Reptile & Amphibian Forums

We started out with 8 babies, and all were doing well but now we are down to 4. All look good and eat then all of a sudden one looks ill just sitting there, then in a day or so he dies. Then all look good and then another gets sick. What am I doing wrong or what am I missing? They are 7.5 weeks old.

What kind of set up are you using? What are the temps? what kind of lighting? Are you using supplements? What are you feeding them and how often? Are you misting them? What kind of substrate?

peace,
nate

a 10 gallon tank with a few hiding spots, nice bright hot UVB bulb. tank gets down to about 66 at night. Feeding romaine lettuce, and crickets with mineral all powder. Did have repti sand till all this started then washed everything and switched to paper towels.

which Minerall are you using? Indoor or Outdoor? that would be I or O.
AND how often?
-----
Bill DiFabio
Azteclizard.com
Email Me

On every cricket. So once or twice a day. but they get greens also

That's good, but what minerall are you using the I or O? Just want to rule out the possibility that they are not getting d3. Though I don't think that would kill them as fast as you are loosing them. Have you noticed any twitching in the rear feet?
-----
Bill DiFabio
Azteclizard.com
Email Me

Using I. And no twitching just tired looking and then not eating

night temp of 66 sounds very low to me... should be a low of about 77 at the coldest.... adults can go to 66 but not babys.

I think babys should be more like 79 nights ??
-----
This space reserved for future use...

The first thing I would do is have a fecal check done to rule out parasites. Babies can be pretty fragile. If one has them, they all do, if they are all together.
It can be many things, but parasites are the easiest thing to rule out.
Are the beardie parents healthy?
-----
TheClassyLizard

the others are very healthy and active. Can not have a test done here I do not think. Unless a dog vet can do them.

hhhhh

How do I get rid of parasites, and how do I keep them from spreding to other parts of home (to other lizards)

Really need some more information.

If you can answer the above question first and then
Are they all from one clutch or several different?

Are they dying in 10 days to 2 week cycles?

What area of the county are you in or did the babies come from?

I hatched them. I am in Alaska. Shorter than that, about every 3 days another ones dies.

Have the parents been healthy and grown normally and thrived well? What you describe with temps and light right and diet(the romains is okay, but should be mixed with some leafy greens like collards or dandelions and some fine chopped veggies)sounds more internal than enviromental. Whether it is viral in them, which they can get form the parents through the egg or someting they are eating I don't know.

What area did the parents come from? I am asking this for a reason....... I think at this point we know where most of the viral infected dragons originate from.

also are your crickets coming from somewhere you know they are not sprayed with pesticides around?

8 is pretty small for a clutch size, is that all she laid or was their a problem with other eggs or incubation?

If that is all she laid, how old was the mother?

This was her second clutch

Although I can see the heat being a factor, too high can cause kdney damage and other organ damage or heat stroke, it harms them all at about the same time.

Viral infections will be spaced out, the first dying about 10 days - two weeks after hatching and the others dying in various stages after that as non effected babies are exposed to infected ones.

It would orignate from the parents, thats why I was asking information about them and LOW clutch count development is often a sign the mother has a viral infection and is passing it to the eggs when she lays them, which in turn infects the babies when they hatch. BUT you would usually have seen problems in the parents growing up and any prior clutches.

You can email me offlist if you want to answer the questions.

You mention you have a hot uvb bulb. Do you have mercury vapor bulb or just a florecent uvb bulb. What are your temps? You could ask your dog vet to do a fecal on them. You can treat them with panacur for most parisites but not all. If its cocidea or crypto then youll need other meds. Let me know what happens. I have a small amount of panacur and would be willing to send you some for free if it ment that it would help you and the baby beardies out.

peace,
nathan

Thanks for the help, I will contact the vet on mon (she is closed on sat/sun). Do you think she will carry the med? Is it same as for dogs etc...

I use a mercury vapor bulb, it is close enought to get above 100 if they want and around 70 in the corner and night time is around 66.

Panacur is used in live stock. Make sure its the liquid form then you heavily dilute it, let me know what the vet says and il send you directions on doseing it.

peace,
nate

we have asked that atleast a dozen times. if you have a MVB over them it must be 3 feet above it cause if you have a merk bulb sitting on the top of the tank it is most likely a good bit more than 100°F in the tank also WHAT SIZE crickets are you feeding. if it is bigger than 1/4 inch that could be a seriuos problem are they pooping ?

answers these questions please

and if you get a 100/mg/ml dose of panacure you will have to dilute it big time cause they make nothing small enough to administer the dose needed for >1 gram aninals i mean a 50g animal get .025 cc thats less than one CC and your trying to dose sonmething 50 times smaller.

mat

The light is about 1 foot above them (will they not move if they get to hot?) Using 1/4 crickets. There is poop but not sure who it is from because all are in same cage

yes but are you sure the temps are correct? what is the temp under the light ?

I am using just a normal thermometer (tops off at 120) and it looks like it is just about 100.

get a digital indoor / outdoor thermometer that records high/low
you can get them at garden shops or places like target for about 17 -- 30 bucks.

MV bulbs are like heat lamps from what I have heard so I suspect the hot spot is more than 100... dpends on how good your current termomiter is....

will they move: they like strong lights, and if the only strong light is the UVB/MV bulb they will tend to stay under it.

also if your night temp IS 66 as you posted then a swing from 100 day to 66 night temps is way to much for even a healthy adult much less a sick baby....

75-79 night temp
90-105 day temp (105 MAX!!)

Day temp should have a hot end and a cool end

see that I am realy saying 78-69 night and 80-90 day as a range of temps overall thats like a 10 deg swing
not a 66 -- to -- 100 which is like a 34 deg swing!!

this may not kill them outright but could stress them to the point where other things could make them sick that they would normaly tolerate.
-----
This space reserved for future use...