My son has a 3-4 month old beardie. He's not very big and has never been a huge eater. Yesterday morning we noticed him not acting like himself. Keeping his eyes closed and real still and not moving. I got him out to check on him and he had a runny watery pop while outside his cage. He was ok during the day just real leathargic, eyes closed a lot. However this morning when we woke up he hadn't moved from his basking rock during the night like he usual does and he was laying on it limp and was really cold. It got cold here during the night and our house heater was not on so we assumed he got too cold through out the night but we decided to take him to the vet anyway. Just to be safe because my 9yo would be devastated if something happened to him. He was still not moving much this morning or eating. However, On the way to the vet he perked up and was acted like his normal self. The vet said overall he looked great, little on the small side and that he had a bacteria infection. She gave him an antibiotic. Car ride home he was great, alert and active and now in his cage 7 hours later he won't move, open his eyes, he looks frail and dead. At first I thought he was dead except I picked him up and he moved his legs once. Can an antibiotic make him this way, is he dying? I don't know what to do?
Help! 9yr old sons beardie is sick! dont want him to die!
- Thread starter Jlynn5974
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Hi. Can you give a rundown of the set up? Lights ? Brands? Temps ? How you take them? What kind of antibiotics is he on? Some of those are very harsh on their system and can do more harm than good. Especially when the are very small. You might want to get some soy yogurt to help settle his stomach. Did the vet say what kind of infection and how did he determine it is ?
The light we have is a Zoomed combo dome lamp fixture. Reptism 10.compact UVB fluorescent bulb & Repti basking lamp. There is a squirly light bulb and a normal light bulb. The normal Light bulb stays mostly over his basking rock. The temp gage stays around 100-110. The past couple of night his cage was getting down to 60 in the middle of the night. So today I bought him a red light and its sitting at 80 right now. We brought a stool sample into the vet and she said he had a bacteria infection and gave him 1 dose of Deworm - Panacur. We are supposed to give him another dose tomorrow. Just a little bit ago I gave him some water. I dribbled it in his nose. He drank it up but never opened his eyes or moved very much. It was weird how he perked up on the way to the vet today and now he looks frail and lifeless. Also, he has not eaten in 2 days.
It sounds to me like the lighting and temps may be off. It's very important for his health to have accurate temperature readings and proper lighting and unfortunately a lot of the starter setups don't come with what you need. I'd start by getting either a digital thermometer with a probe or a temp gun. Something like this will work nicely http://www.amazon.com/Nubee-Temperature-Non-contact-Infrared-Thermometer/dp/B00CVHIJDK This will give you accurate readings around the tank. As you mentioned, you want 100-110 in the basking area, some 90s around that, and a low end temp of 75-80. You can adjust the temperature by raising/lowering the basking spot, changing the wattage of the basking bulb, or changing the height of the basking bulb (adjustable lamp stands work well for this). I'd get rid of the red light. Those can cause vision problems among other things. You want to use bright white light for basking. If your temperatures go below about 65 overnight (measured with an accurate thermometer) I suggest using a low wattage ceramic heat emitter because those give off heat without visible light which can disturb sleep.
The second big thing I'd change is the UVB light. The coil bulbs produce a very intense, narrow cone of UVB which isn't ideal for basking. I suggest getting a tube style UVB light which will put out a much more even, widespread distribution of UVB across the basking area. What are the dimensions of the tank you have? That will help determine the size of UVB light you need and I can help with that as well. In the meantime, if the weather is warm outside I suggest bringing him outside for some natural sunlight instead of using the coil bulb.
If he's on Panacur that can be a little rough on his system. It may be a good idea to give him some probiotic if you can. Bene-bac, acidophiliz+, or even some non dairy yogurt may help. It's also a good idea to give him some extra hydration as you've been doing. Just drops of water on his nose for him to lick up should do.
The second big thing I'd change is the UVB light. The coil bulbs produce a very intense, narrow cone of UVB which isn't ideal for basking. I suggest getting a tube style UVB light which will put out a much more even, widespread distribution of UVB across the basking area. What are the dimensions of the tank you have? That will help determine the size of UVB light you need and I can help with that as well. In the meantime, if the weather is warm outside I suggest bringing him outside for some natural sunlight instead of using the coil bulb.
If he's on Panacur that can be a little rough on his system. It may be a good idea to give him some probiotic if you can. Bene-bac, acidophiliz+, or even some non dairy yogurt may help. It's also a good idea to give him some extra hydration as you've been doing. Just drops of water on his nose for him to lick up should do.
