New Dragon Owner needs help please

[Crash Lover]

Hey,
So I just got this adorable 2 year old Beardy about 3 weeks ago. His previous owner didn't have time for him, so I took him in. Anyways, when I first brought him home he would eat and run freely and everything else, now he's still active and loves to run around,
But he hasn't been eating his veggies for the past 4 or 5 days. He ate a meal worm, but that's it.
I've read up that Beardies can go days to weeks without eating and be okay, but it still makes me insanely nervous.

Also, with in the past day or so, he's been keeping one eye closed and the other open and alert. He will open the left eye every now and then, but he mainly keeps it closed. Though when he does open it, it looks clear and healthy, I was hoping I could get some tips on what it could be?

Anything would be great help! Thanks

 

[Fliehigh]

Well him not eating sounds like relocation stress. I would give it a week or so yet, but keep offering him food, before you should start to worry.

Welcome to wonderful world of BD ownership where you are either wondering what is wrong or breathing a sigh of relief that you didn't screw up!

 

[Crash Lover]

Thanks, I appreciate it! I'm just so used to Cats and dogs reptiles are a new thing for me, haha.
I will continue to give fresh food daily, I think I'm just nervous 'cause he'd be eating perfectly fine for the first few weeks of being here, The random loss of appetite is what scares me.
Though I must admit it's really the eye thing that's freaking me out. I can't really find anything out about it, and it just started a day or so ago. So I'm hoping there'e something I can do before resorting to a vet.

 

[Germ]

Could you give your setup info? Lighting, UVB (Type, brand, strength, distance from Basking spot, screen/no screen), substrate, accurate temps (Basking & Cool side, type of thermometer used & exactly where the temps are taken from), size of enclosure, regular day/night schedule (Lighting On/Off times), regular feeding schedule & what are it's staple foods. Clear Pictures of the enclosure, the BD & the affected area (Eye) help immensely.

Over 3 weeks & having eating issues, after eating well in the beginning, from acclimation stress, while possible, not likely, I wouldn't think. It's not uncommon for an adult BD to go off it's food for periods of time, but generally are not as active when this happens. Is it eating any Prey & not greens, or not at all?

As many questions as possible, should be answered as accurately as possible, to give us an idea of the setup & situation, in order to provide timely, possibly helpful info.

Good Luck

 

[Crash Lover]

Could you give your setup info? Lighting, UVB (Type, brand, strength, distance from Basking spot, screen/no screen), substrate, accurate temps (Basking & Cool side, type of thermometer used & exactly where the temps are taken from), size of enclosure, regular day/night schedule (Lighting On/Off times), regular feeding schedule & what are it's staple foods. Clear Pictures of the enclosure, the BD & the affected area (Eye) help immensely.

Over 3 weeks & having eating issues, after eating well in the beginning, from acclimation stress, while possible, not likely, I wouldn't think. It's not uncommon for an adult BD to go off it's food for periods of time, but generally are not as active when this happens. Is it eating any Prey & not greens, or not at all?

As many questions as possible, should be answered as accurately as possible, to give us an idea of the setup & situation, in order to provide timely, possibly helpful info.

Good Luck

The Tank is 40 Gallon, The Light is on/off according to the sun outside, Basking side - 85, other side 78. He does have a screen, nd a 40 Watt UVB light bulb.
Tomorrow I will be sure to snap pictures of his eye.

And he will eagerly eat Meal worms, but not his greens. At first he'd eat Romaine, then I did research and realized Kale was good, so I tried throwing that in the mix, and he didn't seem the least bit interested, So now I've been feeding mainly Collard Greens with a slight mix of Romaine. I've tried Strawberries, but he didn't seem that interested. Same with Blueberries, though I tried adding to the mix after the second day of him not eating hoping to get him going for it.

 

[bb66]

Hi!
Both the UVB & Basking light should be on 12-14 hours a day. Temperatures don't sound healthy at all. Better than writing it all out here, maybe you could check the care sheet that I saw in the Discussion forum. It sonds like you have a way to go to bring it's Basic needs up. What kind of UVB bulb is 40Wats?

