what am i doing wrong wit my beardies

[slipknot777]

hey am John L and i just want to start off with what i have and use for them. First off i use a 75 watt day light blub and a 6 inch dome. I use the reptigro 10.0 from exo terra orange for uvb and 18 inch tube. I have the smallest beardie in a 20gal at the length of 8inch and he is almost 9 years old. I have my 12inch beardie in a 40gal regular tank not bleeder. I use green reptile carpet for both my beardies. I have water bowls in both tanks and nice grapevines for them so they can bask. I feed both of them superworms and romaine every other day cause of age and now dandilion greens because they are in my front yard. The temps are 90 degrees basking and 85 with my other dragon. I use a digital temp taker. I dont no why they always have diarrea and wet smelly stools.

 

[Venom508]

First off the repti glo 10.00 is a real bad light you should change that to either Arcadia 12% or reptiSUN 10.00

You should be feeding them good greens not lettuce of anykind cuz they are pretty much all water and have next to no nutritional value. this gives an awesome list as to what greens to feed ur little guys http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html and it color coded dandelion greens are really good for beardies also.

im guessing the reason they have really runny poo is cuz of the lettuce it goes right though them and like i said is all water

the basking temps should be around 100-105

i didn't see anything about calcium or vitamin supplements?? for beardies to grow correctly the NEED calcium and vits.
im not sure about the cage sizes but they should have a good amount of room to run and do beardie stuff

i think it was (cant remeber) super worms that are very addictive to beardies and once fed those you will have a hard time getting them to eat anything else so they should be a treat. try horn worms and crickets those are good.

an if the poo is soooo smelly like really bad to the point where you might gag, they might have parasites so you should get feacal test done. just take in some poo to the vets and get em to analyze it then post the results here so we can help further.

good luck with ur little guys!!!!

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

Hello John,

Sorry to hear your beardies are not doing too good. As Sheena mentioned the lettuce can cause a runnier stool, but I would be more concerned with parasites. You should really have a fecal done on both of them...to rule out parasites. Sheena gave you a link to a great list of foods for your beardies. Dark leafy greens such as collard or mustard greens are a much more nutritional staple for your guys, along with a variety of other veggies. The dandelions are great...just make sure they have not come in contact with any pesticides, which could make your beardies very ill.

As for the superworm's....they are actually a great staple for adult beardies(sorry Sheena) but those are generally not recommended for beardies under 16" in length.

The Reptiglo 10 as mentioned is not a great bulb! Please consider getting a different source of uvb, such as the ReptiSUN 10 fluorescent tube or MVB(mercury vapor bulb), which is uvb and heat in one bulb. The mvb's must be used in a minimum of a 40 gallon breeder tank, due to the amount of uvb and heat they emit.

I am a little concerned with the size of your dragons. You mentioned they are both adults, one being 9 yrs old. At 8" and 12" they are very small for adults. What is the age of the 12" dragon? Are they Rankin's or Lawson's dragons by any chance? Do you have pics that you could post of them?

I am going to ask you some questions.

How old are both of your beardies?
How long have you had your beardies?
Have you been using the ReptiGlo 10 on them their entire lives? If not, what uvb did they have prior to the ReptiGlo 10?
How close can they get to their UVB?
Are you using a bright white basking bulb?
How close can they get to their basking bulb?
What are their basking and coolside temps?
What are you measuring the temps with? digital thermometer with a wire and probe end, stick on, temp gun?
What are you feeding and how often?
Are you supplementing with Calcium and Multivitamins? How often?
Do you bathe them for hydration? How often?
When was their last fecals?

If you could answer these questions....we can try to help you out with getting your beardies back on track to a healthier lifestyle.

Dawn

 

[Venom508]

lol i had a feeling i was wrong about the worms!!

just for the record which one are addictive??

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

Well in my opinion...they are all addictive............to beardies, of course! :lol:

You are probably refering to the waxworms though, which are high in fat and should be used as a treat and not a staple feeder.

 

[slipknot777]

they are 8 years 12in and the other is 9 and 8in. I been using reptigro all there life yes. They are 8 inches from both uvb and heat blub and that is a 75watt exo terra green label daylight blub. They are both beardies and clear of parasites but have no proof just vets word. The basking temp is 89 with digital temp meter i tryed next blub up but the temp range to 120 deqrees f. I use reptical on everything every day.

 

[zebraflavencs]

Okay, back off on the calcium as you actually can offer too much !
Only offer twice a week.

Basking temp should be around 100-105 for adults, just play around with the temps to see what they prefer.

Here is an excellent tube that is rated better than the ReptiSun 10.0 :
http://www.petcityonline.com.au/details.asp?ItemID=830857008504&CatID=&MainID=Reptile
This can be ordered in Aus.
If you need the link for the UK, I have that too !

Hope this helps out !
Janie.

