Sleeping ALL the time???

[Sheri1484]

Hi everyone! My beardie is around 7 weeks old or so now and he seems to be sleeping alot. His temps are all right within the perfect range, and we do have a good UVB bulb...not exactly sure what it is, my bf bought it. He came on here and made sure not to get the kinds that people were warning against though. It's a long tube light anyways. We are giving him calcium, D3, and some other vitamins...again, not sure what because my bf bought them and he does most of the 'prep' for him. He got some sort of liquid multi vitamin or something I think? It says to just drop it in the cricket food. The crickets are going crazy over it so that's good! This new one hasn't shown any signs of being in pain, but yesterday afternoon he was really lethargic. And I mean, like he looked like he was happy but just tired. We took him out to feed him supper, and he just fell asleep with all the crickets. Then we decided since it was bath night that maybe that would wake him up. He just fell asleep standing in his bath. So we just kept our eye on him while he sat in the water...lol. Put him in his home again and you guessed it, he fell asleep in his basking rock. He's still sleeping this morning...over 12 hours later! He'll wake up if you touch him or if he hears a loud noise (baby crying) but then he just goes back to sleep. Any ideas on that one?

 

[spurlee01]

Hi and sorry your baby doens't seem to be feeling well.
It's really not normal for them to sleep that much. The most typical culprits are UVB and temperature problems. Would you mind humoring us and posting the basking temperature, warm side (ambient) temperature, and cool side temperature? Also what are you using to take the temperature (temp gun, digital w/ probe, or stick on). Although your boyfriend has done research- it really would help to know the Brand of UVB you are using, just to be sure. Also, have you taken a fecal sample to the vet to be checked for parasites? If the temps and UVB are correct then parasites would be my next guess.
Oh, and are the crickets noticeably bigger than the space between his eyes?
How often does he poop?

Good luck and I hope your baby feels better
Sara

 

[Sheri1484]

He's been pooping every day since we got him. The crickets are usually the size of in between his eyes but he'll eat the odd few that are a little bigger. I put him in his feeding spot just about 10 minutes ago and he's only eaten one. He's not falling asleep this time though. Just kind of sitting there. I'm wondering if it's also because he's not used to me as much? My boyfriend's at work today so i'm the momma...lol. The temps on the basking side are usually right inbetween 102-105 or so, and the cooling side is right around 78-80. I've been told that that's perfect before. I found the package for the UVB tube light and it's a Desert UVB Reptile Reflectorized 18" / 15W and the brand name is ESU Reptile. Not sure if it's a good one or not? We've only had him under a week so maybe he's still a little stressed? Any answers are really appreciated!

 

[Sheri1484]

Ok..I just said that he wasn't falling asleep while eating, but he just did...but he only closes one eye for the most part first and it looks like he's sleeping. He'll open both though when I come around, but he sits around with one eye closed. Also, we haven't had his poop checked yet. I'll look around and see if there's somewhere we could do that.

 

[spurlee01]

I have never even heard of that bulb. To be honest, the unknown bulbs are often crap. The one I would reccommend is the reptisun 10.0. Hopefully someone gets on here who knows a bit more about that bulb. If he is sleeping even when he's not under the bulb, though, then it may not be the bulb causing a problem. Relocation stress is possible, but typically that manifests itself through a lack of appetite, not excessive sleeping. Someone with more experience than me will get on here and give you more advice, because I really don't know.
Sorry I couldn't be more help,
Sara

 

[crickest]

The ESU Desert Reptile bulb is a horrible bulb. I would recommend turning it off immediately. The bulb that's most recommended is the Repti-Sun 10.0. I had the ESU Desert bulb and we lost our first beardie, due partly to the bad bulb. When our new beardie started to show the same symptoms, I did a bunch of research and discovered the information about the ESU bulb. We turned it off, bought a new Repti-Sun (different from Repti-glo - those are bad bulbs too.) and saw immediate results! Within a day of turning off the ESU, Spark started perking up, showing interest in food, being less lethargic.

Hope this helps.

