laurencamp
Member
- Beardie name(s)
- Brea
Apologies in advance for the lengthy post—I'm hoping someone here has had a similar experience and can advise me on what to do. We've had our baby Brea for a little over three weeks. I've posted pictures of her enclosure below; specs are included in my profile but the basics are as follows: Zoo Med ReptiSun 10.0 T5 HO tube in her enclosure, Arcadia 100W halogen for basking and 100W CHE for additional heat. Measuring temps with infrared temperature gun and thermometer with probe. Basking spot is 105-110F, warm side ambient temp is 90F, cool side is 80F. Humidity is 30% on warm side, 40% on cool side.
For the first two weeks we had her, everything was going great. She was eating lots of dubias enthusiastically and some collard greens. About a week ago, the temperatures dropped significantly in our area and the Arcadia wasn't cutting it- for a few days, basking spot was about 95, ambient temp on warm side around 80. I have since corrected this by adding in the CHE for additional warmth and putting in additional log so she could climb closer to the heat source.
Starting the weekend before last, she stopped eating entirely. After three days of that, that Monday I took her to the vet who said she looked otherwise healthy but was dehydrated. He gave her fluids and tube fed her and she perked up. But then she still wouldn't eat so on Thursday we took her back to the vet. She got another tube feeding and the doc said she had lost a gram. The vet suggested waxworms as a treat and on Friday I got her to eat two waxworms, which felt like a big victory. She has only pooped twice in the last week. She wouldn't eat over the weekend, and I have tried tong feeding, leaving the room, hand feeding, feeding outside and feeding in a separate container. Since Saturday I've been giving her Repta-Boost in a syringe and she does seem to really like that. She is very chill and will lick my hand as I give it to her. I've been bathing her daily so she doesn't get dehydrated although I can't get her to drink.
We got her from an exotic pet store locally. I have gone back since to look at her siblings, and most of them seemed healthy, although there were a bunch housed together (around 12) and there were a couple that were clearly being bullied out of resources. When we got Brea, she was the healthiest and most active-looking one of the clutch.
I really like our vet a lot, my only issue is that I feel like I haven't been given much practical advice on how to get her to eat on her own again. To my understanding our temps are good now. Brea is always alert and supporting herself, but she doesn't move around much in her enclosure—she pretty much stays under the basking spot or very near it. She's never had a black beard, although there are times I can tell she's stressed (breathing rapidly). At first she was growing quickly but now that has clearly stalled. If anyone has gone through something similar, could you please tell me what you did to help your beardie get better? I love her so much and don't want to lose her.
For the first two weeks we had her, everything was going great. She was eating lots of dubias enthusiastically and some collard greens. About a week ago, the temperatures dropped significantly in our area and the Arcadia wasn't cutting it- for a few days, basking spot was about 95, ambient temp on warm side around 80. I have since corrected this by adding in the CHE for additional warmth and putting in additional log so she could climb closer to the heat source.
Starting the weekend before last, she stopped eating entirely. After three days of that, that Monday I took her to the vet who said she looked otherwise healthy but was dehydrated. He gave her fluids and tube fed her and she perked up. But then she still wouldn't eat so on Thursday we took her back to the vet. She got another tube feeding and the doc said she had lost a gram. The vet suggested waxworms as a treat and on Friday I got her to eat two waxworms, which felt like a big victory. She has only pooped twice in the last week. She wouldn't eat over the weekend, and I have tried tong feeding, leaving the room, hand feeding, feeding outside and feeding in a separate container. Since Saturday I've been giving her Repta-Boost in a syringe and she does seem to really like that. She is very chill and will lick my hand as I give it to her. I've been bathing her daily so she doesn't get dehydrated although I can't get her to drink.
We got her from an exotic pet store locally. I have gone back since to look at her siblings, and most of them seemed healthy, although there were a bunch housed together (around 12) and there were a couple that were clearly being bullied out of resources. When we got Brea, she was the healthiest and most active-looking one of the clutch.
I really like our vet a lot, my only issue is that I feel like I haven't been given much practical advice on how to get her to eat on her own again. To my understanding our temps are good now. Brea is always alert and supporting herself, but she doesn't move around much in her enclosure—she pretty much stays under the basking spot or very near it. She's never had a black beard, although there are times I can tell she's stressed (breathing rapidly). At first she was growing quickly but now that has clearly stalled. If anyone has gone through something similar, could you please tell me what you did to help your beardie get better? I love her so much and don't want to lose her.
