Throwing up and twitching...

[EAGOLD23]

My little guy who is 5 and a half months threw up today. Over the weekend and monday he had greens and meal worms (I ran out of crickets) and when i fed him crickets tuesday he ate A LOT!!!... This morning however he ate another huge helping of crickets. He pooped twice today. However he threw up everywhere, i believe twice... i saw it happen once, it wasn't pretty ... Later on in the day he seemed to be doing better except i noticed that his belly and his back legs were twitching a bit. Its kinda scaring me... I bathed him and he pooped for the second time of the day.

Basking Temp: 105
Cool End: 87
UVB Bulb: 10.0 24" reptisun tube

I dust his food with calcium once a day (Flukers calcium with D3), and use rep cal herptivite vitamin every other day... He can get any where from 3-11" away from the uvb bulb (the tanks only 11" high, its still a 40 gallon though dimensions 48"x18"x11") He is over 11.5" and is very social... There is always a fresh plate of kale availible for whenever hungry and a couple of meal worms in a bowl in case i did not toss in enough crickets.

Help Please!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That is too bad, how is he doing this evening?
How large were the crickets? The size rule is the crickets or roaches should not be any larger than the space between the eyes. He could be impacted possibly.
Good that you have a Reptisun 10 flourescent tube bulb. How close is it to him?
What type of thermometer do you use to measure the temps with?
Are you supplementing calcium 5 times per week?
What type of substrate are you using, sand, tiles, paper towels?
Exactly how MANY meal worms did he have over the weekend? That is most likely the cause of his upset tummy. They are too fatty for him, & they have a hard outer shell that is very difficult to digest & pass, especially for younger dragons. I would lay completely off of the mealies. You could begin treating for impaction, just to be safe if you would like to.
That entails giving soft foods only for a few days until he goes to the bathroom & begins feeling better. Use chicken or turkey babyfood, squash babyfood, with a mixture of canned pumpkin, sugar free applesauce & a couple of drops of olive oil, daily in several small feedings through the day.
You can also bathe him in warm water, up to his armpits, & massage his belly starting from the armpit all the way down to the vent on the right side.

Tracie

 

[EAGOLD23]

Hello,

That is too bad, how is he doing this evening?
How large were the crickets? The size rule is the crickets or roaches should not be any larger than the space between the eyes. He could be impacted possibly.
Good that you have a Reptisun 10 flourescent tube bulb. How close is it to him?
What type of thermometer do you use to measure the temps with?
Are you supplementing calcium 5 times per week?
What type of substrate are you using, sand, tiles, paper towels?
Exactly how MANY meal worms did he have over the weekend? That is most likely the cause of his upset tummy. They are too fatty for him, & they have a hard outer shell that is very difficult to digest & pass, especially for younger dragons. I would lay completely off of the mealies. You could begin treating for impaction, just to be safe if you would like to.
That entails giving soft foods only for a few days until he goes to the bathroom & begins feeling better. Use chicken or turkey babyfood, squash babyfood, with a mixture of canned pumpkin, sugar free applesauce & a couple of drops of olive oil, daily in several small feedings through the day.
You can also bathe him in warm water, up to his armpits, & massage his belly starting from the armpit all the way down to the vent on the right side.

Tracie

Well it happened today... He seems to be doing better, less twitching by the end of the night. I use repti carpet. I use some brook stone duel temp thing, I had one lying around... I assume its pretty accurate. Like i said the tank is only 11" high so the farthest it gets is 11" and the closest is like 4". The only problem is that it only covers half the tank but i have it on the tank side where he spends 99.9% of his time while he basks. I supplement calcium every day on his kale and on the meal worms, i havent figured out a good way to coat the crickets any suggestions??? He pooped twice today, so i dont know how it would be impaction... I have another female in there and they get along great... they eat a bunch of meal worms, and the other female has had no problem whatsoever. I refuse to separate them because if i take one out of the tank the other one goes nuts until i put the other one back...

Its hard for me to get supplies, I go to a boarding school and do not have a car so my only time to get stuff is on the weekends. Thanks for the help!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Well, are they related?
So how old is the female?
I ask because he is 5 months old & if she is around that age, he could try to mate with her soon. If you have a hard time getting supplies for them, you are going to have a harder time getting supplies for a bunch of babies if you don't separate them soon.
We don't recommend housing a male & a female together. If a young female gets gravid at a young age, it will stunt her growth & can cause health problems, & the male can possibly hurt his hemepenes & retractor muscles as well.
You really should separate them, they would do much better in the long run. The reason they seem to go crazy when you separate them, is because it is a change. They have an adjustment period when you separate them or move them to a new location which is called relocation stress. That is what they experience when you separate them.
Do not feed him anymore mealworms right now, they are too fatty for him & not real nutritious. At his age, feed crickets, or phoenix or butterworms. To powder the crickets, just put a small pinch of powder in a plastic baggie & gently shake them up which will coat them. If the female is not eating as many or if she is a little larger, she might not have too much trouble with them. Feeding too much fat in their diet early on can contribute to fatty liver disease when they become adults.
The better choices of greens to choose from are collard greens, mustard greens, dandelion greens, escarole, & endive. Kale is ok as an occasional green but it is very high in oxalates which can bind calcium absorption so it should not be used as a sole staple green.
They can still poop & be partially impacted, so I would still keep a close eye on him right now.
Good that he spends a good amount of time basking under his light.
Has he thrown up anymore? How is he feeling today?

Tracie