My boyfriend just got a baby beardie about a month ago from petsmart. She has never really eaten much. The most we got her to eat in one day was 8 crickets and that was quite a while ago. The past few weeks it has only been 2-3 occasionally 4 baby roaches each day. I was worried about her not eating so yesterday I did feed her some baby food squash (100% squash, no additives) and she did lick some off of her lips. I was hoping that would help anything move if something is stuck. It seems like she is pooping pretty regularly but it is hard to tell on the log that we have in there. I have another beardie that is a lot bigger and their cages have been next to each other since the first day she was here but we usually feed her outside of her cage anyway. We do feed twice a day, I usually dump a few roaches in each morning before I leave for work around 8 and then we feed her outside her cage again at about 6 each evening. She gets a bath every 2-3 days.
Yesterday evening she seemed perfectly fine, only ate about 4 roaches yesterday, was chasing them and everything and today she stopped using her back legs. My boyfriend says that after a bath she started using the right one again but still isn't using her left back leg... I can't tell if maybe she got hurt somehow or it could be the beginning of impaction but I wouldn't think it would be impaction when she seems to poop frequently and doesn't eat much anyway.
Right now she has a 100W heat lamp (will be changing soon, the 75W burnt out) and a 5.0 Coil UVB which I know we should also change to a 10.0 tube, and we plan to. Could that cause this?
We let her sit in the sun a few times a week for a few hours too so I figure that helps with some of the UVB.
Hi. How big are the feeders? What kind of subtrate is she on? What are her temps and how do you take them? I would put her and the other beardie in different rooms or somehow block the view as it sounds like she is stressed seeing the bigger guy. I'd definitely change the uvb ASAP. It sounds like she's impacted. You can give some plain applesauce with a drop of olive oil. Hopefully that'll help.
The feeders are the smallest dubia roaches you can buy. They are about the size of the gap between her eyes. She is on reptile carpet. We just bought the 10.0 tube light today so we'll try that. And blocked the view from the big guy. We will try the applesauce and olive oil tonight as well. Please let us know if you have any other suggestions. I'll keep you all updated.
So we did some applesauce with a little olive oil and a smidge of vitamin powder. She wasn't into chasing crickets this evening. She was moving the toes on her left foot now, so that is a slight improvement. We'll see how a good night's sleep and the full 10.0 UVB do for her and let you know tomorrow.
I hope her back leg function improves! The applesauce & olive oil work very well, too.
The roaches are as wide as the space between her eyes? That may be what caused some of the issues. They didn't have any smaller ones? You could also try phoenix worms or calci worms, they are tiny & should be good for her size wise.
Let us know how she is doing.
Hm, they are pretty small then! Maybe she just ate too many at one time possibly?
How is she doing today? I hope she is better & is able to use her back legs soon.
I've still been trying to feed her. She will eat no more than one roach at a time. And a few licks of the applesauce mixture before she tries to run away. It's day 3 and I've seen no signs of improvement. She has pooped twice in the past 3 days but she's still not using here legs.... Does that mean it's not impaction? I'm so confused.
At first I thought it was impaction but she has been pooping regularly. She won't eat more than one tiny roach in one sitting and hasn't been using her back legs for about 3 days.... I have no idea what's wrong. She seems pretty normal other than that. I've been on this forum for a long time. I have the recommended lighting and setup and use proper supplementation I don't know what could be wrong... HELP
Have you changed her uvb bulb? Is it nice where you are? If so take her out for some natural sun. Maybe you need to take a fecal to the vet and have it checked for parasites. Those can affect appetite.
I just got her UVB a couple of days ago. I have been taking her out for natural sun as well. We'll try to take a fecal sample. Thanks.
Any other suggestions would be much appreciated.
Could she have possibly injured herself somehow?
It isn't sounding like she is impacted, really if she is going to the bathroom. Are the stools relative in size to what she is taking in?
How much calcium are you giving her?
I answered on your other thread, too. Could she possibly have injured herself that you can think of?
How long was she without good UVB lighting & have there been any improvements at all with her legs?