I think something is wrong with Pac-man

[DonnaG]

Two days ago, I checked on Pac-man and he was on his back next to his big rock/cave. I thought he was dead. I asked my son to check him and he came back and told me that Pac-man was still alive; but, there did seem to be something off about him. I was out of food for him; but, had planned on going to the garden to cut some kale. I drove to the pet store and bought some roaches and superworms. Pac-man ate one of each. Yesterday, I went back to the pet store and got a bottle of liquid vitamins and a box of Repta+Boost. The girl at the pet shop suggested that I get some plain Pedialyte to mix with water. She even gave me a syringe to use.

Since I first found Pac-Man on his back, he has had three crickets, two superworms, and a roach. He looks like he is dehydrated. He also seems to have lost some weight. We weighed him yesterday and he was right around 410 grams.

Yesterday, I mixed up some of the Repta+Boost formula which my son gave to Pac-Man with the included syringe. Afterwards, Pac-Man seemed more alert; or, at least he was holding his head up. This afternoon, my son mixed .5 ml Pedialyte with 1 Tablespoon of filtered water and dosed Pac-Man with at least half of the solution; maybe, all of it.

My son took pictures of Pac-Man which I will share; but, I don't have them attached here. Is there anything else that we can do to try and help Pac-Man? If there is a recommended frequency for dosing him, please let me know. The city where I live does not have a reptile vet. The last exotics vet we had retired earlier this year. He was an avian specilist; but, also saw other types of small pets, like rats and mice.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Can you review your lighting, & the type/brand of UVB lighting you are using?
Please post pictures of your tank setup along with some of Pac-Man so we can see his physical
condition.
When giving the pedialyte, are you using a plastic dropper or syringe by dripping it onto the end of
his nose? Be mindful of giving fluids & go slowly so he wont aspirate on the liquids.
You can continue giving some insects but if he isn't eating quite enough, you can get some chicken
& or turkey baby food, mixed with sweet potato or squash baby food & give a couple of MLS daily to
help with nutrition.
Can you keep him a little warmer overnight, around 80F or so to help boost his immune system?

Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie

 

[DonnaG]

Pac-Man's enclosure is 4'x2'x2'. It's plenty big enough. The original UVB set up had to be replaced because the ballast had gone bad. I replaced it with the same type of tube: T5 HO 39W. The original fixture was from ReptiSun. The replacement fixture is from ReptiZoo. I don't recall the wattage of the heat light; but, when the original bulb burned out, I could only get a replacement at the pet store or online. I do have a heat emitter for extra warmth when needed.

I've uploaded the four pictures that my son took to my Flickr page. I created an album just for Pac-Man and this is the link that Flickr gave me in order to share the album: Pac-Man

I keep offering food to Pac-Man. So far, he has only consumed the items I listed in my original message.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

How is Pac-Man doing today? He does look a bit thin, so hopefully you can get some weight on him, slowly. Keep offering him good quality greens, healthy proteins & plenty of fluids, to get him hydrated.
Absolutely, the 4x2x2 tank is a great size, what a lucky boy he is.
The T5 tube bulb, what brand is that, by chance? Is it
Reptisun, or Reptizoo? If it's a Reptizoo, I don't think the
UVB quality would be as good as from the Reptisun brand.
What were you needing help with, the dosing or the frequency & use of the Repta boost or Pedialyte?

Tracie

 

[DonnaG]

Hello,

How is Pac-Man doing today? He does look a bit thin, so hopefully you can get some weight on him, slowly. Keep offering him good quality greens, healthy proteins & plenty of fluids, to get him hydrated.
Absolutely, the 4x2x2 tank is a great size, what a lucky boy he is.
The T5 tube bulb, what brand is that, by chance? Is it
Reptisun, or Reptizoo? If it's a Reptizoo, I don't think the
UVB quality would be as good as from the Reptisun brand.
What were you needing help with, the dosing or the frequency & use of the Repta boost or Pedialyte?

Tracie

I think Pac-Man has died. Yesterday, he was moving around in his enclosure. He looked like he might have been improving.

Today, we can't get any response from him. We tried putting him in a tub of warm water and that got no response whatsoever. My son tried to hear his heart by putting his ear down on Pac-Man's back and belly. He said it might be easier with a stethoscope. But, he could not hear anything. I don't know why Pac-Man had been on his back the other day. It was not in a place where he would have gotten trapped if he slipped off his rock. I don't know why he stopped eating. Yesterday, he even had a bowel movement.

The fixture is Reptizoo; but, the light is Reptisun.

I'd have to go back through my previous posts to see if I made any mention of when we first got Pac-Man. My son said it was in 2021 around April. Based upon everything I've read about how long Bearded Dragons can live, three years doesn't seem like a very long time.

Throughout his live, I gave Pac-Man organic kale and collards; since these were available at the grocery store where I shop. At various times, I would also give him organic blueberries, carrots, watermelon and certain herbs, like basil. The protein sources have included crickets, dubia roaches, and BSFL. I've even raised my own dubia roaches and tried my hand at raising crickets.

When I started gardening at the community garden; especially, after I got Pac-Man, I grew greens and other vegetables with him in mind.

If Pac-Man is really dead, what do I do with his body?

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Oh no, that is so sad! No, 3 years is not very old, normally their life span is 8-12 years on average, but
sometimes longer.
I don't know what could have happened unless he was just having a lot of calcium issues, or perhaps
he had a stroke. Without having a necropsy done, it's hard to know for sure.
You can place him in the refrigerator if he is truly gone, if you wanted to get a necropsy done. A lot of
people cremate them also. Or you can have a little burial for him, too it is up to you.
I am very sorry this has happened to Pac-Man.

Tracie

 

[DonnaG]

Thank you, Tracie. We ended up burying Pac-Man in the front yard under the trash bin. I would have liked to bury him under a tree or among the wildflowers; but, we don't have anything like that in our yard. We scraped away as much of the rocks as we could; then, my son dug a fairly deep hole. He wrapped Pac-Man's body in newspaper and placed him in the hole. Then he replaced the dirt and topped it off with the rocks.

I think eventually I would like to get another bearded dragon. Pac-Man was prettty cool. The fact that he was up and about during the daytime worked in his favor. After I brought him home, I would take him to PetSense once a week to visit the girl who had worked with him while he was there. She enjoyed it quit a bit. I don't know if Pac-Man remembered her; but, he also seemed to enjoy the visits.

What can I use to clean and sanitize Pac-Man's enclosure? Yesterday, I asked the store manager if I could use a 10% bleach and water solution. She said that I could; but, I would have to make sure to rinse it well. She said that she uses chlorhexidine at home for her reptile enclosures. She said that the advantage is that it doesn't have to be rinsed. There was somebody different at the store today. He said not to use bleach. He recommended a product called Wipe-Out. I don't remember the active ingredient.

What do you suggest?

The cave/rock that Pac-Man used to sun himself on is something that I built. It might be difficult to sanitize. Its base material is styrofoam; but, it was coated with many layers of grout. Even though I had added a polyacrylic glaze, it's still relatively porous. It might be better to just make a new one.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That sounds lovely, Pac-Man will have a great resting spot. I am sorry you & your son lost him like that, but at least he was not alone & he was with you.
That is true, you can use a very diluted bleach solution to clean the tank, etc but you definitely need to rinse everything very well. You can bake any wooden items in the oven around 200F or so, for 30 minutes or so.
You could sit the cave/rock outdoors in the sun, to clean it.
The Chlorhexidine is a great non toxic cleaner, so you can consider that one too for cleaning. A diluted water & vinegar solution can be used too for disinfecting.

Tracie