New beardies

[Sunsetter]

Gday we got two bearded dragons about three weeks ago, they seemed to be very comfortable for the first couple of weeks. One of them just recently has stopped eating completely and is getting really skinny. We rang the store and the guy said that he may be dehydrated and to put him in about 2 inches of water for a while. There hasnt been much improvement of late, he lays in his aquarium almost like he is dead, eyes closed etc. he seems to be very limp and doesnt move at all apart from putting his head up a little sometimes. We just bought an eye dropper and put a few drops of water over his body and on his nose. Any help would be appreciated

 

[zebraflavencs]

Gday Mate ! Welcome to the forum..
I'm sorry you had to seek us out under these circumstances.

Okay, so you have two babies, purchased 3 weeks ago.
So I am guessing this little one has relocation stress.

Are they both in the same enclosure ?
Could you post your basking, warm side air temps, cool side air temps, and how you measure those temps ?
Also, pictures tend to help out a great deal... let's us have the "camera's" eye so to speak.
Eye's closed... Which uvb might you have purchased ?
Have you found a herp vet ? You might wish to take baby in for an exam.

Also, we have a resident Aussie, Francis... aka RedInkAus. He lives in Melbourne and can assist you in finding proper equipment.

Again, welcome.
Janie

 

[li]

Hi...

Yeah the questions above will go a long way to figuring out what's up with your new additions. Would also love to see pics.

 

[Sunsetter]

I was a bit off with the 3 weeks, its about 5 or 6 weeks actually- time flies. The temp is at 26/27 degrees celcius.. with the thermometer being right in the middle of the tank..
They are in the same tank.

Doesnt look too bad in this next picture- still eyes closed ect. not moving but seems to have something in his belly atleast.

 

[Red Ink AUS]

G'day mate,

Mate, you are going to have your hands full on this one, the little ones are way too small to have been released in your care to begin with, anyway that's a seperate issue all together.

First thing strip the enclosure bare and get a "click clack" containers (plastic tub of about 45 by 30 cm will do)

Now I don't know what Fluoro brand you are using but that may be affecting his eyes. Let us know and we'll tell you if it needs changing.

OK the temps are too low mate they need to be about 38-42C to bask in. What you need to do is place the little ones in the "click clacks" in the enclosure, seperate click clack for each. The click clacks need to be within 20 cm of your fluoro for them to get any UV out of them (hence strip the enclosure bare).

Your going to have to move that basking light to the centre of the enclosure closer to the fluoro and disconnect it from the thermostat. You will need a lower wattage bulb for them as well being that close to the flouro as it needs to stay constantly on. Basking lights are NOT to be attached to the thermostat, bearded dragons need a constant basking source.

Start of with these changes and we'll see how we go.

Here's a couple of Qs though,

What are you feeding them and how much and how often?

Do you supplement it with calcium powder and vitamins?

 

[Sunsetter]

We're going to look into the lighting and ring the guys where we got them because they are the ones that told us to get the enclosure set up exactly how we have it (temperature, feeding, setup).

We are feeding them small crickets with calcium powder every 2nd day.. although the sick one isnt eating at all.. we tried putting small amounts of strawberry infront of him but he didnt take any notice.

Is there anything else we can do to make him eat short term? He still has his eyes closed and doesnt take any interest in food at all.
We've also been told by the pet store to put him in a Ml or two of water and we are doing this but no progress yet.

We arent sure what brand of fluoro we are using, we bought the enclosure off a friend with the fluro already in it.. but they had a beardie in the enclosure with the same fluoro so that probably isnt the issue?

 

[corrine]

You will want to increase your temps. A cold reptile won't eat. Don't listen to anything a pet shop tells you. they are in the business for money not the welfare of the animal. The flourcent bulb that you want is the reptisun 10.0. The bulbs need to be replaced every 6 months so depending on the age of that bulb you may need a new one.

 

[zebraflavencs]

Corrine, I think this OP is from Australia.
In which case the reptisun isn't readily available.
However, the NEC t-10 is and works according to the charts and discussions I have had with a certain someone, better than anything we have stateside.
Hope that helps out !
Janie
Pardon to the OP this post.
I would follow Francis' suggestions. Temps need upping obviously, and we still need to know which uvb is being used.
Also, the click-clack use should bring the uvb down to a level where it is more readily accessable, and temps would be warmer.

 

[Red Ink AUS]

We're going to look into the lighting and ring the guys where we got them because they are the ones that told us to get the enclosure set up exactly how we have it (temperature, feeding, setup).

Mate the temps are too low and by the looks of the set up it would be perfect for a snake not a BD

We are feeding them small crickets with calcium powder every 2nd day.. although the sick one isnt eating at all.. we tried putting small amounts of strawberry infront of him but he didnt take any notice.

He won't eat as he has his eyes closed, that's the first issue we need to solve.

Is there anything else we can do to make him eat short term? He still has his eyes closed and doesnt take any interest in food at all.

We can force feed, but at this stage and your experience (no offense) I would not try it. A vet visit may be in order.

We've also been told by the pet store to put him in a Ml or two of water and we are doing this but no progress yet.

We arent sure what brand of fluoro we are using, we bought the enclosure off a friend with the fluro already in it.. but they had a beardie in the enclosure with the same fluoro so that probably isnt the issue?

That depends on how old the BD they had is and how old the fluoro is, they run out of UVB aftter a while