Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a baby beardie that is about 10 weeks old. She is housed with two of her siblings. The temps in the enclosure are good, and she has had UVB, at least since I got her about a month ago. As far as I know, she has eaten nothing large, as we are feeding 3 week crickets. But she is just laying in her enclosure, her whole body is somewhat stiff, she is breathing irregularly, and the tips of her "fingers" are twitching. The vet said that he could only see her if I could get her in before 5pm, and I can't as I live too far away, so if anyone has any idea what could be wrong, and what I can do for her, please let me know. The only thing that I could think would be the problem is that I fed her mealworms last night. They were the mini mealies that they sell at Petco, between 1/4 and 1/2 inch long, and only about as big around as a piece of thin spaghetti. All three babies in that enclosure ate it, and she is the only one doing this. She doesn't seem to have any injury, and there is nothing high for her to climb up, and fall off of. Please help, I am very worried about her.

Marcy

just after she ate those mealies?? even if the others arent having symptoms it could still be an impaction and its causing pressure on her spine which is causing the twitching etc. mealies have a very thick chitin and its very hard for them to digest. has she pooped today? have you double checked your temps? keep her well hydrated and be sure your temps are correct. 105-115 basking surface temp and 85 cool end ambient temps. do you supplement with anything? calcium with D3? vits? what substrate is she on? you may want to give her a warm bath, hold her in your palm if she cannot hold herself up, gently massage her belly towards her vent, very very gently. i hope she pulls through, try and get her to a vet as soon as you can, let us know how you make out.

>>I have a baby beardie that is about 10 weeks old. She is housed with two of her siblings. The temps in the enclosure are good, and she has had UVB, at least since I got her about a month ago. As far as I know, she has eaten nothing large, as we are feeding 3 week crickets. But she is just laying in her enclosure, her whole body is somewhat stiff, she is breathing irregularly, and the tips of her "fingers" are twitching. The vet said that he could only see her if I could get her in before 5pm, and I can't as I live too far away, so if anyone has any idea what could be wrong, and what I can do for her, please let me know. The only thing that I could think would be the problem is that I fed her mealworms last night. They were the mini mealies that they sell at Petco, between 1/4 and 1/2 inch long, and only about as big around as a piece of thin spaghetti. All three babies in that enclosure ate it, and she is the only one doing this. She doesn't seem to have any injury, and there is nothing high for her to climb up, and fall off of. Please help, I am very worried about her.
>>
>>Marcy
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reiko
photos

Yes, just today. She ate the mealies last night, at about 9 or 10pm. Her temps are good, but she won't stay in the basking spot, she can't hold herself up on it, and only up on thier rock does it get to 110-115. I do supplement with Minerall, the kind with the D3. I think it is the Minerall-O. I keep them on paper, so it wouldn't be from the substrate. I soaked her earlier, but I will try it again. I feel so bad, now. I just wanted to give them a treat, cuz I figured they were getting bored eating crix all the time. I will let you know if she pulls out of it. She is actually getting more active, but still not normal. She kind of drags herself around by her front legs. I'm not sure if she has pooped or not, since she is in with 2 other babies, but I left the room earlier, and when I came back there was poop next to her, and she had moved, so I will hope that it was her.

Marcy

I agree with Reiko...try the things she suggested....and just a question if you fed them mealworms at 9 or 10 last night, were the lights on until 2 hours after they ate....just seemed a bit late is why I'm asking......always feed at least 2 hours prior to lights out. Keep us posted.
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Tracey
Tracey's Beardies
www.beardiecrazy.com

Yes,the lights were on until about 2AM, as I have my timer set from Noon until 2am, as I *am*, lol, a nightowl. I just feel so bad, I guess I should have checked into it a little more thoroughly. But, like I said, they were TINY mealies.

I soaked her again, and massaged her tummy, but it didn't do anything that I could see. I didn't feel any hard lumps, or anything. I put her back in her enclosure, on her rock, since she seems to be regaining use of her front legs, somewhat, but she crawled her way back to the cooler side of the enclosure. I will keep you all posted on any changes.

Marcy

Mealies as treats typically don't cause any problems unless too many or to large when fed. However as mentioned already, they do contain a high amount of exoskeleton.

The only thing I can suggest that hasn't been done so already, is use a Calcium suppliment in addition to the Mineral-all. Rep-Cal sells a Calcium suppliment that doesn't include additional D3.

To get your poor beardie into proper basking temperatures, remove the basking rock and lower the basking light, so the floor reaches 115F. You can put the rock back in once he is feeling better. If he shows no signs or little signs of improvement by tomorrow, take him to the vet.

You may also want to separate him from the other dragons, so they don't add any additional stress (putting him into a smaller tank or even a rubbermaid container with the proper lightening and basking light set up) would do for a few days till he shows signs of getting better.

Thank you for the tips. I think it was the mealies, since she finally poo-ed, and now she seems to be better, though still not quite her chipper self. But she is not all stiff and twitching anymore.

