Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a young bearded dragon (4 inches) who seems to be having seizures. Ive observed him do this a handful of times over the last two months. His legs go stiff and he seems to shake a bit. The last around 3 minutes, and then he seems fine. The tank temps are where they should be, and I have a dripper set up for him. The other two beardeds in the tank do not seem to have the same problem. There diet is varied, crickets, super worms, and veggies.

Any ideas what this might be?

Emily

There are a number of things it could be,one thing you MUST be sure of is to feed themTINY prey items...the crickets should be no longer than the width between the eyes.I would skip any type of mealworms at that size unless they were freshly molted BABY mealworms,about half an inch long.Baby beardies can get partial paralysis and hind-leg extension from a prey item that is too large or even veggies that are in big chunks.Veggies must be finely shredded,also be sure to use calcium powder with D3 and have proper uvb bulb and basking temps,[about 100-105]

I 2nd Angie's post and emphasize that crickets should be no longer than 1/4" for a 4" baby.

At 4" I wouldnt give any superworms, mealworms, or large crix. He should be getting tiny crickets, 1/4" size. You said you have had him 2 months? At 2 months minimum he should be much larger than that.

I would not give the supers at all....too big or too many for any dragon can cause issues with impaction/paralysis/throwing them up. I would stick with crickets for small dragons, and make sure your temps are up there, I use approx 110-115 at the hottest spot.

Also, how big are the other dragons that you have with him?

The other beardeds are the same size, but you are right, they are not growing as fast as I would expect. Based on your recommendations I am going to go with smaller crickets.

Should I up the veggies?

and what is the best way to keep the temps up higher? I have heat lamps, do you suggest an under the tank heater?

Thanks for all your help!
Emily

Describe your setup for them. A picture would help also.

I found babies need it simple. A tub/tank, substrate(paper for yougins), and something to bask on(small tile, rock, even a piece of egg carton). Keep it warm/bright. 110-115 basking, 80 or so on the other end, with it being pretty bright and using a good uvb bulb(reptisun 10.0). If using a tank, sometimes siding 3 sides with white poster board helps to keep it bright and feel more secure.

You can raise your temps by doing a lot of things....what are your cool side temps? If they are on the money, then something simple like raising your basking spot will increase the basking temps. If overall temps are a bit low, you may need to either raise the wattage of the bulb, or cover/insulate the tank or tub.

I wouldnt use an undertank heater.

Remember that the 100-115 he mentioned is a basking spot temp. which is a surface temperature. The ambient (air) temp. should be about 90 on the hot side.

Undertank heaters will not change the basking spot temps. only higher wattage bulbs will.

Think of walking on an asphalt road on a warm summer day. The weatherman says it's 90 which is the ambient temp. But the road is much hotter and can could maybe even burn your feet. The road would represent the basking spot.

The basking spot temp can be measured by laying the probe of a digital thermometer in the center of the light or an infrared temp. gun can be used.

A picture would be very helpful.

"Undertank heaters will not change the basking spot temps. only higher wattage bulbs will."

Disagree on the latter BDlvr - lower wattage bulbs can produce the same basking hotspot by raising the site to the bulb. It's a simple concept. Why use 100 watts when you can achieve the same amount of heat with 50?

I notice you mention the hot road on a 90 degree day example again, I temp gunned all sorts of surfaces during the summer on the hot days this year(90plus). Blacktop concrete(160plus) grass(sub100's) mulch(130plus) tree bark/branches varied with height off the ground(100-140). There is just all sorts of surface temps out there. Temp guns are just fun, man. A fantastic learning tool as well.

moving the basking spot closer to a bulb or increasing bulb wattage will do the same thing and either method is good.

Onto the thread topic, I suggest separating the afflicted dragon from his others, so he isn't stressed. Since you had these dragons for 2 months, and they haven't grown at all, this tells me something isn't right. How often are you feeding these dragons on a daily basis and how much insects per dragon are you giving them?

Hatchling dragons come out of egg around 3-4" or even as big as 5" (this is nose to tail tip by the way. I am also assuming your measurements is also nose to tail tip.) Baby dragons should be offered appropriately sized crickets (dusted and gut loaded) 3-4 times a day, as much as they will eat in 5 minutes. Greens can be provided all day to give the dragons something to munch on between meals, if they take notice of it (many dragon's won't even touch greens till they are 3-5 months old, others eat it immediately).

As you have more than one dragon in the same cage, make sure you have several basking spots with the appropriate temperature. A wide slate stone propped up securely with other stones or some other object is best. You don't want all the dragons lying ontop of eachother trying to get idea basking temps. 'Stacking' is a sign of domination and the dragon's underneath the pile are not getting getting appropriate exposure to heat and UVB and will suffer for it. Ideally each dragon should be housed alone, this will make it far easier to measure how much food each dragon eats and keeping track of regular poops and growth.
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PHLdyPayne

5 minutes seems a little short for feeding time. I'd give them at least 15 minutes. I remove everything from the cage and then I give mine at least a half hour and then I collect what's left. My June babies are 15" and about 235 gr.