 

[Crash Lover]

Hi!
Both the UVB & Basking light should be on 12-14 hours a day. Temperatures don't sound healthy at all. Better than writing it all out here, maybe you could check the care sheet that I saw in the Discussion forum. It sonds like you have a way to go to bring it's Basic needs up. What kind of UVB bulb is 40Wats?

Honestly, It's the bulbs the person gave me with the Dragon. The 40 Watts is like a basic house bulb, Lately I know there's things I need to upgrade his home on, but I keep getting so much mixed information, that I feel I'm more likely to get the wrong supplies rather than the right ones.

 

[Germ]

Yes there is definitely alot of discrepencies on the info out there, hard to know what is good & what isn't. The care sheet the previous poster mentioned can be found here:

http://www.beardeddragonforum.com/index.php?threads/basic-bd-care-sheet-a-place-to-start.5177/

If you read through it, it gives you good solid basic care info. First things first, He is eating, that's a good thing. Mealworms are an ok feeder providing your basics are up to par & it is being well hydrated. There are better choices out there. Your basic setup is not anywhere near optimal . You should be switching to Phosphorus free Calcium dusted Crickets ASAP, at least until things are setup better. What is imperative right now is getting it's temps proper & some UVB on it. This consists of having 2 fixtures, one for heat & one for a UVB bulb. UVB is provided with a specialty fluorescent type bulb, linear tube type are recommended & if you can get your paws on one, a Repti-Sun 10.0 tube is the one that seems to be the most recommended & trouble free brand in the US. UVB is required to replace the needed rays that it is missing from the sun in captivity. Placing it in front of a window won't work because UVB does not pass through solid filters such as glass & can cause dangerous heat spikes, like an oven in the enclosure when the sun hits the window. UVB is required to enable it's body to manufacture Vit D3, which in turn allows it's body to process it's much needed calcium. Without it, it will very likely suffer from Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD) very soon, if it has not already started to set in. So that is required really soon.

Proper heat is another very important aspect of BD husbandry. It requires a heat gradient of 105-110F directly at the basking spot, down to 80-85F at the cool end furthest away from the basking bulb. Any type of white or clear bulb will do, of a wattage that will give you the temperatures needed. Personally I use Halogen Bulbs. Both temps are important. Proper heat at the basking spot is necessary in order help your BD to digest it's food. Being cold blooded, external heat is needed to warm them enough to do so. The cooler side is also important to give it an area to cool off when needed. Both types of light should be on 12-14 hrs a day, off for the rest, consistently every day to give it a constant Day/Night schedule.

What is being used for substrate?

Please check out the Care sheet and come back with any questions that you may have. You will find the info there quicker than I can type it here . Here is the link (Also found in the care sheet) to a very good color coded nutrition list of what is good, not so good to feed in the way of greens, etc and how often recommended, whether they are good staple foods or not.
http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutritionframeset.html

Seeing as how it is not eating it's greens right now, I suggest misting it, nose to tail tip, daily with room temp water & giving it a couple warm soaks a week for the time being, in water warm to the touch up to it's armpits when standing, to aid in hydration.

Good Luck

 

[Crash Lover]

Yeah, I was reading over that, I am deff gona go pick up the stuff today.

Thanks so much for taking your time to help me! After I switch out his lights and struff, I will watch and hopefull that will do better for him.
Thanks again!

 

[Germ]

As far as the eating veggies go, I have learned over the years that when mine have gone off their greens for a few days, that feeding cut Green Beans seems to respark their interests in them. Try them alone for a day or 2 (Fresh is better than frozen if available), if it works, then half & half mixed with other suggested greens for another couple days, after that back to a regular staple greens diet. I have suggested this to quite a number of others when this happens & many more times than not, it works. Don't ask me why, because I really don't know, just usually does.

BTW the UVB should cover the Basking spot, within 8"-10", along side the bulb providing the heat.

Is your 40 Gal, the breeder (36"L) or the long (48"L)? Both will work, just the Breeder is a little better than the other.

