my beardie had a seizure

[seansean]

i'm not sure what it was, but any kind of help or insight would be greatly appreciated.. he was on his rock and suddenly he flailed about and fell off. it scared me a little bit, because he has never displayed that kind of behavior before.

 

[KairaandTaz08]

I think you may want to move your post/repost this under "health" or "beardieER"...it sounds serious and will get more attention/responses there. There is a list of questions about cage set-up, feeders, etc. that would be helpful to us to figure out the problem. I believe you can find that under "health".
How is he doing right now? What are his temps/humidity? Is he showing any signs of parasites (runny, smelly stool, weight loss, loss of appetite) anything abnormal?
Abi

 

[vickson420]

topic moved to ER for better exposure

 

[seansean]

the temp in the cage is 92f, the humidity is near 30%, his color is normal, but he seems less active than he normally is. his appetite is unchanged. but when i fed him earlier, it was like he couldn't accurately judge where his food was. i'm going to clean his tank and sanitize it in the morning. he's still as curious as ever and it might have been an isolated incident, but i love my Homie and am not going to take any chances. i've opted not to pick him up today, so we'll see. any help is aprreciated. thank you.

 

[Menolly]

Hey,
Aww poor thing! Well you have the best people here to answer your questions. Could you just answer a few first?

What type of bulb to you have (be specfic wattage and everything)?
What type of thermometer do you use? And where do you take the temperatures?
What insects do you feed your dragon?
Do you use a calcium supplement, if so how many times a week?
What kind of veggies do you feed your dragon (be specific)?
Do you offer a vitamin supplement?
How old is your dragon and how long have you had him/her?

Those temperatures seem a little low. The basking site needs to be between 100-105 degrees so your beardie can properly digest his/her food.
Mel

Mel

 

[Kazul]

I just got done with my baby doing the same thing.

Like Mel asked, what kind of UVB bulb are you using (coil, compact, strip) and what brand? How old is it?
What's the brand of supplement (vitamin/calcium) do you use?
What kind of substrate are you using?

My first suggestion is take out anything s/he can climb on and put down a towel/washcloth down for cushion in case s/he has more seizures.

In case you want to see what I did when I was helping my little Squirrel out, here's the thread I started:
viewtopic.php?f=45&t=91854

 

[seansean]

i'm using a 60 watt edison bulb on his warm side. we gauge the temp with a small hand thermometer and its usually around 90 to 110 f, the place we live is kind of drafty. he eats mainly superworms, some crickets, and greens (collard, mustard, romaine).. i feed him an occasional carrot, but he's really not into them. i've been using washed playsand. he seems back on track today, though. i bathed him and let him run around for awhile today.. he's attentive and his normal curious self. i hope it was an isolated incident, because whatever it was, was definitely not cool. oh yeah, his name is Homie. we picked it because we think its funny how he cocks his head when you talk to him.

 

[KairaandTaz08]

i'm using a 60 watt edison bulb on his warm side. we gauge the temp with a small hand thermometer and its usually around 90 to 110 f, the place we live is kind of drafty. he eats mainly superworms, some crickets, and greens (collard, mustard, romaine).. i feed him an occasional carrot, but he's really not into them. i've been using washed playsand. he seems back on track today, though. i bathed him and let him run around for awhile today.. he's attentive and his normal curious self. i hope it was an isolated incident, because whatever it was, was definitely not cool. oh yeah, his name is Homie. we picked it because we think its funny how he cocks his head when you talk to him.

When you say "hand thermometer" do you mean a temp gun? What about a UVB? How old is he? Superworms shouldn't be fed to beardies younger than 6 months/smaller than 16" long, same with the sand (glad it's washed playsand though ). I'd stick to collards and mustards for right now, carrots aren't the "best". Are you dusting his crickets?
Glad Homie is back to normal, though! They do tend to "cock" their heads' to the side when you talk to them, it's cute. They're curious little things!
Let us know on the other stuff, though. Lighting and heating is VERY important, along with feeders, calcium & multi-vitamins.
Oh, and you may want to try to get his humidity up just a bit. 35-45% is good (I'm struggling with that myself, though ...a 75 gallon and a 40 gallon in the same room get very different humidity levels!)
Abi

 

[UncivilisedDragon]

seizures and shivering can be a sign of calcium deficency, i would take your lizard to the vet and they sould give you something like Calcivet, it will give your beardie and extra calcium boost. If the money is an issuue (i know exotic vets are expensive) make sure your dusting his food with calcium suppliment ever few days, also taking him out in the sun at least twice a week for half an hour can help. This is the advice my vet gave me when my Beardie showed shivering long ago. She said it was the sign before sezures, so it might help with the problem.

 

[nikkicostello89]

Hi,

I too would also recommend a vet visit, even if he seems fine. I had this experience and it was a neurological problem - an infection near the brain. He may need some antibiotics. A blood test will show if he has an infection of any kind.

Good luck. And i'm glad that he's acting normally again - i know that it can be a scary experience.

Nikki

 

[tyryce]

Hi,

I was wondering if you could review my posts. It is under the beardie ER -New Owner Dragon Tremors. I believe my nearly 3 month old beardie is having the same problem with seizures that yours had. I got great recommendations from people on this site but am so upset because he is still seizuring. I was wondering how your dragon is doing now and how long it took for him to get better. My posts explain things in a little more detail. It would be great if you could let me know how things went.

 

[lovemebeardie]

Be sure that he is getting plenty of calcium. Seizures are a sign of calcium deficiencies. Be sure to give your little buddy calcium supplements, and
if that doesn't clear it up get to the vet. I would get him to the vet regardless, perhaps it is something neurological. Best of wishes.