Sick Bearded dragon

Let me see if I can give a list of his problems.

-Black bearded, tip of tail is black
-Lethargic
-Wont eat
-Seems to be going to the bathroom, (Just a little)
-He crawls around, like he doesn't have the energy to move or use his back legs.
-He looks super depressed
-Looks like he's been trying to throw up
-I'm not sure of his breathing pattern but it seems off.
-His body is super wide, not so flat, but this is not normal for him.
-When he lays down, he just lays there, like a rock, doesn't move.

This just started sometime between last night and today. I noticed he wasn't acting his usual spunky self. He looks like he's dying..

He's about 4-5month. 14inches long.

I have play sand in the bottom of his 40g tank, I heard it was good. I've also heard it was bad.
He eats dried crickets (with calcium powder), carrots, mealworms.
The basking side ranges between 90-100 degrees, the other side, I'm not so sure.

This morning I tried feeding him a mix of babyfood/ pedialyte..and a soak in pedialyte/water, but he still looks terrible.

Does anyone possibly know what he is sick from?
As of right now we're in the middle of closing on a house and moving so I don't exactly have the money to take him to the vet. Do they do payment plans? It's killing me seeing him like this.

Hi. It sounds like he might be impacted. Get rid of the sand. Babies lick everything and become impacted very easily. Also quit feeding dried crickets and mealworms again those cause impaction. How are you taming the temps. If you are using the round gauges those are very inaccurate. I'd feed soft food until he goes. Like try some Phoenix worms. For now you can give plain applesauce with a drop of olive oil, stage one baby food prunes. What kind of uvb light does he have and basking light?

I wouldn't call him a baby by any means. He's a juvenile, but as far as the brand names go for lights, I'm not sure. I bought them at petco. He has a daylight coil bulb and a uvb light as well, which stay on from 8am to 10pm (Ran on a timer).

Getting him to eat is the hard part, since he wont open his mouth and I don't want to pry it open, but I will definitely try that mixture if he's willing to eat.

I think that phoenix worms might be too small for him too.

What else could I do to help the impaction?

How are you taking the temps? Your temps need to be no lower than 98 on the basking spot for proper digestion. Get rid of the coil bulb. Those are bad for them. Those cause appetite, lethargy and eye problems. What he needs is a bright white basking bulb and a reptisun 10.0 tube uvb. If its nice where you are you can take him outside. There is nothing as good as the suns rays.

I went to look for the lights online. Here they are.
UVB: http://www.petco.com/product/127585/Zoo-Med-Reptisun-T8-UVB-Terrarium-Hood.aspx?CoreCat=OnSiteSearch

The other one I can't find and I don't have the box for it anymore. I think it might be a 75w

They both were recommended to me by the clerk who worked there. Didn't know what to get for a 40g tank.

I do try to get him outside at least once a day, but for the past two weeks I'd been recovering from foot surgery, and now it's been rainy.

As far as the temps go, I have a thermometer from 'Zilla' but like you said, the round ones aren't accurate, so I'll be making a trip to the store.

Hi. Thats just the hood for the uvb. The reptisun 10.0 tube is one of the best. I use a 24 inch for all 3 of my 40gallon. I had a petco" specialist" tell my and try to sell me the wrong supplies. Pet stores are notorious for giving the wrong information. They are there to make money. Phoenix worms , dubia roaches, butter worms , silk worms and crickets are all good feeders. Also you can try dropping some applesauce on his snout. It's good that you take him out when you can.

I noticed that his right back leg seems to be swollen(?) also looks a little discolored. Lighter then the rest of him.

The poor little guy . His beard is black and that means he's is in distress. You might want to take him to the vet. He doesn't look very good. I'd try feeding him some stage one baby food. Like squash and turkey or green beans and chicken. Sweet Potato is good too. You can buy a syringe at a drugstore and gently open his mouth or put it on his snout and hopefully he will lick it off. I really hope he makes it.

