Is he sick?

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Hi guys. I have a bearded dragon and lately he has been randomly twitching his head. Usually its when hes focusing on grabbing a bug off of my finger. Also a few days ago i gave him a warm soak and after i put him back in his tank he had bubbley thick saliva drooling out of his mouth. Is it cause hes getting old? Or does it sound like he is sick? The nearest vet is a 6 hour drive away and has no openings for 5 weeks :(

About him:
I adopted him from a shelter 3 years ago, they think he was 4 or 5 when i adopted him.
Previous owner squeezed him and broke his back
Lives in a 40gallon exo terra open front tank with tile
He cant climb well, he doesnt have full motion of his back legs
He normally will eat 4 or 5 mealworms every other day and a little bit of greens (he has never been a good eater for me)
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
That is terrible ---that someone would do that to something that is helpless- :angry5: -- it sounds like hes got a RI going w/ the thick saliva drooling out of his mouth ---- I am going to get some more help w/ this but first what are you using for a UVB NO coils please how are you taking basking temps ? NO stick ons -- if hes not feeling well I would keep his tank temp over nite around 80 or so --- a CHE ceramic heat emitter would be good - if not place a heating pad on low in the tank -- make sure you place a dish towel or something over it -- I am posting a website for a vet I know you said the nearest one closest is 6 hrs? Wow --- http://www.arav.org
Tracie is going to ask a bunch of questions she is on late at nite
Karrie
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Hi there, sorry that your little old fella [ is Bentley his name ? ] A slight twitch now + then shouldn't be serious but it could be calcium or vitamin deficiency. How often and what type of supplements do you use ? Do you have other insects available to offer ? I would avoid baths unless he's dirty, he may have aspirated water. Offer hydration by dripping it slowly on his snout with a eyedropper or spray bottle.
 

Bentlydragon

Member
Original Poster
KarrieRee":68xealfc said:
That is terrible ---that someone would do that to something that is helpless- :angry5: -- it sounds like hes got a RI going w/ the thick saliva drooling out of his mouth ---- I am going to get some more help w/ this but first what are you using for a UVB NO coils please how are you taking basking temps ? NO stick ons -- if hes not feeling well I would keep his tank temp over nite around 80 or so --- a CHE ceramic heat emitter would be good - if not place a heating pad on low in the tank -- make sure you place a dish towel or something over it -- I am posting a website for a vet I know you said the nearest one closest is 6 hrs? Wow --- http://www.arav.org
Tracie is going to ask a bunch of questions she is on late at nite
Karrie
I use a probe, i ordered a ray gun but it wont be here for a few days. His basking is between 98-100F i keep his cool side around 77F. He has a reptisun 10.0 compact uvb thats 4 months old, im getting the other version when i get my next paycheck.
 

Bentlydragon

Member
Original Poster
AHBD":2wb6hy89 said:
Hi there, sorry that your little old fella [ is Bentley his name ? ] A slight twitch now + then shouldn't be serious but it could be calcium or vitamin deficiency. How often and what type of supplements do you use ? Do you have other insects available to offer ? I would avoid baths unless he's dirty, he may have aspirated water. Offer hydration by dripping it slowly on his snout with a eyedropper or spray bottle.
Yeah, his name is Bently. I use the repashy calcium plus and reptical with d3 once or twice a week. If he notices the worms have it on them he tends to spit them out. He will only eat super worms. Ive tried roachs and crickets but he just glares at them and me. When i first got him he almost went a whole month without eating any bugs when i tried to not offer the worms at all. His baths normally very shallow (just over the tops of his feet) its the only way to get him to drink water. Putting the water on his nose makes his whole body twitch and then he tries to run and huffs up
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
The other version? Are you talking about a tube? Here is a website for a 24" fixture w/ a reflector and a 22" bulb for your tank
https://www.pangeareptile.com/store/zoo-med-reptisun-t5-ho-terrarium-hood.html
At the moment they have them in stock and they are offering free shipping use coupon code free ship ends Oct 5th
you need this bulb https://www.pangeareptile.com/store/zoo-med-reptisun-10.0-uvb-t5.html
I would get this ordered ASAP --- this place is good and fast they ship FedEx and they run out of these fixtures fast
Karrie
 

Bentlydragon

Member
Original Poster
KarrieRee":3t6pcycf said:
The other version? Are you talking about a tube? Here is a website for a 24" fixture w/ a reflector and a 22" bulb for your tank
https://www.pangeareptile.com/store/zoo-med-reptisun-t5-ho-terrarium-hood.html
At the moment they have them in stock and they are offering free shipping use coupon code free ship ends Oct 5th
you need this bulb https://www.pangeareptile.com/store/zoo-med-reptisun-10.0-uvb-t5.html
I would get this ordered ASAP --- this place is good and fast they ship FedEx and they run out of these fixtures fast
Karrie
Its not the tube one, but im 100% getting a tube uvb. Its the reptisun 10.0 compact bulb. It fits in a normal dome lamp
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Please dont get that --- they are no good please get what I posted
they are the best on the market now -- the coils are NO good especially in a 40 gallon tank
Karrie
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
He may need more vitamins like B, to get him to take supplements you can experiment with different smoothies. Try making ones with greens like collard and kale and add a small amount of strawberry or blueberry and a very tiny amount of pure grape juice with the Calcium plus mixed in. If he likes it he'll be getting a lot of vitamins as well as his calcium + D3.
 

Bentlydragon

Member
Original Poster
AHBD":22hgsnmb said:
He may need more vitamins like B, to get him to take supplements you can experiment with different smoothies. Try making ones with greens like collard and kale and add a small amount of strawberry or blueberry and a very tiny amount of pure grape juice with the Calcium plus mixed in. If he likes it he'll be getting a lot of vitamins as well as his calcium + D3.
Ill try that. Ive never thought of making a smoothie for him before. Hopefully that works and he gets better!
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

How is Bentley doing today?
Has he eaten anything, were you able to make him a slurry for him? They usually do pretty
well with those.
As suggested, avoid purchasing the compact/coil UVB lights, but a long tube is much better.
I hope you are able to get a good UVB light, that can make a huge difference for him.
Since you have 2 calcium supplements, maybe just use the one without D3 for awhile & give
the D3 just a couple of times per month.
Since he isn't feeling well, you can keep him a little warmer overnight. Usually 75-80 is a good
temperature. Do you have a ceramic heat emitter or a heating pad you can use?

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie
 

Bentlydragon

Member
Original Poster
Drache613":35kjr937 said:
Hello,

How is Bentley doing today?
Has he eaten anything, were you able to make him a slurry for him? They usually do pretty
well with those.
As suggested, avoid purchasing the compact/coil UVB lights, but a long tube is much better.
I hope you are able to get a good UVB light, that can make a huge difference for him.
Since you have 2 calcium supplements, maybe just use the one without D3 for awhile & give
the D3 just a couple of times per month.
Since he isn't feeling well, you can keep him a little warmer overnight. Usually 75-80 is a good
temperature. Do you have a ceramic heat emitter or a heating pad you can use?

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie
I made him a few different smoothies but he turned them all down. Hes had 1 super worm since i posted this :(
I ordered him a new uvb (the tube kind) it says itll be here in 1 or 2 weeks.
I currently have a ceramic heat emiter on his cool side, but im adding another to boost his temp (i always keep extra heat lamps).
 
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