Need help! My baby girl vomited

[Francis Spader]

Hi all. Thanks in advance for any help/advice in case I forget to say so after the novel I post. I got my 1st beardie as a tiny baby about 2 months ago and have learned so much and corrected my mistakes in the first month and thought my girl was healthy and thriving. She’s grown so much! But she vomited either late last night or early this morning. My gut tells me that the squash I gave her yesterday afternoon was bad. It didn’t smell bad when I was preparing her salad, but it was a bit mushy. I turned her lights off around 8:30pm last night, when she was already in her hide sleeping, and her enclosure was clean and clear. Lights on around 8am this morning and there was what looked like a full chunk of squash in the area where she poops. I knew right away it was vomit, and was alarmed, so I took her out to check her and she had little orange stains on her mouth, which I cleaned off with a warm cloth. I put her back in right away to warm up for the morning, and fed her about 3 hrs later. She ate approx 10 dusted dubias (a lot for her actually but she did not have any insects yesterday, just salad). She’s currently in an early shed again, but not acting differently otherwise. The temp in her basking spot is a steady 104, and she had a bath yesterday after her salad. I’ve been keeping a close eye on her and waiting for a bowel movement. She poops daily, but not yet today. Is there anything additional I should be doing? Should I calm down or be alarmed? I’m very worried I have tons of pics if needed, including pics of temp reads and of course, pics of my little girl.

 

[Francis Spader]

Oh and I had been giving her kale as a staple for about 2 weeks until I read that kale wasn’t a good staple green. She’s getting mustard greens and collard greens now which she’s taken to with ease, she’s such an easy girl. Think too much kale had something to do with it?

 

[Francis Spader]

She pooped and it’s basically all squash omg

 

[Francis Spader]

I mean it’s good she’s clearly not impacted, and it’s not runny so that’s a good sign but wow... I’ve never seen such a bright “squashy” bowel movement

 

[Canicke]

Hi - welcome. calm down. the squash may have been bad. she may have eaten too much. probably not the kale. might want to pop her basking temp up a bit - just a few degrees - 107 ish. whats the temps in the rest of her tank? can you post a photo of the tank? can you post a photo of her ? (we love baby pics) don't bathe her every day - they pretty much don't need it unless they're dirty. she may not poop daily - some do and some don't. sounds like she is well hydrated

 

[Francis Spader]

Basking spot 104 yesterday and today is a bit warmer outside/in my house and read 105. Warm side/middle of tank is 86, and cool side is 81. I have a 40w UVB bulb going the entire length, a 150w basking bulb and a 24w UTH on her basking side, and an 8w UTH on the cool side that I use to keep her enclosure warm. I even keep a towel over most of the top to keep heat from escaping. I’ve included pics of everything. As for bath, it’s only her 3rd one since I’ve had her, I know it’s not necessary, but I’m just introducing it early and she seems to enjoy it. Here’s pics of everything, oh and a link to a super cute video, turn the sound on

https://instagram.com/p/BbqU2riA2Em/

 

[Hdrydr31]

Your doing ok, I would bump it up 107 and UTH are not good for beardies because they can not sense heat from below so they can burn themselves.. They need the cool down at nighttime and as long as it doesn't get below 65F they are good.

 

[Francis Spader]

I could take it out, to be honest I don’t even think it works like it should because the repti carpet is not really warm to the touch. I’ll take some temps in the morning before I turn her lights on but it does get very cold here this time of year, I’m in Cleveland brrr

 

[Francis Spader]

Oh and what would you suggest to get the basking side up 2-3 degrees? My dome is only 160w max and I’ve got a 150w in it. Do you think 175w would increase the temp too much? I’d hate to get a new dome/bulb if it’s too much heat kwim?

 

[BeardedHippy]

If you can, just move whatever you use as a basking spot a little bit closer to the light. You could put something under it to raise it a little, ie a couple of tiles or something. It wont take much to raise the temp 3 degrees, remember its just the basking spot, not the whole warm side of the tank you need to raise. No point buying new bulbs and fixtures just yet. A ceramic heating element may come in useful if it gets too cold at night though

 

[Hdrydr31]

I could take it out, to be honest I don’t even think it works like it should because the repti carpet is not really warm to the touch. I’ll take some temps in the morning before I turn her lights on but it does get very cold here this time of year, I’m in Cleveland brrr

I'm in WI so I get the cold part.. what do you keep your household temps at?? If it drops below 65 then get a CHE and that will take care of it getting to cold.

 

[Francis Spader]

My heat stays set between 76-78, I know that’s hotter than most normal people and my gas bill is pretty high but I’m cold blooded too lol! The tank temp in the morning before I turned her lights on was 72, but I will keep an eye on it as it gets colder in the winter season. Thanks for all the replies

 

[PatsyB]

Your tank looks beautiful! Few things. Like Hdrydr31, I am in a VERY cold winter place so I get the heating stuff. I would do what Beardedhippy said and put a few tiles under your basking spot to raise it closer to the light. I may have missed it but what are you measuring your temps with? You need to have a gradient in your tank so a 107 degree basking spot and the cooler side should be around 80 degrees. One or two degrees difference there isn't the end of the world. At night the WHOLE tank needs to drop to between 65-70 degrees, they aren't sensitive like frogs where they need it real warm at night too. Your household temps are warm so the tank should be just fine.

As far as the throwing up, it could be because she ate too fast or that she ate too close to the lights going out. They need around 2 hours of heat to digest before they go to bed.

Oh and one more note....the brand of UVB bulb you bought was okay but not one of the best and needs to be changed more frequently like every 4 months as opposed to every 6 months. The T8 size light being on top of your mesh blocks out 35% of the needed UVB rays so you need a 10.0 bulb. It's best to mount a T8 bulb inside the tank to get the maximum benefits from it. If you have it on top of the mesh, your dragon needs to be able to get about 6-8 inches away from the bulb to reap the benefits. Most of us have T5 high output bulbs that are strong enough to penetrate the mesh.

 

[Francis Spader]

My basking spot is 105, middle is 86, and cool side is 81. I’m using a digital probe thermometer for readings because those dumb little sticky thermometers are way off. I plan on putting a ceramic tile under her whole rock to raise it up a bit, but she is rarely ever on the top level of her rock as it is, she mostly stays on the 2nd rock or on her branch. But for my peace of mind I’ll raise the rocks anyway and see how she does.
I was actually JUST reading about lighting the other day I kid you not, (but for a different reptile) and learned about the light not penetrating the mesh well and that I need at least a 10.. Although I’m under the understanding that it penetrates (large spaced?) galvanized hardware cloth much much better??. Anyway, I am Black Friday shopping at the aquarium store tomorrow and replacing my uvb.

 

[PatsyB]

PetMountain has a good sale on ZooMed T5 light fixtures today. Dr. Foster Smith too, but they aren't as cheap as PetMountain.

 

[Francis Spader]

Thank you! I will check it out. I did not look at petco/petsmart yet, but RMS did not have what I needed :/