I think my baby beardie is dying....

[AmandaSmith]

I'm almost positive it's too late for my little one. But I'm hoping someone can explain what possibly went wrong. My husband bought me a baby beardie from petsmart the day before Mother's Day. Of course, all we had to go off of was what the people at the pet store told us. It's been about two weeks since we've had him/her and two days ago we realized that something was really wrong. He seemed to be doing well for the first week and a half and it seems like out of nowhere he stopped eating and started sleeping all day and night. We took him to the vet yesterday and all the vet could really tell us was that he was dehydrated.... That was it. Clearly that isn't the only problem. Among some research we found out that he should be eating upwards of about 25 crickets a day?! So there is problem number one, since the day we brought him home, he's had, AT MOST, 10 crickets a day. He seemed to be doing well. Running around, chasing the crickets, eating his veggies for the most part. We have a 20 gallon tank, UVB bulb that gives him a basking spot of 110 degrees. A cooler side of the tank that ranges between 80-90 degrees. One issue we have had that we can't seem to control is humidity. No matter what we do, the humidity has stayed between 50-60. Could this have caused the issue? We have repti-carpet, no substrate. I've been trying to make sure that the crickets are size appropriate. I'd been giving him baths about every 4 days, cleaned his tank out after one week to make sure we weren't soreading anything. This was our first beardie and I'm really sad, I feel like I did something wrong. But at this point I don't think its reversible. He's just tucked up under his plant, sleeping. I got him to eat a couple wax works yesterday after the vet, just to get something in him, but today he won't wat anything at all. I've tried giving him the Zilla brand Jump Start and he won't have it. Won't drink either. I also have him a bath after the vet yesterday and he just lay there unresponsive unless I picked him up. He's been popping regularly. Every single day, multiple times a day, even since he's stopped eating. Sorry this turned out to be so long, I'm just so confused on what could be going on and what to do to reverse it. Any suggestions or words of wisdom would help.

 

[AmandaSmith]

Sorry for the spelling errors. Hopefully you can decipher what I was trying to say.

 

[destiny1998]

Hi. If you are using a coil/ compact bulb get rid of it . Those cause appetite, lethargy problems. Replace it with a reptisun 10.0 Tube. Also if you are using those stick on thermometers. Those are very in accurate. Get a temp gun or a digital with a wire probe as you need to know the temp on the basking surface. You can give him some stage one baby food. Like chicken, turkey, squash and sweet potatoes mix that with some calcium hopefully that will help. Put it on his snout and he should lick it off.

 

[AmandaSmith]

I'm not sure exactly what type of bulb it is, it's the one that came in the kit and of course I don't have the package anymore. As for the thermometer, I have one that has a needle guage, and it's also got the humidity needle guage reader on it as well. How exactly do I force food into him? I've been trying to coax him into drinking water the same way you recommended, which is how I've been getting him to drink for the past week, but today he just doesn't want anything. Water or food.

 

[AmandaSmith]

Okay, it's definietly not a coil bulb. I'm assuming compact is the same?

 

[destiny1998]

Like I said more than likely the uvb is causing these problems replace it ASAP. Also the thermometer is not correct. Get what I mentioned. Temps, and proper lighting are very important to his wellbeing. Once you get all that correct then he should improve. Petstore kits usually come with the wrong lights subtrate thermometers etc. I know as I bought one had to take it all back could only use the tank. You can try an eye dropper, or syringe to feed him. Also can you post a picture of him and the setup? If the uvb looks like a energy efficient bulb then you definitely have the wrong kind. Those do not give off the proper amount of uvb.

 

[AmandaSmith]

I can't post a picture from my phone but I just bought some baby food and am about to go buy a new thermometer. The bulb is definitely not an energy efficient one. I don't really know how to describe it other than its not coil and it's not like the regular light bulb you would use in the house. It's the large rounded kind. The same type that the people at the pet store recommended when replacing my red night time light. If you google ZooMed UVB bulb, it's the third one I believe that comes up in the images section. I think the box says PowerSun on it. It's not that high of wattage but that's what the bulb physically looks like.

 

[SukiLove]

It sounds like you are talking about a mercury vapor bulb, which is an okay source of UVB. I agree you should check the temperatures to get more accurate readings. I feel like babies tend to get dehydrated faster than adults because their temperature requirements are higher, so I've been soaking mine every day for about 10 minutes. Do you mist the cage or have a water dish in there? That humidity sounds really high, and it could make him sick. I would definitely work on bringing down the humidity.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Which wattage of Powersun Mercury vapor bulb are you using & how close is it to him?
As suggested, you will need to get either a digital probe or a temp gun to accurately measure his temperatures. He could be either getting overheated or is not warm enough.
You can go here to this link to help with posting pictures of him & your set up:

https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/#new


Try getting some chicken or turkey baby food, along with some squash or sweet potato baby food using either a plastic dropper or syringe to drop it onto the end of his nose to see if he will lick that off of his nose.

Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie

 

[AmandaSmith]

I'm still having trouble posting any photos. I'll try again in a bit, I replaced the two daytime bulbs today. The "basking" bulb is All Living Things 75w neodymium basking bulb. The other is a ZooMed 13w 10.00 uvb bulb. I also bought a digital thermometer, and turns out that the needle guage one was WAY off. My poor guys basking spot was over 130 hence the replacement of his basking bulb. I then checked the temps and his basking spot is now 110 almost on the dot. Cool side of cage is in the lower 80s. I gave him two baths today. The second time he didn't want to come out, though he was sleeping the entire time (I had his head perched on my finger as to not drown himself accidentally). I've also tried after each bath to feed him with a small syringe but he barely ate anything. I had mixed some baby food, squash flavored, with the repti calcium (had D3 in it), and a little water to help hydration as well. He's just not wanting to eat and I'm scared to use to much force to pry his mouth open. He's breathing, but I can tell from the constant sleeping still that he's not doing so well. Also, as I had previously mentioned, he had not been eating much from the start, and after examining pictures from the day I got him, it's clear that he was already extremely skinny. I guess I just hadnt noticed because he was eating and active so there was no cause for worry.

 

[AmandaSmith]

Forgot to mention that I had been misting the cage but because the humidity was high, I stopped. I also took the water dish out to see if that would help but it didn't. Though I still need to find a new humidity reader because if the temp was so off on the needle guage, I'm sure the humidity one is off too. Any recommendations for a humidity reader would greatly appreciated. And or a thermometor. I just got the easiest looking one I could find at the store earlier. Seems to be pretty accurate as I used it to measure the air in the pet store and the warm water for his bath.

 

[destiny1998]

Hi. Wow!!! The poor guy must have been very hot!!! The neodymium is not good for him. I use a halogen flood bulb. They are cheaper and last a couple of years. I'd take that bulb back and use the money for a halogen flood bulb. Gosh, I really hope he starts to eat. Hopefully Tracie has some more ideas of what else to do. Hope he gets better

 

[AmandaSmith]

Thank you for the advice. What type of light should I be using at night for him?

 

[AmandaSmith]

I'm just so upset that he's sick like this and that no one at the store seemed to think it was important to mention any of these things to us. Ugh. It sure would have saved some time and my poor baby's health.

 

[Esther19]

I am so sorry this happened to your baby and to you. Regardless of the outcome, the little one will know love and good care. Hang in there, dear. We're all pulling for you both.