Beardie Head Tilt & Falling Over

[nmcnick]

Hello everyone. So, I have seen the other topic for this and read it thoroughly, contacted vets (all of which were absent with exotic vets), and contacted LLLReptile (the site I bought him from.). Just wanted you to know the background first.

Lights: I'm using a repti-sun 5.0 + 2.0 Combo and a 100 watt basking light, heat at 110F. Cold Side ambient temperature is 75F and Hot is 85F.

He has a water bowl and a veggie bowl in with him at all times.

Currently he is about 7" long (including tail) and 1 1/2 months old.

He has no other Beardie in his tank with him.

I feed him a staple of Phoenix Worms and Crickets for food. (Crickets more of treats) I dust with Multi-Vitamins about 4 times a week (employee at LLLReptile suggested 5 times a week, will take her advice) and dust with calcium without D3 about 6 times a week.

With that said, I wanted to see if I could get any more information from you guys. Yesterday night, I took my beardie out to find he would tilt slightly one way, fall over, even roll over onto his back sometimes. I read up on this and from the possibilities dehydration makes the most sense. I haven't seen him drink for a week, not out of his bathing water or his water dish. The employee from LLLReptile said she has problems with this as well and usually needs to mist hers and give hers baths. She told me I should try to place some water on my finger and place it near his nose and try to get him to drink. She said it'd take 1, even 3 hours to get this done. I tried this for about 3 hours without success. After, I gave him a bath and a shower, I misted him and put him back in his cage. She said I could probably even use fruit juice as long as no sugars are added, so I may try that next.

Along with this, Im worried about his shedding. He has only shed scales on his head so far (that I have noticed) and that was about 3 days ago.... I REALLY hope this doesn't interfere with that.

He is also not eating well (hasn't eaten since Monday) and is inactive most of the time.. As soon as he starts moving too much he will fall over.

Is there any advice anyone else would give?

 

[KristineM]

Hi there! I'm so sorry this is happening. I can't say that I can "fix" anything and I hope someone with a bit more experience will chime in pretty soon here.

I can offer a few suggestions...I read that your basking temp is 110-it doesn't have to be that high. 110 is the suggested max for a babies' basking spot. The warm side of the tank could stand to be a bit warmer, maybe 90 and the cool side also a bit warmer 80-84. What exactly are you using to take the temps?

I suggest removing the water bowl all together, it's not being used and certainly isn't needed. Also, the veggies should always be fresh and removed at night.

Bearded dragons actually absorb water through their vent so your best bet is to give your baby 15-20 minute soaks daily even twice a day at this point if he is really dehydrated. I'd also cut out the misting (personal preference) but it doesn't seem to do much. Of course offering water from a dropper on his snout is good too. Again, the soaks are most important.

If you are feeding repti/calci/Phoenix worms as a staple they don't need to be calcium dusted as they are high in calcium content already. If crickets or dubia are the main live feeders they should be dusted one live feeding a day 5x per week and always multivitamin dust a live feeding 2x per week.

I hope these suggestions help a little. Good luck and keep us updated!

 

[nmcnick]

Hi there! I'm so sorry this is happening. I can't say that I can "fix" anything and I hope someone with a bit more experience will chime in pretty soon here.

I can offer a few suggestions...I read that your basking temp is 110-it doesn't have to be that high. 110 is the suggested max for a babies' basking spot. The warm side of the tank could stand to be a bit warmer, maybe 90 and the cool side also a bit warmer 80-84. What exactly are you using to take the temps?

I suggest removing the water bowl all together, it's not being used and certainly isn't needed. Also, the veggies should always be fresh and removed at night.

Bearded dragons actually absorb water through their vent so your best bet is to give your baby 15-20 minute soaks daily even twice a day at this point if he is really dehydrated. I'd also cut out the misting (personal preference) but it doesn't seem to do much. Of course offering water from a dropper on his snout is good too. Again, the soaks are most important.

If you are feeding repti/calci/Phoenix worms as a staple they don't need to be calcium dusted as they are high in calcium content already. If crickets or dubia are the main live feeders they should be dusted one live feeding a day 5x per week and always multivitamin dust a live feeding 2x per week.

I hope these suggestions help a little. Good luck and keep us updated!

Thanks!

To take the temperature, I have both an infrared temp reader and a digital thermo/hygrometer. I always remove his veggies at night. Ok, so baths are much better than showers, that's great to know. The problem is is he hates baths and will always try to run out of them when he is in them, and because of this, he starts to fall over in the water and even tilt his head so a part of his nose is inside. I'll stop the calcium dusting, but are you sure about less multivitamins? I checked the care sheet after she told me to up it and it said 6x for babies per week. Just wondering. Thanks again!

 

[KristineM]

Hold him in the bath if you need to just be sure his vent is in the water and keep his head up. You can also pour some water down his back with a dixie cup. I've always been told multivitamin dusting 2x a week. If I'm incorrect I'm sure I will be corrected. I'm pretty darn positive though.

You're using warm water right? As if bathing a baby? I would keep the water level below his shoulders and watch his head as you said he's been unstable.