It's encouraging that he opened his eyes and his activity level is up a bit. For basking bulbs I've had good luck with the 150w ZooMed Repti Basking Spot lamp. You can also use a 90w PAR38 halogen flood light from the hardware store but I've had some issues with these heating evenly. Just be sure you have a dome fixture with a ceramic base that is rated to the appropriate wattage. I'd pick up a spare as well because it's good to have on hand when they burn out. I've also found the adjustable lamp stands to be very helpful with fine tuning the temperatures by adjusting the height of the fixture.
For the UVB light, Petco isn't likely to have what you need. For a 40g breeder tank I suggest using a 22'' T5 UVB tube with a reflective fixture mounted about 12-14'' above the basking site. This can usually be right on top of the tank depending on how high the basking spot is. These are two very good options for UVB.
This fixture http://www.amazon.com/Sunblaster-904296-NanoTech-Fixture-Reflector/dp/B00AKKUBDQ
With this bulb http://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-ReptiSun-10-0-Lamp/dp/B00AQU8HAO/
Or this combo set http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/22-t-5-ho-fixture-high-output-with-arcadia-d3-12-ho-bulb/
For the UVB light, Petco isn't likely to have what you need. For a 40g breeder tank I suggest using a 22'' T5 UVB tube with a reflective fixture mounted about 12-14'' above the basking site. This can usually be right on top of the tank depending on how high the basking spot is. These are two very good options for UVB.
This fixture http://www.amazon.com/Sunblaster-904296-NanoTech-Fixture-Reflector/dp/B00AKKUBDQ
With this bulb http://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-ReptiSun-10-0-Lamp/dp/B00AQU8HAO/
Or this combo set http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/22-t-5-ho-fixture-high-output-with-arcadia-d3-12-ho-bulb/
So the zoomed basking lamp I have is a 100W and its sitting right now at 97 degrees. Is that too cold? Should j get the 150? He has been up moving a little more today but still hasn't eaten yet. It's been 3 days. Could it be the lights or a combination of the lights and his bacteria infection in his belly? He has drank about 10 drops of water today but that's it.
It sounds like the 100w is close but not quite enough. For a little guy you definitely want the temps to be over 100 in the basking spot. You could try lowering it a bit but I wouldn't get it any closer than 12'' from the basking spot for safety reasons. Your better bet would be to get the higher wattage bulb and either raise it higher up or put a lamp dimmer on it to cut a little bit of power. As far as brumation goes, he is likely too young to start brumation. I think it's a combination of lighting, heat, and illness that has him down.
Hello,
I agree, at 3-4 months of age, he wont be brumating yet.
Remember that reptiles get sick slowly & they heal slowly. So, it may take him a week to really start to get better. Once you have the temperatures & lighting down though, it should really start to help him out a lot.
Did you get any probiotics for him yet? How many more Panacur treatments does he have left to take?
Tracie
I agree, at 3-4 months of age, he wont be brumating yet.
Remember that reptiles get sick slowly & they heal slowly. So, it may take him a week to really start to get better. Once you have the temperatures & lighting down though, it should really start to help him out a lot.
Did you get any probiotics for him yet? How many more Panacur treatments does he have left to take?
Tracie
He has 5 more days of his antibiotic. He has moved a little bit more today but he has still not eaten in 3 days. He was able to drink a little water today though, very little. As far as the probitic, do you know where I can get some? I was going to get yogurt but he wouldn't eat baby food today so I know he wouldn't eat yogurt. I plan on getting a 150w bulb tomorrow so hope that will help.
I replaced the one he had today with a new Reptisun desert 10.0. Then I'm going to order the one suggest online. As for the temp gun they where out at the Lowes by me so I got a prope one and yes it was reading 97. So hope if I increase the bulb tomorrow it will help. Do you know the temp the tank is not suppose to go over? I don't want to burn him.
Did you get a compact Repti-Sun then until you can get a tube?
Great that you got a probe thermometer. Place the probe right on (touching) the basking log or rock, then wait 45 min to an hr for the temp to stop rising before getting the final reading. You will want to get a basking SURFACE temp of 103 or so for your 3 to 4 month old but no higher than 110. Then place the probe end on the bottom of the cool side for the same amount of time and you will want a reading between 78 to 82 there.
Good luck, we're all thinking about him.
Great that you got a probe thermometer. Place the probe right on (touching) the basking log or rock, then wait 45 min to an hr for the temp to stop rising before getting the final reading. You will want to get a basking SURFACE temp of 103 or so for your 3 to 4 month old but no higher than 110. Then place the probe end on the bottom of the cool side for the same amount of time and you will want a reading between 78 to 82 there.
Good luck, we're all thinking about him.
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