Lethargic and keeping eyes closed

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Okay, so I got a little beardie for free because it was honestly looking like it was gonna be dead and nobody wanted to end its misery. I already took the little guy to the vet, he was beaten up by another bearded dragon, has a fungal infection on his skin, a respiratory infection and to top it off, is really skinny and lethargic. He is definitely showing progress with his RI and fungal infection! I’m just getting concerned about his weight. I have witnessed him eat crickets and mealworms a couple times, usually one a day if I’m lucky. I’ve had him for about a week. He was syringe feeding okay, but today he was not having it and was closing his eyes a lot more than usual. I had a compact UVB 10.0 reptisun but changed it to the tube today after reading that the compact isn’t very good for them.


For the past couple days I’ve been feeding him a slurry of collard greens mixed with some waxworms, crickets, and mealworms with some Zilla caloric paste. And also I would give him green bean baby food mixed with multivitamin powder and calcium powder. Yesterday I got some insectivore powder stuff (like the repashy grub pie). I’d like to know some suggestions on how to get him to gain more weight...


Thank you!

Right now he’s currently in a 10 gal

Hot side is around 105 and basking spot is 110
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Poor baby --- its good your taking the time to get him back to health -- first off what is the UVB your using Tube you said -- distance plays a big role in this --- as far as the Zilla paste I have not heard of that -- I am going to let AHBD help you w/ this but we need to get the UVB set up properly-- How are you taking temps NO stick on they are inaccurate
Please post pics of him
https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ click on XIMG at the top of the message box then click on the pic it should post
Karrie
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Wow, you're doing a great job with a poor little dragon that is very sick. The uvb may or may not have caused eye issues but the serious condition he's in would cause extreme weakness and sleeping. If you could get pics up it would be helpful. The food you're giving sounds pretty good , always offer a bit of water as well. You might want to set him up in a plastic storage tote that's a little bit bigger so there's more of a heat gradient but if you can't that's O.K how you have him. Just be sure he has a cooler side around 82 as well as the hot side. Here's a plastic tote set up :

https://www.beardeddragon.org/media/30051/full

https://www.beardeddragon.org/media/29953/full
 

Kaijusaurusrex

Member
Original Poster
KarrieRee":7c5u29nd said:
Poor baby --- its good your taking the time to get him back to health -- first off what is the UVB your using Tube you said -- distance plays a big role in this --- as far as the Zilla paste I have not heard of that -- I am going to let AHBD help you w/ this but we need to get the UVB set up properly
Karrie

Hello! It’s the reptisun 10.0 T5. It’s 22” and unfortunately can’t fit inside the tank so I’ll definitely be upgrading to a larger size to get it to fit. I’m using a digital thermometer with a probe to get his temps. I’ll take photos when I get home, I’m currently working
 

Kaijusaurusrex

Member
Original Poster
AHBD":1phzqnm2 said:
Wow, you're doing a great job with a poor little dragon that is very sick. The uvb may or may not have caused eye issues but the serious condition he's in would cause extreme weakness and sleeping. If you could get pics up it would be helpful. The food you're giving sounds pretty good , always offer a bit of water as well. You might want to set him up in a plastic storage tote that's a little bit bigger so there's more of a heat gradient but if you can't that's O.K how you have him. Just be sure he has a cooler side around 82 as well as the hot side. Here's a plastic tote set up :

https://www.beardeddragon.org/media/30051/full

https://www.beardeddragon.org/media/29953/full


Hi! I’ll be posting up pics once I get home :)
 

Kaijusaurusrex

Member
Original Poster
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Right now it’s night time, so his lights are off. I have a CHE in the left side of the dual dome and the right side isn’t being used. And the reptisun is behind it. During the day I use a 100w zoo med basking light.

It’s a 10 gallon, unfortunately it’s what I had at the time and I got the little dude on very short notice so I’ll be upgrading him to a 20 on Friday... should I just get a normal 20 or a 20 long? Or try the Rubbermaid tub?
 

