My Beardie Ill Help

[AnnaD]

My 6 months old shrek has been twitching and acting really strange he can stand on his legs but then floops he his lathergic he has been led on branch all day under heat lamp and his toes are twitching. got him out and he his very jumpy he eats but didnt chase the crickets . it started today he his usaully very lively . Please Help !

 

[dobby293]

What kind of UVB light do you use? do you dust his food with calcium?

 

[protiemama]

So sorry to hear your little one is doing poorly. You came to the right place for help though. Hopefully he'll be well soon. "We're here to help!" OK, OK, been watching TV with the kids a bit much. :lol:
On the surface it sounds like he has a calcium def. or mbd. If you could give us a bit more infoit will help one of our experts to give you some advice.
What kind of lighting do you use? Be specific-size, wattage, coil,compact or regular floresent.
What are your temps and how do you measure them? (digital thermometer or stick on) Be sure to include basking and cool side.
Does he get any calcium and/or vitamin suppliments? If so what kind? And what do you feed him? And how often?

This should help give an idea of where the problem may be. Or eleminate things so we can find the real prob.

Sandy H

 

[AnnaD]

hi. its a 40w reflecter heat lamp, and a 25w light bulb. by reading your comments this is totally wrong.
i have had him for 3 months and and his viv ect came with him. he diets on crickets, locus and loves cucmber.
he has been a very happy chap until today and he is still twitching

 

[xsmako1]

do you use any calcium supplements???? if so what??
also id recomend a reptisun 10.0 for uvb

 

[AnnaD]

he is not on any. wot shall i get

 

[dobby293]

Ok. He is way to cold. He needs a basking area of about 110 degrees, a warm site of 90 and cool side about 80. You need to dust the crickets with calcium (some thing with no phosphates). They get MVB quickly with no calcium. You could take him to the vet and they can give him liquid calcium. BD's need UVA and UVB to be healthy. The best UVB that I have found is the REPTI-SUN 10.0. it is a tube light.

 

[protiemama]

Oh, Anna, sounds like you and Shrek are the victims of some bad advice. I'll try and get you started and see how it goes.
Bummer- if you were in the States I could tell you exactly where to get everything, but it sounds like you must be British- We can't get locust over here! I'll pm someone to help you locate things over there.
Two things you need right off- A uvb bulb and a digital thermometer. They must have uvb to process vitamin D and calcium. A great bulb is the Repti-SUN 10.0, but ya'll have an equally good bulb over there that is easier for you to get. Again one of our friends "across the pond" will have to help find that. The temps should be between 100 and 110 farenheight on his basking and around 80 on the cool side. I know, I know, that's not how ya'll measure things. sorry I haven't lived in Europe since the '80s and have forgotten how to convert. You need a digital thermometer to get an accurite temp reading. Stick ons don't work well.
His feeders need to be dusted with calcium w/t D3 once a day 5 days a week and vitimins twice a week. He may need liquid calcium for a bit since he has started having probs. You could start feeding him phoenix worms (also called calci-grubs/worms) They are high in calcium naturally and dragons love them!
If you go to the top of the page, right under the banner, you will see Care sheets and articles. If you read through a few of those it will help you understand things a bit more. They helped me so much when I first started out. Check out the Beautiful Dragons caresheet and food lists. They are color coded for the best and the worst things to feed your dragon. Some of us have printed them out and use them for reference!
You should probably get your little guy to a vet too. If you can afford it. He might need a calcium shot to give him a boost and stop those shakes. The other changes will still be needed to get him well.
I do wish you luck, keep us posted, please.

Sandy H

 

[AnnaD]

i will and thank you very much. we british!!

 

[Pleaides]

hey
ok if you are indeed from britain then heres a few websites i get all my things from, not badly priced either i wouldnt have said.
for the reptisun i go here, the the 3rd one from the bottom of the page - http://www.livefoods.co.uk/index.php?cPath=50

for multi-vitamins id recommend nutrobal and you need a calcium supplement, you get those here - http://www.livefoods.co.uk/index.php?cPath=72

just in case your temps drop too much during the night, you could get a ceramic heat emitter, which dont give off no light whatsoever, again you can get that here - http://www.livefoods.co.uk/index.php?cPath=67, this is just the bulb though, you would need to get heat resistant cable and a fitting otherwise it will melt it.

a couple of other really good websites are - http://exotic-pets.co.uk/
http://www.888reptiles.co.uk/produc...omplete Setups&manufacturer=Triple 8 Reptiles
hope this helps.

 

[protiemama]

Wow, you are good! :shock: Thanks so much Pleaides! I just asked Holly to come help, but you got here faster.
She still needs to know where to get a digital thermometer and cheap fittings for her lights. Here we have Wal-Mart and Home depo or Lowe's Hardware. Don't know about there. :dontknow:
Holly any suggestions?

Sandy H

 

[Pleaides]

erm i got my cable from B&Q or try homebase.
as for the actual fitting my local pet shop sells it so im no sure where to get that.
heres where you can get a digial thermometer and hygormeter, its the 2nd and 3rd one down, not the top one - http://www.livefoods.co.uk/index.php?cPath=66

 

[AnnaD]

THANKS ILL GET THEM. POOR LITTLE MAN. ITS BEEN -5 HERE TODAY.

 

[Pleaides]

oh here you can get the fitting and a guard to protect said little beardie from burns - http://exotic-pets.co.uk/ceramic-heater-and-accessories-for-sale.html

oh also you may wanna get some different greens, cucumber isnt very nutrional, you could try rocket, pea shoots, watercress, butternut squash, cress, spring greens or frresh greens, i get all those from tesco or sainsburys :lol:

hope ive helped

 

[AnnaD]

I have give Shrek some calcium Liqiud and already he is perking up, he is still twitching but is moving around and getting back to his cheeky little self.
Put him an heat mat in to keep him going, an a UVB light his being fitted tomorrow.
Thank you for all your messages and advice it is greatly appreciated.
Anna