What am I doing wrong?

[dragonfam]

On October 9th, 2010 I purchased three baby bd's from a reptile expo. The vendor told me they were 5 weeks. I have had several people look at them who said maybe they are one week at the most. I have a 40 gallon and a ten gallon. I was housing two together in the 40 and one alone in the 10. My basking area is running at 104 and my cool side at 84. i am feeding crickets and reptiworms non dusted bc of their proper ratio. I am feeding a blended mixture of parsely, squash, carrots, peas, green beans, kale, and kiwi in the food bowl. This morning the smallest baby died. The smallest are about 1 1/4 inches from nose to vent. Today the other really tiny baby is showing the same signs and has the same I am dying look. I can't get them to eat. They have been eating about one to two reptiworms per day. I have been doing warm water baths as well. Someone please tell me what I am doing wrong!! This is getting very frustrating.

 

[Reeferman20]

im no expert so all i can give you is what i have learnt in my short time as an owner. I dont think it would make them sick but my temps are 5 degrees higher than you. Im sure you know about the feeding rule :- nothing bigger than the gap between the eyes. can you run over your setups like what your using for heat, what bul;bs you are using. and also what syptoms did the lil one have before he passed on and what symptoms does this sick lil one have. i hope these two survive...i vant believe this guy was willing to selll them on so young. i completely disagree with it. its not fair on you or the babies :/

 

[Jess]

It sounds like they were sold to you WAY too young.

First off, they all need to be in seperate enclosures. If they are housed together, it can stress them out and effect their appetites. Are you dusting the crickets? Even with the Reptiworms, crickets need dusting... they dont have a balanced Ca ratio. Have you been giving them any multi vitamins?
What UVB light are you using, and how close can they get to it?
Do you have a digital, dial, or stick-on thermometer?

For feeding them, you can try to syringe feed them baby food squash and some turkey baby food for protien. Most of them will lick it right up!

I hope that they make it!

 

[catUK]

Baby beardies are really hard to look after that young. You seem to be doing a lot of things right. I agree with Jess about the multivitamins, although im sure not giving them wouldn't have anything to do with one dying. Im sorry i cant help more. If i was you i'd repost this in health or ER section for better advice

 

[Reeferman20]

yeah beardie ER is where i would have posted this

 

[Reeferman20]

i have just read that basking temps for a juvie should be 110

 

[dragonfam]

My 40 gallon setup has astroturf for my substrate, 2- 75 uva bulbs and one lamp with just a regular light bulb in it. I was dusting the crickets with calcium powder with D3 in it. I have been periodically putting them in the window sill with the window open, heat lamps hanging from the bottom of the window for uvb. i wasn't aware that my buld had no uvb until I read the box. i have been told that no uvb won't affect health right away. The one that died this morning was very thin, very lethargic, couldn't walk and would wobble around like it was drunk. Wouldnt eat either. It was eating a few fruit flies per day and one cricket. It hardly moved in the tank;it was mostly me moving it. The little one that is starting to show the same symptoms is the exact size of the one that just passed and ate one extra small reptiworm. I tried feeding this one baby food prunes today from a spoon this morning and he would not eat them, but ate the one reptiworm at the 2nd feeding of the day.

The person that I bought them from at the show should not have sold them, but did just to make some money. We have owned them before, but I am not an expert, so when she said they were 5 weeks I believed her. My thermometer is a digital one that reads humidity and temp. With my temps not signifigantly off, I can't imagine that this would affect health signifigantly. I think my setup is otherwise ok.

 

[pogvitt]

Hi

There are several reasons why a young dragon might die. The captive bearded dragon population in North America only has a handful of founders, so genetic problems could certainly be a factor. Also, they may not have been housed in ideal conditions before they came to you. The only thing I would recomend is trying to give your beardies 5+ insect feedings a day, and to make sure the insects are no larger than the space between their eyes (if you aren't already doing this).

 

[dragonfam]

yes, i have no idea how they were housed before I got them. I will try turkey baby food. I have a feeling we are going to loose this one as well. I just wanted to check my setup to see if it was something physically wrong that I am doing.

 

[Reeferman20]

my beardie got VERY lethargic, as in wouldnt move. he almost seemed dead. that was due to the fact he was impacted (damn mealworms(damn petshop)) fortunately he made it thanks t this forum). but because your substrate is not loose and what you have been feeding him i dont see how this would be the case.

 

[dragonfam]

i don't think it would be impacted either. I bought the smallest worms possible and have been feeding friut flies just to get them to eat anything. They are tiny!

 

[Reeferman20]

i hope they get well, i would post in beardie ER...my thoughts are with the lil ones

 

[dragonfam]

i had posted yeterday on the one i was pretty sure was dying, so I have a post going in there as well. Thanks

 

[Jess]

Wait, Astroturf is the green grassy indoor/outdoor carpeting stuff? That actually isnt the best for them- Over time, the little grass-like pieces will beak off and they can eat it. I just keep them on paper towels for now.

110*F is usually prefered by babies, but your temps arent low enough to be doing them any harm. You really need a UV light though- They should never go longer than 2 weeks without UVB, so that could starting to effect them. You can get some ReptiSun 10.0 lights at LLLReptile.com or Petmountain.com for a great price- around $25 shipped. Keep trying with the babyfood too!

 

[dragonfam]

I just went a bought a retioglo 10.0 uvb. Hopefully this helps.