PLEASE, PLEASE HELP! Something is wrong with Spike

[LVjewel]

Hello everyone, I need HELP ASAP please! We are freaking out!

Something is wrong with our Spike. We woke up to our beardie not being himself and 2 masses next to him that look like lettuce and mill-worms. Vomit? His belly and beard are black. He is responsive, but not himself.

We introduced tiny mill worms over 2 weeks ago and everything was fine. He eats butter lettuce, crickets, and worms.

What is wrong with our baby? What do we do?

 

[MapleDeer]

He may have vomited because mealworms are difficult to digest. Also lettuce has no nutritional value. I recommend turnip greens, collard greens, escarole, and mustard greens.

 

[Martadragon017]

Yes, that is not a good diet for a baby beardie, here is a reliable list of foods that beardies should and shouldn't eat: http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutritionframeset.html

 

[LVjewel]

He may have vomited because mealworms are difficult to digest. Also lettuce has no nutritional value. I recommend turnip greens, collard greens, escarole, and mustard greens.

I will absolutely switch him to appropriate food. Both were recommended at the pet store. What can I do now to make him feel better?

 

[LVjewel]

Yes, that is not a good diet for a baby beardie, here is a reliable list of foods that beardies should and shouldn't eat: http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutritionframeset.html

I will absolutely switch him to appropriate food. Both were recommended at the pet store. What can I do now to make him feel better?

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

So sorry you were given the wrong information about the feeding.
What you can do now, to help him feel better is to get some probiotics such as non dairy
soy yogurt (flavored or non flavored) to help settle his tummy, or some non dairy acidophiliz.
Is he taking in any fluids at all? Try to get some oral fluids into him to help his system flush
out anything else as well as hydrate him since he has vomited & lost fluids.
Is his beard still black right now?

Tracie

 

[AHBD]

Can you show your light set up and also how you take temps. ? Mealworms are not a good feeder but that alone should not cause vomiting. If the temps. are too low, too high or if he ate too late to sallow proper digestion that may have been a factor. He should bounce back with hydration sand better food choices as was mentioned but be sure your temps. are appropriate as well.

 

[LVjewel]

Hello,

So sorry you were given the wrong information about the feeding.
What you can do now, to help him feel better is to get some probiotics such as non dairy
soy yogurt (flavored or non flavored) to help settle his tummy, or some non dairy acidophiliz.
Is he taking in any fluids at all? Try to get some oral fluids into him to help his system flush
out anything else as well as hydrate him since he has vomited & lost fluids.
Is his beard still black right now?

Tracie

Hello Tracie! First of thank you for you reply. Spike is getting fluids all day yesterday and today. We have trained him to drink from straw or the spray bottle nozzle since e got him. He vomited once more last night and that's all. He has not pooped yet. He is very alert. His coloring slowly turned normal as you can see in the pictures. I tried soy yogurt, he licked it once and that's it. We fed him about a dozen pinhead crickets dusted in calcium and now he doesn't look OK again. His tail turned really black, he has some stress marks on the belly and beard.

 

[LVjewel]

Can you show your light set up and also how you take temps. ? Mealworms are not a good feeder but that alone should not cause vomiting. If the temps. are too low, too high or if he ate too late to sallow proper digestion that may have been a factor. He should bounce back with hydration sand better food choices as was mentioned but be sure your temps. are appropriate as well.

Thank you for the input! I followed the light recommendation from this forum. I measure the temperature with my husband’s work thermometer that is pretty accurate. The temps are consistently 101-110 on the basking rock. I am attaching pictures of Spike's set up

Our local pet store does not carry any of the approved worms, so we are back to crickets until I can figure something out.

 

[AHBD]

He shouldn't be getting sick then. Are you sure he's not eating any of the plastic plants ? I love the way they look in a tank but my guys would eat them.

 

[LVjewel]

He shouldn't be getting sick then. Are you sure he's not eating any of the plastic plants ? I love the way they look in a tank but my guys would eat them.

Oh my gosh! I never thought of that! I will check. He loves climbing on them though

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

How is little Spike doing this evening? Has he gone to the bathroom since he had the
issues with the mealworms? He could possibly be impacted perhaps.
So he doesn't like the soy yogurt, a lot of them don't. I'm glad to hear he drinks water from
a straw, that is really great! How cute that is..
Your setup looks good, the lights are properly setup, too.
Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie

 

[LVjewel]

Hello,

How is little Spike doing this evening? Has he gone to the bathroom since he had the
issues with the mealworms? He could possibly be impacted perhaps.
So he doesn't like the soy yogurt, a lot of them don't. I'm glad to hear he drinks water from
a straw, that is really great! How cute that is..
Your setup looks good, the lights are properly setup, too.
Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie

Thanks for your interest Tracie! No poop yet, not quite himself yet. Checked the plastic plants as someone had suggested, all intact so that's not an issue. Hopefully he'll be better tomorrow.