Beardie twitching/not eating/diarrhea

Hello, love this board and have been reading so much on it the last few months. My gf and I bought a beardie five months ago and used the set ups/lighting/temp everybody suggests on this page. Feeding crickets six days a week and veggies one day a week. Bathing 3-4 times a week. Anyway, that beardie started shaking/tremors/diarrhea and eventually stopped eating. We thought it was mbd but we had the reptisun 10.0 24” tube bulb within 6-8” of him. Also we dusted his crickets with repcal calcium d3 powder. Eventually he died.

So after the heartbreak of our first experience we decided to give it another try. Bought another baby from a different pet shop. The first month he was great. Same set up (cleaned the cage and basking bricks) and feeding schedule. Now this new one has started the same symptoms. First diarrhea, then stopped eating, now shaking. We had him in a 30 gal Tall tank but were suggested to switch him to a ten gallon since he is so small and it’s easier to distribute heat/cool side correctly in a smaller tank. He’s now in ten gallon. Basking spot is 105. Cool side is 85. He can get within 6-8” of uvb tube bulb.

It just seems so odd that the exact same thing would happen two times in a row with beardies bought from two different reputable South Florida Herp stores. Help! We can’t go through what we went through the first time again. Thanks guys.

Hi. Sorry he is having issues? How big are the crickets? How are you taking the temps? How often do you dust? He might be getting too much 3d? Is your uvb a t8 or t5? How are you taking the temps?

Hello,

That is terrible, I am sorry to hear about your first dragon. We can help you pinpoint any
issues here. It does seem strange your second one is having trouble, too.
Please review your tank setup for us so we can see the light placement, & overall setup
along with a picture of him, if possible.
I would consider switching to liquid calcium instead of dusting so he can absorb it better.
I would also recommend trying to get a fecal done on him, also.
Where are you getting his feeders, the petstore or an online supplier?

Tracie

destiny1998":120ekdzg said:

Hi. Sorry he is having issues? How big are the crickets? How are you taking the temps? How often do you dust? He might be getting too much 3d? Is your uvb a t8 or t5? How are you taking the temps?

Click to expand...

Hi. The crickets have all been pinheads. Maybe five bigger ones he ate. We are taking the temps with a small electric thermometer we bought from Walmart which I will provide in the pics when i respond to tracie. We dust five times a week. UVB is t8. Thanks!

Drache613":bn5zdzqr said:

Hello,

That is terrible, I am sorry to hear about your first dragon. We can help you pinpoint any
issues here. It does seem strange your second one is having trouble, too.
Please review your tank setup for us so we can see the light placement, & overall setup
along with a picture of him, if possible.
I would consider switching to liquid calcium instead of dusting so he can absorb it better.
I would also recommend trying to get a fecal done on him, also.
Where are you getting his feeders, the petstore or an online supplier?

Tracie

Click to expand...

How do I post the pics? I uploaded them but don’t know how to post them onto this topic.

when you go to post hit the XIMG tab to select it and then post the picture.

Okay, so that’s his setup, him, and some fresh poop In case that’s helpful in any way. Bulb is reptisun 10.0 t8. Basking lamp is 75watt. Hot side stays at 110. Before, in the bigger tank, the tube bulb was inside on the back of the tank, kinda starting low in one corner and running high up to the other corner /. Kinda like that slash I posted but not as steep. Since I have the 24” it won’t fit in the ten gallon I changed him into yesterday.

I will consider the liquid calcium. Any suggestions?

The thing about the fecal test is that the last beardie vet charged us 200$ for a fecal test and told us nothing was wrong. They were a joke of a vet and we would
Not go back, so I’m scared to spend that type of money again if it’s just gonna be pointless like it was the first time.

We have been getting his crickets from the reptile store. Occasionally giving him roaches too. The setup they had for their crickets seems very clean so I trusted their crickets but I know parasites can happen anywhere. I thought maybe it was parasites but for it to happen to two in a row, with the exact same symptoms, even after cleaning and tank switch and all that, seemed kinda far fetched to me. Thanks for the responses!

Hi there, he actually looks pretty good there and so does the poo. It's within the normal range of consistency [ a bit wet is fine ]

The uvb is not close enough though so he can't absorb the calcium, that causes the trenors.....one thing to do ASAP to fix that is to fasten it under the screen using fishing line, string or wire. Here's how I have mine :

https://www.beardeddragon.org/media/30028/full

Once he can absorb the calcium he should stop the tremors. The uvb bulb must be less than 6 months old, too. Hopefully the other baby didn't have ADV [ atadenovirus ] and that this one does not either. If it's calcium related he should bounce back.

Thank you! However, the tremors started when he was in the other cage where the uvb was inside the tank. He could easily get close to it. I have a theory that maybe we had a faulty uvb from the start. Has anybody ever heard of that happening?

I installed it inside the tank tonight, running horizontally along the top, so we will see if it makes a difference.

It's pretty unlikely but I suppose it's possible. Is the bulb new ?

Hello,

How is your little one doing? Were you able to install the UVB tube directly overhead &
underneath of the screen a reflective backing in the fixture? He needs to have it directly
overhead in order to get the best exposure. It may take a bit of time for the twitching to
fully go away because once the calcium levels get low, it takes awhile to build the levels
back up to normal.
Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie