Very ill beardie

[xJaZx]

Another thing in regards to seperating (I may have missed it if it was posted, I only skimmed responces)... Often times when beardies are housed together, one of them may not eat as well and their immune system will be compromised from the additonal stress caused from living with another dragon.

He will probably have a better chance recovering in his own home.

 

[Flora]

Thank you for your post, well he has in own vivarium now, so really hoping he will be less stressed! At the moment he s only eating mealworms, doesnt want to know the locusts nor the vegs i present him, he s eating more or less 20 worms a day, so going to get this powder called cricket plus recommended by the vet to sprinkle on insects. Hope it will help, is he ever gonna eat vegs? Going to try cooked sweet potato tomorrow... Thanks for your reply, kind regards

Flora

 

[diamc]

Actually, the mealworms really aren't doing him any good as far as nutritional value goes & they are also an impaction risk. You would actually be better off getting phoenix, small silkies, small hornworms or even butterworms. Did the vet say anything about getting a product called Repta-aid, most beardies really like that and it contains ingredients that would be very helpful. http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2753955 Are you giving him any liquids by putting drops on his nose for him to lick off?

 

[Drache613]

Hello Flora,

You do need to adjust your temperatures. At 36C that is only 97 so maybe while he is not feeling real well, you should up it to 40C or 104. You can even increase it to 43C or 110 if you would like to. That can help to boost his immune system quite a bit & digest his food.
Thanks for trying to find out the Baytril dosage for me. I just hope he is on the correct amount for his weight.

Tracie

 

[Flora]

Hello everyone, my poorly beardie came home last week and ate very well for the whole of last week, about 20 mealworms a day, and quite a fair amount of greens that I chop very finely in a mixer, he loves eating it off the paper towels that i ve put in his vivarium. I have tried to offer him other food, small locusts and crickets, wax worms but he doesnt seem interested at all. In the last 3 days, he seem to have lost appetite and when I was watching him, he seemed to be "dragging" himself up to his basking spot when only a couple of days ago he was practically jumping on it. Am i being a bit paranoid? Can he have a relapse? Also his body is rather dark, is he not warm enough? I have increased his temperature as we re getting cold nights here. I feel i have to keep a close watch on him as I cant afford to have him lose weight while he s recovering and he was quite lively only days ago. I have read some people are giving their poorly beardies baby food, should i try this? What is this Repti Aid product? Any advice would be much appreciated

 

[VtFlash]

Poor little guy, i thought mine went through alot. It seems like alot of people are in agreement about meal worms...they are NOT good.I am not sure how much of this statement is true but i read up that the meal worms eat the insides of BD because they are digested whole and your suppose to cut off their heads before feeding. It sounds as thou he may have got impacted again, how are his bms? If you can get him to try silk worms or phinx worms. They are the most easily digested and attraction because they move so much. And again wax worms should only be a once in awhile treat. They are very high in fat and been told over time effects thier liver. Most of the time they get black to attract or "soak" in heat/UVB. i don't think it would hurt to increase the heat a fair amount . I took me a little over two weeks to get it the way he likes it. I hope this helps....

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That is a myth that mealies eat their insides. The stomach acid will kill them after they are swallowed.
However, 20 mealies a day is way too many mealies & can cause impaction. I would start treating for impaction.
Please get some pumpkin, sugar free applesauce, & squash babyfood & start giving some to him daily, & do not give any solid foods right now until he has some normal stools. Use a plastic dropper or a needless syringe to get the food into him.
Also, as stated above, the mealies are way too high in fat to be fed that frequently.
Make sure the basking temps are optimal to ensure that he can pass any impaction through.

Let us know how things are going.

Tracie

 

[dreshany]

I agree, Mealworms have a harder exoskeleton than other worms and run a high risk of impaction. You could try feeding him a drop of olive oil and keep him well hydrated. You can give him one or two 10-15min baths a day until he passes the impaction. Sometimes impactions can press on their spinal cord an cause problems with the back legs, this should correct itself once it has passed. If you have a fussy BD, you could try butterworms. I hear that they have a certain smell that BD's can't resist. Good Luck

 

[Flora]

Thanks for the advice, just to clarify, the pumpkin needs to be cooked right? Im not sure if he has impaction, he seems to have bowel movements 2 or 3 times a day, but i must admit, not a lot has come out lately. I do regularly give him some water which he laps it up. I have phoned around to find out where I can find butter/silk or phoenix worms, nobody seems to stock them!! Will have a look on the internet. Will definitively try the baby food and Im off now to the supermarket and chemist to get a plastic seringe! Thank you soooo much for your help, I really dont know what i would do without you guys!! Will keep you posted

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

How are things going today, were you able to get a syringe?
The pumpkin needs to be cooked if you are using fresh. Otherwise, you can get canned pumpkin & that will work just as well.
So no luck finding the butterworms, silkworms or phoenix worms. I guess you will have to order them from online then.
Great that he regularly drinks water so just continue to push the fluids just in the case he is slightly impacted.
I hope he is feeling better!

