Loose skin ???

[LoLo1010]

Hello. As I said in my introduction....this little critter was dumped on my doorstep. I have no idea what Im doing but im trying to learn as fast as I can to make sure he is healthy and happy.
I have looked at some pictures of other Beardies and they seem to fill there skins a bit more than mine. His skin seems quite loose. Is this due to him being dehydrated or underfed or is it normal? Im not sure how old he is so not sure what weight he should be. He's about 12"-14" in length. I haven't seen any poop action since I aquired him 2days ago. He has eaten crickets and some veg but now he seems to be sleeping/resting for long long periods of time. I have had to stroke him to see if he is still alive and breathing. Any guidance would be much appreciated as I wasn't given the chance to prepare being thrown in at the deep end.

ps I've only just found out about these UVB lights. At the moment I only have a red heat lamp in the tank. Are UVB lights easily obtainable and what wattage would I need for a 3.5' tank? How often/long should they be on for? etc.

Thank you

 

[GeckoGarden]

Give the little one a bath, the lose skin can be from dehydration and from being under weight.

 

[maverickgtr]

Do you have any other pictures or do you know how much he weighs? I can't tell from that angle if he's too skinny. He does look a little thin from what I can see though. Crickets will help with that though. Loose skin could be dehydration too though so if you give him a bath and let him swim around in the bath tub full of water that's about the temperature of your hand [not too hot, not too cold] that should help.

UV bulbs are easily obtained. Most pet stores have them, Petsmart and Petco have them, but they sell UV bulbs at retail and the reptile stuff rarely goes on sale. You can order one off Amazon too and take your new beardie outside for an hour a day if it's not too cold in the mean time. You'll need a 10.0 UV bulb. Get a long tube one that fits across the tank you have, the compact florescent ones have been known to cause eye problems. Red infrared bulbs can affect their sleep as well, I'd recommend a ceramic heat emitter, again Amazon has those but so does Petsmart and Petco, but again, they're much more expensive. Lights are usually on a 12 hour on-12 hour off cycle unless you want to breed.

Not sure what size tank you have now, but since he's full grown he'll need at least a 40 gallon breeder tank, "breeder" just means it has more floor space and isn't as tall.

Here's a great website that gives you a list of foods that are good or bad to give beardies, it's been incredibly helpful to me especially when I was first starting out.

The lack of moving could be brumation depending on where you live and what it's like outside. He could also just be stressed out from the new location. Or it could be he didn't have UV lights at his last place either.

If you have anymore questions or if I missed something just ask and I'll [or someone else will] be more than happy to help!

 

[essenm25]

Seems like he is underweight, I definitely agree on the bath. Make sure the water is warm and not too deep (this may also help him use the bathroom) and leave him in there for around 10 minutes. Maybe hold him if he is nervous. For UVB most people recommend Reptisun 10.0 the tube NOT the compact. You can get it at most pet stores and I would do this ASAP, unfortunately they cost around $25. It probably explains why he is sleeping so much and not eating as much either. The Reptisun will give him lots of energy and increase his appetite (eating around 40ish cricket a day although this varies for all beardies, a lot of people dust their crickets with vitamins and calcium powder). Also it sounds like you have a heat lamp which is good, his temperatures should be around 100 in his basking spot you can get a cheap thermometer for like 2 or 3 dollars at Meijer. Its great that you are taking on the little guy in such short notice, keep me posted on how he is doing!

 

[LoLo1010]

Hello.
Thanks for the quick replies. I have Sandy in a 3'x2'x2' glass fronted cabinet. His temp is at 28-30c. I live in Scotland so not the warmest of places to take him outside. It was quite warm yesterday so I had him on my knee and he seemed to enjoy the surroundings and the noises. He does like to to sit in the cat basket in the sun much to my cats annoyance. I have found a seller on ebay that deals in reptile bulbs etc. With the size of tank I have would a 24" bulb setup be enough or should I get a 30" bulb setup. Should I use a full spectrum tube along side the Reptisun 10.0 tube?

I've weighed him in at 407g and he is 17"-18" long. A bit longer than I first said.

Just gave sandy a bath. After 5mins of hanging on to me and sleeping, tut, he finally let go and had a swim about and a great big poo, yeah. It took me a lot longer to get him away from the shower. He absolutly loved the shower on his face. He is now fast asleep on my knee.

 

[maverickgtr]

Yea, he's thin. No worries though, as soon as you get the UV light on him, he'll start eating more crickets than you can count! The 24" setup should be perfect for your enclosure. You'll also want a hot spot in his tank that's a bit hotter than your ambient temperatures. The basking spot should be around 100*F so about 38*C. If you're going to go ahead and get a ceramic heat emitter, I'd recommend just a daylight basking bulb, just a regular incandescent one will work. Put it near the infrared or CHE so your beardie knows where to bask for heat. Oh! Make sure you dust his greens and crickets with a calcium dust supplement.

