Dizzy and off balance beardie?

[cheezyswirlpaw]

Hi there,

I am a new bearded dragon owner and new to this website. I will gladly take tips and sorry if i posted this in the wrong place.

Any way, i have a 6 month old bearded dragon (had her for about 2-3 months now) she is 1 foot long and has a 30in(length)x12in(width)x10in(hight) tank. She uses a repti basking spot lamp (50w), a slimline desert fixture 50 UVB T8 fluorescent bulb, and a exo terra night heat lamp (50w) that produces a dim purple light. I use that for extra heat for night and day, since the temps only reach 80 degrees. :| She basks all day, except when she eats and sleeps. She dosen't poop normal though. Maybe about every other 2 or 3 days. When i give her greens though she has runny poop and does it every day. (man it sucks to clean up!) :lol:

My beardie is on sand, and i am thinking of switching to reptile carpet (even though its so hard to clean). None of the walls of her tank is covered and she has a hiding spot (which is also her basking spot but she sits on top to bask...)

So i feed my dragon normally 1-2 times a day. She eats lot of mealworms, some dusted crickets, and a small amount of silkworms. I recently switched to large/adult crickets because she is a BIG eater. I have to stop her sometimes because i'm afraid she might get impacted, or fat...

I think i covered her environment enough, and here comes the problem. When i came home from school(3:40) and fed her, she made a weird grunting noise. Almost like she was annoyed or choking something up. She puffed out her beard and sucked it back in, then made the noise again and louder! At first i thought she was upset from me moving her light but i shrugged it off. After i put some dusted crickets in her tank she wobbled off her basking spot and kinda fell. (Its weird she messed up her jump because she jumps all the time and never misses). When she was "hunting" she walked with a off balance, kinda dizzy way. She tried to attack the cricket but she would miss when it was right in front of her, in plain sight. She kept trying, and never really focused and stalked like she normally does. She would turn her head left and right, up and down like she couldn't stop her head, like the body was telling her to do something but her mind wanted to do the other....At one point she crashed in the wall and did "glass surfing" as i heard it was called. (Rubbing, jumping, scratching, and kinda dancing on the glass). In the end of the hunt, she never ate a cricket, and failed to jump on her basking spot, so i had to place her on there.

She has not moved since then and right now(6:50) she is staring at me typing this, while she blinks slowly and constantly.

Any advice will help. And maybe a home remedy because i am low on money and have no idea how close an exotic reptile vet is. But if this is that serious, then i will do anything for my little beardie.

Thanks!

 

[destiny1998]

Hi. Get rid of the purple light regardless of what people say colored bulbs are very bad for their eyes. Get rid of the uvb you have those are also bad. You need to get him a reptisun 10.0 Tube mounted in the tank. 80 is way to cold for her to properly digest her food. It needs to be 100 to 105 for babies. How are you taking temps? What size enclosure is she in? Get rid of the sand. It harbors bacteria and can cause impaction. You can use paper towels, newspapers, non adhesive shelf liner, or tile. Do not feed meal worms as they are hard for her to digest. Also are you dusting her food with calcium 5x a week and 2x a week for vitamins? What kind of greens do you feed?

 

[cheezyswirlpaw]

I use a simple zilla humidity and temperature gauge and i have it right next to her basking spot. Im not sure the gal. size of the tank, but as i said before it is 30in(length)x12in(width)x10in(hight). I use zoo med repti calcium with D3. I don't really have a schedule for how often i dust crickets because they are so hard to handle. The escape, hide, and they are fast. Should i be using a another type of supplement? I have heard every once in a while i need different types, but its kinda confusing. I feed my beardie kale and romaine lettuce. I also feed her red bell peppers which seems to love. Are there any fruits you suggest i feed her? She really hates strawberries, blueberries and refuses to eat apples.

Thanks!

