Stiff Limbs and Trembling Dragon

[Sheri1484]

Hi! We just got our beardy last night, and he's been happy, walking around, and eating alot. Today he slept most of the day and all of a sudden his back leg went behind him, then all other limbs followed suit until even his tail was stiff. Then he started twitching as if he was having a seizure. After a few minutes he went back to normal and was fine...then it happened again. It's been happening a few times since it started about an hour ago. I'm VERY concerned and have no idea what to do!
Our dragon is just over a month old. We just picked him up last night and he's about 6 inches long. I say he, but I have no idea the sex yet. He's in a 25 gallon tank and the bottom is lined with a brown liner that we bought at the pet store. We use a coil UVB light that is an Ecoterra 13watt...10.0 UVB. We just bought the bulb. The dragon can get within 5 inches of the bulb. We use a seperate 100 watt basking bulb. The temp at the basking is approx. 92 and the cooling side is about 82. We don't use either a heated rock or a heating pad. We have only fed him 2 week crickets and some romaine lettuce (which he didn't really eat). He has eaten about 10 crickets since this time last night. The crickets have been eating the lettuce. We are getting some calcium tomorrow to give him. He hasn't had a bowel movement since we got him. Also haven't given him a bath yet. He's not with another dragon and we haven't gotten a vet check or fecal done ourselves, but he just came from a reptile specialist yesterday so it's possible he checked the dragon.

 

[Drache613]

Hello Sheri,

Sorry I did not see your post when I responded to your PM.
What sized crickets did you feed him, were they smaller than the space between the eyes? I see that you fed him 2 week old crickets, so that should be fine.
What type of thermometer are you using? A round analogue stick on, a digital probe or a temp gun? The basking temps need to be 95-110 & the cooler end around 78-82. If you are using a stick on, that will be off by a bit. They do not measure the basking area very well, mainly the ambient temps & the humidity.
While I highly doubt the lighting has anything to do with his twitching & seizure problem, the Reptiglo 10 coil bulb will need to be taken back. It is not a good light & emits hazardous UVB as well. It does not really emit a good wavelength spectrum of UVB either.
The best UVB light is the Reptisun 10 flourescent tube bulb. You can get it from:
http://www.petmountain.com

At the moment, I would go ahead & take that light back & just use a basking light such as a halogen flood light or a regular household lightbulb. The light you have in there is fine, but those temps should come up. Please double check the temps with a digital probe first before increasing the wattage, as they may be fine. You don't want to overheat him.

It could also be low calcium, which is a possibility if he was not kept under good lighting & not given calcium.
It sounds like he may be impacted from the petstore. They most likely had him on sand & fed him mealworms.
What you can do is go ahead & bathe him in warm water. Make sure the water is up to his arm pits, & massage very gently on the right side, from his arm pit all the way down to the vent area. Also, get some sugar free applesauce, canned pumpkin & squash babyfood & get a plastic dropper & try to get some into him to help with a possible impaction.

Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie

Great you do not have sand in the tank, especially since he is a baby. Do you know what substrate he was on when you got him, did you get him from the petstore?

Tracie

 

[munchkins9802]

HI! This happened with our dragon. We added the calcium daily *5 days a week and upped the heat to 100-105 and there was tremendous improvement thanks to Tracie and gang here. He is now almost 8 months old
So yes get the calcium with D3-as well as vitamins--herptivite.

 

[Sheri1484]

Thanks for replying! So, he woke up too weak to even lift his head. We took him back to the pet store and they gave us a new dragon. Still not sure what was wrong with him although we were accused of breaking his ribs or giving him chemicals! How insulting! But they owner doesn't even know what's exactly wrong with him. I think he was just trying to turn the blame on us! Hopefully the new dragon doesn't have the same problems! I've heard nothing but bad reviews about this reptile store...after the fact of course! I really hope they can nurse the other little guy back to good health! And no, we don't use sand. Not until about 12 inches right?

 

[Drache613]

Hello Sheri,

Oh how terrible of an experience for you. The petstore accused you of hurting him? I am sorry! I hope that they will help the other little one out & get him better.
Did you change the coil/compact light out right now?
How is your new little one doing now?

Tracie

 

[zebraflavencs]

Just saying HI ! and hoping for the best for your new little one !
Janie.

 

[Sheri1484]

Just an update....Our new little one is doing great! He's got a bit of a quirky little personality showing now so he's pretty cute! He's still a little shy and doesn't jump around much, but I'm sure that will come once he's used to us more! We got his little habitat all fixed up so everythings good...temps are perfect! I'm still a jumpy dragon parent, but I guess that's better than not caring at all! Thanks to everyone that replied, and a HUGE thank you to Vickson420! Here's some pics of him...still needing a name though!

This is his FAVORITE place to hang out! I got the suggestion Tarzan which I LOVE, but I'm still not sure if this little one is male or female!

 

[munchkins9802]

Sorry they were rude to you. I still suspect the other guy had a calcium deficiency
It is quite important that your new one gets calcium (repta cal with d3-pink label)) 5x a week and herptivite vitamins (blue label) the other 2 days a week. Do you have a good UVB bulb ? Repti Sun 10.0 is the best reallY!
If your little guy doesnt get all those items, you might see the same symptoms overtime. It took about 1-2 weeks before ours developed the symptoms because Petsmart told me they only needed calcium every 2-3 days .

 

[Sheri1484]

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?

 

[munchkins9802]

Not really. I would PM Drache613 (Tracie ) and see what she says. We usually dust the crickets with a calcium powder. ANother thought is try phoenix worms--they are small and loaded with calcium(phoenixworms.com) a little expensive but worth it.
When you get a chance look at the light bulb and see what brand it is. I am glad it is a tube but it should not be the repti glo 10.0 if I recall right (8.0 is OK, but the REPTI SUN 10.0 is best)
He may also just be tired and having relocation stress. I would also take a poop into a vet for a fecal sample.

 

[Sheri1484]

Ok...so apparently I DO have the wrong bulb. It's a ESU Reptile UVB. Someone messaged me about it and it caused serious problems with her dragons and when she change it to the repti-sun 10.0, she saw immediate results. The behavior of her dragons (lethargic, loss of appetite) was identical to my problem, so I"m going to go get the new bulb today and see what happens! Cross those fingers for me! Hopefully this works...I just want a healthy dragon already!!!

 

[munchkins9802]

Sheri
Repti Sun 10.0 is the best but quite expensive in pet stores. You can get one at petmountain.com for a great price (and can get a light fixture elsewhere -liek Home Depot or lowe's for it). IT costs about $20 online for the bulb vs $40 at the stores. If you are able to order one online, turn off your current UVB bulb and use only a white basking bulb--it is better for no UVB a few days (right tracie?) then to have the wrong bulb.
Do you have a white basking bulb already in addition to the UVB bulb as you really need both (and the white basking bulb can be a regular household (not softwhite regular) 60-75 watt bulb.

 

[Sheri1484]

We do have a regular basking bulb. I'll shut the UVB off right now. I just called PetSmart and they have them for about $20...unless they gave me the wrong price? I really hope this works for him because I feel bad for him! Do you think I'll notice a change in behavior just from shutting off the bad UVB?

 

[zebraflavencs]

That depends on how long the little (tarzan/jane) has been exposed to said wrong uVBs.
Janie.

 

[munchkins9802]

Sheri
When you get there check to make sure it is a repti sun 10.0 (or the repti glo 8.0--do NOT let them talk you into the repti glo 10.0). I suspect they are talking about the repti glo as my petsmart does not carry the reptu sun. GOod luck.