DeJesus0624":d1324 said:
hello, i need some advice and guidance. i have a 7 month breadie that i received from a friend. my friend still has his litter mate both are suppose to be greman gaints and the same age,but i look that specimen up.my guy looks nothing like that type of breadied plus when i received my breadie, he litter mate was four times bigger than him. when i received him four months ago he was the sizes of a hatchling and his litter mate was as big as a six month beardie if you can image that. since i have him he has grown at a stunning rate. but lately he has demonstrated some unusal behavior and traits. he has been sleeping alot on the cool side of his enclosure which happens to be a 40gal breeded tank,*****. consits of a under hearter and EXO Terra,zoo med thermo's stick-on's which happen to read 90 degree's on the warm side along with the under thermal, on the cool side it reads 85 degrees. i have a EXO Terra 10.0 UBV/UVA 26watt light,and a flukers 150watt basking light. my breadie has also has been exper, some loose and running stools which consits of a brownish-green urine like substance and a green like over cooked spinach stool at times.He diet consits of romaine,mustard greens,gut-feed crickets & mealworms. i offer him a variety of foods but picks out what he does not like.you see at this time i can afford to take him to the vet i was recently laid, so if any one could give me some insight that would be great.
Hello and welcome! :wave:
In looking at the information you provided, I do see some things that should be addressed. First, the
UVB light. This is a coil type light yes? Coil lights are rather well known around here, and not for good reason I'm afraid. They have been linked to poor appetite/calcium absorption/D3 synthesis, lethargy, slow/stunted growth, and at worst radiation poisoning and MDB. Here is a thread/with link that will explain more: [ Invalid URL Removed / p= t=65424 f=1 ]. The fact that your beardie was the size of a hatching at 7 months is certainly concerning. Was he housed with the other dragon by any chance? It could also have to do with the husbandry (tank set up, lighting, heating, et al) he was receiving. How long is he now, tip of tail to nose?
My best advice is to
TURN OFF THE COIL LAMP immediately and permanently. Here is a link to an excellent and safe bulb at a great price:
http://www.petmountain.com/product/reptile-fluorescent-bulbs/504983/zoo-med-reptisun-10.0-uvb-bulb.html. I highly recommend that you secure a ReptiSun 10.0 tube ASAP. You will likely find an inexpensive fixture for this light at a hardware store, rather than the pet store which will charge you an arm and a leg. With the ReptiSun, make sure that your beardie can get to within 6-8 inches of the tube at the basking site, and that it is aligned with the basking bulb (please see below) at the basking end of the tank as follows:
___________________UVB tube
0 basking bulb
...so that beardie has benefit of both bulbs while basking for optimum calcium absorption and thorough digestion. Also, the bright white light of the basking bulb helps to guard beardie's eyes from the UVB rays.
Alternatively, because your tank is a 40 breeder, you can opt to use a mercury vapor bulb (UVA/UVB/HEAT all in one). A 100w fits a 40 breeder nicely. If you go this route: The
MegaRay, the
T-Rex and the Exo Terra
Solar Glo are all brands I can recommend, however take care to
AVOID the ZooMed PowerSun as it's been causing health problems for beardies as of late. Please let me know if you'd like to go this route, and I'd be most happy to provide specific details as to how to go about installing the MVB... we use one in our 40 breeder and it's wonderful. Our girl got off to a slow start no thanks to a compact UVB and so the MVB has been a big lift... also, they need only be replaced once per year as opposed to twice with the tube types.
Second, the basking light. A 40 breeder is usually finely equipped with a 100w basking lamp (sometimes 75w if room temps are on the high side). A 150w sounds awfully high which leads me to my third concern. To high of temps can cause rapid dehydration. Sadly, the stick on dial thermometers are just not accurate, and have been known to be up to 20 degrees off in either direction. Additionally, they do not give you the ability to gauge temps directly under the basking lamp/on the basking surface and in that, are useless in gauging what is happening for beardie under that light--which is very important to your beardie's health and safety. Loose/runny stools can be attributed to too high of temps, but being that he's been under a coil, I would also get a fecal sample into the vet to rule out parasites. A
"digital with probe" thermometer is essential in gauging accurate temps in the tank, in particular basking temps.
A tip: WalMart (and I've also found them at Lowe's) carries an inexpensive "digital with probe" thermometer (with hygrometer). The thermometer is made by Acu-Rite is around $12. Alternatively, you can use a temp gun, but they tend to be more pricey.
When using a digital with probe, please take care to leave the probe on the basking surface/directly under the heat lamp for 45 minutes before reading temp. Please let me know on the temps. Also, are you
bathing your dragon (a good 15-20 soak 2-4 times per week, in baby warm water up to shoulders)? I would say being that your dragon is struggling and possibly under too high of temps, you will want to
bathe daily for a time to bring up
hydration levels.
Also, note that a basking lamp can he a simple household incandescent bulb... flood, spot or regular so long as it's bright white and gives proper temps which for a juvie should be 105-110 (directly under the lamp, taken with digital with probe or temp gun as explained above).
Lastly, as to his diet, you will want to make some changes there as well. Romaine offers little or no nutrition to a beardie. The mustard greens are great however.
Good that you are gutloading the crickets, as they are an excellent staple if gut loaded. Mealies are best left to
occasional feeding only as they are high in fat and low in nutrition. However many avoid them entirely as their hard chitin shells pose an impaction risk. More nutritious and safer worms would be phoenix or silks, butters or horns. Here is an excellent food resource guide for beardies (do's and don'ts):
http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html. Are you supplementing live feeders with calcium then? How often are you offering live feeders and about how many is beardie eating per day?
Hope this helps a bit. Please let us know on the temps and other questions, and please keep us updated on your dragon.
The best,
Em
