. You might try some cool water dripped on his nose and see if he'll lick it off. Also, you don't need to heat the tank at night unless its colder than 65.

I am also a strong proponent of squash baby food. Feed it to him with a small syringe (like an isulin syringe) or with an eye dropper. Squash is a staple and he can eat as much as he wants. It also has a lot of liquid in it and will help him stay hydrated. Both of my beardies love it and it can help you through those times when you aren't sure what's happening.

The bulbs that provide basking and UVB are called Mercury Vapor Bulbs and you can't use them on a tank that small - 40 gallon breeder is the smallest they are recommended for. I would recommend the Repti-Sun 10.0 flouresant tube bulb for the UVB (get them from Pet Mountain - $20 - much cheaper even with shipping than at a pet store) and an incandescent light bulb or small flood for the basking light. Don't purchase the Repti-glo or a compact flouresant light - they can both cause issues with the beardies eyes and can make them lethargic and sick. Also, if you don't have one yet, buy an Accurite digital probe thermometer from Walmart ($12) - it allows you to take temps on the cool side and on the basking spot at the same time.

I know this sounds like a lot, . . . it probably also conflicts with what the petstore told you, . . . but you don't want to go through the heartache of losing your beardie. We lost Ash, our first beardie, partly due to misinformation and lack of knowledge on our part, and it wrecked my nine year old son. It was like he lost part of his soul that day. I don't want to see anyone have to go through that again.

Hi, you have been given excellent advice! We went through the same thing, had wrong everything at the recommendation of the pet store. How is Fred doing? He definetly needs a bigger viv! I hope you take the advice of getting a Repti-Sun 10.0 (don't do what we did and get a Repti-Glo 10.0 - not the same and bad for their eyes!) Also they should not have a UVB on without a UVA, if you don't have a lower wattage basking bulb a regular white (not coil) household bulb is better than nothing... and yes, a good thermometer with a digital probe or a temp gun is important, so you know the exact temps! I don't know if I saw it, what kind of substrate are you using?

Looking forward to updates!

I have done everything suggested. We got him a new zoo med uva basking light that is only 50 w. Still waiting on the repti-sun uvb light though. Fred was much much better this morning. I was so surprised!!! He was running around and ate several crickets. He is bouncing back and we're very happy. Never ever thought I would be feeding a lizard baby food.

Welcome to the Wonderful world of Dragons lol
I personally thought baby food squash was made just for dragons, but hey.. what do I know
janie lol

I have a 18", nine-month old monster who pouts if he doesn't get his baby food. He eats other stuff too, but I find the squash helps him stay regular and is a wonderful opportunity for him and I to do one-on-one time. It is also a main staple (mixed with a little chicken baby food) for our newest nine-week old beardie, Ember, since she's not interested in eating crickets or worms.

By the way, have you been warned? It's impossible to have just one. . . your son gets one, you fall in love, you get one. . . then you see one that needs rescued on Craigslist, or you know a friend who can't keep theirs, . . . and pretty soon you're like Barbara, who has nine. JFYI.

By the way, have you been warned? It's impossible to have just one. . . your son gets one, you fall in love, you get one. . . then you see one that needs rescued on Craigslist, or you know a friend who can't keep theirs, . . . and pretty soon you're like Barbara, who has nine. JFYI.

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Plus babies!

Oh yes, we had Twitch for a whopping 4 months when I read about Hermes needing a home! Now I'm 'forbidden' from reading the Rescue page :wink: we have no more room! Plus their monthly food bill is probably equal to at least 3 of us humans' if not all 4. :mrgreen:

I'm so glad to hear Fred is improving. That means I can ask for .... pics! :love5: Pleez???