Baby Beardie seems ill

[JoshH1990]

About a week ago my baby beardie started to act out of his normal active, funny self. It started with him moving from the high point of the branch to a lower part, away from the heat lamp. I didn't think too much of it because he moved a lot, but when he no longer went to the highest point I started to get concerned.

Following about a day or two later, he no longer wanted to eat. I normally fed him 5 small crickets sprinkled with calcium to avoid MBD but now he just refuses to eat. It's been about 5 days and he won't eat normally. He'll eat one cricket and the rest just wobble around and i end up taking them out.

I have a tube uvb bulb that stretches the length of the entire cage and one day and one night time bulb that I change before and after work. I'm a new owner, and have experience with Ball Pythons, but Beardies are new to me and I'm worried sick.

I read some stuff and thought that maybe it was impaction, so I gave him a luke warm bath to try and start a bowel movement but nothing. Finally, after the small bath I noticed that in his left nostril, and just that one, there seems to be white stuff. I called the vet, but they couldn't tell me anything and a vet won't be in till monday. I really need some help here.

 

[beardie parents]

What brand of uvb bulb do you have? Also, how old is it? This may tell us what is wrong, if something is.

 

[MrD]

you should take to REPTILE VET asap.the white stuff in nose sounds like respiratory infection, during the day his temps need to be 95-105 degrees in his basking area, and 75-85 degrees in his cool side. and at night should be 70-85 degrees throughout. do you have a stick on thermometer or digital thermometer? you should get digital thermometer as they are more accurate. you also need basking light that heats up his basking area, preferably a lamp with dimmer switch to adjust the temps. keep the temps high right now even at night to help him recover.
what temps? (basking area/warm area/cool area)
what type of thermometer? (digital/stick on)
what size terrarium?
age of beardie?
size of beardie?
what lights are you using? (uvb/basking/day,night)
what substrate?
Diet? (insects/veggies,fruits)
calcium and vitamins?
give as much info as possible

 

[JoshH1990]

@Beardie Parents - It's a Zilla UVB, and it's only like a month and a half old.

@MR.D I did say that I contacted the vet and that they won't have a herp vet until monday, but to answer the "Rest" -

what temps? Basking - normally 'read' 85 to 105 Cool side - is normally a little lower than 75
What type of thermometer? Stick on but I also have a temp gun that i used for my Ball pythons. I will go out and get digital asap.
what size terrarium? Right now it's a 10 Gallon
age of beardie? month and half?
size of beardie? Without the tail he's about 3 inches, with he's about 6 inches
what lights are you using? I have a night, day, and uvb
what substrate? Right now it's Calcium sand because i read online and in a beardie handbook that Calcium sand substrate can be digested with no problems. I also just changed the sand 2 weeks after i got him.
Diet? He ate mostly crickets, 5 a day, like I said. I'd put new veggies in and fruit every other day but he never ate it, or he ate so little fo it I couldn't tell the difference.
calcium and vitamins? I said i sprinkled calcium on the crickets every time i fed him
give as much info as possible

Because the vet is will not be there till monday is there anything I can do NOW.

 

[AHBD]

Hi Josh....they meant what type[ brand] of UVB bulb, because many on the market do not provide sufficient UVB at all, the Repti sun 10.0 [ by Zoo med] linear tube is the one recommended. You can get it at some stores, but the best price is from Petmountain.com. Also, the white over his nostril may be skin shedding. See if you can gently remove it with a Q-tip. Hopefully that's all it it, and not a R.I.

 

[JoshH1990]

See, i normally do research before trying to jump into anything, and some reviews said that the zilla was a good choice. I'll definitely replace it asap. I believe a store MIGHT have it. Should I wet the cue tip first?

Edit - They may have Repti-Sun, that is.

 

[AHBD]

Either way with the Q-tip, wet or dry might get something moved from his nostril.

 

[JoshH1990]

I'll continue to try and treat her with a few home remedies before monday comes around and we'll see what happens. I think it might be RI like MrD said. I hope it's not too late, it'd be heart breaking.

 

[MrD]

listen to your beardies breathing closely to your ear and if you hear "popping" noise it is RI.

 

[Carnivorouszoo]

Remove the sand calcisand is just as bad as any other sand. Beardies have a natural kink in their digestive tract that is easily impacted. Give daily baths until he goes and continue offering food. Switch to a reptisun 10.0 as soon as you can and bring his basking temp up to 110 during the day with his night temp about 80-85. And as planned get him to a vet when you can. You are doing fine. How long have you had him? Between the poor UVB (its ok its the most common mistake I made it too) and possibly short period of ownership it may correct itself with the introduction of the correct UVB. Unless its a RI, he should come around within a couple days of the new bulb being put in. Going to the vet is good as you can check for RI. If he poops for you between now and then save it to get it tested for parasites just in case. Good luck!

 

[JoshH1990]

I had him for about a month and a half. He seems to be perkin up because I placed two heat lamps to raise the temp for now. The humidity also stabilized and isn't all over the place. The vet is a definite tomorrow.