Illness, Behavior or Sibling Rivalry?

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themamaj

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Hi everyone. I have a 5 year old beardie that is beyond special to me. He is definitely a reason I have fallen in love with bearded dragons. He is in a 40B with a T5 reptisun 10.0 bulb, 100 watt incandescent bulb that keeps his basking spot at 95 which is his preferred temp. Cool side of tank ranges 79-80. Kitchen liner substrate. Overall, he is an active and very happy dragon, with usual stink eyes of course :) I get him out pretty much daily for exercise and he has a min of 2 or more baths a week. He is finicky on greens but will begrudgingly eat them. He is a big bug eater. I use CaD3 on insects about 4xs/week as instructed by vet as well as supplement herptivite once a week. About 4 weeks ago, I decided to bring home a baby brother, aka new baby dragon. They are housed separately of course. At first the tanks were visible of each other but have since been shifted to non visible locations. Now that you know all the background, my adult beardie has been fine up until last week. He would certainly give me stink eye when I got baby dragon out to hold, but I tried to give him extra attention. This last week he has been much more dark in color. He seems more lethargic and just depressed looking. He has totally gone off salads even with favorites added. He is still eating a few bugs for me but I have to coax him. The other day when I got him out he didn't want to go explore. I wondered if stress from a new dragon in the room has been bothering him or if he is getting sick. I have been very concerned about him. That was why I moved baby dragon out of sight in case stress was an issue. He has had a few loose stools but last few have been picture perfect. Today his color was better and he did walk around more in room, but he just is not himself. I had the cricket container down in floor and normally he goes nuts over it. He acted like he just didn't care. He did eat a few roaches though. I have a vet appointment scheduled for later in week. Do any of you have any suggestions or comments? I would really appreciate it.
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
I would say it's upset him that there is a new lizard in the house who's sharing you. They bond very strongly to their special human and do get jealous and insecure if a lizard joins the household.

Will take a few months for your older dragon to get used to there being a new dragon in the house and it's likely you'll see loads of head nodding and arm waving going on while the pecking order is sorted out , please , never let them be out together , and best they don't see eat other unless at a distance with one still in it's tank.
 

themamaj

Member
Original Poster
I appreciate the input. No they are never allowed to be down together. I wouldn't trust a baby and adult together. It was almost 80 degrees today so took my big dragon out to get some natural uv. I thought that might perk him up as he loves outdoors. He looked around a little bit but overall wouldn't budge. I brought him back in and he is slumped over cave. No interest in bugs. I am thinking I will keep my vet appointment for tomorrow. Definitely not the best timing financially right now but I think it will make me feel better to handle sibling issues if I know he has a clean bill of health.
 

themamaj

Member
Original Poster
I took my dragon to the vet today and good I did. She said he looks like he could be a very sick dragon though we don't know exactly the issue yet. Fecal tests were all clear which is good. We did an xray and bone density is great. His lungs look ok but one area not as clear. His belly looks a little enlarged. We also are doing blood work which I will get back tomorrow. The thing that concerns me the most and vet was in agreement was the lethargy. He didn't fight them as much as she thought he should have even doing the test. They gave him a shot of antibiotics and I will be treating him as well with oral metronidazole. She is looking to see if possible bacterial or viral infection. Blood work should tell us about kidney and liver function. The vet told me to up his basking spot to about 100 while he is sick. It has been a long day and stressful for Chomper I'm sure. He is back under his lights now. Color looks better and he is perked up more so hoping the meds are making a difference. I hope we can narrow down what is ailing him and get him back on the road to recovery. She said baby dragon may have something to do with it. The timeline is just too coincidental. There is a possibility baby dragon could have had a bacteria or virus. I sure hope this is not the case since the baby looks very healthy. I am pretty adamant about hand washing in between animals. Anyway, that is where we stand for now. Chomper is such a special dragon to me. I want to do everything I can to get him well.
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
Good product to have in your armory is F10

Both
F10sc , which you dilute 1:250 in water and spray on contaminated surfaces.
and
F10 Wipes , great for wiping your hands after handling the sick dragon.

Hope the vet can get at the bottom of this issue and cure it. Worth having the new dragon checked too , as this may be infectious and the hatchling may be the carrier.
 
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What is a quick way to warm up a cold beardie? His heating element went out overnight and now he's very cold.
Pearl Girl wrote on moorelori1966's profile.
i feel so sad reading your about me 😢
Clapton is acclimating okay I think. He's quick as lightning so I'm not sure how much I should bring him out of his house yet. He's not at all interested in his salad though. I wonder if I should change what I'm giving him. Least he's eating his crickets.

Things to do:
Buy calcium powder
Material to raise surface for basking spot
Scenery decals for back of tank
Taking my beardie for a walk

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