Diarrhea?

[Nikki05]

I'm New here and new to bearded dragons.

About two weeks ago we bought 2 bearded dragons from petsmart (probably our first mistake, where we bought them from). At first we had them in the same tank but after about a week I noticed one being very dominant over the other, and the one stopped eating. So we went and bought a second 40 gal tank and seperated the two. Swamp fire (the beardie that was not eating) is now in his own tank, and his eating has picked up a bit (maybe 2-3 crickets a day). I admit, I bought some of the zilla jump start to try to supplement what swamp fire wasn't getting. He has been getting just a couple licks off his mouth 1-2 times a day, for about 3 days now. He still seems to be fasting especially compared to the other beardie yoshi who just this morning ate 14 crickets.

So there is my first concern, swamp fire isn't eating much at all.

Now he has developed some diarrhea, he's only had it twice, once yesterday morning and once this morning. But I think that he had a normal poop in between. I've also noticed he's lethargic comepared to yoshi. He does have little bursts of energy though.

He has a repti carpet as substrate, his basking temps are right around 105 the cold side stays in the mid 80's, he has a zilla 150 watt day blue light for his basking/heat lamp and his other light is a zilla 50 uvb light (here is a link to that light http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=23849&cmpid=07csegpl&ref=6111&subref=AA&CAWELAID=1002695867&cagpspn=pla)

I'm planning on getting both of them into the vet sometime this week. But is there anything that I can or should do in the meantime for swamp fires diarrhea and lack of eating? Thanks for any help or advice you guys can give.

 

[woahamie]

Switch out the UVB bulb for a ReptiSun 10.0 TUBE, NOT COIL. Coil can cause eye damage. I know PetSmart sells it. You're gonna need to buy something to house the light in... so if you can... go to Wal-Mart and in the Lighting section, find an under the counter fixture. You're gonna need a 24" one, same as for the ReptiSun. You need to find a way to put the fixture with the light INSIDE the enclosure.


As for the diarrhea? Are you feeding them veggies? Do you have a water bowl in the tank where they have access to it 24/7?

 

[Nikki05]

yes I put fresh greens in every morning, usually kale and collard greens. I've also offered acorn squash and green bell pepper. There is alway a fresh dish of water in the enclosure ( I wash out the water bowls every morning). I have noticed swamp fire will go into the water dish and drink a few times a day, is that normal?

Thank you for the advice on the light I wasn't sure if the light set up was right for swamp fire or not, we just bought the big starter set from zilla. I will be getting that taken care of asap!

 

[patrickmb21]

yea i made the same mistake by buying zilla setup. I dont understand why they sell uvb coil lights with it. then u have to go back and buy the 10.0 uvb tube which is $50 and a walmart light fixture for 8 at petsmart its way more about 40. the zilla setup is a big rip off.

 

[woahamie]

Too much water can be causing diarrhea. I don't put any water in my tank, because itll raise the humidity. I just put my dragon in the sink with some warm water for about 15 mins every other day. They're from the desert. They don't really know what water is lol


As for zilla... any starter kit is a ripoff, really. thats why i prefer to buy everything separately.

 

[Tonja]

Dont use the blue bulb get a clear household light bulb for his basking light and you can turn off the coil till you can get him a reptisun..take him outside for 20 mins to 1/2 hour of natural sunlight. Those coil bulbs cause health and eye problems due to the wavelength of the uvb. I got the t-8 light fixture for my reptisuns at walmart for around 7.00 and used industrial strenght velcro from walmart to attach it inside my 2 babies vivs. Works like a charm now. I to got the delux setup and had to change everything but the dome lights. Expensive lesson learned.

 

[Nikki05]

Thank you everyone for the information! I wish I would have thought to ask here before buying the starter tank. Live and learn though right?

Tonja, is there a specific wattage that the household bulb should be?

 

[Tonja]

I have both of mine in 40 gal breeder tanks and use a 75 watt and it does just fine..I use the crystal clear household bulb.

 

[traceyb73]

Thank you everyone for the information! I wish I would have thought to ask here before buying the starter tank. Live and learn though right?

Tonja, is there a specific wattage that the household bulb should be?

I ended up with all the wrong stuff in the beginning too. Most of us did. I had that same coil bulb and I took it back and they refunded my money, no questions asked, even though I had it cut open since it's in that hard plastic stuff.