HELP BEARDIE HAND SWOLLEN

[GazingLife]

I looked at my beardie and over night his hand got swollen. There is no substrate in the tank and he barely moves all day every day, just sits under the bulb. He is just less than a year old. He eates only a tiny bit of lettuce and crickets with calcium powder everyday. But he never eats more than 5 crickets. What do I do about his arm? I don't know how to attach a picture but it looks like the usual swollen arm but with no scratch or bite marks.

 

[Claudiusx]

https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/
You can upload pictures to the site with that link.

It would be good to see a picture of him, his arm, and his setup.

What is his basking surface temp and how are you measuring it?

Has he always had a poor appetite like that?

-Brandon

 

[GazingLife]

I hope the pictures uploaded. I put him and a picture of his setup. His basking spot is 109F measured with a temp gun. He has always had poor appetite like this since I got him at three months. The pet store wouldn't release him brace he wasn't eating because they were leaving adult crickets in his cage!! So I made them release him to me, took him 3 days to start eating and i fed him supplements to get him started. He still hasn't ate more than 5 crickets a day.

 

[KarrieRee]

Please check to see if pics uploaded- click on XIMG if they are there click on the pics- they should post---what are you using for a UVB? No coils they are inadequate-- No colored bulbs---
Please No more lettuce-- he needs greens like collards mustard turnip and kale-- we need to go over the UVB first- basking temps and UVB are the two most important things in the tank
Karrie

 

[GazingLife]

 

[GazingLife]

I don't use any coloured bulbs and the UVB is coiled changed out every 4 to 5 months.

 

[KarrieRee]

Ok so the arm issue is going to need to be addressed by ahbd and Tracie drache613--- the UVB needs to be replaced ASAP w/ this a 24" fixture w/ reflector and a Reptisun 10.0 bulb T 5- check out petmountain for this stuff- the fixture comes w/ a 5.0 bulb hang onto it it can be used as a backup- you can check your local pet stores most box chains don't carry length of fixture- you need to get right away-- make sure the crickets are not left in tank overnite-+ I would switch him over to dubia roaches
Karrie

 

[KarrieRee]

I don't use any coloured bulbs and the UVB is coiled changed out every 4 to 5 months.

Coils are inadequate-- they cause alot of health issues and I am gonna say this could be cause for his arm issue now
Karrie

 

[GazingLife]

Ok so the arm issue is going to need to be addressed by ahbd and Tracie drache613--- the UVB needs to be replaced ASAP w/ this a 24" fixture w/ reflector and a Reptisun 10.0 bulb T 5- check out petmountain for this stuff- the fixture comes w/ a 5.0 bulb hang onto it it can be used as a backup- you can check your local pet stores most box chains don't carry length of fixture- you need to get right away-- make sure the crickets are not left in tank overnite-+ I would switch him over to dubia roaches
Karrie

I would never leave crickets in his tank!! That's why I forced the pet store to release him to me. He is my second beardie. Dubia roaches aren't allowed here and I also have a huge issue with roches in general. There is no pet mountain here. There is no good pet store here for those items o would need to buy them online. I have a retisun 10.0 I'll put that in now.

 

[KarrieRee]

The Reptisun you are putting in is a long tube fixture? here is the website I was talking about www.petmountain.com
Are you in FLA?
Karrie

 

[Claudiusx]

It's possible his arm is swollen from falling off his basking spot. It does look like a decent drop for the little guy. You might want to try a lower basking site with a higher wattage basking bulb.

What is your basking surface temp at currently? And how are you measuring it?

Swelling in the limbs can also be caused by inadequate calcium absorption, which would be related to you UVB bulb setup not being too great. I imagine the coil is on the right hand side of the tank, opposite the basking site? The coils produce hardly any UVB at all, and with where his basking site is, he's getting 0 while he basks. If anything, move the coil over to be right beside the basking bulb so that he gets the highest heat and UV in one area. But still, you're going to need to switch out the Coil for the long tube fluorescents.

He is young, so you want to make sure you get this taken care of ASAP before it ends up causing him life long issues.
I'd suggest ordering the items online. They are cheaper than in person typically anyways.

-Brandon

 

[GazingLife]

It's possible his arm is swollen from falling off his basking spot. It does look like a decent drop for the little guy. You might want to try a lower basking site with a higher wattage basking bulb.

What is your basking surface temp at currently? And how are you measuring it?

