SeddieCanuck
Member
My husband and I just acquired our first beardie this past Saturday from a pet store in Ontario,Canada. (Pet Paradise) They were recommended to us by a beardie enthusiast because they tend to do in-house breeding and have super knowledgeable staff. It indeed blew the socks off any pet store I’d ever seen. Anyhow, I digress. We pick a beautiful little red hepo “guy” and are told he’s eating well and is about 10 weeks old. He looks alert and active and I am able to coax him on to my finger and interact. Not skittish in the least. Bright and clear eyes, no crusty nose, nice scales. Sold!
Set up:
We purchased a kit from Petsmart by their brand “thrive”. We started with the 20 gallon because we figured we didn’t want the stress of a larger tank right off the hop. We figure this will get us through at least 6 or 7 months. (I have a zen habitat on back order which will be 4 x 2 x 2f for when he grown!) I recognized the lighting would need to be swapped out so now I have the basking light by thrive 75 watt and the reptisun T5 uvb hood with a 5.0 uv bulb 12”. I kick my own ass for this because I recognize too late that it is the wrong strength. I need the 10.0. I was so excited to find a “kit” that I grabbed and ran. These have become hard to find in Canada right now. Even amazon is sold out! Anyhow. I again digress. The lights are all atop the screen. His basking hut and branch are quite high. He’s On Thrive brand carpet substrate. Has a lovely rock/hidey on which he basks and climbs, and a nice grapevine branch. He’s about 6-7“ from basking light. 6-10” from uvb. Temp in basking side is 107F-110F and 80F on cool side. Humidity is around 30% on hot side, 50ish% on cool side. We set this up about two weeks before we actually got him as we wanted to ensure everything was ready. I don’t have overnight heating for him as I tend to keep the house quite warm. His thermostat shows 80f.
His first night with us, he was curious and alert. He ate about 5 small crickets and had a little munch of kale. He splashed in his water bowl and really impressed us with his hunting skills. We stroked him gently in his cage and he would close his eyes and lean into the touch, which we took as a good sign. I will say that I noticed him doing an odd side flip move and he seemed to fall off his branch quite a bit. But all in all, he seemed like he was doing quite well. Second night, he was a little more ambient. I found him munching his salad - shaved carrots, romaine, bell pepper diced fine with mealies on top. It wasn’t a ton, but it was something! He only ate 3 crickets for his protein meal. He seemed a bit hesitant to explore. Still bright and alert but now I see him kinda looking at me from the side a lot with a head tilt. He does poop though and it looks like other pics of healthy poo I’ve seen. I also note that he seems to be arm waving at his crickies. (He IS Canadian!)
Third day rolls around and it’s like he’s hot glued to his basking spot. His head is down. Eyes closed more than open. My perky little turkey literally looks down in the dumps. He won’t hunt his crickets. He watches them but Is not at all interested. I get him to have three small mealies and a bit of kale. He licked a pear but wouldn’t try it. My husband got him to eat two crickets. He had his after breakfast poop. Seems normal. But he’s...paler than usual. He’s a very lovely red brick colour generally but today he looks almost pink. Head tilt is far more exaggerated and I actually take him out and sit with him to watch him run around a bit. His tail is extremely arched and his head is high when he walks. He seems a bit wobbly. I’ve done a lot of research before we committed to this wee life and immediately I start to think “neurological”. I have MS and so this kinda looked like me before I was diagnosed. Haha. But not. Anyway, I decide a good soak might perk him up. He lays flat in my hand and closes his eyes while I spoon the warm water on him. No poop. Head tilt is off the chart now. He almost kinda goes limp in my hand and rolls to the right. I bring him back to normal with a little belly/back rub. I quickly dry him off in A dryer warmed fleece and put him directly under his basker. He goes to sleep and stays that way until I turn on his lights at 9am.
day 4 and he is significantly worse.
He is laying on his log with his head down all the time. He opens his eyes if we approach the tank but goes back to sleep. Zero interest in any food. I haven’t seen Him drink at all during this time we’ve had him. I do the water drip. I Mist him. I unsuccessfully attempt a syringe. So I do another 10 minute soak, hoping he’s absorbing some liquids. I send the husband out for every kind of treat worm you can think of. I suspect he had a couple of butter worms and maybe a silk. But absolute refuses greens, the gourmet soft beardie pellets (the only source of BSFL I seem to be able to get where I live) crickets, or meal worms. We decide to just let him be for the day thinking relocation stress has finally kicked in. He is falling off his branch pretty regularly. I’ve put a fleece lined hot water bottle under the branch to cushion his falls now. He seems to be hanging off it sideways and staring up at the lights a fair bit.
Now today. Still refusing food. He is absolutely not moving at all without prompting. He is kind of rolling into his side while on the branch and falls off. He seems unsure of footing. Head tilt still present. I call the pet store and the manager tells me he might be from a clutch they ordered from Hong Kong where there were definite neurological issues with some of the babies. She’d like us to bring him back.
I know logically this sounds like the right thing to do...but is there hope? Did I do something wrong with his habitat that brought this on? Does any of this sound like something I can fix?! I’m desperate. We love him so much already. I would be devastated if it’s my poor husbandry that’s lead him to this state. I fear that if I take him back he will be euthanized and not given a chance.
Edit: I am off to get better thermo/humidity things tomorrow. The digital kind. And hopefully I can exchange the 5.0 reptisun for the 10.0 if they actually have it in stock. I do have another Thrive uvb bulb and dome I could add to the set up if you thought that might help until I get the proper one?.
I have noticed him kinda rubbing his face on his branch. It’s the same side that he tends to tilt on. He also keeps this eye closed quite a bit. Could it be all this disastrous activity is as simple as a shed????
Lordy! I am so very sorry for the length and rambling. I’m just trying to be thorough. Thank you in advance.