Worried about Vitti

[Ostrommaysi]

I bought Vitti a 45w plain flood light for her tank till the Megaray comes and I can wear it in. I also baught her a Temp/Humidity digital thermometer in addition to a tub to take baths in and some squash baby food. Upon getting home I let her eat a little bit of the baby food and gave her a bath. (with baby warm water) Her coloring lightened when she was put into the water so she seemed to like it, though with her eye troubles she really didn't move around a whole lot. I watched over her as she soaked for about 15 minutes and took her out when I noticed the water was beginning to cool.

According to the thermometer her tank is around 90 degrees at the bottom with roughly 30% humidity. I realize this is not quite optimal but I have absolutely no way of buying a heater till my next paycheck and by then the megaray should be here. I noticed her looking about with her eyes a bit but still not a whole lot. My problem lies at the fact sometimes she seems to be improving, she looks around and reacts to things. Others she just lays about with her eyes closed like when she is asleep, a bit limp. I'm probably just being paranoid but hopefully she will do better when her eyes get better

Shes in her bath, as you can see her eyes are closed but shes looking my way. I pray that its just UVB deprivation and her eyes doing this

 

[DragonMomSandy]

The 45 watt should do fine for now. Where you want to measure your temp for the hot spot is actually not on the bottom of the tank, but right on top of her basking log, directly under the light. That spot should be 105F target range. If the bottom of the viv is 90, then you are probably very close. Set the probe of the therm on the log with the log directly under the light. Let it sit for 20 to 30 minutes and see where it's at. If the temp is still a little low on that spot, you can raise her basking log up with a piece of slate, wood, etc to raise it an inch or two. The 45 watt is workable and you probably won't need to get a heater at all (avoid the under tank stick on heat pads, those things are very bad and can cause burns on dragon tummies-plus the soak up heat from above, not through the tummy). The lack of uvb for a few more days is not a problem, she really needs the break from all of that for a few days anyway-as Tracie mentioned- to give her eyes a chance to start healing. Try using the sterile saline drops for her eyes too, that will sooth them a little. When she is laying with her eyes closed, is she laying on the cooler side of the tank? If so, you may need to set her on her basking spot to make sure she is basking at least some of the day, plus, with her eyes really irritated, she's probably having a hard time moving around right now. This will improve in a few days with a less intense bulb running.

It's good that she ate some baby food for you, thats easier for her right now than catching the crickets. Try some chicken baby food so that she is getting some protein as they need 80% protein in their diets until they reach 1 year +. The protein will also give her a little more energy.

Vitti looks very young in the pic (she's adorable BTW!), I'm guessing about 6 inches long? Probably 6 weeks to 2 months old. Baby dragons, from hatchling to about 2 months, are more susceptable to dehydration, so a daily bath for the next week or two is a good thing, then as she gets bigger, once a week is plenty. Baby warm and 15 minutes is perfect.

Remember, take a breath, pat yourself on the back! You are doing fine. In the pic where she's got her eyes closed it's due to them being irritated and sensitive. This is going to get better in a few days, so be patient and keep doing what you are doing.

Let us know how she's doing tomorrow.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

WOW she is very tiny, but so sweet looking!
I don't see any sunken eyes so, I do think that it is ALL related to the Zilla UVB light. She should begin improving very quickly now with just a basking light over her.
Let us know what the basking spot temperatures are once you get it properly measured. I agree with Sandy, if the bottom of the tank is 90, I have a feeling that the branch will be most likely around 95, possibly 98 or so which would be excellent. The digital probes do take at least 30-45 minutes to fully register the temperature.
The baby food slurry will greatly help her out. At least she will be getting some food into her system that way which will boost her immune system, as well.

Keep us posted on your little one!

Tracie

 

[sara24354]

I just wanted to say that Vitti is adorable!! Please be patient and follow the advice you have been given and she should start improving soon. As was recommended give her some chicken or turkey baby food as well for protein.Let us know how she is doing please.
Sara

 

[Ostrommaysi]

Thanks for the kind commentary, shes my lil girl. I'm so proud of her and to show her off. I just wish she was in better health

This morning I woke up and fed Vitti some squash baby food. (Ill have to run out and get some chicken or turkey later) She ate a good bit of what I put in the spoon, she kept licking it up so I let her have as much as she wanted. I noticed for the last day her coloring has remained dark but she has been opening her eyes a bit more and looking around and generally more responsive. I was excited to see her doing better so I planned to give her another bath. I put her on her log in the tank and put on the 45w soft white floodlight about 12 inch from her basking spot so she could bask after eating while I cleaned up a mess. Not five minutes later I looked over to her and noticed her eyes had swelled up to frightening proportions so I freaked out and unplugged the light. The swelling went back down immediately.

Seems no matter what headway I make something bad happens. I thought the regular light wouldn't be strong enough to cause her any eye problems. The tank was still warming up from the night shift so I didn't think it could possibly be too hot for her. Afterward she opened her eyes again and looked about as if nothing happened but it is stressing me to death having seen her eyes puff up like that. Its getting to the point I'm scared to turn on a light

 

[Ostrommaysi]

To add I gave her a bath and she seemed to lighten up a bit. I held her for a while after then cleaned out her bin and put some dusted crickets in it but unfortunately she did not eat any of them. Note that the entire day she has been an extremely dark shade except for a little while when she fell asleep in my hand. So I put her back in her tank with the light on an am constantly monitoring her eyes to see if they puff up again. As much as I would love to never turn on another light I know she needs them. She hasn't gone to the bathroom in two days but she hasn't really eaten much but baby food and 1 cricket. I took her basking log out of her tank for the time being so she stays further from the light just as a precaution. I think it may be stress caused by my constant attention. For the past few days I've been handling her a lot, giving her baths and a lot of things shes not used to

The good news is she has been very attentive and mobile today, running about her tank and even my desk a little. Her eyes have been open a lot more today and thats good. I got a nice picture of her sitting on my Wacom Tablet ready to draw!