Also, with the temp gun are you taking temps 2 inches from the spot you're testing? That will give the best accuracy. Maybe lower the basking to 102-105 for a little bit?

I'm really sure the multivitamin is 2x per week and calcium 5x a week on whichever schedule you choose.

Please let me know how it goes. Using a large bowl with a wash cloth under him during soaking may make him feel more secure and safe as well.

Good luck

 

[Esther19]

KristineM is correct. 2x per week. You didn't mention the size of his tank. I thought I read 10 gal., but that must have been a different post. Our Petco, and I assume Petcos nationwide, is currently having a dollar-a-gallon sale. 40 gal. breeder=$40. This is the minimum size for an adult dragon. Also, 2 baths per day is good to rule out dehydration. You can hold him in the sink or whatever to keep his snout out of the water. Dribbling water over his lips with a dropper, syringe, or a spoon will work. Unsweetened juice, as you mentioned, is good, too. Just dilute it with water before feeding. I hope this helps.

 

[Esther19]

I forgot to add that the Reptisun 5 is for tropical animals . You need the Reptisun 10 TUBE. Petmountain.com has them for half of what you would pay in a pet store. In the meantime, strongly consider turning off the UVB bulb. He will be fine without it for at least a week while waiting on the other bulb. If possible, you could hold him out in the sun to help with the UVB. Natural UVB is 10x stonger/better than artificial.

 

[nmcnick]

I forgot to add that the Reptisun 5 is for tropical animals . You need the Reptisun 10 TUBE. Petmountain.com has them for half of what you would pay in a pet store. In the meantime, strongly consider turning off the UVB bulb. He will be fine without it for at least a week while waiting on the other bulb. If possible, you could hold him out in the sun to help with the UVB. Natural UVB is 10x stonger/better than artificial.

Ok, I'll get Reptisun 10.0. Didn't realize that tropical vs desert is so huge :O Thanks for opening my eyes on that.

Also, I found where I heard to dust it 6x at (it was actually 5x) - http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html - quote: "Less than a year old 4 - 5 x multivitamin 7 x calcium" - But it sounds like the popular vote is 2x so Ill change to that

About the $1 per gallon, I only noticed that they were doing that for aquariums.. I'll check to see if its actually for terrariums too.

 

[Esther19]

My 3 are all in 40g aquariums. Yes, Beautifuldragons is extremely reliable. Except on that. How have his urates been? Discolored urates can be a sign of over supplementation. Did you turn off the UVB?

 

[KristineM]

I'm so sorry I didn't notice the light! Good eye, Esther! Was hoping you'd stop by.

Any updates? The petco sale is awesome!!

 

[nmcnick]

I'm so sorry I didn't notice the light! Good eye, Esther! Was hoping you'd stop by.

Any updates? The petco sale is awesome!!

Urates have been fine, just the regular white. Hopefully things will start to get better, I soaked him in water for 20 minutes yesterday and am planning to do it two times today. I'll see if he'll eat today (really hope he does).

 

[cricketbidwell]

sounds much like my baby- please get the correct uv tube! it made a huge difference, i was told to use the 5.0 as well and had the same issues. i let my fella soak, with my hand under him as he's not too keen on the baths, at least 15 mins. that's when he starts to make a run. if i don't see good urates, i keep him in for 30, but it's tough. i'll do two soaks at shorter times if needed. after a few days, ulysses is doing great! i'm sure your baby will be fine in a few days too :mrgreen:

 

[nmcnick]

Thanks for the positive and kind words. I hope he gets better soon. Too bad it's so late in the week that I probably won't get my uvb. I really just want him to eat. It's been 3 days. Any idea of what to do?

 

[Esther19]

Did you turn off the UVB? Can you take him out in the sun? I would advise making a greens slurry in the blender; you could put a few crickets/bugs in, too. Strain it, and feed with a dropper or syringe. You could also get some squash and chicken or turkey baby food and feed that with a syringe. Thin with water or unsweetened juice, if necessary. You can mix his supplements in with any of the above. Offer water, also. It may take a few tries to get the hang of it, so don't get discouraged. Just dribble it over his lips, and hopefully he will lick it up. He can have as much as he wants.

 

[nmcnick]

Did you turn off the UVB? Can you take him out in the sun? I would advise making a greens slurry in the blender; you could put a few crickets/bugs in, too. Strain it, and feed with a dropper or syringe. You could also get some squash and chicken or turkey baby food and feed that with a syringe. Thin with water or unsweetened juice, if necessary. You can mix his supplements in with any of the above. Offer water, also. It may take a few tries to get the hang of it, so don't get discouraged. Just dribble it over his lips, and hopefully he will lick it up. He can have as much as he wants.

I did turn off the uvb and I tried feeding him water and unsweetened juice from a syringe for about an hour without any luck. When you say to feed with a dropper or syringe, you mean putting the syringe in his mouth, correct? I haven't been giving him water this way, but I am wondering if that's how I should feed him food. Also, I will take him out in thun now.

 

[Spike1etta]

You can put a drop on his nose, near his lips and most will lick it off.