Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have moved my dragon from a custom tank to a 55 gal. How much wattage should the heat lamp be. I ask this because he does not move around very much and he has not eaten for two days. His arms were shaking like he was having a seizure. Thxs

Wattage is going to vary depending on a lot of factors, such as ambient room temp in your house and ventilation of the enclosure. You pretty much have to keep trying different bulbs until you find one that creates the proper temp for your enclosure.
-----
2.0 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)
0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)

Moving to a new enclosure can put a BDs appetite off. Start with a 100W basking bulb and watch the temps closely. If you can move him to another tank while you adjust the temps it is safer. At the closest point to the bulb it should be 105-115F. Are you supplimenting or using a UVB buld (within 12" of the floor)? Twitching can be a sign of lack of calcium/D3. If you are not supplimenting you need to see a vet NOW! If you are still in doubt, post your husbandry methods and get a fecal (should be done 2x a year anyway).
-----
Bennett

www.beardiedragon.com

What do you recommend to feed him for Calcium. All he eats is crickets which I supply Gut Load cricket drink. He will not touch dry formula even when i wet it down

Get some rep-cal with D3 (pink label) and use that to dust crix. If you have not been using any suppliments you should probably use the repcal every day for a couple of weeks. dusting crix is more than just giving them calcium. It is designed to balance the ph:C ratio for the crix. There are people here a lot more knoledgeable about that topic than I am, hopefully they will chime in... That's your cue Bill

You may want to get to a vet if he is twitching for some prescription calcium w/D3.

How old is your BD? are you feeding anything besides crix?
-----
Bennett

www.beardiedragon.com

MY BD is about 8 mo. old. No he has not eaten anything but crix. I have tried chopped up greens and dry formula, but he will not eat anything.

I moved him from a custom tank to a 55 gal tank it seems that he has taken a turn for the worst. I was using a 40 watt Daylight Blue Reptile bulb in his orginal tank. I tried using that one for the 55 gal. I do not think that was enough. Your thoughts. I have him back in his orginal tank till I get the heat lamp issue resolved. We also have been handling him more to get him accustomed to us.

at 8 mo he needs more than a diet of crix.
I advise a vet visit to get a fecal and a checkup. He probably could use some vitimin and calium prescribed and administered by a vet. He needs to get suppliments right away.

After you get that part resolved, you can start by using the T-rex cricket dust or the rep-cal. If you go with the t-rex line, do not use other suppliments or you will end up right back where you started but with oversupplimenting.

You need to set up his enclosure with a spot light or flood type bulb. It needs to direct the light in a focused beem to create a basking spot. The temp needs to be 105-115 so that food can be digested properly. the cool side needs to be 80-85.

The more info you provide about your situation the more usefull info you will get. How big is your BD? size, weight? How big is current enclosure? how long have you had him? how long has he been twitching? when was his last vet visit?

here are some web sites you really need to look at for more info

www.beautifuldragons.com
www.anapsid.org/bearded.html
www.morion.com/teo/english/teo-english.html
www.biology.lsa.umich.edu/research/labs/ktosney/file/BDcare.html

-----
Bennett

www.beardiedragon.com

In order for us to help you, you need to answer a few Q's.

1. Is that bulb the only bulb you had on the 55? is so , you need to get a halogen flood from a place like Home Depot, I have 75 watts for a 55. you can go lower than that by either lowering the lamp to the basking site or raising the basking site to the lamp. You also need some sort of flourescent light to brighten the tank up. I use the compact screw in type flourescent bulbs.

2. Are you dusting the crickets with a calcium supplement that contains d3? If so, how often? The twitching sounds like low blood calcium levels. This should be checked out by a vet. The good news is that is is fixable if you take care of it soon enough.

>>MY BD is about 8 mo. old. No he has not eaten anything but crix. I have tried chopped up greens and dry formula, but he will not eat anything.
>>
>>I moved him from a custom tank to a 55 gal tank it seems that he has taken a turn for the worst. I was using a 40 watt Daylight Blue Reptile bulb in his orginal tank. I tried using that one for the 55 gal. I do not think that was enough. Your thoughts. I have him back in his orginal tank till I get the heat lamp issue resolved. We also have been handling him more to get him accustomed to us.
-----
Bill DiFabio
Garden State Herpetoculture...website to follow...
Email Me
"The pendulum of the mind alternates between sense and nonsense,
not between right and wrong." - Carl Jung

I do have a Flood light with 100 Watt bulb. I also had another lamp with a sraight 75 Watt Bulb on the other end of the tank. I have started to dust the Crix as of yesterday. I am trying to get him to eat greens and veggies. No luck as of yet. I have in fact moved him back to his orginal gage. The twitching has stopped now I need to get him to eat again. I have plans to get him to the vet asap. Explain in a little more detail about the clip on Flouresent Light. Thxs

ewww your beardie sounds sick. My beardie can eat regardless of where she's kept. So it's not the enclosure as beardies have good appetites.

Could be a lack of calcium and D3 but get to the vet quick for a proper diagnosis. including fecal examinations. I do my own fecals now using iodine staining. Every 3 months or so.

JadeFox

np
-----
Bennett

www.beardiedragon.com

you can see ova and parasites clearly. Also a wide variety of bacteria. Iodine staining is the cheapest means.

JadeFox

Are you doing gram stains? Sorry I am a bit confused as I have never heard or seen this before for a standard fecal. Are you saying you see things that you dont see with fecasol or saline by using Iodine? what magnification do you use?
-----
Bennett

www.beardiedragon.com