Sabrina and her lighting, help!

[rockstarsarah]

My Sabrina is about 10 months old. I bought her from a Pet Store in April and they told me she was about 3 or 4 months old. I took my Sabrina to the vet today because she has been losing weight in the past month. She is very skinny and hasn't been eating at all and barely moving around. The vet told me that she has signs of metabolic bone disease and has a calcium deficiency. They gave me meds to force feed her with a syringe for the next 5 days and continue to force feed her baby food and mix some calcium powder in the food until she gains strength to eat her crickets and salad once again. I was not aware on how much calcium i was suppose to be feeding her every week. She has her basking light as well as her heat lamp and i am going to change her basking lamp because they say it should be done about every 6 months. I was wondering, should i get a third lamp just for UVB? or does the basking lamp that i have supply the UVB as well, when i bought it I though it was a basking/UVB but now i am wondering if i should have the 3 separate lamps on her cage. I just want what is best for her and for her to hopefully have a speedy recovery. Thank you for reading my post!

here is a picture of her right after i force fed her medicine and gave her a small bath..

she is my sweetheart<3

 

[Beardednoob]

It is very important a bearded dragon receives UVA and UVB light, I would recommend getting a Reptisun 10.0 florescent tube, get one that spans the length of her enclosure and a fixture to match. Looking of spending somewhere around 70-100$. This should be done ASAP! She needs it. When you put the light on, put it to the rear of the tank, hopefully it sits on the brim, this way you can open the screen lid and have the light go straight down without being filtered by the screen mesh. Are you dusting her food? There is a chart at the top of this nutritional page that tells you a schedule for dusting.
http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html
The basking light you use, does it produce UVA? If it does it may not be producing as much as it used too, this is not as important to her as getting UVB at the moment though, this basking light will suffice until after she gets her UV tube.
I am sorry to hear this about your precious little girl but, follow what the Vet said and get this light in ASAP. Also keep us updated please.

 

[rockstarsarah]

I will definitely purchase the lighting tomorrow after work! I also have another question, i had her in a 20 gal long tank and about 2 months ago i got her a 40 gal. However, last night i switched her back to the 20 gal because someone told me she needs more heat and until she gets bigger and stronger she would be better off in the 20. However i was thinking if i use the reptisun 10.0 light and the heating lamp as well, won;t that be too much heating for the 20 gal? I am wondering which tank you be better to use as of right now in her life. Thank you so so so much for all of your help!

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

Since you already have the 40 gallon tank, I would go ahead and let your beardie stay in that one. This way when you purchase the ReptiSun 10 fluorescent UVB tube and fixture you won't have to get another one for the bigger tank down the road. Just make sure the UVB tube spans at least 2/3 the length of the tank. If you cannot find the ReptiSUN 10.0 locally, you can purchase one online here www.petmountain.com. Just make sure you get the fluorescent TUBE and not the compact/coil UVB.
As far as the temps go in the 40 gallon... a higher watt basking/heat bulb will do the trick. You don't have to neccessarily get a "so-called" basking bulb. A bright white household bulb will work fine. The halogen flood lamps are great for this.
Are you using a thermometer to measure temps? If so, what type thermometer are you using?
What temps are you getting in both the basking and coolside?
Besides the UVB and basking bulb, you will not need another source of heat unless you are not getting desired temps. If you need more heat in the tank, then another low watt bulb in the cool end will do the trick.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Great you will be getting a UVB light, this will help her greatly. I agree, leaving her in the 40 gallon tank is the best instead of moving her.
I had a question. How much liquid calcium are you giving from the vet, did he not dose it for you? If you are using liquid calcium, it is not a good idea to use powdered calcium at the same time as that will be way too much calcium in her system.

Tracie

 

[rockstarsarah]

hey, the vet didnt ive me liquid calcium, he gave me an antibiotic for her to gain strength. i have been force feeding her baby food with the powder mixed into it. today is the second day im giving her the meds, she is still weak and not moving around a lot. i bought the repsi sun 10.0 tube today and the fixture for it. three days ago i moved her back into the 20 gallon becasue she was too weak to bask on her branch under the light in the 40 gal so i thought the smaller tank she would be closer to the lamp. im guessing i should move her back into the 40? im hoping she perks up soon and this all reverses =[ im having a hard time dealing with this because i dont want to lose her. the warm side is usually between 90 and 100 and the cool side around 80. i now have the basking bulb, uvb and heat lamp on her. im guessing i should move her to the 40 since i have the 10.0 now, im just worried about heat. i can also turn the temp up in my room if i have too. thank you for all of your help!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

What exactly is the name of the antibiotic that the vet gave you? What is the concentration of it, & what is the dose given for her?
Are you giving her probiotics such as acidophiliz or benebac to help counteract the negative effects of the medication? Also, try to give her some oral fluids daily, as well.
Yes, definitely go ahead & move her to the 40 gallon. If you feel that she is doing well enough, go ahead & move her. If she is pretty stressed, then, wait until she is feeling better before you move her. They do go through relocation stress when you move them to a different home or tank.
So, maybe you should wait until she is done with her medication before moving her. The Reptisun 10 tube will be fine in her 20 gallon tank, as long as it is placed correctly from her, at 6-8 inches alongside your basking lamp.
Are you using a digital probe or a temp gun to measure the temperatures?

Tracie