Hello, a few days ago my beardie (Drak) threw up his crickets, so I looked online and read a few causes and I thought it was most likely dehydration since he should other signs (yellow-ish urine, un-healthy skin) and since then I've bathed him every day and misted him, and have been feeding him mainly apple slices to re-hydrate him. I also try get him to drink from a syringe but he has never been the type to lick at the water, he only has once with a apple juice-water mix. He has stopped throwing up but he has started twitching and shaking randomly, so I'm wondering if theres anything else I can do to re-hydrate him?
additional info:
-around 3-5 months old
-about 9-10 inches long
-has a water dish in his viv
-has regular diet of crickets and parsley
-I handle him daily
-havn't had a chance to measure temps, but cool end is around room temp (70-80) and basking side is a stick against the side, so ranges in heat
-bathed him about weekly before and misted daily
Shaking doesn't sound like it's due to dehydration, do you dust his food with calcium? If so how often? What sort of UV light do you have?
I'd put him back on a diet of crickets and greens, he doesn't need that much hydration from his food if he is having daily baths, and too much apple might upset his tummy.
He doesn't really need misting either, all it'll do is raise the humidity in his viv, which is bad for him...he won't absorb any water through his skin. Dropping it on his nose may get him to drink some, but again, with daily baths, he should be hydrated enough.
I'm giving him daily bathes now, before it was weekly, and about every other day I dust his crickets. I also had him on a diet of phoenix worms about a week ago though so I doubt its due to calcium. and he has a repti-light 10
what sort of light is it? is it a tube or a coil bulb? is it the reptisun or reptiglo? how old is it?
The reason I'm asking is that the reptisun 10.0 tube is the only suitable one for beardies (or the arcadia 12%), and they need replacing every 6 months. If you have a coil light, or reptiglo, or the tube is old, he may not have been getting enough UV to be able to absorb the calcium. Also if the only greens he has been getting is parsley, that could be causing the problem as it is high in oxalates, which bind calcium and limit the amount your dragon can absorb.
At his age the feeders (not phoenix worms) should be dusted once a day 5 days a week with calcium, and 2 days a week with multivitamins.
Hopefully someone else will be along with some more ideas soon.
Its a repti-sun 10" tube and its about 2 months old, and I'll be dusting his crickets daily. from what I've read it looks more like MBD causing the spasms, he's re-hydrated