suddenly weak

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You guys were very helpful in trying to figure out what Jupiter needed a few months ago. She was bleeding on her back and had a cut on her side. You recommended raw unpasteurized honey and that combined with betadine baths has been very helpful. I have a couple more questions to fix a new issue.

1. She has been eating kale and cilantro, crickets and some superworms. She had not had any bugs in a couple of days because I had not been able to get any. I got some today and gave her a bunch of them to eat. She tried to eat them, but instead of running after them, she was mostly flat, her legs looked weak and she was too slow to catch most of them. I could tell she was hungry because of how many she kept trying for, but she could not catch them unless it walked right by her head or was trapped between her and the glass. We went out to dinner and when we came back my son prepared a betadine bath because she hadn't pooped for several days and a bath always does the trick, plus she tends to drink some of it while she soaks. While he was stirring the betadine into the water, she tried to scamper under the tv stand, so she was up on all fours, which is good, but she looked like she was limping. She has not been injured that we know of, is never left unattended and hasn't had a change in diet or gotten ahold of anything strange to eat. Any ideas on what could be going on?

2. It was recommended to get a tube UVB hood and bulb, which I will be ordering tonight. I will also be getting a climbing branch since her hammock keeps coming undone no matter what we do. I have a 40gal terrarium, so should I get a tube bulb that runs the whole length of the terrarium or will a 24" do? Her basking bulb is NOT a red light.

3. A couple of weeks ago she was attacking the glass for a couple of days. Now she has a sores on her lips and I'm wondering if it's from that. I'm attaching a picture of her sleeping, but you can see the pink on her lips and just under her mouth.

I'm hoping that the better UVB bulb will resolve much of her issue. We have not seen her like this before and it kind of freaked us out.

Right now she's sleeping on my chest and covered with a fuzzy blanket, which is one of her favorite places to be, but she seems very tired, even when I tried to wake her up to make sure she was okay.
IMG_7005.JPG
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

Poor girl, I hope she is sleeping well. Her beard doesn't look dark at the moment but based on your description it
does sound as if she isn't feeling very well. Which UVB are you currently using?
Which one did you order, or have you ordered one yet? You can get one that goes 2/3rd's the length of the tank, so
there is a small area on one end without UVB. We usually recommend either the Reptisun 10 T5 or the Arcadia D3 12%
T5. They are both great tube bulbs & high UVB output.
Are you able to get oral fluids into her right now, along with some calcium too?
She might have damaged her snout area from constant banging on the glass. You can use antibiotic ointment on those
areas or a light application of honey also to help.

Let us know how she is doing.
Tracie
 

MrFantastic

Member
Original Poster
Hello,

Poor girl, I hope she is sleeping well. Her beard doesn't look dark at the moment but based on your description it
does sound as if she isn't feeling very well. Which UVB are you currently using?
Which one did you order, or have you ordered one yet? You can get one that goes 2/3rd's the length of the tank, so
there is a small area on one end without UVB. We usually recommend either the Reptisun 10 T5 or the Arcadia D3 12%
T5. They are both great tube bulbs & high UVB output.
Are you able to get oral fluids into her right now, along with some calcium too?
She might have damaged her snout area from constant banging on the glass. You can use antibiotic ointment on those
areas or a light application of honey also to help.

Let us know how she is doing.
Tracie
Thank you for replying so quickly. I have not ordered the bulb and hood yet, but I wanted to make sure I got the right size. So far we have been using the dome light that came with the set up. We have a new pet shop that just opened up and they have a lot of reptile stuff, are cheaper and closer and the owners have them as pets, too. I'm about to go there this morning and see if I can get the t5 24" to mount in her cage, since that is an acceptable size. Our son is cleaning out her cage this morning. There are still some crickets from last night, but our son said she is moving a little better this morning. She's about to go for a swim in the tub while he cleans her cage. When she gets out, we'll put some honey on her lips.

I gave her some liquid vitamin yesterday, which she drank just fine and she was drinking from her betadine bath a little last night. The crickets eat a calcium-enriched food and the hydration gel in their cage, plus a couple of times a week they get calcium powder. Hopefully she will go to the bathroom while swimming in the tub.

