Hi,
Most important thing for health of a BD is the enclousure.
1.substrate: as you know sand is bad so keep him on newspaper or paper towel, tiles, teatowel.. something solid he cant ingest by accident.
2.temp: basking: 35- 45 deg celcius. Cool end: 20 - 30 deg.
3.light: UVB + UVA
4. and a heat soure. important to digest food.
5. diet + water
6. you helping:
bath/ massage
To help him i suggest first to give him a proper home with correct lighting, heat, solid substrate that he cant accisently ingest, and get him on a good diet, and pleanty of water.
but to help NOW you can continue as you are...
1.soak/massage: Soak him for 10 minutes, and then massage his underside gently from front to vent for another 10 mins, while he is still in water. This may stimulate him to poop. This should be done 2x a day.
2.buy him a worm and dip in in mineral oil. this will help relieve constipation. If it doesn't, your beardie may be impacted, and will need to be seen by a vet. I hope that isn't necessary.
Your beardie may also be cold. That makes it impossible for him to properly digest his food. You'll need to get an accurate thermometer (digital is best) so you can measure the temperature and proper lighting and heat.
You must have 2 lights.
1.UVB + UVA (replaced every 6 mths). he needs this light to metabilize calcium in the food he eats. without the UVB your dragon will develop Metabolic Bone Disease. you can also take him in the natural sunshine. this is the best for him by far.
and 2. basking light that puts out heat and warmth above his basking spot. he needs warmth to allow proper digestion of food. growth, activity level.
light should be on for 12- 14hrs ech day. Thermostats are great for regulating the day / night cycle. a good digital thermometer is a must.
you may also want to use a ceramic heat lamp (no light, just heat) for night id temps drop to low.
Feeding:
BD need both animal protiens and vegie matter.
Young dragons eat more insects. As they get older their diet is more veges.
A young bd is about 80%protien and 20% vege;
Where an adult is about 80%vege and 20%protein.
Live protein includes: Crickets, superworms, silkworms, roaches, hornworms, waxworms (note: waxworms are candy to BD). Never feed mealworms when younge(their heads are way to hard and can cause impaction). ALL insects must be gutloaded for at least 48 hours before feeding to BD.
some people feed a pinkie mice to their beardie (defintally not a baby dragon)
greens/vegies include: colard greens mustard, squash, sweet potato, raspberries... fruit are more a treat.
Never feed anything bigger, than the space between your beardie's eyes. This means both live prey and pieces of veggies/greens.
Water: drop water on ur BD nose daily to encourage him to lick it up. also
bath for 10 mins as often as you can. to make sure he is not dehydrated as many BD dnt drink from a bowl. you may provide a small shallow dish so he can see the water and encourage him to drink on his own.(mine does)
Hope this helps.
Saph and Laura
