HELP SOMETHING IS WRONG!!!

[beckygates]

I have a 1 1/2 inch bearded dragon. I got her along with another bearded dragon about 3 weeks ago from an out of state breeder that was traveling thru town. The other one has grown to double it's size. She has been fed crickets and a salad of mixed greens and shreaded zucinni & yellow squash every day. I had Phoenix worms that I fed her the first two weeks that I got from the breeder, until I ran out.

The problem is that in the last 3 days she has started holding her head at a 45 degree angle. This has made her unable to climb and not be able to walk very well. I know snakes can be born with a stargazing gene, however, don't know enough about Bearded Dragons to know if they have it too. Also, you can tell if snakes have it when they are born. She seemed to be fine, except for she hasn't gained any weight in the 3 weeks I've had her (still the same size I got her).

What can I do to save this little one????

Becky

 

[0mega9401]

whats r ur temps looking like? are u using a uvb? have u tried soaking them ? were r you located? mabye you can a good herp near you? if your in jersey i can point you in the direction of someone with tons more experience then myself

 

[beckygates]

I don't have a temp gauge in there. I have 3 baby dragons in a 12 x 12 x 12 Zoo Med glass cage. I have a 60 watt heat emitter that stays on all the time and a 5.0 Repti Glo bulb that stays on during the day. I have them on a stand right next to my bed so that I can see them all the time. They have wood and hiding spots so that they can go to any level for the heat they want. I have a larger Zoo Med cage that I will put them in when they get older.

I was just reading that Repti Glow lights are not good for them that it needs to be a Repti Sun light. I'm looking online now for one along with a hood that fits my tank.

I did soak all the for the first time last weekend. How often should I do that? I spray the salad with water and was told that was enough water for them, however, I work during the day and it is hard to know who is eating salad and who isn't. I know they all eat the crickets and phoenix worms. (I just ordered more online and will have them on Tues).

I live in Idaho, in Caldwell... close to Boise. I mainly raise Corn Snakes and don't know of anyone else in the area that has or breeds Bearded Dragons.

 

[peera]

Well, for one thing, the breeder sold you these babies WAY to soon. Most reputable breeders will not sell under 6 inches or 6 weeks. Babies are delicate and need everything perfect to ensure survival.
Dragons shouldn't be kept together, espesially if one is thriving and another isn't. It usually means the bigger one is hogging the food and better basking places.
For another, you have 3 in a 12x12x12 tank? Much to small. If this is all you have right now, move the 2 larger ones into the 18x18x18 tank and keep the smallest one in the 12x12x12. However, in the end, EACH dragon needs 8 sq ft of floor space, and they will grow very, very fast when properly cared for. Expect them to be 12-16 inches by 6 months.
If he's keeping his head tilted up, this is a sign of a respiritory infection. Normally, I'd say to get to a vet double time, but at his size there's not much they can do. You need a digital thermometer with a probe to ensure that he has a spot he can get to that reaches 110*, and a cool side that gets down to 80* (This can be very difficult in a tank this small, but it absolutly nessisary to his health). In a If you get the Accurite from Walmart, it also has a built in humidity gauge and that shouldn't read above 35%.
If you must have a Repti Glo, the 5.0 is the least harmful, but still not an excellent bulb. You'll find the ReptiSun 10.0 cheapest on petmountain.com, and you can pick up a cheap hood at Walmart or Ace or Home Depot.

 

[peera]

Filling this out will be a big help too-
How old is your dragon?
How long have you had your dragon?
How long is your dragon?
What is the sex of your dragon?
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in?
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank?
Do you use UVB lights?
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb?
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)?
How old is your UVB bulb?
How close can your dragon get to the UVB?
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage?
What are the basking temps?
What is the cool side temp?
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun?
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps?
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad?
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)?
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc?
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them?
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)?
Do you bath your dragon? How often?
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath?
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon?
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done?

 

[beckygates]

Thank you very much! I will move the 2 "bigger" ones in the 18 x 18 cage today and keep the sick one in the 12 x 12 for now. Actually, I have a 10 gallon tank that I can put her in that I can light better. I will pick up the correct bulbs today.

Being that it is respitory, could it be because I let her soak last weekend? Will she get better or die? Is there anything I can do for that????