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

Hi John,

First off I would definitely suggest new uvb's for them both. The Reptisun 10 or mvb like mentioned are great uvb sources. How often do you change their uvb bulbs? The fluorescent uvb's should be changed every 6 months, due to the dissipating of uvb after a period of time.

You mentioned not knowing about parasites, only taking the word of your vet, were fecal exams done on both of your beardies for the vet to come to this conclusion. How long ago was it that they saw the vet?

Like I said before... their sizes are a concern. They are both very small for adult bearded dragons. How often do you feed them? Do they have any problems eating or digesting the superworms? They should be on a diet of 80% greens/veggies and 20% live feeders(30-50 live feeders a week). Calcium and Multivitamins dustings should be as such...Calcium 2-3 x a week and Multivitamins 1-2 x a week.

I would also suggest getting them some of the greens mentioned above and getting them off of the lettuce.

With your guys being so small I am going to pm Tracie(Drache613) and see if she suggests a boost in calcium or any other input she may have on helping them with growth. I cannot imagine they will grow much due to their ages. We'll see what Tracie suggests.

You need to try and get your basking temps up. Basking temps for an adult should range between 95-105 and coolside between 78-82. They should be able to get within 6-8" of the uvb and 10-12" from basking bulb. They need basking to be warm enough to properly digest their food.

In my previous post I asked if they might be Rankin's or Lawson's dragons. Those dragon's are much smaller than bearded dragons...only reaching lengths of 10"-13". This is why I asked. Do you know if they are either of those species? Could you post pics of them?

Dawn

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

Did I miss something here? John....are you in the UK or Australia?

 

[Mistyck]

Neither, he's in Illinois...

http://www.beardeddragon.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=51&t=103625

John, I don't think you should be looking to get another beardie until you can get what's wrong with the ones you own, under wraps.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Everyone has covered the tank setup questions so I would like to request some pictures. Can you get some closeups of them, especially the patterns on the backs, & the shape of the head.
It is possible that they could be rankin's dragons which are basically half or less of the length of a conventional bearded dragon & usually top out with weight on around 150grams, MAX.
The smelly stools probably indicates parasites or worms. Was a fecal not done on them when you took them to the vets? You can't tell just by "looking" if they have parasites or not unless they are very ill.
If you are feeding your dragons full sized superworms, that could be causing alot of GI distress. They could have possible partial impaction due to the oversized feeders.
The lettuce is notorious for making the stools watery & loose.
What wattages have you tried in order to get the basking temperatures to where they need to be? They cannot digest properly if they are not kept at optimal temperatures which will also lead to impaction & tummy problems.
They will not grow anymore due to their age. They could gain weight if they need to, but it should be done safely with good quality food & not fatty feeders.

Let us know how they are doing. Please post some pictures of them.

Tracie

 

[slipknot777]

thank you tracie i am trying to get my hands on a digital camera at work so i can get them posted up on here. I had a fecal done about eight months ago and they were clear of worms and parasites. I had that feeling there can't grow but whats a good way to get them to gain some weight. I bought these zilla incandlescent daylight blue blubs earlyer today and seem to get to 100 degrees and by the way they are 100 watt blubs. I been feeding dandilion greens and 10 medium crickets this week everyday. Saving the superworms for treat til the diarrea stops tiger had another bad surprise today. So i am giving them those meds pytelite. But spotty is looking like a champ he was eating his greens and eat 15 crickets medium but he looks really bloaded and has me worryed.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Great I will be waiting for those pictures of both of them to see why they are so small.
Do you house them separately?
So the daylight bulbs are getting the temps to where they should be at?
Since they are adults, they normally don't need much protein but let me see what they are looking like first before I make anymore feeding recommendations for you. How bloated is Spotty? Is Tiger bloated?
If they do not get enough fluids, eating too much protein will impact them. Perhaps it is time to get another fecal done just to see what could be going on.
If you are going to be getting 2 new UVB tube lights, the Reptisun 10 is the best one here in the US. Try going to:
http://www.petmountain.com

Let me know how they are both doing.
Tracie

 

[slipknot777]

yes they got two different tanks a 40gal and a 20gal spotty is in he is the same length as tiger but has some of his tail gone he had a hard time with his mates at the pet store. Yes i took the temp before lights out and hit 99.7 but pretty close. Tiger is fine just has a belly ache but spotty is hugh and don't no why he eat great crickets i slightly killed for him and most of the the dandilion greens were gone. They need a fecal done i have to call the vet for a early next week apointment. I wanted the mvb but am going to try the reptisun 10.0. Am tryin to get a useable credit card at wal-mart this weekend. They are looking better but only time will tell.

 

[zebraflavencs]

Say, John ? If Spotty and Tiger are situated close enough to each other, I have a 4' long ReptiSun I would be happy to mail you, if you pay for the shipping. Yes, only shipping
My zip is: 31406, you can use fed ex, or USPS or UPS, just figure out what the cost is, and send me a M.O. or I have pay pal, or some other option, and I will package it up and send it off to you !

How does that sound ?
Your friend, Janie.