EDITED TO ADD: the pet store had some bulbs but no fixtures so I have to order them, which I am shopping online for now. We talked for a little while and he was very helpful about diet and lighting. He also recommended the Arcadia lights as his favorite for reptiles. And my son said Jupiter went to the bathroom big in the tub. I will take any other insight you have and will update you as I can.
 
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Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

Great to hear little Jupiter is doing a bit better then! I agree, the Arcadia tube UVB & their Mercury vapor bulb are terrific. I would have
been very surprised if the petstore would have had the light fixture as well as the light too. Some stores do but the majority of times, you
end up having to order both the light & fixture online.
Were you able to get her to eat very much today? Keep us posted on her. I hope she continues to improve!

Tracie
 

MrFantastic

Member
Original Poster
She's never been especially consistent with her eating, so it's hard to know how she's feeling as far as that goes, but she looks a little fatter and my son says she's moving better. She's back up on her basking rock like she usually likes to do. For a little while she was propped up on her little log, so this might be an improvement. Her new bulb and fixture are supposed to be here tomorrow.
 

MrFantastic

Member
Original Poster
Her new bulb and fixture came on Monday and I installed it inside the lid. I suddenly noticed how little light she was receiving before. This is much brighter and fills the cage. She is moving better, at least from what I can tell. My son brought her downstairs to spend time with her on Monday, but after a while he put her on my stomach because my son is a squirmer and it can be hard for her to relax with him. As soon as she was put on my stomach she crawled up and buried her face in my neck, where she stayed for about an hour, covered with a blanket while I worked.

She seems to be eating better and she is drinking a lot, which I think is good.
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

How is she liking her new light? It is definitely a great sign if she is more active & has a better appeite.
It should really help her out! Be sure to post new pictures of her & let us know how she is progressing.

Tracie
 

MrFantastic

Member
Original Poster
She slept in her little cave last night, the one inside her rock under the basking light. Most days I am gone for about 13-14 hours so I don't get to see her move much during the day. When I can get a picture I'll post one, but my son and daughter tell me she's doing better and more like her old self. It's time for me to get her some more bugs so I think I'll get dubia roaches this time since they are easier to get now and see how she responds to those. The pet store guy says their beardies go crazy for them.
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

I hope she is feeling better. That is too bad you are gone so much to where you aren't able to see her. Maybe that will change
in the future. Keep us posted on her progress.
Most dragons do tend to like the dubia roaches, too.

Tracie
 

MrFantastic

Member
Original Poster
We bought her a new UVB fixture and bulb, an Acadia 24" fixed inside her cage lid. I don't know if it was just her new light or the nutrition, but she has been doing much better. Now that it has warmed up sometimes, our son also goes out to walk the dog and lets Jupiter sit on his shoulder and get some sun. Then he puts the dog in and takes Jupiter back out into the yard so she can move around some. I really think her new bulb is helping. We are rotating crickets, mealworms, dubia roaches and superworms for her bugs and we vary among bok choy, kale, cilantro and mustard or collard greens for her veggies. For treats she will sometimes get a piece of banana, apple or grape depending on what we have.

Tonight a bump popped up on her rear foot. It's just on the top of her foot and is similar to what a mosquito bite looks like on a person. I'll see what it does, but I may need to post a pic in a new forum if it doesn't go away.
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

That is great to hear Jupiter is starting to do much better now! I agree, the bulb is a higher quality UVB output & should really help
out her appetite & activity level. It sounds like your son is enjoying spending time with her also. They do love attention! I wonder
what the bump on her foot would be, is it small & does it seem to bother her?

Keep us posted on her!

Tracie
 

MrFantastic

Member
Original Poster
IMG_7163.JPG


This is it. It just suddenly popped up yesterday. Last night was the first time my son noticed it. She seems to favor it a little, but she can still walk fine and obviously climb up on her rock okay. I touched it this morning and she didn't jerk it away or hiss or anything. It felt hard or tight, not like a ball in there, but maybe more like fluid, but I didn't want to push hard enough to feel if it was squishy.
 
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