Thank you, I'll try that. you've helped a lot

I really wished I could've helped more. There is a mod on here that knows alot about beardies Drache613. You can pm her. She may have some more suggestions.

Herpaboost might help.

Vegetarian Critical care made as a wet paste given by syringe , not the carnivore version .

Definitely needs to seen by a good experience reptile vet with great urgency.

The is a product called Reptile Intensive Care too, I've heard it's very good.

If he's impacted , and bathing and olive oil (just a little by syringe into the mouth a few times a day doesn't shift it, you need help from a vet. Do you feel any hard lumps in his tummy when you gently feel and rub it ? - a sure sign of impaction. If he is indeed badly impacted , solid foods are a bad idea .

(Don't let the vet pump his stomache full of water as part of the procedure - if he stuffs up you'll have a drowned beardie (if the water gets into the lungs it's very bad , a friend of mine lost her beardie because of this - came home with an even sicker and now stone cold beardie who died a few hours later from the shock of having food forced from the stomache and the poo from the lower intestinal track and having it's stomache pumped full of water - was a terrible ordeal for the dragon and for the owner to witness (and this was a supposedly experienced reptile vet who claimed to have worked with reptiles in zoos)..

Novae":2qcf70yt said:

I wouldn't call him a baby by any means. He's a juvenile, but as far as the brand names go for lights, I'm not sure. I bought them at petco. He has a daylight coil bulb and a uvb light as well, which stay on from 8am to 10pm (Ran on a timer).

Getting him to eat is the hard part, since he wont open his mouth and I don't want to pry it open, but I will definitely try that mixture if he's willing to eat.

I think that phoenix worms might be too small for him too.

What else could I do to help the impaction?

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YEP ! ditch the sand and dried insects. Wont hurt to ditch the old CFB (UV globe) and install brand new UVB 200 CFB for him for when he comes home from the vet. ( Stick with the best quality CFB for the UVA and UVB that you can get , cheap home brands CFBs are bad news.)

I'd put him on nice clean paper towelling for bedding for now, maybe bump up the temperature a few degrees Celsius too.

If you can find them, you could try silkworms but he looks very sick and may not take them.

If he's got a leg injury ( a break from a misadventure in the enclosure or an accidential drop) he could have developed a serious systemic infection - I'd ask the vet to check , he might need to have surgery (but is so weak he might not survive it) , at least some antibiotics and pain relief to make him feel more comfortable. One of bluetongues broke one of his front legs as a juvenile - fell off a log in the enclosure ,and had it pinned and reset, and was placed on a course of antibiotics and anti-inflamatories and pain relief and was back to his boisterous self in no time.

I don't know if it's possible to place him in vet intensive care get some food into him via a feeding tube.


Poor guy .... Hope he pulls through .... but he looks extremely weak and may be very near death's door.

He's doing a lot better today, he's actually moving around, despite his lack of full energy and he's been eating too. I don't have a doubt that he'll be back to his full self by later tonight/tomorrow. He looks a lot happier. His beard and tail are no longer black at all.

It doesn't feel like he's compacted and he's holding his food down - feeding him a mixture of pedialyte / chicken+ chicken broth baby food.

Novae":217qq7yx said:

He's doing a lot better today, he's actually moving around, despite his lack of full energy and he's been eating too. I don't have a doubt that he'll be back to his full self by later tonight/tomorrow. He looks a lot happier. His beard and tail are no longer black at all.

It doesn't feel like he's compacted and he's holding his food down - feeding him a mixture of pedialyte / chicken+ chicken broth baby food.

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that's wonderful news, keep an eye on him though , I'd still try some of the products I mentioned to help build him back up .

Well it turns out he will not try to chase any crickets. Turns his nose up to wax worms, mealworms, but he ate a few bites of kale. He's running on carpet fine, but when he's in his tank or on my desk, he'll move a few feet, then drop, like a lack of energy (Though I can notice him gaining it back, slowly). Do you think it could be mbd?