My worries at this point are her eyes puffing up and her dark color

 

[Metalz]

The eye puffing might have been ,eye bugling thay can do it on there oun . the frist time u see it ,it's freaky but normal to them, it looks like there eyes are going to pop out of thre head . Both mine do it .
Her basking temp HAVE to go up around 105 . If thay don't she is not going to be able to digust the food u are giveing her . She will git weaker and not be able to heal .

As long as she is staying under the lights she should be ok . It's when thay are hiding from the like and heat you have to worrie . Just follow what has been posted before. The people here are great and know what thay are talking about.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Good to hear that Vitti is more attentive than she has been. Is she opening her eyes more than yesterday I hope?
Yes, the extra handling & baths probably are stressing her out more than usual, but, she should be fine. I know you are doing your best, & she will be back to normal soon.
Keep giving her the baby food slurry right now, since she is not eating anything right now. Let us know how she is doing.

Tracie

 

[DragonMomSandy]

It is a good sign that she was openning her eyes more today! The eye bulging could be sensitivity but it is common to see dragons "eye bulge", usually when they are getting ready to shed on their heads as it seems to help loosen the skin a little. Your right, she does need the light for heat, and the household bulb is going to be far less harsh on her eyes than the spiral bulbs. Hopefully in a few more days her eyes will be healing well enough that she can tolerate the light better. Keep up with the baby foods to keep her strength up. She was more active today for you too and that is a very good sign. I would agree with Tracie, she is probably a little more stressed from the handling as well as they eye issues but she'll be ok. Hang in there! Keep doing what your doing and you'll both get through this!

 

[Ostrommaysi]

As the day progressed she seemed to be doing worlds better. The eye thing freaked me out a bit, (ok a whole lot which is understandable given her eye problems as of late) but after they stopped she looked around fine so it musta been nothing. Today she was very active, looking around and scrambling about the tank. She even took it upon herself to call an early night by climbing into her leg and curling up. I tried to feed her crickets in a separate tub but she wouldn't eat, I was worried at first since her eyes were open she should eat. But then I dropped them one at a time into the tank and she ate fine. Finicky little girl

Other then her dark colors she seems worlds better today then even yesterday, just took her a bit of time to get going is all. Again I can't thank you all enough for your support and information, its made a huge difference.

 

[DragonMomSandy]

As she gets better, you should see her colors start to brighten back up. Also, once the uvb is back that's going to make a difference in the color. But again, the lack of uvb for a week is a good thing right now while her eyes heal. You'll also notice that when they get ready for a shed, their color will dull and get drab grey, that's normal. Just wanted to toss that info in there too, so that when she does start to shed you won't be freaked out by the color changes. They also tend to shed in patches: feet and tail, body, head, etc.. not in sheets like snakes. When she does shed, you'll want to pay close attention to little toes and her tail tip to make sure it all comes off and there is no retained shed. Baths during shedding really helps things along nicely.

Glad to hear she was eating crickets, even though she had her "slave" feeding them in her preferred way! LOL It's great that she was so active as well and her eyes were open more. She's coming along great!

Let us know how she does tomorrow!

 

[Ostrommaysi]

Lol I'd have to say that slave pretty much sums it up, funny how you can tell a friend or a love no but when a little beardie needs something you come running.

Today she was doing very well, her eyes were open most of the day and she scurried about a lot more. Gave her a bath and fed her some chicken babyfood. Her Megaray floodlight came today so things are most definitely looking up. We even had this little deal where she'd bury herself in newspaper and I'd try to get her so I could feed her crickets but she'd crawl into another.

Happy to say things look to be finally on track. Thanks to you all

 

[puffsmama]

I just finished reading your entire thread....
First of all....welcome to the board, and welcome to the wonderful world of beardies!!!! This will be an exciting and rewarding journey for you with your little one!!!
I am glad she is feeling better. You have gotten some wonderful advice here, and you have done a great job!!
I'll be watching Vitti's thread here to see how she continues to get along.
She is a very cute little girl!!
Now....WE NEED MORE PICTURES!!!!
Cindy & Kiera

 

[Ostrommaysi]

I started a thread with pictures so everybody can enjoy - viewtopic.php?f=49&t=124954

Today after 3 days of burn in period I finally hooked up the megaray bulb for her to use. So far she seems to be doing extremely well with it. Today was the first day I was also able to feed her salad full of Mustard and collard greens which she's touched minorly. Shes had a very healthy appetite and been much more attentive. Everyday I've been giving her a warm bath and holding her.

One thing I notice is she has remained an extremely dark color. She moves around, eats and looks without any noticeable issues but she is almost always a very dark color. The only exception is when she is sleeping, eating or bathing to which she will brighten up considerably. Then when I put her back in her tank she will bask and get all dark again. I'm not sure why she is so nervous all the time. I do know or at least it appears she will shed soon as there is dull points of skin on her nose, back and tail. Could this be causing her to be so dark. It worries me.

The temperature of the tank since the insertion of the Megaray is generally 90 degrees and probably around 100-105 on her basking log with only 20% humidty. The lamp is positioned roughly 15-17 inches from her basking spot on the one side of the tank so she can get away if needed

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Is she dark while she is basking or all of the time?
Sometimes, when they are getting ready to shed, their colors do change a little bit yes. So the new Megaray seems to be working out pretty well right now?
It sounds like she is eating great though, which is a positive thing. The temperatures are fine right now. You are using a digital probe right?
So, her basking spot if 100-105? What is the cooler end reading?

Tracie