Tracie

 

[diamc]

Hope he's doing better. Wanted to mention that you make sure the canned pumpkin is 100% pumpkin, not the stuff you would just pour in a pie crust.

Since he is licking water off his nose, you could try using a large plastic medicine dropper that is used for toddlers and put drops of the babyfood mixture on his nose for him to lick off. It works very well and you should be able to find one at a pharmacy and even your local grocery store.

When you do the baths, be sure to massage gently on his right side from his armpit to vent as that should help move an impaction closer to the vent so he can pass it.

 

[Flora]

Thanks Tracie/Diane, got the seringe and bought 3 pots of baby food, one of squash and sweet potatoe, one of sweet potatoe an chicken (no bits tho) and a apple puree. He had some sweet potatoe from the seringe, not a lot but its a start, tried the other one, and licked off the apple puree, only a little bit. Will try again in the morning as he seems to be hungrier at that time. Cant find the silk/phoenix/butter worm on line and the main supplier is out of stock. Reading other forums, it seems that they are very difficult to get in the UK. Can one order them from the US? Also i have a question regarding the heat bulb, I have a regular household 60 watts bulb in his vivarium but as it is not as strong as a 100 watt, it seems to be always on. Just wondering if i should change the bulb to a 100 watt so that it heats up quicker and the vivarium stays hot longer without the bulb being on all the time. It s just a thought because i noticed that he 's not falling into a deep sleep like my other beardie (who s doing really well) is. I picked him up earlier and craddled him in my hands and he fell asleep almost immediately with his nose against my fingers, very cute but had to put him back in his viv as its 2am here now! Will try the bath tomorrow, great tip about the massaging, will definitively do that. Will let you know how i get on. Once again, thanks for your support, I hope I can give you some good news soon.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Great that he did eat some tonight for you. I am glad you found a syringe as well.
I think in the UK, the phoenix worms are called calcigrubs or something like that. They are basically the same thing. Keep checking with the supplier, they may just be out because of holidays or something.
Are you leaving a basking light on all night long? We recommend a 12 hour day cycle & a 12 hour night cycle. The basking temps should be 95-110 so he will need a basking light on for those amount of hours so he can digest his food. The UVB should stay on for the same amount of time.
He will need it dark overnight to help him sleep better. So he fell asleep in your hand, he must have been tired. How sweet that is.

Keep us posted on him.

Tracie

 

[diamc]

Hi, glad to hear that he ate a little for you. What basking & cool side temps are you getting with the 100 watt? Are you using a digital thermometer with a probe on the end to check them? As Tracy mentioned, the basking & UVB should be on for a 12 hr day day cycle only. And, during that timeframe, the bulbs shouldn't be turning on & off, but should be constantly on during the day. Please make sure they aren't on at night as that will definitely disturb his sleep and he needs cooler temps at night. If your room temp where the tank is drops below 65, then you can use a ceramic heat emitter that gives off heat but no light.

You must have absolutely melted when he feel asleep in your hand like that. Certainly would have made quite a cute picture. :love5:

 

[Flora]

Well hello everyone, sorry I havent written earlier, its been manic here. I did what you suggested regarding the babyfood, and on monday he managed to take a little bit of pumpkin and squash puree and also apple puree, doesnt like being fed via the seringe but he took some, thats the main thing I guess. Gave him a bath (didnt enjoy that much either!), only 10minutes. The next day, he started to eat locust (he refused to eat them up until now) and today he has finally shedded the last bit of skin on his head which had been stuck on for months. His diet is more varied too, he eats greens everyday, mealworms (not as many), locust and the odd cricket, and every other day, we give him water via the pipette which he laps up. Has 2 to 3 bowel movements a day. He s quite lively now, jumps about in his vivarium,knocks on his window to get attention, its amazing to see the change in him. Should i still worry about a slight impaction? I feel he has turned a corner this week, all the advice you gave me worked and i am eternally grateful for that! Regarding the light and heat, well the uv light is turned off at night but the basking light turns on and off all the time due to the sensor which monitors the heat in the tank. Will look into the ceramic heater but at the moment neither of the 2 beardies seem bothered about it, they both have dark and cooler places they can hide in if they want to get away from the light. Take care and thanks again for everything