Impaction

[RoscoPeeta123]

I have a teenage beardie named Peeta. I discovered he has a lump on the side of his stomach. it's not big, but not small. My last beardie died from impaction, i got him to the vet too late. I know for a fact its impaction. He hasn't lost weight (yet), but he hasnt been eating his greens. He does eat all of his crickets, so he didn't totally lose his appetite. I feed him Wax Worms for the first time ever on sunday. I didnt feel the lump yesterday when i held him, or over the weekend when i held him, but it seems too big to have just developed between then and now.

His temps go between 80 - 95. i know their supposed to be to 110. i'm thinking because his temps were too low for him to digest his food, he got impact. i've got a 50w Basking bulb. Should i move the wattage up?

i recently changed his coil UVB to a florescent tube 10.0 repi glo.

i dust his crickets before i feed him, i've only skipped that twice before.

he's got a repi carpet for his flooring, and a 20gal long tank.

He's about 7-8 in.

when my other got sick, i wasn't dusting, had a coil, and didn't gut feed the crickets.

I do all of these now to make sure Peeta didn't get sick, but he did.

I don't understand what i'm doing wrong, any help at all, please.

Thanks.

 

[Beardednoob]

How big are the crickets? They shouldn't be any longer in length the the distance between the dragons eyes. Before a dragon hits 16 inches in over all length they have a natural kink in their digestive tract, this kink is the reason behind feeding rules, it gets obstructed easily.

I would try to get the temps up, bathe everyday for 10-15 up to 20 minutes in shoulder/side height 96-97°F water. You can also try offering pure apple sauce, the apples can help the dragon "go", also let the dragon get exercise, the natural movement of the dragon can help too.

 

[szubelak]

What bearded said about apple juice and baths - you can also try a little bit of oil - like vegetable oil - I've used it on my rescued dragons

 

[Beardednoob]

What bearded said about apple juice and baths - you can also try a little bit of oil - like vegetable oil - I've used it on my rescued dragons

Good point on the oil, might I suggest olive oil. With the oil you want just a couple drops. :wink:

 

[RoscoPeeta123]

The crickets are babies, they're Perfect size.

I'll pick up the apple sauce tonight.

When my other beardie, Rosco, was impact and we took him to the vet, they gave me a mineral and called it a critical care. It's just stuff essential to his life. We mix it with mineral oil, and feed him through a srynge.

Should I buy a larger watt bulb? I have no idea how to get his temps up. He doesn't move much, but he occasionally runs around his cage.

 

[Beardednoob]

I would bump up the wattage. How close can the dragon get to the UV light while basking?

 

[jkeeney1]

My little guy is still getting over this impaction. Luckily I work at vet and somebody here had experience working with beardie. They have him fluids every day for a couple days ad gave him some mineral oil the first day and he passed most of it yesterday. We also fed him apples ad applesauce ad stayed away from live food while he was impacted. The apple products act as a natural laxative. This was a walnut shell impaction ad very bad ad he still made it through it. Your in the right hands here and everybody o the forum helped us get him through this with the help of my work.

 

[ChellyBeans]

Anything that you offer him that will go right through him out to help him out. Soaking in baths definitely help with that problem too. Lightly massaging the area above his vent will help shift things around to make passing it easier. Hold off on offering bugs until you bump up that wattage. What are you measuring temps with?

 

[Claudiusx]

Hi there,

I agree you need to raise your temps up.
What are you measuring your temps with?

I would look into replacing the repti-glo bulb with either a reptisun 10.0 or an arcadia 12%.

-Brandon