What is going on with my baby?

[Eglantine]

Age: 4 Months
Size of Dragon: 4 3/4"
Enclosure size: 20 gallons (Length: 30” Width: 12” Height: 12 1/2”)
Temperatures:
Basking: around 90*F
Cool: 76*F
Substrate: Reptile Carpet
Diet: Baby Crickets, Kale, and Mustard Greens
Gender: Male

My baby dragon's left eye is sunken in even though he drinks water every day. He is also skinnier than my other baby dragon which is housed with him (i am going to move her to another tank soon.) He rarely eats and seems to be slightly lethargic. What is going on with him and what can i do before going to a vet?

 

[VenusAndSaturn]

Id like to point something out, if your beardie is only 4 inches hes only about a week old maybe more maybe less, by 4 months he should be around 8-10 at least.

You need the basking spot to be 105-110 or so for him.
The cool side should be fine.
As for the diet mustard greens and crickets are good however kale should be avoided.

This is what i go by for feeding,

1-4 months 3 times a day 10-20 bugs each feeding,
4-12 months twice a day 10-20 bugs each feeding,
12-20 months once a day 10-20 bugs each feeding,
And then 20+ months every other day 10-20 bugs each feeding.

And of course daily salads in all age ranges, usually collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens daily and then the occasional blueberry, banana, or red raspberry once or twice a week in their salad.

As for the bug portion i usually feed crickets, calciworms, dubia roaches, and turkish roaches for staples.

As for dusting, ones below 20+ months usually 5 times a week for calcium and 2 times a week for multivitamins. And then for the 20+ month olds usually 3 times a week for calcium and once a week for multivitamins.

As for treats i occasionally will give them hornworms, superworms or mealworms. Usually 5-10 mealworms, and then for hornworms and superworms 2-4. For mealworms i offer those once or twice a week and then with superworms and hornworms usually once a week or twice every two weeks. Hornworms can be offered a bit more than superworms can since they do have less fat and are mostly just moisture which is good for hydration in some cases but can cause diarrhea if given too many.

He is most likely not eating because of the other beardie and soon could be on the verge of starving because of the other. I recommend going out and buying another 20 gallon for the other beardie. Leave him in the same tank so it doesnt make it worse. Personally its best if you quickly get him to a certified reptile specialist vet very soon, but things will not get better until you separate him. Hopefully he will make it.

 

[Eglantine]

I already have another tank, but it is not ready for the other baby yet. When it comes to his age, I know he is about 4 months because he hatched with a clutch of eggs i got from my adult female which hatched in August.

 

[Eglantine]

I just checked my basking temperature again and it is reading at about 113 now.

 

[VenusAndSaturn]

Okay good but you really need to separate them, things will not get better unless you do. Even a tub works if big enough for a temporary enclosure for the other. All you need to do is mount a heat bulb above where the basking spot will be inside the tub and then sit a tube light across it, that is the tube light should be big enough, probably a 30" or so unless you figure out how to mount a 18 or 22" bulb inside.

 

[Eglantine]

The problem is that i don't have any extra bulba to use right now

 

[Eglantine]

I might be going to Petco or Petsmart for lights tomorrow.

 

[destiny1998]

Hi. What kinds of lights do you use? Any colored? Uvb is it coil,compact or a long tube? Brand? Also I'd drip some water on his nose as he sounds dehydrated.

 

[Eglantine]

Hi. What kinds of lights do you use? Any colored? Uvb is it coil,compact or a long tube? Brand? Also I'd drip some water on his nose as he sounds dehydrated.

For UVB I use a Reptisun 10.0 UVB tube light, and for basking I use a Repti Basking Spot Lamp (Both from Zoo Med.) I do not use any night lights.

 

[EllenD]

Your dragon is very stunted (at 4 months old he should be much longer and larger) due to a lot of problems here, the biggest one is that you cannot house dragons together, you just can't. This is ALWAYS what happens, one dragon thrives while the other becomes stunted, stops eating, is lethargic, usually develops a calcium deficiency and MBD, and eventually dies. It's due to the other dragon totally and completely dominating him, taking all the best UVB light and basking spots, all the good food, and constantly exerting a continuous stress over the submissive dragon.

If you're going to breed dragons then you need to have multiple set-ups for the ones you're going to keep ready to go, they need to be separated at around a month old and in their own, individual enclosures/tanks at that age at the oldest. Another issue is that a 20 gallon long tank is no where near large enough for a Bearded Dragon, and this is not helping the issue for either dragon; keeping 2 4 month old dragons together in such a small tank is magnifying the problem significantly. At 6 months old a minimum tank size is a 40-gallon breeder tank (longer, lower, and wider) for EACH dragon. And at a year old and older they EACH need a 4'x2'x2' enclosure, again you can get away with a 40 gallon Breeder tank for each one for a time, especially the stunted ones, but this is not a good situation at all.

Also, I didn't catch what UVb light you're using, how far away it is from their basking spot/platform (this is a very crucial problem to keeping 2 together, they can't both bask under both lights at the same time after eating), whether or not your UVb light is obstructed by the mesh lid to the tank, and how old it is, but you need to be using ONLY long, flurescent UVB tubes in long tube fixtures that have a metal reflector inside them, and they must be at least 10% UVB tubes (or 10.0). You cannot use a compact or coil UVB light for Desert Reptiles, and if you are then they aren't getting any adequate UVB light, and if you are using either a compact or coil UVB bulb or a long UVB tube that is the weaker T8 strength and not the more appropriate T5 strength, you must poke holes in the mesh lid and strap the entire tube fixture to the underside of the mesh lid, over the Hot Side of the tank. T8 UVB tubes must be within at least 6" of the basking spot, unobstructed by anything, and replaced once every 6 months. Again, if you're using any type of compact or coil UVb bulb, even a Reptisun 10.0 UVB compact or coil UVb bulb, this is another reason for the stunting, the lethargy, the lack of appetite, etc.

Please get them separated ASAP, get them both adequate UVB tubes, and get them both at least 40 Gallon Breeder tanks, or even using a large, plastic tube that is at least 50-60 liters, like the kind you can buy at walmart, then putting the tube fixture across the tube and putting their bright-white basking bulbs in clamp lamps that are clamped to the top edge of the plastic tubs, with basking platforms that are high enough to get them within the correct distant of the UVb tubes and get their basking spots between 105-110 degrees (surface temperature, must be measure with a $10 Digital Probe Thermometer, not a stick-on).