Hi, I've had my beardie for a couple of months now, and I'm pretty sure something's seriously wrong with him. He is extremely lethargic, sleeping/basking ALL day. His temperatures are fine (102-108 degrees F on basking spot, 85ish on the cool side), so I don't think that's it. He seems to either not want to move or has trouble moving, which is what's really scary. He used to scamper around and leap onto stuff, but he rarely moves now. I think he's having trouble moving his back legs...?
He doesn't eat as much as he used to (I feed him baby Turkistan roaches dusted with Dragon Dust and a myriad of veggies--kale, carrots, zucchini, lettuce, some cilantro) and doesn't seem to be growing much at all! He will not hunt for roaches (or any feeder bugs, for that matter) on his own--I have to dust them, put them in a ceramic bowl and tilt the bowl towards him, where he'll snatch one or two up. I've tried moistened BD pellets, but he's only eated a few when I've offered them to him from my finger...
I figured he was probably dehydrated (since he never moves from his basking spot), but he didn't seem too interested in drinking water when I dropped some on his snout. Today I placed him in shallow, warm water, which he seemed to enjoy, but he was still very lethargic (though his beard turned black for the first time). He did drink a good amount of that "bath" water at first.
He's currently 6 inches long and housed in a 20 gallon long tank with a 10% RepsiSun UVB bulb only 7-10 inches away from him (depending on where he is on his basking spot). I use either paper towels or computer paper (to keep the roaches from burrowing under) as his substrate since he's still a juvenile. His lights (heat & UVB) are on an automatic timer. I began with 12 hours of light a day, but I thought since he was lethargic he might need more basking time, so I bumped it up to 14 hours of light a day. I thought I was doing everything right, but obviously something's wrong...
He's not twitching and there are no bumps at his joints, but signs seem to point to MBD! Is there anything I'm missing/doing wrong? Any thoughts? Sorry for the novel of a post...
An infinite amount of thanks,
Chelsea
He doesn't eat as much as he used to (I feed him baby Turkistan roaches dusted with Dragon Dust and a myriad of veggies--kale, carrots, zucchini, lettuce, some cilantro) and doesn't seem to be growing much at all! He will not hunt for roaches (or any feeder bugs, for that matter) on his own--I have to dust them, put them in a ceramic bowl and tilt the bowl towards him, where he'll snatch one or two up. I've tried moistened BD pellets, but he's only eated a few when I've offered them to him from my finger...
I figured he was probably dehydrated (since he never moves from his basking spot), but he didn't seem too interested in drinking water when I dropped some on his snout. Today I placed him in shallow, warm water, which he seemed to enjoy, but he was still very lethargic (though his beard turned black for the first time). He did drink a good amount of that "bath" water at first.
He's currently 6 inches long and housed in a 20 gallon long tank with a 10% RepsiSun UVB bulb only 7-10 inches away from him (depending on where he is on his basking spot). I use either paper towels or computer paper (to keep the roaches from burrowing under) as his substrate since he's still a juvenile. His lights (heat & UVB) are on an automatic timer. I began with 12 hours of light a day, but I thought since he was lethargic he might need more basking time, so I bumped it up to 14 hours of light a day. I thought I was doing everything right, but obviously something's wrong...
He's not twitching and there are no bumps at his joints, but signs seem to point to MBD! Is there anything I'm missing/doing wrong? Any thoughts? Sorry for the novel of a post...
An infinite amount of thanks,
Chelsea