 

[Pleaides]

oh my im sorry to hear your babies not well, they really are so very tiny, definitely too small to be sold i would say, they are at an extremely delicate stage. i believe bearded dragons can stargaze but i didnt think that was a good thing i thought that signifies something wrong.
if is in indeed a RI, then you definitely need a vet, but like peera stated im not sure theres much they can do, im not sure if they will administer antibiotics for a such a tiny dragon. RI's can turn into pneumonia if left untreated.
you say shes tilting her head, it could even be the combination of the incorrect UV, heat, calcium and multi vits thats doing this, get the correct UV, reptisun 10.0, the fluorescent tube, no coils or compacts, dust live food with calcium 5-6 days a week and multi vits 2-3 days a week, temps on cool end around 80f, warm end 90-95f and basking 110f.
thats all i can think of right now.
keep us updated on your little one
good luck!

 

[beckygates]

To give you an update, I purchased a couple of 10 gallon tanks yesterday and moved the sick one into one of them (the other one is for 1000+ crickets I have coming this week). I have a 50 watt Sun Glo basking light on top along with a Repti Glo light (Only until my Repti Sun 10.0 comes in on Tues).

She seems to be doing much better. She is holding her head at a more normal angle, however lays flat on her belly most of the time. She did eat some Phoenix worms this morning. I also put about 4 dusted crickets in with her. Not sure if she has eaten any of them yet. I will giver her salad in a little bit. She is still wobbly and doesn't seem to be able to climb on the grapevine or anything else in the cage yet.

I purchased a bottle of Nature Zones Appetite Plus yesterday and wonder if I should use that to stimilate her appetite??

Now on the other two. I moved them into a 18 x 18 x 24 Exo Terra terrariam yesterday. I have a 75 watt Sun Glo basking light on top of the cage. I however, don't have another UVB light available until it arrives on Tues. Will they be ok until then? Should I put a household light on top of the cage? Any suggestions??? I went to all 3 pet stores in my area and the only one that had a Repti Sun 10.0 bulb was charging $48. for it!! The fixture was $49. so it would have been over a $100 just for one fixture! reptilesupply.com will match petmountain.com's price on the Repti-Sun 10.0 bulbs plus for about $25 each they have the Repti-Sun fixtures to go with them. I like the low profile of those fixtures. For two complete light sets it will only cost me $100... plus the overnight shipping, which is still less than the local pet store's.

I actually raise Corn Snakes (I have about 25 of them), however, have always loved Bearded Dragons and thought that I would get a male and two females. I new that I wouldn't be able to keep all 3 of them together for too long once they started to grow. I was hoping though to be able to keep the 2 girls together and the male in a seperate cage. From what I understand though is that it isn't even good to keep two females together in a nice size cage??

Right now the two I have in the 18 x 18 x 24 cage do very well together. They are both the same size and very fat & active. They often lay next to each other, however I've never seem them be aggresive with on another. I have them right beside my bed. I think one is a male and I'm hoping (from what the breeder said) the other one is a female. I know that in about a couple months I will need to seperate them anyway.

My other question I have is how often should I soak them in water?

Thanks & I look forward to your replies!

Becky

 

[Pleaides]

hello becky

ok with the 2 females in question i would seperate them, they are solitary and territorial animals, i also have corn snakes and have bred them in the past (although i do not anymore due to time, money and space) so beardies are like snakes in that department, they get together in the wild for breeding purposes only, it will be only a matter of time until one starts dominating the other, its how we living creatures work, theres always got to be an alpha male.
with the bulbs, you need a good UV flourescent long tube bulb and in conjunction with that you need a white bulb, a household bulb will do, IF your temps are dropping below 65f during the night then get a ceramic heat emitter, they give off heat but no light so their sleep isnt disrupted.
with the baths it all depends on what you want to do, sme people bathe their dragons daily, especially if their due to shed and others only bath once a month so it alld epends if you think their dehydrated or not. if you spray their greens daily then that should be enough, do they drink out their water bowls, if they do then even better but if they dont then maybe bath once a week or so.
hope ive helped
anny

 

[beckygates]

I just took pictures.

Here is my sick one... who I feel is doing better...

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Sometimes when they hatch out they can have deficiencies right out of the egg if the mother was deficient during the egg laying or pregnancy.
It could possibly be nutritional which can be fixed pretty quickly with the correct lighting & supplementation which you are already working on. Dehydration can also cause stargazing, viral or bacterial infections, or head trauma but those are most likely not the case here, other than possible dehydration.
Great that you are working on getting the others all setup with better lighting & putting her by herself for right now.
I hope that she is getting better. How is her appetite?
Wow they were sold way too young.

Tracie.