What is wrong??

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Lrios9711

New member
Hi!

I have a two year old beaded dragon that sleeps all day and everyday, i know thats normal sometimes, however, its been almost a year!!!!! Since july of last year, he has been sleeping, not active at all, not eating much and not pooping much either. Honestly its been probably 2 months since he last pooped. I took him to the vet already, he said no metabolic disease but left with no answers and a $300 bill! i cant afford to take him back again and not get answes again. I dont want to try to keep feeding him if he hasnt pooped, but i dont want him to starve to death. His temp inside the tank is about 90 he also has a uv light, i leave it on even tho he spends the entire day under his cave. I have been taking him out a couple times a week, but he just wants to find a hidding spot and hide feom the sun. I have tried giving him a warm bath and prunes which has worked before, but not this
time. Im wondering if he has parasite, is this the behavior typical of that? What is going on? Ive never owned any reptiles and im feeling super down because I dont know what to do. I feel as if i should give him away to someone who knows more because ive been super stressed out about this. I dont want him to die :(
 

VenusAndSaturn

Sub-Adult Member
Make sure you have three temperature zones that are all monitored with either a temp gun or a digital temperature gauge that has a probe, stick on temp gauges do not work.
Basking spot should be 100-110*F.
Warm side should be 88-95.
Cool side 70-85.
Night time temps no lower than 65 and no higher than 85.

You have have a non particle substrate like tile, paper towels, shelf liner, repti-carpet or newspaper. Beardies do not live long on particle substrates as it is unnatural to them and cause impaction, prolapses, eye infections, fungal infections, scale rot, joint issues, and also provide a bacteria breeding ground.
Their natural range is a mixture of dirt, rocks, clay, minerals and a tiny bit of sand. Just because they're desert animals doesn't mean they come from sand dunes.

At the very least you should have a tube light UVB bulb in a reflective fixture that goes over half of the enclosure. I recommend a Reptisun T5 HO 10.0 bulb with a fitting reflective fixture thats 34" or 46".
However a Arcadia T5 HO 12-14% bulb may be better.
(You can not use coil/compact bulbs with bearded dragons, they are too weak and have too narrow of a beam)

Tank size should be 75 gallons at the very least as this is the minimum, 40's and 50's should not be used for adult bearded dragons.. its honestly a bit cruel to stuff a 18-24 inch lizard thats semi-aboral in an area that they only have a foot of space left in and barely any climbing options.

I suggest finding a new vet as I assume the one you took him to was just an exotics vet which knows nothing about reptiles.
http://www.anapsid.org/vets/#vetlist
This should give you some proper options. I would suggest getting a fecal test done to check for parasites.

Now that I've given you some info what is your current setup?
Substrate, UVB brand and type, tank size, temperatures, how your monitoring those temperatures, ect.

Posting pictures of both him and the setup will help.

You can do so by going here, https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/
Uploading a picture and then hitting XIMG when your posting to select it.
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

A year is a long time to be slown down & not eat, I agree.
Please do review your tank setup with us, & if possible post some pictures of your setup
along with your dragon, also.

Tracie
 

Lrios9711

New member
Original Poster
So the tank is 40 gallons which i know i need to get a bigger one, i just dont know where i can get a cheap one.. i cnt afford to spend more than $100 on a tank right now.
Im using repticarpet and the temperature is at 85 which i guess is not alot, but even when he is outside in the sun where is 95 degrees he still wants to hide under something and just sleep. I try to either take him outside on most days and let him walk around the house and he used to walk through the entire house and climb on things, but all he does now is find a cool spot and lay there. Today I tried giving him more prunes and put him in warm water massaging his belly and he still hasn’t pooped!
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

In the picture, it looked like you had a tube bulb & then 2 small basking lights? Let us know
what brand of UVB you have, how old it is & the type, too.
He probably isn't getting adequate UVB lighting which does contribute to a decline in health.
If he hasn't eaten normally for awhile, he is likely low in calcium too. How often do you give
him calcium?
Are you using a digital probe or temp gun to measure the temperatures?
He doesn't look too bad for not eating much for quite awhile.
Does he have any trouble walking or climbing?

Tracie
 

Lrios9711

New member
Original Poster
Hi Tracie,

I actually have a uvb lightbulb and a basking lightbulb as well. The basking lightbulb is one from reveal 72 watt halogen bulb. The uvb honestly i bought it from ebay i dont know the brand, it was just the cheapest one i found And i bought it about 2 montha ago. I add a little bit of calcium when i give him worms or feed him vegetables, so like once a week or two weeks maybe since is really hard to get him to eat anything. Im using a digital probe. And no issues woth walking or climbing
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

Ok, you can always check the edge of the tube, it may say the UVB light brand. If not, then
it may not be a UVB Light at all.
Unfortunately, the cheaper lights are very low quality so over time, he may succumb to bone
issues if the light isn't putting anything out. Do you have a UVB meter to measure output?
He will need calcium at least 3 times per week. You can make him a greens slurry & mix up
the calcium in the food that way, or consider getting a liquid calcium instead.
The digital probe will be fine to measure the temperatures with. That's good you are using a
basking bulb along with the tube UVB.

Tracie
 
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