my bro didnt feed my beardie

[ribrob84]

hi i bort my self a beutifull beardie bout 10 weeks ago his name is eddie, he was only a small baby when i got him, but i had to go away for a few weeks 5 to be correct. i left my bro in charge of looking after eddie, i left a weeks supply of crickets and gave him the drill bout looking after him, told him were to get more cuz i already orded and paid for them, when i got back i expected to find my beutifull eddie bigger an fater but he wasnt he was smaller if any thing, so when i went to the pet shop i found my bro hadnt even been to pick the crickets up... obvious to say i hit the roof and actually beat my brother up an he admitted he had only fed him the veg while i was gone...ive give him a load of meal worms ..an he seems ok but will he be ok wat shud i do help.. i feel really bad about all this an im worried for my beloved eddie

thank rob

ps my bro got a black eye now

 

[Pleaides]

hey rob
welcome to bd.org!

ok let me just get some things straight and offer you advice if thats ok, we love new people and new beardies here!

ok now you have had him for 10 weeks? when you say hes a baby? how old?
babies under 5-6 months should be fed 3 times a day and they should be allowed to eat as much as they like in 3 seperate 15 minute periods, are you aware of this? they can up to 100 crix a day as babies.
so you went away for 5 weeks? and you only had a weeks worth of crix considering your brother didnt collect the rest so he hadnt eaten protein for 4 weeks? am i on the right track?
ok let me just state you should never feed a baby or small juvie mealworms as they have very hard chitin shells and are a high risk of impaction, if you do feed worms id recommend phoenix worms if your from usa or calci grubs or butter worms if the uk, wax worms should be fed as a treat only as they are extremely fattening.
can i run over your set up so we can just check your doing all you can for your baby?
do you have a uv? if so what brand?
do you have a heat source? if so what kind?
do you dust your livefood with calcium? if so what brand and how often?
do you dust with multi-vitamins? again if so what brand and how often?

sorry for all the questions, im not giving you the spanish inquistion i swear, lol, obviously you sound like you have fallen head over heels with your little guy (absolutely no surprise) so we would want to help to any way.

hows he look apart from being small then?
hows his eyes? his body in general?
hows his pooping? is he going at all?
is he active and hows his appetite now?

 

[Pleaides]

any updates on him?
hows he doing?

 

[dreshany]

Hi,
I wouldn't worry too much about your beardie, he will probably be fine in the long run. I think the two main issues right away would be concerns about dehydration and lack of calcium. Give your beardie a nice long bath (a good 20 mins) in slightly warm water. you could also try and drip some water onto his nose to see if he will drink. Offer your beardie some calcium dusted crickets, although I would go a little easy on them at first until you know that he is well hydrated and he has pooped.
Can you review your tank set up? What type of UV are you providing? What are you using for calcium/mineral supplements? What substrate is he on?
Let us know how he is doing

 

[ribrob84]

hey i been to the shop i got him in to double check his age hes bout 3 or 4 mnths old , my set up is a 2ft viv bout 1 1/2 ft high an deep, a repti glo 10.0 uvb light and a 50w exo terra sun glo lamp. an i also have a heat mat for the night time. he seems ok but his poop is very runny. but he seems happy tho.

thank you for ur response. i feel like ive realy let him down. i seen his bros n sis's in the shop an there massive mine is only small im realy sad about that can u help me plz

rob

 

[ribrob84]

hi 2 things i missed out there im using Vionate vitamin an mineral supplement an ive got tiles down as a subtrate they seem easier to clean.

jus checked on him them he seems happy an alert moven around alot. just his poop is dead runny.

 

[dreshany]

Lack of growth and runny poos can indicate a parasite or bacteria, you might want to get a fecal. Also I am not too knowledgeable about proper lights and different supplements but I know they recommend using a separate calcium and mineral supplement instead of one that is combined.
Tile is great!
I am not sure about the lights, hopefully someone will be able to review that with you soon.
Glad he is looking well

 

[Fogles]

hey i been to the shop i got him in to double check his age hes bout 3 or 4 mnths old , my set up is a 2ft viv bout 1 1/2 ft high an deep, a repti glo 10.0 uvb light and a 50w exo terra sun glo lamp. an i also have a heat mat for the night time. he seems ok but his poop is very runny. but he seems happy tho.

thank you for ur response. i feel like ive realy let him down. i seen his bros n sis's in the shop an there massive mine is only small im realy sad about that can u help me plz

rob

Alright, about the lightning.
I would recommend returning the reptiglo 10.0 right away! There have been several studies on the particular bulb and it's been said to give several health problems including eye problems, and even Bone disease. The best UVB out there is the Reptisun 10.0, you can get it for $20-25 on petmountain.com.

Have you check the temps on his basking spot? If so, what are the temps on the hot, and cool side and how are you testing the temps? Probe, Temp gun..etc.

Also, the heat mat...get rid of it! Since bearded dragons have their heat sensors on their heads, they will lay on the mats trying to get warm but it's actually burning their belly's.