what else can i do?

[dnardini]

I have approx. a 3 yr. old beardie. I have not had him that long. I was given wrong instructions as to how to care for him and I am sure the person who had him before never properly cared hin either. I never new beardies had to have all the lights and heating to grow. I just now got him Reptisun 10.0 uvb tube and a 100 wt incondesint heat bulb. So now the temps are about 100-105 on the basking side and about 80 on the cool side. No sand at botton just a reptile rug (felt). last week he was very lithargic and had not pooped for about 2 weeks (at least i couldnt tell because there was sand at the bottom. I brought him in and spent a fortune at the vet just to tell me he is dehydrated andmalnurished. and couldnt find anything else wrong. so i decided to star dusting crickets with calcium, and he only ate about 5 crickets , the next day imixed up some flukers repta+boost (i was only able to get about 1.5-2 ml in him) and he ate another 5 crikets. I have been making up a fruit bowl of strawberries, blueberries, rasberries cucumber, apples, cntalope, spinach, tomatoes, and he will not eat it. I decided to puree it and use a syringe to feed him and he refuses to open his mouth and i dont want to pry it open in fear i may hurt him. I give him a bath every day and sometimes he likes it and will be alert and others he acts as if he were sound asleep. the times he is alert he drinks alot of water, he is now poping and looks normal. He will sleep in the basking area almost 24/7, unless i pick him up to get some attention. should i leave him alone to rest and kind of recover from not being keep prperly? I really like this little guy and havent enough funds to bring him into a diff. vet. Is this normal for a beardie that is Now in recovery? Should I continue to do what Iam doing or something else?
dnardini

 

[Kalyn876]

No tomatos, well at least feed them very rarely.

Here is a great site full of all sorts of info. The nutritional page is extremely helpful
http://www.beautifuldragons.com

Can your bd get within 6-8 inches of the reptisun with nothing in between?

 

[dnardini]

Thank you for the web site and no tomatoes anymore, and no he can not get between 6-8 in from uvb light, it is on top of the screen, should i open the screen a bit and place the tube directly at the open area. Buddy will be on the basking side all the time and that light is directly on him but the uvb is not and not quite as long as the tank so its not dirctly above him. Is my set up wrong?
I am new at all this and took on a sick beardie to begin with. He was so sick last week and I think I may have saved his life. He didnt eat for about 10 days no ppps no water dark in color limp. He had never had any uvb or heat lights no greens just crickets. He is nice and worm now and I dust his food with calcium and still wouldnt eat except may a few crickets and refuses to eat his greens. My hubby bought him meal worms today and he ate about 15-20 of them. I herd those are not any good for him but I was glad he ate because he doesnt want to chace after the crickets.
So anyways, thank you for your input,
dawn

 

[EccentricME]

To get the UVB light on the inside you can buy command hooks the ones that stick to walls they work pretty well if you have an under the cabinet floresant fixture And the fix is around 10 dollars at any home improvement store. I heard the screen blocks about 50% and if the fixture has a plastic coving the bulb you should get rid of it because it's also blocking the UVB
take a picture of your setup and post it; You can get a friendly critque of the set up

 

[dnardini]

My husband thinks he knows what he is talking about when it comes to all the "right" things and food needed to Buddy. I tell him what he needs and he brings back what petco employees say. We have gone round and round about the thermometer. The first one was and still is the strip that sticks to the inside wall and now one with a dial. I put in 100 watt incondscent light bulb but with those thermometers, it seems as if it only gets about 100 F. Since the meal worms, I hate to say, his natural color has come back and has not turned dark at all this morning and has much more improved on his activeness. It seems like I am always in his tank to either move him to the heat or put food and water in and back in just to take everything out so i can make sur the crickets get out if he doesnt eat them. As far as the oics, I still dont know how to upload on this site.
Thanks for your advice,
Dawn

 

[Kalyn876]

Let your hubby give this a read.
viewtopic.php?f=34&t=167279

 

[dnardini]

Thank you that was a great experiment, and of course hubby wont read it, what ever I will get the thermometer myself and toss the other two!
Thanks