Help!!! Color change, loss of appetite, etc......

[shyestblossom]

My daughter was just given a five year old male beardie.This is the first time we've owned a lizard of any kind. He was given to use by a couple that just doesn't have the time to care for him any more. They said they had never had any health issues with him, but now I'm not sure if he is just really stressed because of the move or if something is wrong. We just got him three days ago, he was nice and green/brown when we got him but now he's kind of orange/yellow..... He's eaten very little, isn't drinking (although the previous owners didn't even give him a water bowl :? ) and he isn't moving around much... he sleeps most of the time, as close to his heat lamp as he can get. He's had one poop since we got him. My daughter (she's 14) takes him out often and lets him sit on her, he tends to just sleep there and doesn't really have any interest in what's around him. We haven't changed anything in his tank set-up and we offer him live crickets and a variety of fresh veggies and fruit. What do we do????? Is he just stressed or could he be sick?????

 

[minipumpkin]

could be relocation stress it can last for 2 weeks... anyway if you could answer these questions it would help us help you:

what uvb are you using? coil or tube? make?
how close can he get to the uvb?
what is the make or spot light?
whats the hot/cool side temp?
basking temp?
what are you using to measure the temps?
what substrate are you using?
what feeders are you using?
how much does he eat a day?
are you dusting his food?


can you get any pics for us too see?

 

[shyestblossom]

I'm at work right now, but I'll post all the info tomorrow.

 

[shyestblossom]

Here's all the info you asked for, I'll post pics as soon as I figure out how :? . He has two lights: a florescent Repti-Glo 10.0 15W that stays on during the day and an Infra-Red Brooder with a 60W heat bulb that stays on all the time. We have two Exo-Terra Thermometers, one on each side of the tank. The side with the heat lamp registers 80 and the other side registers 75. The bottom of the tank has a sand of some sort, not sure exactly what. He has a food bowl and a water bowl. He gets fresh water everyday and is offered crickets every other day and a variety of greens daily. He is also given a variety of fruits and veggies 2-3 times a week. We dust the cricket food with Rep-cal Herptivite w/ Beta Carotene (multi-vitamin), and Flucker's Calcium w/ Vit. D3. We also dust the crickets before we give them to him. All he's eaten since we got him are 10 crickets, and a little piece of parsley the first day (saturday oct.8 ) and about 4 more crickets since then.

 

[Roguebaby]

His basking spot needs to be a lot warmer, about 100 to 105... also, they can see the light at night, so that is probably disturbing his sleep.

Good luck!

 

[shyestblossom]

So, should all his lights be off at night?

 

[Roguebaby]

yeah. As long as his enclosure stays above 65, he will be fine.

 

[minipumpkin]

hi, thanks for the info, iv got some info that may help...

the infra-red light isnt any good for your beardie. it needs to be a white light like any normal house hold bulb (not energy saving onces)
they can see infra red light and this can be disturbing his sleep. also at night the temp should be about 65f so no need for the light to be on. if you need a heat source to keep the temp up if it drops lower than this then you might wan to think about a heat mat.

for younger beardies the basking temp should be 105-110f and older ones like it to be about 100-105f as if they dont have this they cant digest their food. the cool side should be about 70-80f

while your beardie is basking he should be able to get his uvb so where ever your uvb is make sure there is nothing in front of it (not even plastic or glass as uvb cant pass though it.) and he should be able to get about 4-6 inches away from it.

your dusting sounds good but i dont know some of them makes. but i see you got the d3 and multi vits so thats good.

have you tryed giving him a bath? ( as im typing this mine are both having a bath ) bathing helps them to go to the bathroom and they also absorbe water which will rehydrate him.

sorry for spelling mistakes and what not.

 

[minipumpkin]

bugger dubble posted

 

[shyestblossom]

We've given him several bathes. Last night he finally pooped and his color is getting more and more back to normal. He's still not eating though. I have a bunch of pics, how do I post them on here?????

 

[shyestblossom]

Here are the pics. You can see him and the set up.

 

[stangbanger]

those thermometers arent accurate - they are too much affected by outside temps since they will give you the temp of the glass

get one with a probe or an infrared one

i got my infrared from radio shack for under $20, you just point it close to the surface and hit the button and it tells you the temp

my basking spot is 110ish degrees, and my stick on thermometer on that side would only read 84 degrees, while the sand read 99 with the infrared

ill be removing them when i change her substrate

 

[Roguebaby]

aww, what a cutie! Glad he is starting to feel better!

 

[minipumpkin]

he looks under weight and maybe dhydrated. have you tryed feeding him some baby food? if not then(mix some baby food with olive oil and some suplements) put a little on the end of his nose and he should lick it off, if he doesnt pull his bottom jaw down a little and syringe the food in slowly. he wont be that happy about it but if its to make sure he keeps his strength up then i would suggest doing it.(i pull the jaw down by pinching the beard and pulling it down... iv herd of people using credit cards as well :roll: not sure whats the deal with that tho)

also the substrate your using is sand alot of people on here would tel you tochange it straight away as it can lead to impaction which could be fatal but other people will say other wise ( im not sure so i play it safe and use lilo and tiles)


also i still think he couldbe a little stressed from the move but he does look under weight. can you weight him for us and measure him from head to tail please just so i can get an idea, thanks.

keep offering fresh food and crickets and hopfully he will get better for you


also where is the uvb tube in the pic? is it the white strip on top of the viv? is there anything between it like glass or plastic??

hope this helps.

 

[shyestblossom]

Thanks for all the info, it helps a lot! His color is getting much better and I switched his infra-red light out for a daytime reptile bulb. He really seems to like it and it raised the temp as well. We also turned off the lights last night and he was much more awake this morning. He was under weight when we got him, I will definately try the baby food though. Any kind in particular that they really seem to like? We keep offering crickets and fruits and veggies, he's just not interested. The UVB tube is the one in the left, there is nothing except the screen between the bulb and the tank. Does the rest of the tank look ok to everyone? We're so new at this and the people we got him from were really messing up with him, I want to make sure that everything is just right for him!
What exactly are lilo and tiles? My pet store had nothing like that. I'll have to check other stores. I'll definately be getting a new thermometer as well.
I'll try to weigh him, not sure on what though, and I will measure him and post asap.

Once again, thanks so much everyone!