 

[LoLo1010]

Thank you.
I will order lights tomorrow for my wee boy. I have been dusting his greens and crickets. He was in a very dirty state when he arrived here so I cleaned out his tank and replaced the muck with clean chinchilla sand. I know this is not ideal and I've been feeding him away from the sand so he doesn't eat it with his food. I have ordered some T-Rex Calci-Sand substrate so as soon as that arrives I can get rid of the Chinchilla sand. In the past 2 days this little boy has cost me a small fortune but he's worth every penny. He's very clingy and cuddly with me. He seems to like sticking his head under my chin.

 

[Kaiser]

You want to avoid using a loose particulate substrate, even the ones that are marketed towards reptiles. The thing is, bearded dragons do not naturally live on sand; they do live in deserts, but not all deserts have sand (e.g., Antarctica is considered a desert, but no sand; what makes a desert a desert is little to no rainfall, little to no permanent sources of water on the surface, and no substantial vegetation; nothing to do with sand). Bearded dragons live in the Australian deserts, primarily the ones where the earth beneath them is packed, baked clay.

Loose particulate substrates such as sand (Calci-Sand is particularly harmful, as it clumps when moistened, and absorbs moisture, which is dangerous when ingested), crushed walnut, etc. can cause impactions (as well as harbor bacteria and can create potential for infection when entering the eyes or open orifices/wounds). The risk is always present, though some people do get away with it without any apparent problems. Just a heads-up so that you are aware.

Safer substrates include: newspaper, paper towels, reptile carpet, non-adhesive shelf liner, or tile.

Otherwise, everyone's advice so far has been great, and I hope that his condition improves. He's a lovely little guy, and I am glad that you've taken a liking to him (and that he's taken a liking to you)! :]

 

[TASTIGER]

sand is not good for them they lick everything and some will actually like the taste of the sand so they will eat it. the sand can clump and cause them to become impacted which could eventually kill them

 

[Bwalter]

Please do not use sand, My daughter had a very nice female around 1-2 years. i just loved her, and the reason I got my baby. She had her on sand, haven't had a problem with her, gave her to a friend, friend put her on the colored sand and within a couple weeks I guess she ate so much of it, she died before they could help her, it just broke my heart when I heard that. I did a lot of research before I got mine so I know I am doing everything right. I have mine on paper towls, he loves to crawl under them for a nap, but very easy to clean.
Your guy does seem underweight, but he should gain it good , and with the right lighting you should do fine.

 

[LoLo1010]

OK. will get rid of sand today. So much to learn. I wish I had more time to learn all this. I wish people would stop buy pets they can't be bothered to look after properly. I've had Cats, Rabbits, Hamsters dumped on me because people can't be bothered to look after them. Its made things very difficult for me at the minute as I don't have a job but I feel I must do what I can for the little boy.

thank you again folks.

 

[TASTIGER]

dont worry its a learning process and we are all here to help any questions just ask :wink:

 

[LoLo1010]

UPDATE
I have just spent £110 that I didn't have. The wonders of plastic, :shock:
The sand has been removed and replaced with newspapers. He now has a ceramic heat emitter and a Reptisun 10.0 tube. Plus a few boxes of grubs and crickets.
I need some more greenery just to make things a bit more interesting for him but everything looks so much brighter, cheerier and cleaner for him. The temperature before the change was 30c max. When I had the red heat lamp and the ceramic heat emitter on it went to about 42c. I turned off the red lamp and the temp is sitting at 37c. When I turn his UVB light off at night should I turn the red heat lamp back on? Someone said that it could disrupt his sleep.

Piccy1. Sandy basking in his hot spot on his funky bridge after stuffing his face with grubs. This is the best I can do at such short notice.

Piccy2 Sandy having bath and shower.

Sandy has started showing some odd behaviour. He was sleeping in his hot spot when he jumped up suddenly and started to stamp his feet and looking round him in a manic sort of way. He then took off like a bat out of hell and sat on his branch and bobbed his head up and down for a couple of minutes. I haven't seen him move so fast since I got him. Is this due to the new light set up etc. He's now sitting looking all snobby.

You guys have been a great help and it's much appreciated. Thank you from me and Sandy.

 

[Jamiedog]

Wooooooooooow, he's looking a lot better already! Definitely looks more bright-eyed than he did in that first picture. Poor little guy... But sounds like you're doing well by him! You may not have asked for him, but it looks like you're made for each other. :wink: (I love his little bridge - that's so pretty, and adds a nice spot of color to the viv.)

 

[maverickgtr]

He looks great! You don't need the infrared light anymore. When you turn his UV lights off just leave the ceramic heat emitter on and he should be good. A small temp drop at night is ok.