Need Help Young Beardie slipping away.

[Kodiak]

Any help or info would be greatly appriciated, i have a young beardie he is just under 3 months old, yesterday he was perfectly fine and about 5 hours later he was totally lifeless can bearly pick up his head and was breathing odd hard and erratic. i felt i was going to lose him over the night last night but he made it threw the night and today he ate very little mabey 3 small roaches, and alittle salad thats made just for him. all he is doing now is sleeping and every once in awhile he will open his eyes and then fall back to sleep. he was the big adventurer up untill this he has always been very active and alot of fun. he was housed with another beardie that was maybe 4 weeks older than him, the other was a female, they always got along great so i kept them together in there large 40g tank. i have seperated them now he is in his own tank and all he is doing is sleeping, i fear i am going to loose the little guy, he has always been up on his vitamins and there was alittle competion befor with eating but he always ate. all he doing now is sleeping. any help would be greatly appriciated, this little guy means the world to me and i don't know what i would do with out him, thanks for any help and info..

 

[Esther19]

I'm sorry your little guy is not well. Please hold him in the bath for 10-15 minutes to help get him hydrated.
Offer water orally with a dropper, as well. If there is a water dish in his tank, please remove it, as it can contribute to a respiratory infection. There are questions I need to ask in order to help you.

1) What are the temps in the tank and what are you measuring them with?

2) What shape, brand, and wattage UVB bulb are you using? Also include info about other bulbs.

3) Is he getting any calcium in addition to the vitamins?

4) Is his breathing still labored?

5) When was the last time he pooped? Was there any white part? Was the consistency normal?

 

[Kodiak]

He gets his calcium on a regular basis. He was eating super mealworms and crickets and small roaches. It has been 2 days now since he last went to the bathroom. There was white in it when he last went. I think he has not gone because he has not eaten much. We did give him a bath last night and hw us getting another one tonight. He has fresh water in his bowl. Everything was changed when he was put in his own tank. He does not have the shakes from lack of calcium. He had digital thermometers for temperature readings.

 

[Kodiak]

Thank you for all your help and ideas. It means alot to both of us.

 

[Esther19]

We are happy to help. If your baby is only 3 months old, he is not yet big enough for large superworms. There is a kink in his digestive tract until he reaches about 16 inches that causes impaction with superworms. If you mean large mealworms, I would recommend not giving the mealworms at all. There is not much nutritional value to them, and the chitin in the shells can cause impaction. If he is impacted, you'll want to give him canned pumpkin (no spices), or squash or prune baby food mixed with a few drops of olive or veg. oil with a dropper.

I suggest removing the water bowl from his cage, as it can contribute to respiratory infections from too much humidity. Is the digital probe directly on the basking spot? The basking temp for a baby should be 105-110, but no more than 115. If he is refusing to bask, the temp might be too hot. Overheating and dehydration can cause lethargy.

If your UVB is a coil, or anything other than a ReptiSUN 10 TUBE, that may be causing problems, as well.

Live food should be no bigger than the space between his eyes.

I'm sorry to be stream-of-consciousness here, but that's how it's coming to my brain.

That's good that he will have another bath. Offer him water orally with a dropper, too.

How is his breathing now? Does he have any more energy?

 

[Kodiak]

Thank you for your help, he had another bath tonight and he went the bathroom, i hope that was the only obstruction, we will give him another bath tomorrow night but hopefully he will go the bathroom before the next bath, he did eat another small roach, he is looking alittle better he seems alittle more alert and he does not seem to be breathing as hard as he was last night. i am thinking about bringing him to the vet tomorrow just as a precaution, we have a vet intown that speciallizes in reptiles. i will keep you posted on his progress thank you for all the great information.

 

[Esther19]

That's great that you have a herp vet in town! Please let us know what the vet says.