Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I ran out of food for one day, so I went to my local pet store and bought a cup of freshly molted meal worms. Well, I guess my BD didnt like them, because this morning he threw them all up. Poor guy...

Anyway, is he sick? He still managed to poop this morning before he threw up. He acts fine..

Can beardies eat mealworms?

Should I take him to a vet?

Thank you for your help

If he vomited just that once, I wouldn't worry about it. If the problem continues I'd take him to a vet. Mealworms are hard for beardies to digest--that might have been the problem.

And go buy him some crickets.

update: Now he is shaking.... I'm thinking that I need to take him to a vet now.....

How many mealworms did he eat? He could have an impaction from the chitin. I would definitely get him to a vet as soon as possible.

Can you explain what you mean by "shaking"? When beardies puke they kind of make a side to side wriggling movement with their bodies kind of like a snake, is that what he is doing? If you look at my post from earlier today (see Puking Dragon thread below), my dragon had an infection that made him puke and he got so bad I think he would have died if I hadn't got him to the vet for some antibiotics. Now he still can't eat mealworms and sometimes crickets will make him puke. Does your dragon have labored breathing or does he make little "puffing" noises with his mouth when he breathes? If so he could have a respiratory infection.

There are basic husbandry techniques that if not followed can cause a myriad of problems. In order to give you an answer based on fact and knowledge, you need to answer some basic questions.

How long have you had your BD?
How long have you had this problem?
Where did you get your BD (breeder, pet store, rescue…)?

How old is your BD?
How big is your BD (length, weight)?

How big is the enclosure?
What are the temps?
What type of lighting do you use?
What is the substrate?

What is your BDs diet? Be detailed here, type and size of food.
DO you supplement? If so what and how often?

When was your BDs last fecal?

Answering these questions is a good starting point. Anytime you have a question about the health of your animal, this info should be included so you can get educated answers not a blind guess.

My blind guess however would be basking temps to low (under 105)
too many worms - hard to digest

anytime a reptile vomits or throws up they should get a round of probiotics to replace the lost gut flora needed for a healthy animal.

good luck
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Bennett

www.beardiedragon.com

_____

Signature edited for TOS violation.

Edited on August 23, 2004 at 00:37:33 by phwyvern.

Thank you for the response, I have read around and came to the conclusion that he was too young for mealworms. He is just now 4 months old, 10 inches long, not sure of weight. No more mealies for him

Even though they were freshly molted and small (3/8" long) he ate a ton of them. He is basking now and stopped shaking his legs spasmodically. He just looks very tired.

Fred asked me to thank you for your help

In regard to "shaking his legs spasmodically." This is typically caused by a lack of calcium. Please make sure you are giving him calcuim supplements.

I would bet that at least 90% of "mealie" problems are from over feeding. They do not know when to say enough. It is up to the owner to only give them a few at a time. Take this a lesson learned.
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Joel R

Coming some day.
www.SpikesAndScales.com

How did you manage to get a ton of freshly shed mealies? They don't schedule their sheds at the same time. So if you had a cup of them, there is no way there would be a ton that are freshly shed, at the same time.

This is a prime example of covering your butt. (sorry, not trying to make you feel bad or anything, this was brought up about a week ago)
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Joel R

Coming some day.
www.SpikesAndScales.com

Well, first, 75% had just shed the night before, you could see the sheds in the cup. Secondly, you could feel how soft they were when you picked them up. So yes, a vast majority were freshly shed. Flame someone else

Try pulling someone else leg because I don't buy it.

I'm not trying to bash you, just letting you know, I know a ton of mealworms aren't freshly shed at the same time. Especially if you only bought a small cup at a pet store. Now if you had 1000. or so to sort from, then perhaps I'd buy it.

I breed supers and mealies. There are always shed skin on the top, it doesn't mean they just shed that night. If you bought them in a pet store, they were most likely in that cup for several days to weeks.
When you bought them the store employs opened it and stirred the bran to see if they were alive, (am I right?) This mixed the sheds that you saw on the top, into the rest of the bran. As the mealies move around in the bran, that allows the sheds to work their way back to the surface because they are lighter. That is why you saw the shed skins on the top.

I am speaking from experience with breeding mealies for 3 years and feeding them without any problems.

I'm sorry you feel flamed.
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Joel R

Coming some day.
www.SpikesAndScales.com

Yeah, poor guy They are like dogs in respect to food, they never get enough.