Kaijusaurusrex

Member
Original Poster
He’s not looking too good today. Eyes closed all day. He was making such good progress I can’t believe it switched around so quick
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

The poor little one, I am so sorry he is having such a hard time.
The Reptisun 10 T5 tube is a high UVB output so a 10 gallon tank might be a little small
for using that. You mentioned that you are getting a 20 gallon tank on friday? That would
be better equipped to handle the output.
Are you talking about the Zilla jumpstart supplement?
A plastic tote would also be fine, as long as the UVB light is the correct distance from him
to be safe.
You can add some chicken or turkey baby food for him, along with squash or sweet potato
baby food for added starch. That might help with some weight gain. Is he willingly taking
food & fluids from a plastic dropper for you?
Be sure to keep him warmer overnight, around 75-80 for help with boosting his immune system.
Keep us posted on him. I hope that he pulls through for you.

Tracie
 

Kaijusaurusrex

Member
Original Poster
Drache613":21sff1ct said:
Hello,

The poor little one, I am so sorry he is having such a hard time.
The Reptisun 10 T5 tube is a high UVB output so a 10 gallon tank might be a little small
for using that. You mentioned that you are getting a 20 gallon tank on friday? That would
be better equipped to handle the output.
Are you talking about the Zilla jumpstart supplement?
A plastic tote would also be fine, as long as the UVB light is the correct distance from him
to be safe.
You can add some chicken or turkey baby food for him, along with squash or sweet potato
baby food for added starch. That might help with some weight gain. Is he willingly taking
food & fluids from a plastic dropper for you?
Be sure to keep him warmer overnight, around 75-80 for help with boosting his immune system.
Keep us posted on him. I hope that he pulls through for you.

Tracie

Hi! Yep he will get a bigger tank, how high up off the ground do you recommend the UVB light should be? And is there any other UVB light that would possibly be better?

Yep the Zilla jumpstart paste. I made another vet appt. for him on Monday so hopefully he pulls through.
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

Ok, that is good you are getting him back to the vet on monday, I hope he makes it through
the weekend.
The T5 Reptisun tube should be 10-12 inches from him. Are you still planning on mounting
it on the underneath side of the screen top in the new 20 gallon tank? That light is perfectly
fine for him.
The zilla jumpstart is a good product. Are you mixing it with water & baby food too, in order
to thin it out some?
Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie
 

Kaijusaurusrex

Member
Original Poster
Drache613":2rpq9cbk said:
Hello,

Ok, that is good you are getting him back to the vet on monday, I hope he makes it through
the weekend.
The T5 Reptisun tube should be 10-12 inches from him. Are you still planning on mounting
it on the underneath side of the screen top in the new 20 gallon tank? That light is perfectly
fine for him.
The zilla jumpstart is a good product. Are you mixing it with water & baby food too, in order
to thin it out some?
Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie

Today I mixed the jumpstart into a Repashy grub pie slurry, before then I was mixing it into baby food. I was gonna mount the light underneath The screen


He didn’t want to eat at all this morning, but tonight he was willingly licking the slurry from the syringe
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Distance for a T 5 should be 12-15 inches w/ no screen -- basking decor directly underneath and if there is a screen 8-10 inches basking decor directly underneath--
Karrie
 

Kaijusaurusrex

Member
Original Poster
KarrieRee":3hv15xsw said:
Distance for a T 5 should be 12-15 inches w/ no screen -- basking decor directly underneath and if there is a screen 8-10 inches basking decor directly underneath--
Karrie


Thank you so much!
 

Kaijusaurusrex

Member
Original Poster
Update! I got him his new 20 gal today! He’s definitely got better since yesterday. He opened his eyes a couple times and even ran away from me while I fed him. He isn’t breathing hard anymore. His weight still needs tons of work though. Pull through little guy!
 
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