My beardie is ill =[ please help!

[aaceofspades]

ive had my bearded dragon (aace) for about 3 months now. About 1 month ago i went away on a trip and left him too my brother to care for untill i got back. I specifically told my brother, DONT FEED HIM MEAL WORMS. However he did not listen. Anyways. about a week after i got back from my trip Aace stopped eating and his stress marks started to show badly. He was losing weight fast. So i took him to the vet asap. They said he had a coccidia infection and prescribed albon liq. 5%. i found this website the other day as soon as i finished the treatment. so it was a bit late. He is starting to gain his appetite back only eating still 15 crickets a day, rather than the old 5 when he was sick. also his stress marks get bad and he turns completely black underneath when hes basking so can someone help me determine if my cage is too hot/cold and what not? ill keep posting. finally i have a fecil sample for tomorrows final vet checkup, if anyone wants a picture of it let me know?

 

[Ethelia]

Hello there,
Im sorry your little guy isnt doing well.

Can you answer the following questions please?

How old is your dragon?
How long have you had your dragon?
How long is your dragon?
What is the sex of your dragon?
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in?
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank?
Do you use UVB lights?
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb?
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)?
How old is your UVB bulb?
How close can your dragon get to the UVB?
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage?
What are the basking temps?
What is the cool side temp?
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun?
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps?
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad?
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)?
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc?
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them?
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)?
Do you bath your dragon? How often?
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath?

Holly

 

[aaceofspades]

How old is your dragon?--i dont know exactly i got him about 3 months ago and he was about 3 weeks when i got him
How long have you had your dragon?-- 3 months
How long is your dragon? -- around 7-8 inches including the tail tail
What is the sex of your dragon?-- the pet store said male but then again he was very small when i got him.
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in?--25 gallon tank
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank?--repti carpet (sandish color)
Do you use UVB lights?--yes
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb?--flourescent tube
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)?--brand name is repti sun and its a 10.0 15 watt
How old is your UVB bulb?--3 months old
How close can your dragon get to the UVB?--about 4 inches
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage?-- yes my local pet shop said a lamp bulb is fine because my basking bulb kept burning out. its a 100watt light bulb
What are the basking temps?--90deg
What is the cool side temp?80-85deg
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun?--a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps?--where aace usually basks, about where his log peaks.
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad?--no
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific.--crickets and kale about 3 times a day when he wasnt sick. he usually ate about 30. now he eats crickets and kale but only about 5-10 crickets
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)?--3 times a day. once in the morning. once at 4pm and again at 7 pm.
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc?--i feed them potato chunks
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them?--i use herpcare and dust crickets every feeding time.
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)?-- about once a day.
Do you bath your dragon? How often?--yes about 2-3 times a week
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath?--water bowl


thanks for helping i appreciate it :? im glad i found this site.

 

[Ethelia]

Hi there,
Well most things look great. There are only a couple of things you need to tweak.
Firstly your basking spot.
The temps for a young dragon like yours should be 95-110 to provide for optimal digestion and basking. I would try and switch up the bulb you currently have for a higher wattage one.
Are you leaving your probe under the light for at least 40 minutes? It can fluctuate alot before it settles and 40 minutes should give you a pretty accurate measurement.

If your baby is losing weight quickly there isnt time to let him start eating again on his own.
Gio out and buy yourself some organic chicken/turkey babyfood.
Get some out + mix into it your calcium and vits. You need to keep his protein levels up.
Then put a little blob on your babies nose. Hopefully he should lap this right off. Then you can repeat.
If he refuses to take it this way you will have to get yourself a needleless syringe and tube feed him.
We can discuss that if or when your baby wont take the food.

Does your dragon seem to be in any discomfort when he poops?
Does he seem to strain a bit before he manages to pass a bowel movment?

Holly
Holly

 

[aaceofspades]

no last time i saw him do that was yesterday and he didn't seem to be straining or in discomfort.

 

[Menolly]

Hey,
Just wanted to ask, how is your beardie doing? And I would like to add one thing to your husbandry. Kale in large amounts are not the best for your bearded dragon. What you can give him are something like collard greens, endive, Escarole or many things that are on this very helpful chart http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html. Whatever is green on there is good to use as a staple. The three I mentioned are usually easy to find in the store.
Mel

 

[aaceofspades]

he seems to be doing much better all of the sudden. his appetite shot up to 30 crickets today!! still going to bring the fecal in though tomorrow morning to the vet.. see what she has to say .

 

[Ethelia]

Please do NOT advertise on an emergancy post.
It is remarkably disrespectful and you willnot endear yourself to the memebers here with that approach.