Don't know what's wrong...baby dragon is sick?

[jodie92203]

I just got a baby bearded dragon 5 days ago. He/She isn't eating barely anything and very sleepy. All day today he hasn't moved. I just gave him a warm bath. He swam around a little bit and seemed pretty normal. Now he's back in his tank and fell asleep in my hand when I carried him there and now he's just sleeping where I put him down in the tank. He is very lethargic. Yesterday he was moving around fine and started eating crickets and now he's back to being very inactive. Any help or advice is much appreciated.

Here's my last posts if it helps any to know the history: viewtopic.php?f=44&t=110482

Thanks much

 

[Poisoned1]

Hi there again
Would you be able to take a picture of your set up please?
how far away is your dragon away from the uv light?
And you made sure the plastic cover is off the uv holder correct?

EDIT: By the way my dragon took about 2 weeks to get used to his setting, and please change out that red lamp light. It's a problem, you have to simulate bright white light and the red light causes problems.

 

[jodie92203]

Okay, I switched out the lamp to white. Right now it's 75watts and we're going to monitor the temperature and lower the bulb wattage until we achieve a basking temp of 105-110 degrees. My husband actually built an ugly, yet useful wooden structure. We disinfected the wood first and he can always make it bigger as the lil guy grows. But right now, I thought it'd work well to allow him to get closer to the lamps. So, here's the picture I just took of the setup.

 

[jodie92203]

That's him at the bottom of the wood thing right now. He won't move. He is alive, as we can see him breathing, but he's not moving.

There's no plastic on the bulb, and it's lit up. Not sure what exactly you meant though, because I don't remember there being any plastic to remove?

 

[jodie92203]

Okay we went to a 100watt light bulb and it's now 100.3 F on top of the wood structure under the bulb. The other side of the setup without the lamp is 80.2 F. Those numbers seem okay, no? We just sat him under the lamp to see if the heat lamp will help him. This is so stressful. We're so worried.

 

[diamc]

Wow, he is really tiny. :shock: I noticed in your other thread that you're now using a digital thermometer. Make sure the probe is laying right on (actually touching) the basking wood for about 45, then when the temp stops rising you will have the final reading. For a baby that size, the temp should be closer to 110 but NO higher. So, if you can get it up to 107 or 108, that would be good. Since he is lethargic, I'm kinda worried about him laying across the top part of that wooden basking area for fear of him falling and landing on the other wooden log behind it. Until he is stronger, it might be better for him to have a lower basking area and you could use the hollowed out log but with a halogen lightbulb instead. Do you have one of those on hand? What size tank is it or what are the dimensions? Let me know what the temps are now and then we can decide if a 100 watt household lightbulb would work.

How long has it been since he's eaten any crickets or anything at all?

 

[jodie92203]

I hope this works okay. I'm using my phone because our internet is having an outage now. since posting last, he climbed down the wood structure & is sitting on top of that half log hiding thing. now the lights are off for night. (its 1030pm here & we have lights on 8-8) today I think I noticed 1 or 2 crickets disappear but they could just be hiding. he didn't eat any greens. He did lick a bit of water off his head when he was in bath though.
I have a lightbulb that's like the spiral kind. Would that be hotter than the 100watt one that's in there now? I'm so worried. I think this lil guy is way too young to have been sold already. Please keep the advice coming. I'm open to anything that might help. Thanks

 

[diamc]

That's good that he is at least moving around a little. So, his lights are off but he hasn't settled down? You should make sure that there are no uneaten crickets in his tank because otherwise they will chew on him when he is sleeping which causes nasty sores. I wouldn't worry about him not eating greens right now, he needs the protein from the live food more. Have you tried handfeeding him any crickets?

The spiral household bulbs don't throw out much heat. What was the final basking and cool side temps after about 45 min?

I do agree that he was too small to be sold. Babies are very particular with their needs or they won't do well.

 

[jodie92203]

The lights are off, and he's sleeping, as usual. I have to look very close to see him breathe. We take the crickets out every night. He won't eat anything hand fed, but we've tried. After 45 minutes, the basking side was 102 degrees and the other side was like 77 on bottom. (Now it's night time and the lights are off, so it's like 67 in there.) There was a poop or two in the bottom today when I cleaned it out, so I know he ate something the last day.
Can I order Phoenix worms? I heard those were an appetite stimulus too. Should I get small or extra small?

Oh, and any guesses how old he is? From the tip of his nose to the tip of his tail, he's 4.5 inches.

I'm super worried, because we had a vacation planned for this weekend. Our brother is supposed to come feed him the crickets and mist or bathe him. Now I'm worried sick about leaving. I don't know what else I can do.

 

[jodie92203]

That's in the bath earlier.

 

[puffsmama]

He does look kind of lethargic in the bath too, his eyes just look like they can't stay open. You could get some baby food squash and chicken, mix them together and feed him that from an eyedropper or even off the tip of your finger to get some food into him...just put a drop on the end of his nose, right on his lips, and he will hopefully instinctively start licking. You may have to this for a while until he gets a little older. The fact that he has pooped is good.
This is what makes me so angry about the pet stores...they sell you a bunch of stuff you don't need, and nothing that you do need, and they don't tell you how to properly care for your beardie. I'm glad you found your way to the forum...there are lots of helpful people here. Very nice viv by the way!!
Cindy

 

[jodie92203]

I guess I can try the baby food thing. I actually have baby food from my son. Does it matter what stage it is? After he eats some of the baby food squash, how long do I continue that for? And how often? It's 2am and I'm creeping into the room to check on him again. He hasn't moved, still sleeping. I'm so worried.
Another question, during the day when he's awake and alert, I can see his sides move in and out as he breathes. When he's sleeping, it looks like he's dead. I'll stare so carefully and not see a single movement. Then I freak and when I lift him up, he moves and he's fine. Any reason why?

 

[zebraflavencs]

Jodie, stage 1 or 2 is what you want to use.
Janie.

 

[jodie92203]

He's in the same spot as last night. He won't move, won't eat anything off my finger or his nose. He's just sleeping with his eyes closed. I can see his sides moving with respirations so I know he's alive. He won't move or eat though. Is there anything I can do?

 

[jodie92203]

I lifted him off the log and he opened his eyes and lifted his head. He just grasped onto my finger and then I set him under the basking light for a bit because he feels very cold. I don't know what else I can do now. Ay yi yi. Last time I buy from a pet shop, that's for sure.