Urgent help.. Found last night on his back

[Maizeyc]

So last night after work I came home and checked on my dragons. My Male was on his back with a black beard and stiff. I thought he was dead. About half an hour later he began to move. I helped flip him over and he seemed completely out of it. I gave him a bath and had to hold his head up. He ate 3 meal worms and seemed to have no appetite. He's only about 5 or 6 so he's pretty young. I also noticed that he might of eaten some of his hammock. Anyone know what could of causes this scarry and odd behavior????

 

[Maizeyc]

He has also been burying his head in his walnut shells. This is very concerning to me. Anyone have any knowledge on what could be wrong with my little guy

 

[Terry15]

Walnut shells and sand or any loose substrates are not good for bearded dragons. I would get the walnut shells out of there ASAP. Vacuum them out and put down some paper towels, newspaper or better yet some non adhesive shelf liner. The non adhesive shelf liner is good to put down under tiles. You can cut up some fleece blanket scraps for him to hide under. I hope he has not ingested some of the walnut shells. Any of the loose substrates harbor a lot of bacteria.

 

[destiny1998]

Hi. Sorry your beardie is having issues. I could be a calcium deficiency. Can you give a rundown of his set up? Lights? Brands? Temps and how you take them. Also get rid of that subtrate. It can cause internal injuries when swallowed and can cause impaction.

 

[Maizeyc]

He has 130g tank, 2 heat lamps and a Uvb bulb. Not sure on the brands. And I have 3 the rd monsters in the tank. The lowest temp is 80

 

[Maizeyc]

I've called a vet and he has an appointment tomorrow morning and I'm on my way to the pet store to get a new substrate.

 

[kingofnobbys]

I've called a vet and he has an appointment tomorrow morning and I'm on my way to the pet store to get a new substrate.

Save the money you'd spend on new substrate , simply line the tank with paper sheets or loose floor tiles.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

How did the vet visit go for him?
I hope he is feeling better. Can you review your tank setup with us, a bit more. Is your UVB
light a long tube or a compact/coil light & where is it place? Most of the time, the brand will
be stamped on the base of the bulb. Are you using a bright white basking light or a colored
light for basking?
What supplementation are you using?
Definitely take the walnut shells out. You can use slate tiles, non adhesive shelf liner, or even
decorative paper towels.
Keep us posted on how he is doing.

Tracie

 

[Maizeyc]

He seems to be doing better. Hes now eating on his own.Hes still not in the clear. Hes having some trouble lifting his head and getting his front legs to hold him up. I did remove the walnut shells and got him reptile carpet. It's a compacted white uvb light.

 

[JulieGeek]

Most folks here recommend the ZooMed ReptiSun 10 "tube" rather than the compact UVB. The tubes provide more UVB than the compacts and can be more easily hung in the tank.

Can you tell us how old the UVB bulb is? The output starts to decrease at about 6 months or so.

And what's your little guy's diet and calcium supplementation?

Glad to hear he's doing a bit better!

Julie
Loiosh & Princess Mononoke
(and Merlin the Ball Python)

 

[Maizeyc]

Most folks here recommend the ZooMed ReptiSun 10 "tube" rather than the compact UVB. The tubes provide more UVB than the compacts and can be more easily hung in the tank.

Can you tell us how old the UVB bulb is? The output starts to decrease at about 6 months or so.

And what's your little guy's diet and calcium supplementation?

Glad to hear he's doing a bit better!

Julie
Loiosh & Princess Mononoke
(and Merlin the Ball Python)

The uvb light I got 4 weeks about his other one was getting to about 5-6 months old. He loves his rainbow char, kale and collard greens. He gets zucchini, grapes, sweet potatoe, red and green bell peppers, bananas, and strawberries.
I switch these out so hes not eating the same thing every day. He loves baby food and applesauce as well. So sometimes he gets baby food on his greens about once a week as a treat. He eats crickets daily and super worms and horned worms as treats