My Beardie seems lethargic and inactive

[Vualk]

I noticed Yesterday.. She wasnt moving much and has what seems to be a slight limping when she does move..

I thought maybe some of the lights had failed.. I immediately went out and bought replacements for all of the lights (uvb 10.0, basking, and a ceramic heater (for the nights))

Her food was dusted last night with calcium supps .. this morning she refuses to eat any fruit/vegtables (it is a huge challenge to get her to eat them prior to this anyway )

I tried putting her in a warm bath and massaging her belly from chest to vent figuring maybe she was impacted ... But after 20 minutes i get nothing...

She has not defacated in at least a week and is showing less interest in eating.. and when she does eat live crickets she will only go after them when they are directly in front of her ... To get her to eat last night i had to catch them one by one and feed them to her from my hand in order for her to eat them.. She used to LOVE chasing them all over the place ..

I don't know what else to do... She has no bone deformaties or lumps .. i did notice what seemed like a repeated scratching motion with her right front leg a few times yesterday.. I am very concerned..

She is about 3 1/2 years old

Please help me

 

[Vualk]

to ammend earlier post with new details..

Prior to yesterday her substrate was calcium sand... Upon reading several articles to diagnose my babies problem ... i removed all of it yesterday and lined her with lizard carpet instead..

i also went out and bought new thermometers to make sure the climate was right.. Her tank seems to be a bit on the cool side so i am now running the ceramic heater 24 hours a day.. to keep 1 side at around 80 and her basking side at about 100 to 110

 

[CooperDragon]

Do you see any signs of a shed? Older dragons tend to shed in patches. That might account for the scratching (and possibly odd movement depending on where it is). How far is your ReptiSun 10 from the basking area? Is it a T8 or a T5 tube? (The T8 needs to be a bit closer to be effective) The new temperature gradient is about right, so it's good that is adjusted. What are the temperatures overnight? I usually suggest keeping them no higher than the low 70s and not below 65 or so. Can you post photos of her and her setup? You can upload photos here https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ and post them to your thread using the XIMG button.

 

[Vualk]

I see no signs of shed

 

[EllenD]

He's a nice, big boy, and looks very healthy...but you are using a Reptisun 10.0 Compact UVB bulb? Have you used that for his entire life? I'm asking because typically the 13 watt compact 10.0 UVB bulbs are far too weak for a Dragon to begin with, especially if you have them sitting on top of a mesh lid that is blocking about 40% of the UVB light, which is far too weak to begin with. You'd have to have that bulb unobstructed and within about 4" of him to get him adequate UVB light from that compact UVB bulb. Usually dragons start showing the common signs of a calcium deficiency and MBD within 3-6 months of being under that bulb, and even sooner if it's being obstructed by a mesh lid. So I'm very surprised that he is as large and healthy looking if he's been under that bulb all his life, typically they are small and stunted, and the first signs are a loss of appetite and lethargy...

 

[Vualk]

He's a nice, big boy, and looks very healthy...but you are using a Reptisun 10.0 Compact UVB bulb? Have you used that for his entire life? I'm asking because typically the 13 watt compact 10.0 UVB bulbs are far too weak for a Dragon to begin with, especially if you have them sitting on top of a mesh lid that is blocking about 40% of the UVB light, which is far too weak to begin with. You'd have to have that bulb unobstructed and within about 4" of him to get him adequate UVB light from that compact UVB bulb. Usually dragons start showing the common signs of a calcium deficiency and MBD within 3-6 months of being under that bulb, and even sooner if it's being obstructed by a mesh lid. So I'm very surprised that he is as large and healthy looking if he's been under that bulb all his life, typically they are small and stunted, and the first signs are a loss of appetite and lethargy...

its a straight bulb not one of the coiled ones
its a retisun 10.0 self ballasted lamp
3-u 26w ac 120v/60hz 0.32a

 

[Vualk]

i also leave the lid off about 50 percent of the time.. when its a nice warm day outside i take her out with me on the porch and we chill

 

[EllenD]

Okay, this must be a new Reptisun 10.0 bulb because this is the second time I'm heard someone mention it in 2 days, and prior to that I'd never heard anything about it at all...The regular compact (not coiled) Reptisun 10.0 bulb is only a 13 watt bulb, it's not a self-balasted bulb, it's just a regular compact 10.0 UVB bulb and is a very common one for people to buy, and it's only 13 watts and totally inadequate for Dragons and does often cause MBD unfortunately. But all of a sudden people are talking about this 26 watt compact Reptisun 10.0 UVB bulb, and honestly I've never heard anyone mention it in a post in the last 2 years until yesterday and now today. So either it's a fairly new UVb bulb, or just no one buys them, I don't know which it is.

At 26 watts it is competition for the Exo Terra 200 compact UVB bulb, which is also 26 watts, and is fine for dragons, so I'm going to assume that this one from Reptisun is similar, even though I've not read a thing about it or seen any solarmeter readings. But as I said he's a big, healthy looking boy, so it must be a decent UVB bulb. I'm going to have to do some research tonight on it, as apparently people are now starting to buy it.