Swelling in the limbs can also be caused by inadequate calcium absorption, which would be related to you UVB bulb setup not being too great. I imagine the coil is on the right hand side of the tank, opposite the basking site? The coils produce hardly any UVB at all, and with where his basking site is, he's getting 0 while he basks. If anything, move the coil over to be right beside the basking bulb so that he gets the highest heat and UV in one area. But still, you're going to need to switch out the Coil for the long tube fluorescents.

He is young, so you want to make sure you get this taken care of ASAP before it ends up causing him life long issues.
I'd suggest ordering the items online. They are cheaper than in person typically anyways.

-Brandon

He would not have fallen. He's not a clumsy guy. He only hangs out in 2 spots in the tank as it is. 109F with a temp gun. I put up 2 UVB bulbs now. Why are coil bulbs so inferior to tube bulbs? Everyone here just keeps saying to buy it but no one has said why they aren't good.

 

[Claudiusx]

I did mention why they aren't good. They are extremely weak and produce very little UV. The UV they output is not very strong, and tapers off significantly with distance. For it to provide proper UV levels, it needs to be around 3 or 4 inches from the dragon. That's just not feasible, Especially with a small bulb that only covers 1/20th of the tank anyways.

The tubes are much stronger, output UV in a larger area (linear), and are easier to set up to provide the proper UVI levels to your dragon in it's tank.

Some UV coils are made to be stronger, but they still suffer from the issue of outputing UV in only a concentrated area, unlike tubes that span half the tank or more.

At the least, you need your UV over your basking site.

If you sure the swelling isn't from a fall, the only other option would be malabsorption of calcium then. And the remedy is to increase his absorption alongside supplementation. And the only way to do that is to upgrade the bulb to something that will allow him to get around 3-5 UVI at his basking site, and a gradient down from their to the cool end.

You can do that with:
A reptisun 10.0 T8 tube mounted inside the tank unobstructed, 6-8 inches from the basking site
A reptisun 10.0 T5 HO tube mounted inside the tank unobstructed 12-15 inches away from the basking site
A reptisun 10.0 T5 HO tube mounted ontop of the screen, 8 inches away from the basking site.
Additionally, you can substitute the reptisun 10.0 T5 HO bulbs in those examples with arcadia 12% tubes too.

You could also get an MVB instead, but I wouldn't recommend it in this situation, and it too suffers the issue of UV only in a concentrated area.

Hope that helps.

-Brandon

 

[GazingLife]

I did mention why they aren't good. They are extremely weak and produce very little UV. The UV they output is not very strong, and tapers off significantly with distance. For it to provide proper UV levels, it needs to be around 3 or 4 inches from the dragon. That's just not feasible, Especially with a small bulb that only covers 1/20th of the tank anyways.

The tubes are much stronger, output UV in a larger area (linear), and are easier to set up to provide the proper UVI levels to your dragon in it's tank.

Some UV coils are made to be stronger, but they still suffer from the issue of outputing UV in only a concentrated area, unlike tubes that span half the tank or more.

At the least, you need your UV over your basking site.

If you sure the swelling isn't from a fall, the only other option would be malabsorption of calcium then. And the remedy is to increase his absorption alongside supplementation. And the only way to do that is to upgrade the bulb to something that will allow him to get around 3-5 UVI at his basking site, and a gradient down from their to the cool end.

You can do that with:
A reptisun 10.0 T8 tube mounted inside the tank unobstructed, 6-8 inches from the basking site
A reptisun 10.0 T5 HO tube mounted inside the tank unobstructed 12-15 inches away from the basking site
A reptisun 10.0 T5 HO tube mounted ontop of the screen, 8 inches away from the basking site.
Additionally, you can substitute the reptisun 10.0 T5 HO bulbs in those examples with arcadia 12% tubes too.

You could also get an MVB instead, but I wouldn't recommend it in this situation, and it too suffers the issue of UV only in a concentrated area.

Hope that helps.

-Brandon

Thank you for the explanation. I really appreciate your help and recommendations. I will look into getting a tube fixture. How long until I should be able to see results?

 

[Claudiusx]

No problem.

Honestly I'm not sure, but proper lighting plays a big role in appetite too (and a host of other things for dragons) so there is a good chance you will start seeing some changes in behavior at least pretty rapidly. We've seen people come back here a day after switching their lighting to tell us how different and active their dragon is.

It's good that he is young and you are figuring this out early before some real bone issues start to occur.

Do you have a calcium powder that you use too? That will be important alongside the proper UV.

Keep us posted.

-Brandon