Lethargic Sub adult Beardie Please Help!!

[herplover1]

Hi everyone,

My subadult male beardie is approx. 12 inches long. I got him a few weeks ago and he has been fine until yesterday when he suddenly seemed very lethargic. He just hangs kinda limp on his basking log. He is still eating, but not as well as usual. We have soaked him and are hand feeing him, but he just seems SO lazy. I know he should see a vet, but my husband is also very ill and his medical bills are really making that difficult right now. I just wanted to know if there is anything I can do for him at home first. He doesn't have any signs of an RI, but I'm not sure how his poop looks. I am at work and my kids cleaned it up earlier. THey said it looked kind of grey, but it wasn't diarrhea. I'm really worried about him, its making it hard to work right now. Please help!

Ali

 

[diamc]

I'm sorry to hear that your male isn't acting right. Could you fill us in on the brand and type of UVB you're using and far away it is from him? Are you giving calcium and vitamins, if so, how often are you using each of them? Also, what are the tank temps and what type of thermometer are you using? What has he been eating? What type of substrate is on the bottom of his tank? Has his beard and/or tail darkened at all? Is he housed alone? Sorry for all the questions, just trying to rule things out.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Any updates on your dragon today?
Please answer the questions Diane asked so we can help you better. Thanks.


Tracie

 

[herplover1]

Thanks for the replies, Al has a reptisun 10 in his tank. He can get up to 6 inches from it on his basking log, but it is about 15 inches to the bottom when he's running around. I am giving him reptivite and calcium with d3 daily because he is still small. Tank temps are about 95-105 basking site and about 80 on the cool side. Temps drop to 74-76 at night. I use a temp gun to check temps. He is eating crickets,dubians and salad. His salad, including mustard and turnip greens, kale, swiss chard, peppery greens, cactus plant and fruit and sprinkled with supplements, is available at all times. He is usually fed live foods 1-2 times per day. I feed him as much as he will eat in 10 minutes and remove the rest. We use play sand as a substrate. His beard and tail are not darkened. He was housed alone until last week when my son put him in with my other sub-adult dragon. They seemed happy to have a buddy at first, but now he's not doing well so I'm separating them today. My daughter was coddling him last night while I was at work and he looks a little better today. At least he's basking instead of hiding under his log. Any ideas what could be wrong with him? I'm still worried.

Thanks,

Ali

 

[jortiz9758]

In my opinion the best thing was tp seperate them. Adults should not be housed together, it was probably stressed and or threatened.
I'm glad he is doing much better and I'm sure someone else will chime in with more info.

 

[diamc]

Hi Ali, thanks for answering the questions. It does sound like he was stressed out by being with the other beardie and stress alone can lead to death. If you were seeing the 2 of them laying together at times, that means there were some dominance issues going on. Were you able to get them separated today? Sounds like your daughter enjoys coddling him.

I noticed that you've been giving him Reptivite and calcium daily. Beardies up to about 1 1/2 yrs old, should get calcium 5 days a wk, but only 1 feeding a day and vitamins the other 2 days a wk, but only 1 feeding a day. Too many vitamins isn't good and they could actually over dose on them so it would be a good idea to give as explained above.

That's great that you are using a Repti-Sun 10.0, is it a fluorescent, coil or compact bulb?

How is he acting today, any change?

 

[herplover1]

Al is doing much better now. He has been eating well and running around like normal. He is in his own space now, which I'm sure will help. I will reduce the vitamins a little too. He has a flourescent reptisun 10.0. I think he may have been growing and was extra tired. That always happens with my kids too. Anyway, thanks for all the help. Its nice to have somewhere to ask questions. :mrgreen:

 

[diamc]

That's great that he's doing better and is much more active. I do think the separation made a big difference. Make sure he can't view the other beardie because that could stress him out. He has gone through a lot of changes and you want him to feel as much at ease as possible. Good that you have the Repti-Sun fluorescent. Make sure it is right alongside his basking bulb and 6 to 8" from him when he is basking.

Thanks for the update, news like that is always great to hear.