Spike needs help

[Joshy117]

spike is about 11 months old, always quite alert and active. This afternoon when we came home to see spike, his beard was black in certain areas and he seemed a bit lethargic. on inspection it seems some of his beard seems to be shedding. when he usually sheds he blackens his full beard, and only usually in the last two days or so of the whole shed.

we also noticed on his thermostat (microclimate evo) the last 24 hours it seems to have gone up and down dramatically.

for example, from 30 degrees centigrade to 200 degrees centigrade and back again in 15 minutes. this doesn't seem possible and think it is an error. Finally he seems to be limping/dragging himself along but we cannot ascertain if he has hurt a leg or his belly or anything. He has been eating and defecting usually so don't think that is wrong. he has had salad and morio's for the last couple of days.

does anyone have any experience of this? should we be worried? taking him to the vet on Tuesday when we have a day off just in case, but any help would be appreciated

 

[PatsyB]

Such an odd color pattern. Then again lot's of things they do are odd! I don't know know what to tell you except it's a good thing you have a vet visit in his future. The temp seems to fluctuate greatly in his tank. Is this the temp in his basking spot? What are you using for lights? Does he have a UVB light? How long have you had Spike?

 

[Joshy117]

It is the average temp for the whole tank ( sensor in the middle). He has two 40'" strip lights, one 10.0 and 2.0, a 50w basking spotlight and a tubular heater along the back. Had him about 8 months now, just recently put him in his new viv though. We think the temps for the viv shown on the graph are an error seeing as they range between 0 and 201 degrees centigrade! Which probably would have set something on fire, so we have concluded it must be wrong. But it can't be a coincidence that he changes his ways just after it happened.

 

[Joshy117]

This is his new viv setup.

 

[ccook94]

I see some wires in the back, could he have gotten to them and nibbled on them?

 

[Joshy117]

That's the temperature probe for the thermostat. Doesn't seem that he has touched them at all. He hasn't previously bitten any thermometer cables. :/

 

[ccook94]

I would make sure. He couldn't have eaten anything else could he?

 

[Joshy117]

The only other things he could have eaten are his veggies, morrios and the sand... but he didn't seem to take much of an interest in it. Although he has only newly been with the sand for about a week.

 

[Joshy117]

He has been pooping normally since he went in this new viv but was going to give him a bath and a massage tonight just in case, not sure about impaction :/

 

[ccook94]

Has he ever tried to eat any of the plants in there? Could a piece of that wood have flaked off?

 

[Joshy117]

Never tried to eat any of the plants, and it's possible the wood could have flaked off, I'll have a thorough inspection tonight

 

[PatsyB]

My girl Dexter hated the sand when we put her on it. She would sit on her hammock all day and when we set her in the sand she refused to move. She was lethargic for months not moving from her hammock. We eventually removed the sand and she perked up.

 

[Joshy117]

I've thought about removing the sand to see how he reacts to it... He did seem to like digging through it though

 

[Joshy117]

This is him today

 

[PatsyB]

He's giving you the look like "I just woke up, stop taking pictures". He looks to be moving around though so that is good. Is he still dragging or limping?

 

[PatsyB]

Does he have something to hide in? He could also be wanting to go into brumation.

 

[Joshy117]

Not dragging quite as bad. Gave him a bath and he drank quite a bit. He also went to the toilet. Seemed to perk up a bit after that vet at 9:20 tomorrow

 

[PatsyB]

Good luck with the vet, let us know how it goes.