Dang, I wish my first post weren't for a problem...
Current condition
Escape is currenly laying on his tummy with his rear legs splayed backwards. He's somewhat trembling a bit just about all over.
Background
My daughter's teacher has been giving away young Beardies to students and my daughter brought one home yesterday. His name is Escape (should be an accent on the 'e').
Escape had actually escaped the classroom and lived outdoors for 3 weeks last month. Hence his name. Her teacher has been breeding and raising BDs for several years. But my daughter says he feeds them mealworms almost exclusively.
Anyway, I got a decent aquarium (size listed below) and set it up yesterday. Should've paid better attention to the basking bulb I bought (details below). The physical layout seems good with an elevated basking platform made of ceramic tiles (brown) at one end about 8 inches below the basking bulb. The basking area is atop a cardboard box (temporary) with an end cut off. Inside are two more tiles. Under the tank, under the box, is an undertank heater. Haven't measure temp, but comparing to the basking area it's not much more than 70 or 75F--just warm to the touch.
Recent activities
He came home yesterday and was in the tank for a few hours with nothing but the flourescent light while we shopped for supplies.
Once we had his tank setup as desribed and got the basking temp up, we fed him about 10 medium crickets which he ate pretty quickly. We made sure to give him another 3 hours of basking light before turning it off for the night.
I didn't observe him this morning, but I'm afraid my daughter put way too many crickets in the viv with him (this evening we cleaned it out and there were 19 still hiding in various places!) when she turned on his basking light for the day.
When I got home from work he didn't seem right. Daughter said he had spit out a cricket and it was still there. Some crickets were in with him and he wasn't interested. I figured he was just full., but he was laying with his rear legs splayed backwards and trembling a bit. Took him from his basking spot and put him on the lower/bottom of the tank and he shortly scrambled back to the basking spot. However, he wasn't using his rear legs as he should...kind of scrambling on his rear knees and pulling with his front legs.
Did some reading here and elsewhere and started getting pretty concerned.
We bathed him for quite a while, replacing the water three times to keep the temp up were it should be. He seemed to enjoy it. Stroked his right side a bit. Initially seemed to have a hard spot near his right rear leg and he didn't like me touching it, but it went away. Still no BM.
After cleaning his tank out (removing those crickets) and letting the basking area get back up into the 90s, I laid him on it. He pretty much didn't move. Just laid there with his legs just kinda hanging to the sides, somewhat trembling. If he were human I'd say his breathing seems a bit labored.
The basking light is now off for the night. The cool side of the tank will probably get into the high 60s tonight. I left him inside the cardboard box, guessing the temp there will stay in the 70s.
Questionaire
How old is your dragon? Born early Sep 08; about 10 weeks
How long have you had your dragon? Brought him home 20 Nov 08
How long is your dragon? 8 inches
What is the sex of your dragon? male
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in? 36”w X 18” h X 18”d
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank? Shelf padding
Do you use UVB lights? Currently no.
Do have ESU Reptile ™ Super UV Daylight, ~18inches
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb?
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)?
How old is your UVB bulb?
How close can your dragon get to the UVB?
Do you use a separate basking bulb? Yes
What kind and what is the wattage? 100w Zoo Med Repti Basking Spot Lamp (UVA)
What are the basking temps? Tops out at 111F
What is the cool side temp? Tops out in low 80sF, down to about 68F in early morning
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun? Acu-Rite I/O Wired Thermometer
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps? Probe sits on the tile
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad? Small heat pad under tank. Taped to underside of glass, the layer of cardboard, then thick tile. Doesn’t get warm…just there in case it gets too cool at night.
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific. So far, just medium crickets.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)?
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc?
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them? Not yet.
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)? No.
Do you bath your dragon? How often? First time this evening for about 30 minutes. Four cycles of warm water.
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath? Not yet.
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon? No, solo.
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done? No.
Current condition
Escape is currenly laying on his tummy with his rear legs splayed backwards. He's somewhat trembling a bit just about all over.
Background
My daughter's teacher has been giving away young Beardies to students and my daughter brought one home yesterday. His name is Escape (should be an accent on the 'e').
Escape had actually escaped the classroom and lived outdoors for 3 weeks last month. Hence his name. Her teacher has been breeding and raising BDs for several years. But my daughter says he feeds them mealworms almost exclusively.
Anyway, I got a decent aquarium (size listed below) and set it up yesterday. Should've paid better attention to the basking bulb I bought (details below). The physical layout seems good with an elevated basking platform made of ceramic tiles (brown) at one end about 8 inches below the basking bulb. The basking area is atop a cardboard box (temporary) with an end cut off. Inside are two more tiles. Under the tank, under the box, is an undertank heater. Haven't measure temp, but comparing to the basking area it's not much more than 70 or 75F--just warm to the touch.
Recent activities
He came home yesterday and was in the tank for a few hours with nothing but the flourescent light while we shopped for supplies.
Once we had his tank setup as desribed and got the basking temp up, we fed him about 10 medium crickets which he ate pretty quickly. We made sure to give him another 3 hours of basking light before turning it off for the night.
I didn't observe him this morning, but I'm afraid my daughter put way too many crickets in the viv with him (this evening we cleaned it out and there were 19 still hiding in various places!) when she turned on his basking light for the day.
When I got home from work he didn't seem right. Daughter said he had spit out a cricket and it was still there. Some crickets were in with him and he wasn't interested. I figured he was just full., but he was laying with his rear legs splayed backwards and trembling a bit. Took him from his basking spot and put him on the lower/bottom of the tank and he shortly scrambled back to the basking spot. However, he wasn't using his rear legs as he should...kind of scrambling on his rear knees and pulling with his front legs.
Did some reading here and elsewhere and started getting pretty concerned.
We bathed him for quite a while, replacing the water three times to keep the temp up were it should be. He seemed to enjoy it. Stroked his right side a bit. Initially seemed to have a hard spot near his right rear leg and he didn't like me touching it, but it went away. Still no BM.
After cleaning his tank out (removing those crickets) and letting the basking area get back up into the 90s, I laid him on it. He pretty much didn't move. Just laid there with his legs just kinda hanging to the sides, somewhat trembling. If he were human I'd say his breathing seems a bit labored.
The basking light is now off for the night. The cool side of the tank will probably get into the high 60s tonight. I left him inside the cardboard box, guessing the temp there will stay in the 70s.
Questionaire
How old is your dragon? Born early Sep 08; about 10 weeks
How long have you had your dragon? Brought him home 20 Nov 08
How long is your dragon? 8 inches
What is the sex of your dragon? male
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in? 36”w X 18” h X 18”d
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank? Shelf padding
Do you use UVB lights? Currently no.
Do have ESU Reptile ™ Super UV Daylight, ~18inches
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb?
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)?
How old is your UVB bulb?
How close can your dragon get to the UVB?
Do you use a separate basking bulb? Yes
What kind and what is the wattage? 100w Zoo Med Repti Basking Spot Lamp (UVA)
What are the basking temps? Tops out at 111F
What is the cool side temp? Tops out in low 80sF, down to about 68F in early morning
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun? Acu-Rite I/O Wired Thermometer
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps? Probe sits on the tile
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad? Small heat pad under tank. Taped to underside of glass, the layer of cardboard, then thick tile. Doesn’t get warm…just there in case it gets too cool at night.
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific. So far, just medium crickets.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)?
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc?
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them? Not yet.
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)? No.
Do you bath your dragon? How often? First time this evening for about 30 minutes. Four cycles of warm water.
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath? Not yet.
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon? No, solo.
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done? No.