Baby pet store beardie...

[bltkpo]

I respect my local pet store a lot. Bindy came from there. He is an awesome baby. There have been four batches since him, all in good health and off to good homes. Recently, there has been one baby causing them problems.

He must be about 2.5 months old, and is only 5 inches long. He caught my eye out of this tank mates because he seemed to have trouble opening his eyes. I noted this to my friend who works in their reptile section, and she said their "head reptile guy" saw nothing wrong with it. After Xmas I went in to see him again, and he looked no better. I asked their "head reptile guy" and he said he has been ill and been treating his his eye(s). Both are affected now. He won't open them. He's practically blind.

I said as a favor I'd throw it out on here, to see if there are any suggestions. He is in a tank too big for him. It's about a 40 liter. Today I was going over their light set up, and saw they have a red heat.bulb, and a repti go tube which is nearly a foot and a half away from his little body. He is on repti carpet and is fed appropriate sized crickets. He is very lethargic. Any suggestions I've made, will have to pass the "head reptile guys" approval.

I wish I could get some photos but he is at the pet store.

After talking with my friend there, and explaining about this forum, and giving my own advice, she is already going to try and get some changes. She would like to put him in the back in a smaller tank with a proper light set up. This should ensure proper UVB exposure.

I am open to any and all thoughts / interpretations / suggestions. Thanks!

 

[Lazmarr]

Get rid of the red heat bulb, they need yellow light, like a normal househhold 60W light.
Also get them to get rid of the reptiglo flourescent light, it is known to cause problems, too little UVB, wont do his calcium digestion any good.
Hope i helped.

 

[CaptainVimes]

I didn't know a beardie could live in something "too big", but then I know nothing about Baby Beardies.

I'm not going to comment on the type of uv bulb, because I've commented on this "daft idea that some of the UV bulbs are dangerous" before, and haven't yet checked whether responses to what I said were highly negative or not. However, I did get my information from a highly qualified Arcadia rep.

(arcadia being the "dog's doodads" in the UK)

They don't need YELLOW light, they need bright white light!

(the sun only LOOKS yellow, it does NOT give out yellow light, like in those cute pre-school pictures, where you see kids drawing yellow suns with bright yellow rays...)

Also check they are dusting their bugs, do they gutload the bugs, or do they just sit in their "sale tubs"? Check the nutrition page on beautiful dragons for dusting regime for a baby beardie.

The red bulb should be dumped and a bright white basking bulb supplied, fitted on a dimmer stat, so that it CANNOT get too hot. This would be best with ALL reptile shop basking systems, simply because the shop owner cannot check on each and every basking temperature often enough. Plus there's the times when basking lights are on, when the shop is not actually open.

A dimmerstat was one of the FIRST THINGS I acquired for my dragon set up!

(don't know what it is with Americans but none of you seem to play it safe by using a dimmerstat with ANY of your reptiles that need basking lights?!)

I'm falling asleep, that will do for now, ill have another look tomorrow.

 

[dragonlover3]

I would turn the Repti Glo off, or get that baby out from under it as soon as possible. Better to do without UVB only very temporarily while another bulb is acquired as soon as possible. Either Reptisun 10.0 tube or Arcadia D3 12%. Reptiglo's, as are some others, are known to cause EYE and health issues in bearded dragons.
This baby needs to be warmed up immediately and stay warm. It needs a basking spot of at least 105* to 115*F to properly digest food and get any nutrition. He needs the proper UVB as soon as possible so he is able to mannufacture his natural D3 to absorb and utilize any calcium. I'd start out at 103*F or 104*F and slowly over the course of a day increase to 110*F. His temp at night should be kept around 80 to 82*F Also needs the heat to boost the immune system. He probably is already dehydrated since he is ill and most probably not eating regardless of the food or feeders placed in the tank. The extra heat he needs can further dehydrate him so he will need hydrating baths, a couple a day, very shallow warm water, shallow only up to his elbows, warm like for a human infant, about 95*F. Since he is tiny and ill he will need full support in the water, support his head out of the water at all times with a hand and allow the rest of him to soak. He will absorb water thru his waste vent. Bath/soak twice a day for about 10 minutes, must keep water at temp so will need to change/add warm to keep temp up, sounds harder than it is. Since he most probably not eating he needs some chicken or turkey baby food mixed with some baby food squash and a bit of calcium, thinned with some to a water and syringe fed to him 3 times a day. Some use "critical care" but I'm not familiar with this product.
Yes, an enclosure can be "too big" for a baby beardie, especially one that is ill. They have to chase their feeders much further to catch them, can exhaust a sick baby beardie in a large tank to try to chase food.
Is this ill baby the smallest in the tank? It should be removed to a smaller tank by himself for recovery so the others in there do not harass or attack the ill one.
What is the "reptile guy" treating the baby's eyes with?
Bearded Dragons need the UVB and bright white basking/heat light beside each other. The bright white basking/heat light contracts the pupils to protect the eyes from the UVB it needs. The 2 bulbs together act as the sun.
Ditch the colored lights. Don't need them for any reason for Bearded Dragons. They need dark to sleep and rest properly. If heat is needed at night for temps below 65*F then a CHE can be used. It only emits heat, not any light.
This baby sound very ill and needs aggressive treatment as above but I doubt the pet shops will bother with this extensive treatment. I wish I was close, I would get the poor little one and at least give it a chance. I hope this info helps someone.
Amanda

 

[bltkpo]

Hi,
I gave them similar advice. They only provide and use repti-glos there. There is no way that baby is getting under a reptisun. At least if he was closer to some form of UVB, there might be some improvement.

I forgot to mention a bath!

And the heat/temp I realize is inaccurate too. Poor little guy must be freezing.

I wish I could tell you what they are "treating" him with, but even if they did tell me, I probably couldn't remember.


Thanks for the tips guys - I have a sinking feeling this guy is already developing MBD. I sure hope they can turn him around!

 

[bltkpo]

Phew, my friend contacted me this morning and after only 15 minutes under proper UVB, he was running around like a crazy lizard, and there definitely seemed to be an improvement. I am grateful for the advice given here, I wanted to make sure I was advising the right things.

I hope this little guy can get better fast so he can go to his home soon!

Thanks everyone