sudden illness

[coco5]

I now have 2 beardies, hydra and scylla both were doing fine two days ago when I got them from a neighbor. but this morning scylla's beard was dark and she had diarrriaed. she had eaten two mealworms earlier this morning and some apple yesterday. her normal diet is flukers dried insects and this beardie kibble. she acts normal exept her beard. she keeps her eyes half closed.

 

[vampy]

Does she regularly eat mealworms? If so, she could be impacted (and please stop feeding them to her!). Normally with impaction they don't poop at all, but sometimes liquidy stool can get round the blockage. Or if she isn't used to eating fruit and you gave her a lot, it could be the apple. Or she could have parasites.

Can you give a rundown of her setup...lights, temps, type of UV, type of thermometer, substrate etc? Has she been getting calcium/vitamins? if so, how often?

Personally I'd give her a bath and massage her belly from neck to vent and see if i could feel any lumps indicating impaction, and see if i could help get it to pass. I don't know much about the kibble and dried insects, but i can't imagine they'd be as good as real live food and veggies for a staple, so I'd probably see if she'd eat some proper food. If her appetite decreased and she wasn't pooping, I'd syringe feed her some baby food with a couple of drops of olive oil in to try and get her to pass the blockage, and if she hadn't within a couple of days (depending on her size/age) I'd take her to the vet. If her poops remained abnormal I'd also take her to the vet for a fecal.

If the two are in the same viv I'd separate them immediately, as if she has parasites I wouldn't want the other one to get them, or to make her feel stressed out when she is sick.

Is it just her beard that is black, or does she have stress marks on her belly too? If its the latter it's probably less of a concern as she is no doubt stressed by the move, but if it's just her beard, it probably indicates she is in pain, and if that was the case I'd consider a vet visit sooner rather than later.

Eyes half closed could be caused by her lighting, if you let us know what you have we can rule that out.

 

[kcarello]

Hello,
How are your dragons doing? As already mentioned, mealworms are not good for dragons and either is cohabitation. Answering the questions about your setup will help us help you.
Kelly

 

[coco5]

Scylla recovered yesterday. part of the dried insects was mealworms. i do not think she had apple before. Scylla and Hydra are sisters living in a 125 gal. acrylic aquarium. they have a basking light as well as other overhead UV lights. Scylla had shed Sunday.

 

[coco5]

I think it did have a lot to do with moving stress. when she pooped I did see the apple and mealworms in it. Scylla is perfectly fine now.

 

[coco5]

I put a divider in the tank. the beardies are doing much better. thanks for the help. :wink:

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That is great news, so she is doing a lot better now?
Do both dragons have access to UVB light since the divider was placed inside of the tank?
If you can, please post some pictures of the tank so we can see what it looks like now with the divider.
Please consider cutting out the mealworms as they can be difficult to digest especially for the youngsters.

Let us know if you need anything.


Tracie