I'm babysitting my younger sisters bearded dragon, he's about a year old. I don't know much about reptiles so when I first got him, I thought he needed all his lights off at night- My other sister woke up the next morning to find him ashen-colored and cold, and quickly warmed him up. He seemed fine, but it's been a four or five days and he's not seeming to retain heat, because when I woke up this morning he was cold to the touch and lethargic.
I've left the heat lamp on constantly since four or so days ago, just turned off the white lamp at night. Since then, his back has been splotchy, not an even light brown.
I'm supposed to feed him live and dead mealworms and kale, but we didn't have kale so we fed him zucchinni, which I'm not sure he ate. He eats the live mealworms fine and has a huge appetite for them, but I haven't seen him poop. It's been about a week and a half.
I'm also supposed to syringe feed him calcium supplement, because he didn't get enough calcium as a baby so he's a little paralyzed and weak in his limbs.
Because of this, I was worried about putting him in the water as suggested (Because I haven't seen a bowel movement since I've had him), but I did anyway. I got warm water about three quarters of an inch in a sink and put him in it, and he seemed okay. He drank a lot, which I thought was fine, and he swam around a bit- Or I'm assuming he was swimming around, with his weak body it's hard to tell.
He started to move his sides in and out, which I took to be him trying to poop. I left him in there for about 20 minutes, occasionally rubbing his belly downwards. (He didn't poop.)
I took him out of the water and dried him off, I put him back in his tank with the lamp on him, since I read they lose heat quickly after a bath.
I gave him some live mealworms for a treat- But when he opened his mouth to stick one with his tongue, a huge amount of water came out- Sticky water, almost like a gel, came out of mouth and I think his nose! He still was breathing super heavy, moving his sides in and out like I saw when I thought he was pooping, and at one point he opened his mouth slightly and let out a single breath through the side of his mouth, it sounded like a "ppff" noise, like you make if you have your mouth closed and blow your lips out?
Anyway, is this normal? His beard is really dark now, but he seems to be breathing better...
questions I have; Do beardies take some time to warm up in the morning? He seemed to "Wake up" after I cuddled him for a little bit, and has been active since then.
how would I go about giving him any sort of laxative, and how do I tell if he's dehydrated vs impacted? If he's dehydrated I definitely don't want to laxative him because that'll make it worse...
I do not know if he's dehydrated or if he's impacted- I haven't seen him drink either. It's a temporary tank setup, so he doesn't have his regular water dish and I've seen him trying to attack the one he has (Biting it), so he might not be drinking from it.
TLDR: Babysitting 1 year calcium deficient/partly paralyzed/weak beardie, woke up this morning to a cold and lethargic dragon, thought dragon was impacted, gave warm bath + belly massage, vomited up large (Teaspoonful) amount of water, dark beard that puffs out when he breathes, still no poop. I don't know if he's dehydrated or impacted or how to tell if he's either. Help, please! ;n;
Edit- He's in a temporary tank setup, about 20 gallons with a red-bulb heatlamp positioned on one side of the tank, above a log he likes to sit on and a white-bulb lamp over the other half of his tank, over the water dish.
I've left the heat lamp on constantly since four or so days ago, just turned off the white lamp at night. Since then, his back has been splotchy, not an even light brown.
I'm supposed to feed him live and dead mealworms and kale, but we didn't have kale so we fed him zucchinni, which I'm not sure he ate. He eats the live mealworms fine and has a huge appetite for them, but I haven't seen him poop. It's been about a week and a half.
I'm also supposed to syringe feed him calcium supplement, because he didn't get enough calcium as a baby so he's a little paralyzed and weak in his limbs.
Because of this, I was worried about putting him in the water as suggested (Because I haven't seen a bowel movement since I've had him), but I did anyway. I got warm water about three quarters of an inch in a sink and put him in it, and he seemed okay. He drank a lot, which I thought was fine, and he swam around a bit- Or I'm assuming he was swimming around, with his weak body it's hard to tell.
He started to move his sides in and out, which I took to be him trying to poop. I left him in there for about 20 minutes, occasionally rubbing his belly downwards. (He didn't poop.)
I took him out of the water and dried him off, I put him back in his tank with the lamp on him, since I read they lose heat quickly after a bath.
I gave him some live mealworms for a treat- But when he opened his mouth to stick one with his tongue, a huge amount of water came out- Sticky water, almost like a gel, came out of mouth and I think his nose! He still was breathing super heavy, moving his sides in and out like I saw when I thought he was pooping, and at one point he opened his mouth slightly and let out a single breath through the side of his mouth, it sounded like a "ppff" noise, like you make if you have your mouth closed and blow your lips out?
Anyway, is this normal? His beard is really dark now, but he seems to be breathing better...
questions I have; Do beardies take some time to warm up in the morning? He seemed to "Wake up" after I cuddled him for a little bit, and has been active since then.
how would I go about giving him any sort of laxative, and how do I tell if he's dehydrated vs impacted? If he's dehydrated I definitely don't want to laxative him because that'll make it worse...
I do not know if he's dehydrated or if he's impacted- I haven't seen him drink either. It's a temporary tank setup, so he doesn't have his regular water dish and I've seen him trying to attack the one he has (Biting it), so he might not be drinking from it.
TLDR: Babysitting 1 year calcium deficient/partly paralyzed/weak beardie, woke up this morning to a cold and lethargic dragon, thought dragon was impacted, gave warm bath + belly massage, vomited up large (Teaspoonful) amount of water, dark beard that puffs out when he breathes, still no poop. I don't know if he's dehydrated or impacted or how to tell if he's either. Help, please! ;n;
Edit- He's in a temporary tank setup, about 20 gallons with a red-bulb heatlamp positioned on one side of the tank, above a log he likes to sit on and a white-bulb lamp over the other half of his tank, over the water dish.