 

[destiny1998]

Go to this site and it'll tell you what to feed beautifuldragons.com . Also you need a better thermometer a temp gun or a digital with a probe. Don't feed any lettuce thats why he has the runs. Kale binds calcium. I use rephashy calcium plus that way I dont have to try and remember calcium or vitamins. Do you use a cricket keeper? If not get one the crickets go into the tubes and you shake them in to a baggie with the calcium coat like shake n bake then feed. If you make the changes I have given you he will most definitely improve. Remember beardies are tough, but like every living thing they need correct environment to thrive.

 

[destiny1998]

Go to this site and it'll tell you what to feed beautifuldragons.com . Also you need a better thermometer a temp gun or a digital with a probe. Don't feed any lettuce thats why he has the runs. Kale binds calcium. I use rephashy calcium plus that way I dont have to try and remember calcium or vitamins. Do you use a cricket keeper? If not get one the crickets go into the tubes and you shake them in to a baggie with the calcium coat like shake n bake then feed. If you make the changes I have given you he will most definitely improve. Remember beardies are tough, but like every living thing they need correct environment to thrive.

 

[cheezyswirlpaw]

thanks for all the tips

 

[cheezyswirlpaw]

Hello there again,

I have taken your tips, and still need to make some changes.
But today when i was feeding my bearded dragon, i expected her to be better. Well you could say she is getting a little worse. When feeding crickets, she nose dived to the floor off her basking spot. When she was chasing them she would not focus on one cricket. She walked very wobbly like. At one point when she bite the cricket, she tilted her head and rolled over. I don't know if i'm over reacting, but i'm worried.

P.S. I read that sand in the beardie's ears can cause them to lose coordination while they eat. I think this might be some cause of the problem.

 

[destiny1998]

What have you changed? Sounds like the lights have hurt her eyes. Sometimes it takes a while for the issues with the wrong set up to clear up . Hopefully her eyes will heal soon.

 

[AHBD]

Hi there....I agree that you are best off to get the Reptisun 10.0 tube UVB. If you turn over your Zilla slim line fixture, check right now to see if it has a plastic shield....many of their fixtures do. If so, this is blocking ALL the UVB , so your dragon can't absorb her calcium without UVB. This may be a big part of the problem, since calcium deficiency can cause various neurological symptoms. Please tell anyone you know that has a Zilla fixture to check to see if it has the plastic shield. It seems to be very common.

 

[cheezyswirlpaw]

Yes, there is a plastic piece on the bulb. I looked up what this repi sun bulb looks like and it needs to be placed on the cage/lid. I noticed that my cage has no spot to up the bulb in. Do i have to buy a new cage or lid? Or does the package have something to install the bulb in?

 

[AHBD]

That's what I thought....you can cut the plastic out so that your dragon can get the UVB rays. By the way, has she been pooing normally ? I don't remember what you said, but since you're feeding her large crix and mealworms and she is on sand,there is a risk of impaction. I think you will be helped more if you ask a moderator to put this thread in the E.R. or the health thread.....just p.m Drache613, diamc or Sweetiepie9 to see if you can move this thread because it's of a more serious nature than just a behavior problem and you'll get more responses.

 

[cheezyswirlpaw]

Wow, i actually just thought about taking the plastic off!
Anyway, she does poop normally when i give her greens. I think i am going to stick with medium crickets till she gets older because the large just seem to big.

Thanks!

 

[ShockerAndSavage]

Hey,

Your dragon may be lacking in calcium (off balance, lack of coordination and tossing its head about as if it is trying to look out of 1 eye etc). My dragon had a similar problem when I bought it and I took it to the vet and he gave it a calcium shot and gave me liquid calcium (1 drop every day for 4 weeks). Within 1-2 weeks she was back to normal. Hope this helps

 

[cheezyswirlpaw]

Update:

Finley is doing really good now, growing very fast and not wobbling anymore. I took off the plastic on the UV bulb, using reptile carpet, giving her medium crickets, and bought a new, better, thermometer. Before I bought the new therm I thought that the bulb was to weak so I added two heat lamps. The thermometer still pointed at 80F (well it pointed 81F but whatever). But it turns out that one bulb was perfect and that the zilla thermometer is REALLY bad.
Thanks