Good luck & keep us posted as to it's progress or lack there of.

 

[Crash Lover]

That's an awesome Idea! I will deff try that, hopefully the light change with it will spark something!

 

[Crash Lover]

As far as the eating veggies go, I have learned over the years that when mine have gone off their greens for a few days, that feeding cut Green Beans seems to respark their interests in them. Try them alone for a day or 2 (Fresh is better than frozen if available), if it works, then half & half mixed with other suggested greens for another couple days, after that back to a regular staple greens diet. I have suggested this to quite a number of others when this happens & many more times than not, it works. Don't ask me why, because I really don't know, just usually does.

BTW the UVB should cover the Basking spot, within 8"-10", along side the bulb providing the heat.

Is your 40 Gal, the breeder (36"L) or the long (48"L)? Both will work, just the Breeder is a little better than the other.

Good luck & keep us posted as to it's progress or lack there of.

Okay, cool!
I got him a new 100watt Repti-Sun light, and a night light, also, I believe it's a breeder tank. It's the Basic 40 Gallon Zilla tank you can get at most petstores.
He seems a bit more lively today with his new light, thankfully.
I also got him a Desert Image back drop, and a rock dome, though I don't know if he can fit for sure, if not, I'll just flip it so he can crawl ontop but not use the doorway in it.

Though I do have a question, I got a Cork Log, that's big enough for him to crawl in, and on, and looks like a real log, but it is Cork,
Befre I stuck it in is cage I wanted t double check myself, I couldn't really find any info on it, so are cork items safe for beardies? Also, how would I disinfect wood / Wood like items before setting them in his cage?

 

[Germ]

I'm going to guess that you meant Repti-Sun 10.0 & hopefully the tube (18 or 20w).

Night lights are not needed or wanted unless your ambient room temps drop lower than the mid to low 60sF. BDs should be allowed to cool at night, slows their metabolism down for a good nights sleep. Night lights will bother most BDs sleep, yes even the red, blue, black & other colored ones. If night heat is needed because the temps will drop lower than the above mentioned temps, a CHE (Ceramic Heat Emitter) is recommended, screws into a regular bulb socket, provides heat, but no light is emitted.

A 40 Gal breeder tank's floor dimensions are generally 18"x36" - A 40 Gal long is 12"x48".

As for the Cork log, not recommended. Climbing & scratching may cause chunks to break loose, possibly ingested & is not digestable, posing a high impaction risk.

There are 2 methods to sterilize or be reasonably sure porous items from outside are living organism free. One being, baking in an oven for 15-20 minutes @ 300F. The other is Freezing the item over night. Both are effective, no matter which method is used, the items should be clean. Non-porous items such as rocks, can be soaked in a 10% solution of Bleach/Water & very thoroughly rinsed.

Hope this helps & 'Kudos' to you for getting right on this for your BD.

 

[Crash Lover]

I'm going to guess that you meant Repti-Sun 10.0 & hopefully the tube (18 or 20w).

Night lights are not needed or wanted unless your ambient room temps drop lower than the mid to low 60sF. BDs should be allowed to cool at night, slows their metabolism down for a good nights sleep. Night lights will bother most BDs sleep, yes even the red, blue, black & other colored ones. If night heat is needed because the temps will drop lower than the above mentioned temps, a CHE (Ceramic Heat Emitter) is recommended, screws into a regular bulb socket, provides heat, but no light is emitted.

A 40 Gal breeder tank's floor dimensions are generally 18"x36" - A 40 Gal long is 12"x48".

As for the Cork log, not recommended. Climbing & scratching may cause chunks to break loose, possibly ingested & is not digestable, posing a high impaction risk.

There are 2 methods to sterilize or be reasonably sure porous items from outside are living organism free. One being, baking in an oven for 15-20 minutes @ 300F. The other is Freezing the item over night. Both are effective, no matter which method is used, the items should be clean. Non-porous items such as rocks, can be soaked in a 10% solution of Bleach/Water & very thoroughly rinsed.

Hope this helps & 'Kudos' to you for getting right on this for your BD.