If this loss of appetite and lethargy just recently appeared, it could just be a winter "slow-down", as there has been a ton of that this year with adult dragons, my own adult female included. She's eating her green/veggies just fine, but she suddenly is refusing all live bugs and is just lazing around. A week isn't really a long time to not have a bowel movement for an adult, I don't usually get excited until at least 10 days goes by. The only thing that's alarming obviously is the "limping". Everything else sounds on-par with the way the winter seems to be effecting them.

Is he limping on one particular leg? Is there any possibility that he fell off of something or hurt himself somehow? Do you see any swollen extremities?

 

[Vualk]

Okay, this must be a new Reptisun 10.0 bulb because this is the second time I'm heard someone mention it in 2 days, and prior to that I'd never heard anything about it at all...The regular compact (not coiled) Reptisun 10.0 bulb is only a 13 watt bulb, it's not a self-balasted bulb, it's just a regular compact 10.0 UVB bulb and is a very common one for people to buy, and it's only 13 watts and totally inadequate for Dragons and does often cause MBD unfortunately. But all of a sudden people are talking about this 26 watt compact Reptisun 10.0 UVB bulb, and honestly I've never heard anyone mention it in a post in the last 2 years until yesterday and now today. So either it's a fairly new UVb bulb, or just no one buys them, I don't know which it is.

At 26 watts it is competition for the Exo Terra 200 compact UVB bulb, which is also 26 watts, and is fine for dragons, so I'm going to assume that this one from Reptisun is similar, even though I've not read a thing about it or seen any solarmeter readings. But as I said he's a big, healthy looking boy, so it must be a decent UVB bulb. I'm going to have to do some research tonight on it, as apparently people are now starting to buy it.

If this loss of appetite and lethargy just recently appeared, it could just be a winter "slow-down", as there has been a ton of that this year with adult dragons, my own adult female included. She's eating her green/veggies just fine, but she suddenly is refusing all live bugs and is just lazing around. A week isn't really a long time to not have a bowel movement for an adult, I don't usually get excited until at least 10 days goes by. The only thing that's alarming obviously is the "limping". Everything else sounds on-par with the way the winter seems to be effecting them.

Is he limping on one particular leg? Is there any possibility that he fell off of something or hurt himself somehow? Do you see any swollen extremities?

i do not notice anything swollen no... and i just put her in the floor to try and get her to walk and it seems she is having issues with both of her back legs ... not just one.. and honestly i am not sure if it has been 7 days it could easily be 10 days... i haven't ever had this issue before so i have not kept track .. this is just guessing ;(

 

[Vualk]

i just shot a short video of her walking ..
Hope this helps to diagnose the problem..

i absolutely hate that she seems to be having issues this is my girl

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNFQovcFKTU

 

[AHBD]

Hi Vaulk, she is a beautiful dragon. Definitely has some mobility issues, hopefully can be nipped in the bud. First question, is the bulb in the middle a mercury vapor Powersun ? Powersuns are made by Zoomed + are self ballasted unlike the compact. If you just replaced it then maybe the old one had not been putting out any uvb anymore.

If you live in a warm climate get her out in the sun as much as you can. And the Reptisun 10.0 long tube or Arcadia D3 bulbs can be added to what you already have to give her more uvb. That, along with good calcium and vitamin supplementation should help her. Some people get liquid calcium in case it works more quickly. Best wishes to your baby !

 

[Vualk]

Hi Vaulk, she is a beautiful dragon. Definitely has some mobility issues, hopefully can be nipped in the bud. First question, is the bulb in the middle a mercury vapor Powersun ? Powersuns are made by Zoomed + are self ballasted unlike the compact. If you just replaced it then maybe the old one had not been putting out any uvb anymore.

If you live in a warm climate get her out in the sun as much as you can. And the Reptisun 10.0 long tube or Arcadia D3 bulbs can be added to what you already have to give her more uvb. That, along with good calcium and vitamin supplementation should help her. Some people get liquid calcium in case it works more quickly. Best wishes to your baby !

I did indeed just replace it yesterday .. and it is made by zoo-med yes... i think maybe the prior light has gone bad yes..

Should i add the extra tube inside the tank as well?

also should i dust every feeding for a while instead of just every few times?

 

[AHBD]

The extra tube can just go along the top, and you can dust her bugs once a day. You can use the calcium with D3 for about a week along with the new bulbs but then switch to cal without D3 after that.

 

[Vualk]

The extra tube can just go along the top, and you can dust her bugs once a day. You can use the calcium with D3 for about a week along with the new bulbs but then switch to cal without D3 after that.

so i should indeed get a second tube then? is the 26 watt not enough?

 

[AHBD]

If that what she had before ? Or was that an upgrade ? And is the big bulb a Powersun, did you check ?