Whats wrong with my baby beardie? UPDATED WITH PICS

[diamc]

I don't mind the pm at all. I'm going to post here though so others can read it. If I left anything uncovered, send a pm to let me know. What concerns me the most is the unsteadiness and not wanting to bask. Since he is so unsteady, he probably doesn't feel comfortable climbing to bask. But, if he's not basking under the lights, then he won't have much appetite or energy. Do you have any bricks that you could use to make a basking platform so he doesn't have to climb? Perhaps having a few bricks leading up to it or a rock. I use a wooden parrot ladder that I cover with a spongy type non-adhesive shelf liner that I wrapped around it and taped it. It works very well. Another thought would be to use a big blanket or a few big fluffy towels to raise him higher to the bulbs. Anything to make him more comfortable & to try to encourage the basking behavior and to help him feel safe.

Since he seems thirsty, offering diluted Pedialyte or 100% juice (no sugar added) would be a good idea. Dilute with 3 parts water to 1 part juice. See if he will lick that off his nose, I'll bet he will. You could use juice in flavors of cherry, apple, grape or cranberry. Juicy Juice makes 100% juices.

The puffing up in the bath is completely normal, just wanted to mention that. I think it would be a good idea to supplement his feedings with chicken & squash baby food, diluting just a little to thin it and heat in the microwave to take the chill off.

Let me know how these suggestions work or don't work. Good luck.

 

[kinky]

Thanks for the reply Diane.

I like the idea of the towel to raise his basking spot. His basking spot is still really accesible though. It's a huge rock i got from the beach (bleached, rinsed and baked of course). its about 1ft wide, deep and tall with a 45ish degree incline. It also has a smaller rock at the base. He seems to manage to cling to it almost upside down when he tries to get off it. His appetite is also ok, everytime i offer some PWs he takes a couple. when he does stand up to take the food though he seems shaky on his feet. he had around 10 PWs and a mamed (lol) cricket today which worries me slightly because hes not basking to digest properly. he doesnt hide that often though, he sits on the floor of the warm end beside his rock where its around 87 degrees. I wonder if its the rock that he doesnt like anymore, maybe he associates it with being too hot from the couple of warm days. I might make a new basking spot today. I have a fake rock background that's aired out and ready to go in now but i don't wanna stress him more.

Adam

 

[diamc]

Hi Adam, I would say for some reason he doesn't care for the way the basking area is set up now, could be the rock or the fact that he feels so unsteady when he tries to get off of it. The 45 degree incline might be what is making him avoid it. His appetite does sound quite small yet with only eating 10 phoenix worms and 1 cricket. I do think a flatter basking area would be more comfortable and he should be comfortably sitting in an area that is about 100 degrees or just a little more. Perhaps doing away with the rock incline and replacing with something more stable that he can just lay down on without having to climb at all, would help increase his appetite and activity.

 

[kinky]

Do you think i should put the new background in? its nice and flat.

 

[diamc]

You could certainly try it and if he seems stressed by it, just remove it for the time being. Please give us an update on him tomorrow.

 

[kinky]

Hey!

Good news! I woke up on Friday morning to find him soaking up the rays on his rock! He even leapt down from the top when i dropped a few PWs in! Today he's eaten about 10 vitamin dusted crix, 6 or 7 PWs a couple hours later and he's just had around 15 crix. He goes straight back to bask afterwards. He looks much steadier on his feet when he's feeding now too.

I didn't need to change a thing, temperamental little bugger. Hopefully he wont relapse. I put his new doors on the viv yesterday and his beards been black ever since!

Thanks for the advice, its comforting to know there's somewhere to turn when you have a concern.

Thanks again!

 

[diamc]

Wow, that's great news. His appetite is better too. You must have felt so much better. Hopefully he won't show any of those symptoms again. Yes, we're always here to try to help. :wink: Thanks for the great update.