Oscar is sick

[BeardedOscar]

My little baby bearded dragon oscar has not been eating anything for 3 days. He is always tired and only opens his eyes if i give him a bath or spray water on him. his temperatures were low so we are going to get a new light tommorow. any advice would be helpful please. he is under 6 inches and just a baby so i doubt it would be brumation :dontknow: He is also shedding, so is that part of the problem? I read somewhere that barometric changes in the weather can make them like this. Is that true? Also he is very limp and every time i pick him up and set him back down, he just saggs. He doesn't hold up his head and doesn't move around that much. When i set him down in his bath, he doesn't hold his head out of the water so i have to scoot him up to where he can breath. Do i need to take him to the vet or can i do something?

-Emzers & Oscar :-D

 

[Bwalter]

It doesn't sound good, I would take him to a vet just to make sure.

 

[Gail]

What are his temps? If they are really low then that can cause lethargy. Also, what kind of UVB are you using?

 

[BeardedOscar]

His temps were roughly in the 90's on the hot side and in the 80's on the cool side. We were using a reptiglo 10.0 but then we figured out that it was bad so we are ordering a new reptisun 10.0. Is it okay for him to not have a uvb light while the new one is coming or do we need to keep the reptiglo in till the reptisun gets here? :?: :?: :?:

-Emzers & Oscar

 

[MrD]

yes keep the reptiglo on until the new reptisun arrives. Is the new light long tube or coil? it would be best to use the tube. it is ok to not have UVB light for a short time but would not recommend not having for more than week or so. the shedding could be reason for not eating but the lethargy and limpness worries me. we would need more info like what lights are you using (obviously reptiglo)? what substrate are you using? what is the diet for oscar? do you use calcium and vitamins, how often? give as much detail as possible. there are many things it could be, impaction, light irritating eyes, dehyradtion, parasites so more info the better. a trip to the vet would be advised. i would go to pet store and get bene bac, it is a probiotic that puts good bacteria into your beardie, it is found in the bird section but is for reptiles also. this helped my BD to start eating more and become very active after first dose. there is also a product from zilla called caloric suplement and appetite stimulant that could help oscar. I found on reptilesupply.com. if it is impaction, especially if your using sand or some other loose substrate, keep giving warms baths and gently massage belly towards vent. also BD's cant digest if basking temp is under 95 degrees F. So make sure you have basking area of 95-105 degrees F. hope oscar gets better and keep trying to help!! good luck!!

 

[beardie parents]

It's better for him, if you leave the UVB off until you get the reptisun 10 tube in. If it's warm enough where you are, you can take him outside for real sun. We take our girls outside for at least an hour every day.

 

[BeardedOscar]

im using reptile carpet and he eats collard greens, butternut squash, and crickets. We also use a zilla day blue heat light. His temps are in the usually in the 90's. I would take him outside, but we live in cullman alabama and its roughly around the 50's and 60's outside now, so its probably too cold.

-Emzers & Oscar

 

[beardie parents]

The blue light, you use it for the day time? If it is, the best basking bulb is a bright white bulb as, in addition to the correct uvb, they need bright light also. The blue light we have is used for nighttime.

 

[BeardedOscar]

yeah but the zilla light is the day light. It isn't dark blue its light blue and it puts out very bright light. It's not like the dark light i use for my geckos.

-Emzers & Oscar