Sick Beardie

[twobeardies]

Hi , my son`s got two beardies (about 3 1/2 months old ) , we believe to have a boy and girl , the boy appears to be going strong , eats well and he is very sociable , the girl on the other hand (half the size of boy) has gone off eating or eats very small amounts , the thing that is most distressing is that she goes into some kind of spasm/paralysed state, legs and fingers twitch in some kind of seizure attack . Is this stress or is she being bullied by her bigger companion ? They are housed together in a glass tank about 80cms sq , 50w infrared light and fed fresh carrots , cabbage and crickets dusted with reptie vitamins . The girl has not eaten for two days and when I picked her up today , she suffered the seizure type attack I mentioned earlier , Can anyone point us in the right direction ? We want to make sure we do everything we can for these two . Thanks

 

[LJean]

Are you using a UVb light? UVB is very important to their well being.
Are you dusting the crickets with calcium? They need the uvb and the calcium daily to help their bones grow strong. They also need a bright white light on them to keep them happy.
What is their basking spot temperature?

Many people do not suggest housing beardies together. They can fight and injure or kill their tank mate, or male and female can mate causing stress to the female if she isn't old enough. You may think of seperating them soon.

 

[twobeardies]

To be honest I`m not sure what sort of light it is (infrared 50w with ceramic heat lamp holder) , I have no idea what temp either ,I assumed that the temp would have been ok given that they never presented these condition/behaviour before , as far as the crickets , they are dusted daily and it looks like we`ll be purchasing another tank tomorrow . We appreciate your prompt response and assisstance , thanks again .

 

[LJean]

They will each need a good UVB light. The ReptiSUN 10 flourescent long tube is a good one. There are other uvb lights, but any coil and compact type have caused health issues in beardies.

Without a good uvb, they can develop metabolic bone disease. You may be seeing the beginning of it in your female. Also basking and basic viv temps are important for digestion. You will want to get a good thermometer, a digital one with a probe to check those temps. If too hot they can dehydrate easily and depending on how high the temps, they can suffer. If temps are too low they cannot digest their food properly which also causes health issues.

 

[Pleaides]

hello and welcome to BD.org!

ok i would definitely seperate them asap as they are territorial and solitary creatures and one will definitely dominate the other, in this case i fear it is your female being bullied therefore making it even harder for her to adjust and defend herself especially as shes now unwell.

the UVB you need the reptiSUN 10.0, please do not confuse with the reptiGLO, the GLO is a bad bulb for them, it also needs to be the long fluorescent tube one also.
heres a pic of it - http://www.livefoods.co.uk/popup_image.php?pID=578
in conjunction with this UV you will need a white basking bulb, a household bulb will do the trick.
you need to be getting a digital thermometer with a probe to measure temps up the cool end, which should be around 80-85f, warm end 90-95f and basking area 100-110f. if you find the temps are dropping below 65f at night time, they are ok to drop that low, (having said that in an unwell dragon you may want to keep her warmer at around 75f at night, someone correct me if im wrong on that) then you would need a ceramic heat emitter but firsty you need an accurate temperature on all 3 parts.

all livefood (for the exception of some worms) cannot be no longer than the space between their eyes otherwise theres a risk of impaction, and of course dusted with calcium 5x a week and multi vitamins 2-3x a week. what substrate are you using? loose substrate is not recommended, paper towels or tile are the best thing to use for beardies.

also fresh carrots and cabbage are not recommended as a staple green for them to eat, here is a fantastic link of all the things they can eat, can only eat as a treat and not at all - http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutritionframeset.html

does she have a black beard at all? if so how often?
also does she have stress marks? again if so how often?
how are her stools looking? solid/ loose, what colour? (sorry i know its gross but their poop can tell a lot)
when was her last bowel movement?

sorry i know a lot of information and a lot of questions but it will help us to determine what we can do to help you and your babies out ok.

Anny

 

[twobeardies]

Thanks so much ,yes there are a ot of questions/info but I will go over every question and detail that you have provided and try and get this little one back on track again , once I have gathered all the info I will get back to you , again thanks for your help Pleaides.

 

[Pleaides]

your welcome. im standing by...

 

[GoFast]

your welcome. im standing by...

*que Jeopardy theme song....

 

[twobeardies]

Hi Peoples , went and bought uv lights , tank , thermometer , increased the intake of calcium , what a turn around , I think that the combination of the above was definately the key , three days later and they are back . Thank you so much for taking the time to help us out .

 

[Pleaides]

your welcome and im so glad to hear your lil ones are doing much better!
any other questions you know where to find us all
good luck!