Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My boyfriend and I recently acquired a five year old male tangerine bearded dragon. He's always been lazy, only running around the cage when we throw crickets in with him and otherwise staying under his lights.

He's in a 40 gallon critter cage with astroturf bedding, a hide log, a piece of driftwood we recently bought, and a water bowl we keep clean.

Today I walked by the cage (we check them several times a day) and he's BRIGHT orange. Paired with this, his beard is solid black and he's got two black spots right behind his head and over his arms. We've picked him up, turned him over, and been handling him for a good twenty minutes while I searched the web for beardy illnesses. I haven't found anything that says more than "beardies suffer from low calcium levels and impactions." However, during all this handling, he's flailed a little bit, but every time we put him down, he just... sinks, doesn't move, and his eyes won't open. There's nothing in his eyes or his nostrils, though he's got crusted poop on his anal opening. Also, I can't even see or hear him breathing.

This is very sudden as two days ago he was doing fine, normal coloration, attitude, and everything. Please help!

(Also, his tank is beside a corn snake's, would this cause him to stress out so bad it would make him sick?)

Normal

Current

Throat

The black beard could be a stress response. My beardies don't like to be around snakes or large lizards and some react more strongly than others. Some watch carefully and some panic.

However, what is most noticeable when looking at the bottom picture is that the beardie appears to be very underweight and is surely dehydrated as well. Adult beardies do not often drink from a water bowl but derive their moisture from eating a salad. The dark spots on top of the head are sunken in places that should be soft, full, and rich with muscle. Also, his spine is prominent along his back and tail. He should have more muscular thickness and reserves on his tail head.

The first thing I would do is to place him in a lukewarm bath (100) degrees, it's not a hot bath and see if he will drink. Otherwise, offer him some barely warm pedialyte with a syringe or dropper, about 3cc is all.

Checking generally husbandry is a good idea. Does he have a basking spot of 105-110 (basking temps are bit subjective between keepers) and a quality, linear UV bulb? Is he eating anything else besides crickets? They do not contain much calcium so they need to be dusted with a supplement that does not contain phosphorous. He also needs a daily salad of high quality greens and veggies with some fruits to provide calcium and vitamins.

A vet visit would be ideal to find out the underlying cause of his issues. Does he have kidney disease or a parasite problem that could be contributing to his current state of sickness? Was he just underfed? Having stool crusted around his vent sounds like either diarrhea, poor muscle control, or general weakness. He does not look well! When they lay like with their eyes closed, it's a sign that their illness has really progressed. Usually reptiles and birds prefer to hide their weakness so that they are not an easy target for predators. When they look sick, they are really sick.

I'm surprised by your recommendation of a 100 degree bath. I measure my bath water and have found that most beardies when put in water much above 85 go crazy to try to get out vs. relaxing and smimming in 85 degree water.

>>I'm surprised by your recommendation of a 100 degree bath. I measure my bath water and have found that most beardies when put in water much above 85 go crazy to try to get out vs. relaxing and smimming in 85 degree water.

I only suggested a 100 degree bath because the beardie is already severely underweight and doesn't need to expend energy (if he can) regulating temperature. A 100 degree bath will allow him to remain at a closer optimum temperature. Drinking cooler water or losing body temp will not help this guy, and I don't think he's in it for the swim.

But it's only a forum suggestion...your mileage may vary. I don't bathe my beardies in 100 degree water as a rule either.

OK I really need an edit button! I realize reptiles are ectothermic and don't regulate their own temps. I meant it to read as if he would regulate his temperature later by finding a basking spot or remain cold and be at a less than optimum temperature.

Bath water should definitely be about 85..err on the cool side if you have to.He is definitely much too thin and looks sickly...sorry for all the bad news.HOPEFULY getting him away from the snake-view will help but I think that the blackening of the beard is stress due to illness.Don't overdo the soaking,this ads stress,esp.if he's not used to it,try spraying his head gently until he drinks...if you do soak,use about 2 inches of water and stay there so there's no chance of drowning.Pedialyte is good if you can do as the other respondent mentioned.One thing to make sure of,after he's been in the water,quickly pat dry and immediately put back under heat lamp...towels do not keep a beardie warm after a soaking.

We fed him crickets and mustard greens, and he'd been eating them, but slowly. Also, earlier this week, he was laying in his water and drinking so I don't know how he was dehydrated or underfed. We've only had him for about a month and his weight never changed in that time. We called our local overnight emergency vet line, but there were no vets within a three hour radius that could take care of him- that were listed at any rate.

Thank you for your help, but he passed in the night.

Really sorry about your beardie,very sad news...my sympathies.I was just wondering if it was sold to you from a breeder[if it was in that condition,they would know it was ill] Or was it just given to you...hope you don't give up on beardies..they are a delight when in good health.Always look for a plump dragon,no hip bones or spine showing as was previously mentioned.Take care,,,Angie

We got him from a friend who's had him for five years. The friend bought him from a breeder, though.

Sorry to hear about your beardie passing.

>>However, what is most noticeable when looking at the bottom picture is that the beardie appears to be very underweight and is surely dehydrated as well.

I meant the second picture, not the bottom.

Here's some pictures for comparison where you can see the fullness of the head and back.

http://forums.kingsnake.com/view.php?id=1729242,1729242

Snakes eat lizards and beardies know it, so I would definately block his view. Is the corn snake new or in a new place?

My 2nd thought is if your temperatures are right. Lethargy and constant basking can often be because he cannot get warm enough. What is the ambient temp. on the hot and cool sides? And what is the basking spot (surface) temp.? How are you measuring the temps?

You should bath him to clean around his cloaca. A bath would also give him the opportunity to drink if he's dehydrated.

A picture of his setup would be helpful. What are you feeding? How often and with what are you supplementing? What are you using for UVB?

I didn't notice that there were more than one picture. I only saw the top one. That is a really sick beardie and you need to specify all of his husbandry conditions and get a vet check if you are going to help him.

Sorry to hear the dragon died.

From the first picture, he didn't look healthy to me at all and the second picture he looked worse. As you only had him for a month, hard to say what his health was like before hand.

He definitely looks very underweight with sunken fat pads on the head, obvious signs of the hip bones etc. Poop stuck on his vent area could be just dragging through his own waste, diarrhea etc. which could be caused by parasites etc.

How he came into this state is very obviously due to poor husbandry, probably starting during the care from his previous owner.

In the future if you decide to get another bearded dragon I highly recommend doing more research on their basic care and needs to ensure a happy and healthy pet.
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PHLdyPayne