Marcy

feeding at 9 or 10, im assumming the basking lights didnt stay on for 2 hours afterwards (unless of cuorse youre a night owl like me!). i dont know if that could have been a part of the cause, but its something to definetely keep in mind. they needheat and time to digest before bedtime.

mealies arent allllll bad...just the percentage of chitlin in them is too high for little ones to easily handle. i think superworms have a better ratio and are a little easier to handle. but for treats, nothing beats waxworms! im not sure if a 10 week old would be big enough for waxies or supers, someone else will have to fill you in on that part
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proud mama to:
1.0.0 ball python (mr snake),0.0.1 albino florida kingsnake (CK),1.1.0 leopard gecko (sebastian and vilma),0.1.0 colombian rainbow boa (luce),1.1.1 bearded dragon (kaipo, dulce, and kellen), 1.1.0 colombian redtailed boas (adam and eve)

Marcy,
Miner-all O is the one without vit. d3. Double check which one you have, Miner-all I is the one with d3. Read the ingredient list if you are unsure. If in fact you are using miner-all O, I would suspect that is the problem.
good luck,
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Bill DiFabio
Azteclizard.com
Email Me

I double checked, and it is the Miner-All I. I made sure when I bought it that it was the one for reptiles that are kept indoors. It says on the side: "Miner-All is designed to be dusted exclusively on insects, vegetables and pinkie mice which should only be fed to animals that are kept indoors and not exposed to natural sunlight for exteneded periods of time. Miner-All contains Vitamin D3 and supplementing with additional Vitamin D3 fromanother source could be harmful to your animals health!"

Hopefully it is the right one, though lately I'm feeling like everything I do is wrong, lol.

Marcy

i know the 'what am i DOING???' feeling...i dont know how long youve been keeping beardies, but im still learning sooooo much. i can answer some basic questions now, but i dont begin to compare to some other people here. and ive got my own little set of frsturations...my first beardie wouldnt grow, my newest doesnt wanna eat, i have a leo in a lousy shed who wont eat and is lethargic, yada yada. you just gotta keep finding stuff out, learn from your mistakes, and pray for the best
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proud mama to:
1.0.0 ball python (mr snake),0.0.1 albino florida kingsnake (CK),1.1.0 leopard gecko (sebastian and vilma),0.1.0 colombian rainbow boa (luce),1.1.1 bearded dragon (kaipo, dulce, and kellen), 1.1.0 colombian redtailed boas (adam and eve)

Yeah, just when I become complacent, and feel secure in my husbandry habits, something happens. Ugh. Right now, I have an iguana that I took in yesterday, she is an odd color, and not eating, and has burns. I have a leopard gecko that is not a good feeder, getting skinnier everyday. I have two ball pythons that don't eat well, that were rescues, and had infections,now dealt with at my expense. I have an adult beardie that I had dumped on me by the pet store, that had it dumped on them, that has a huge lump on his jaw, and won't eat, and his eye is messed up, also on antibiotics, at my expense. I have two burms with incessant respiratory problems, if I don't monitor their temps and humidity *RELIGIOUSLY*!!! Add that to the baby beardie that I seem to have injured by not making sure what I was feeding it is okay, and there you have my life, lol. Of course, this is added to a husband and four kids, all homeschooled.
Marcy

That's the right one. My next queston is are you using it regularly? What is your supplementing schedule. What you described in the first post sounds like low d3. Usually when they eat a large prey item the symptom is more like epilepsy. They will go into rolls and point there head downwards. Keep us posted.
good luck
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Bill DiFabio
Azteclizard.com
Email Me

I don't dust the crix, but I dust their greens, every day. And I make sure that they eat at least SOME greens everyday, as I handfeed all my beardies their greens for their first feeding of the day. This girl, in particular, LOVES her greens. Maybe this isn't enough? How much do they need? And if this *IS* the problem, how can I fix it, or can I? Is she gonna die a slow, horrible, painful death? HELP!!! She is still doing the same thing, her body seems stiff, and the tips of her toes are twitching. When I put her into water, she will drink, and hold her head up. Should I try to feed her? What should I feed her? It's not like she can hunt.

Marcy

In my opinion, that is not enough supplementaion. I think you should be dusting the crix at least one feeding a day. Miner-all has very safe levels of d3 in it and can be used every feeding daily. I'm fairly certain that is tha problem. The only thing I don't understand is why your others don't show any symptoms. If she wil take a cricket feed that to he. If she is only drinking water, mix some of the minerall in it and try to get her tal take that. It should not be to late to turn it around, she just needs to get some d3 in her.
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Bill DiFabio
Azteclizard.com
Email Me

Im new here, and prob. not qualified to be giving advice yet, however since Im relativly new at beardie keeping, I have been doing a LOT of reading, and its all stuck fresh in my mind! anyway, everything Ive read latly makes it sound like a calcium or d3 deficiency. the others maybe just aren't showing signs yet... follow the advice that others gave about supplementing more often.
good luck!!