Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i just got two bearded dragons from someone who had an accidental clutch born. he gave them to me for free and i picked the two healthiest ones (jumping around and trying to bite me) the are about 3 or 4 inches STL they have both been great and doing fine for about a week now, but now all of a sudden one of them is having seizures! his little body locks up in an almost twisted state and he takes about a minute to recover. and when he recovers he takes about 5 minutes to use his back legs again! i have them in a 55 gallon with a exoterra UVB setup and a 100watt basking spot. its about 80 on the cool side and about 98 in the basking spot. i dont want the little guy to die on me. so please help me out

sorry for the long post
thx- Nick
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REAPER REPTILES

What are you feeding him. My best guess from the hip is that you are feeding him bugs that are too large. Baby dragons need very small crickets. About 1/4" long. If they eat something to large they will not be able to pass it and die fairly rapidly.

Please tell us about your setup. Post a pic. if you can. What is the enclosure size? Hot and cool side temps.? What are you using for UVB? What and how often are you feeding?

he's feeding on 1/4" dusted crix. its not a food problem i assure you. ive had healthy beardies (one that passed away at 11.5 years old about 3 years ago) before and never faced this issue. their temps are 100 in the basking spot and 85 in the cool side of the tank. they are running a duel bulb UVB exoterra light with exoterra UVB bulbs and a 100 watt tight beam basking bulb from zoomed. and because they are small babies they are fed every day to every other day. they are in a 55 gallon tank. if you have any other suggestions please let me know i really would like to get to the bottom of this before its too late

thanks- Nick
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REAPER REPTILES

Feeding every other day is nowhere near enough for a baby. Are you using calcium with D3 ? It could also be a viral infection or,bacteria or even meningitis. Sometimes a small cricket will hide and grow in the cage,mostly staying out of sight...I find that once in a great while. Even a too large piece of veggie can cause the same problem as a large prey item.

I have had that problem with only 2 babies before. I found that the instant I switched from the UVB Coil Bulbs (Very Bad for eye sight) to a gentle T8 Zilla Strip Bulb.. Or an exoterra 5.0%, 8% or 10% UVB Strip Bulb. I havent had that problem in years since. Make sure you are soaking them DAILY in a luke warm bath to flush their digestive system to avoid impaction.

By any chance, this accidental klutch... They werent siblings that bred , right? Inbreeding sometimes can result in neuroligical and physical health defects.
www.AtlantaBeardedDragons.com

they eat EVERY day and no all the crickets get eaten i keep a very close eye on them, as for it "not being enough" they weigh 8 grams and are only 4 weeks old. (i think they'll be ok on food) and no they werent siblings actually the guy said that the male and the female were in seperate cages and he put them in the same cage to clean out the males and they bred (only once) but you know how sperm retention goes lol she produced three clutches that season and i have two of the babies from the last clutch. also i am using a coil light. i can check into that problem but they have been under coil lights their entire life and the problem only started recently.
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REAPER REPTILES

Great. I would definetly GOOGLE "dangers of coil bulbs reptiles" and research yourself. I don't think it's PROVEN to blind a beardie, but definetly diminishes it's capability to see it's prey as good as with a dimmer Strip Bulb. I have one my self that I was never able to return and have no use for.... But the newer they get released and manufactured and the Demand for manufacturers to improve their products may result in brighter and brighter bulbs. I just dont mess with em'.
www.AtlantaBeardedDragons.com

98 for a basking temp isn't even enough to get warm, much less metabolism running as it should.

I would consider 120F the absolute minimum for a basking surface temp at the hottest point.

Substandard temps lead to ALL SORTS of problems.
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robyn@proexotics.com

ShipYourReptiles.com
Pro Exotics Reptiles

ok im sorry i definately dont agree with you on that one. you definately dont need to be in the 120's for metabolism to work correctly. i checked the basking spot today and it is 100-105 degrees and they have been basking AND when they bask they vent (sit with their mouths open to cool themselves) . i HAVE HAD EXPIERIENCE IN BEARDED DRAGONS BEFORE as i have said. mine passed away at the ripe old age of 11.5 years old.(three years ago) and my fiancee has dealt in them before as well. i work extensively with Argentine black and white tegus, and all my husbandry has been provided by agama international. so no offense but im not a newbie when it comes to the reptile trade. thank you all for responding to me, i mean no offense to anyone, im just tired of getting " your stupid" responses from some people.
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REAPER REPTILES

I would just take them to a vet. Having seizures isn't something to wait around talking on a forum about for days, especially if you are confident it has nothing to do with husbandry issues or consumption of too large prey items (or substrate if they are on any sort of particulate substrate (ie calcium sand))
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PHLdyPayne

Just curious Reaper...how are you recording your temperatures???

to the person with the question on temps: i record my temps with my thermometer gauges and i use my temp gun to check the results. the temp gun has a 98% accuracy rating. to the person who thinks im wasting my time on the forum: he hasnt had a seizure in a few days, kind of a one time thing, just wanted to get some input. i DO dust my crix with Calc D3 and they do eat every day.
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REAPER REPTILES