 

[crickest]

The ESU Desert Reptile bulb is a horrible bulb. I would recommend turning it off immediately. The bulb that's most recommended is the Repti-Sun 10.0. I had the ESU Desert bulb and we lost our first beardie, due partly to the bad bulb. When our new beardie started to show the same symptoms, I did a bunch of research and discovered the information about the ESU bulb. We turned it off, bought a new Repti-Sun (different from Repti-glo - those are bad bulbs too.) and saw immediate results! Within a day of turning off the ESU, Spark started perking up, showing interest in food, being less lethargic.

Hope this helps.

 

[Sheri1484]

Thanks to everyone that replied! I will shut the bulb off and take it back to the store today to replace it with the Repti-Sun one! I hope that it works for this dragon too! I'll keep everyone posted!

 

[Sheri1484]

I just talked to the Pet Store where we bought the first bulb and he said that the Repti-sun bulb is just a UVA bulb? Is that right or is there one that's UVB? I could probably just go to a different pet store, just thought I would check and see what you guys thought first.

 

[crickest]

The Repti-Sun 10.0 says UVB on the packaging, and is mostly yellow with red lettering. It's made by Zoo Med.

It's not really a surprise that you heard that from the pet store. . . .my experience is that they don't know what they are talking about.

 

[Sheri1484]

Lol...most of them seem pretty dim-witted for sure! I just called PetSmart and they helped a lot more. Found one, and put it on hold until I can get there! Thanks again for the help! Do you think I should just shut off the one I have now? He probably won't get the new one turned on until later this afternoon...will it hurt for him to go without for the next few hours?

 

[crickest]

The light you have now can cause more harm than good and it won't hurt him to go without, even for a couple of days. I know I turned mine off about four hours before I got the replacements and Spark looked better even before we turned the new ones on. Good luck and let us know how your baby is doing with the new lights.

One of the other things I started doing when our lights went bad, was feeding squash baby food to Spark through an eyedropper. I drip a bit on his nose and then he licks it off. He loves it and I love the time I get to spend feeding it to him. You might try it and see if yours likes it. I feed it morning and night. It's both a good bonding experience and I know he's getting a good, staple veggie into him twice a day. It makes me feel better.

Any way, good luck.

 

[Sheri1484]

I'll definetely try out the squash idea. I have a 10 month old baby that still loves squash so I have it around the house all the time! I shut off the old UVB I had in about 2 hours ago now and he's coming around already. He's still really lethargic, but he came out of his hideout and is standing (sleeping, but standing) out in the open. I'll update again tomorrow and let everyone know how he's doing!

 

[Drache613]

Hello Sherri,

Well, the ESU Slimline 7% is a bad bulb, but, not in the sense that it will hurt your dragon's eyes. It just puts out virtually no UVB. Here is a UVB chart showing how little UVB it actually emits:

http://www.reptilesdownunder.com/reptile/reptilesAsPets/enclosure/uv/uvSA

The Reptisun 10 flourescent tube bulb is UVB along with UVA. It is the best UVB flourescent tube you can buy here in the US. There is also an Arcadia D3 12% flourescent tube bulb too that is good, but it is mostly found in the UK & Australia, etc.

How is your dragon doing now? Did you try the squash?


Tracie

 

[Sheri1484]

We have a Reptisun 10.0 ordered from the Pet Store in our town. They didn't have any in stock though so I've been told he'd be better off with no UVB until the new light is in rather than using the bad one. I tried the squash but he doesn't like it! Or atleast he just pretended it wasn't there and let it sit on his nose...he probably ate it when I wasn't looking though the sneaky little guy! He has a bit of an attitude with me. I think it's just because he doesn't know my scent like he does my bf's. He ate like 12 crickets tonight for supper so it seems that turning off that UVB is already working! I'm really happy that we seem to be figuring it out! Now if only I could get him to love me the most! lol! I'll write an update tomorrow after his feeding (i'll be doing it while my bf is at work) and let everyone know how he's feeling. Maybe he's just being stubborn for me too because he doesn't like me? Thanks again for all the support and help!