Help With Baby Beardie!!

[jordy1380]

He passed away in the night, i thought that i tried hard to keep him alive but it didn't work. Another question that i have is that if the UVB bulbs are causing problems in the reptiles, then why are they selling them for desert reptiles. I bought the bulbs specifically for desert reptiles and now people are saying that they are bad for them, the same things goes with the zoo med bulbs it sounds like. I don't see how this can be the problem because that is what they are sold for is the desert reptiles such as bearded dragons. He was on the reptical sand but i moved him to a paper towel substrate when he began to get sick so i don't know.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I am sorry that your baby did not make it. You had him a very short while & it sounds like he was not doing well when you first got him so I highly doubt that you did anything to cause his death. He was ill when you got him.
Is he from the same clutch then, as your other 2 are? You got them all 3 from the same breeder or store, correct?
The ESU 7% slimline desert light is not so much hazardous as it is ineffective actually. It virtually has NO UVB at all, so, if a reptile is left under that light for long durations such as several months it is highly possible that he or she will fall victim to metabolic bone disease leaving them very ill. I do not think that is the case here as he was too young to have suffered from MBD. Also, it is possible that he could have been impacted, but I cannot be positive.
The sand, especially calcisand should not be used for babies or young dragons as they tend to lick their surroundings alot & can ingest to much & that type of sand does not pass at all, or very well. It hardens up like cement & when they try & pass it alot of times, they simply cannot & they may prolapse trying to or pass away because they can't pass anything. The stool you mentioned that was all white, was just all urates or urine. If he had not eaten anything, then he would not have any waste material which would have been brown. He might have been impacted, but for such a short time, if you did not see him eat any sand, he more than likely was not. At this point, it is hard to know for sure.
He most likely was born with a viral or bacterial problem, or just a genetic problem that got the best of him, unfortunately. Sometimes, that does happen.
How are your other 2 doing?
As for the reasons why stores sell bad products, well, there are several reasons why that is. Most of the time, stores are out just for money & don't really care what type of products are sold even if they are below standard or even hazardous. There are some good quality stores, but you do have to shop around to find them.
I am very sorry for your loss.

Tracie

 

[jordy1380]

I thought that he was impacted because that is such a common problem with the baby bearded dragons, but I usually make them eat the crickets on a large rock that is in the enclosure so that they do not ingest any sand or substrates. The other two dragons that are in the cage are doing great! They are both growing like crazy and running all over the place. They have both grown about an inch since I've had them the past two weeks and their colors are starting to come out more so they look awesome. I will have to keep an eye on them and switch my UV bulbs soon. I don't have the funds right now because they are like 35-40$ a piece unless someone knows a very cheep source for the UVB bulbs, particularly the reptisun 10.0 or any other 18" bulb of that quality. I thought that it was kind of unusual for the dragon to be so much smaller than the other ones. I bought them from a breeder and he didn't really know why the beardie died because he has several others from the same clutch that are doing fine just like my other two, so i guess a parasite could've been the problem. I guess that it was a bad experience for him to die, but a good experience for me to do more research and learn everything I possibly can. I did like 3-4 hours of research trying to figure out what was wrong with him and what I could do. The breeder said that he was going to replace the baby with a new one so that is very nice of him . If anyone knows some good sites to get some pretty cheap reptile products that are good quality, that would be greatly appreciated. Right now I have been sticking to PetCo which has some outrageously high prices and LLLReptile online which is great, but bad because base shipping is almost 10$. Thanks for everything everyone and please give any more info that you have.

 

[diamc]

Sorry to hear about the baby beardie passing on. It does sound like he had some health issues before you got him though. One thing with babies is that they can get dehydrated very quickly, so please make sure to keep the other babies well hydrated. Just in case, please don't leave a water dish in their tank though as they can drown in a very small amt of water. Misting should be done outside of the viv as it can raise the humidity level too high which can cause an upper respiratory infection, just wanted to mention that. Offering drinks on their noses with a plastic medicine dropper is helpful as well as bathing 3 to 4 times a wk and you can even hold them in your hand to make them more at ease, making sure that the vent area (where they poo) is right down in the water for about 15 min. Test the water by the inside of your wrist like you would for a human baby.

Here's a site that has the cheapest prices for the Repti-Sun 10.0 fluorescent and they are a great company to deal with. http://www.petmountain.com/product/bulbs/504983/zoo-med-reptisun-10.0-high-output-uvb-bulb.html

Please keep us updated on the little guys and make sure you have accurate temps by using either a temperature gun or a digital thermometer with a long wire & probe end. They can be bought at Walmart for as cheap as $8.00.

 

[Menolly]

Hey,
I'm so sorry. I'm really at a loss for words right now. I'm really glad your other two are doing really well. I wish you the best of luck with them. I'm sorry I couldn't help you more.
Mel