I got two lights, and got them confused, I got the Repti-Glo and the Repti-Sun, sadly the Sun on is a Compact Florecent, though I've been thinking of getting the tube light + Fixture, I'm guessing it's recommended?
Yeah, my room does drop pretty chilly in the night, so I have a black night light for him. Though he seems to slee very soundly through the night, In fact a couple nights ago, I started crying a bit when I went to check on him and he didn't move even after I picked him up. Then he did after a couple of seconds, turnsout he was just in a super snug sleep.

Yes, definitely a breeder tank!

And I'm guessing the light made a huge difference, 'cause this morning he was Waaaaaay active. I have his tank in my room, and he woke me up ad kept me up. He kept running along the edge of his tank, so I got him out and played with him for about a half hour, and let him run around my room for a bit, but when I tried putting him back in his tank, he started doing it again, this is fairly normal right? For beardies to scratch on the glass and stuff? [I apologize, I'm probably getting annoying, but even though I have done research, I'm a very Hands-On person, and the more things can be gone over with, with me, the more comfortable I feel.]

I will deff try the greenbean trick tomorrow, since the new light didn't seem to do much for his appetite like I had hoped.
I will also go exchange the Cork log for something safer for him.

Thanks again sooooo much for all your patience and help with me, you have /NO/ idea how much I appreciate it!

 

[Germ]

Both brands have been reported on forums to cause eye problems from PKC (Photo Kerato Conjunctivitis- Click Me), in their compact form, which is said to be as uncomfortable as us receiving 'Welders Flash'. Just about every bulb on the market has at some point or another. I have used Exo-Terra Repti-Glo 10.0 tubes for many years, without issues whatsoever. While others say differently. I believe it stems more from improper set up, than from the bulb itself. This is a quote of a reply to a query of mine, from Frances Baines of www.uvguide.co.uk, a site that has gotten recognized as an unbiased authority on testing bulbs & is responsible for many changes & improvements to a large number of the bulbs now in use today.

However there are only a very few reports of photo-kerato-conjunctivitis associated with ExoTerra compact lamps or linear tubes ...and out of the half-dozen or so convincing cases I've collected over five years, (yeah, ok, that's not a lot, but the affected animals did suffer...) most, but not all, occurred when the reptile was able to get very close to the lamp.

I am told that probably because they are so cheap, Exoterra ReptiGlo tubes are the most popular brands on the market, so the incidence of injuries must be very low; the risk cannot be very great.

Personally, though - and everyone is entitled to their own opinion - I choose different brands for my own reptiles.

Frances Baines
http://www.uvguide.co.uk

This is one of those things you mentioned in your previous post that there is so much confusing info about on the net. On her website Frances does mention problems stemming from the ZooMed Repti-Sun compacts, that may or may not have, since been rectified. I prefer to believe the info from the people who actually have the equipment to properly test the bulbs, rather than the many who very possibly do not setup properly & the myths snowball from there.

I now have Repti-Sun 10.0 tubes in all my enclosures, simply because I got a great buy on a quantity of them online. They do seem to be the one bulb available in the US with the least amount of complaints from the general public, whatever the actual cause.

Yes, the periodic pacing & glass dancing is very normal activity. I very likely have the same Desert background as the one you purchased, my youngest male about the same age as yours, has been on & off, trying to run off into the sunset for a few days now .

Hope some of this helps & does not confuse things any further.

It is up to you, personally I prefer tubes. But many have used Compacts that have worked quite well for them. If you do choose to stick with one of the compacts & set it up so your BD can not get any closer than 6" & no further than 10" at the basking spot. My opinion is that you will be OK.

Be sure to provide the proper temps also.

Good Luck

 

[Crash Lover]

Thanks so much!

I changed alot of stuff for him, and tried the green bean trick, but still no luck.
I figure I'll just take him to a vet, and hopefully get everything checked out

 

[laurenwind]

Hey, maybe this will help. I've found a free bearded dragon book. You can download it from here.It's free with over 100 pages, and lots of info about how to care and raise bearded dragons.