Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hi folks,
i need some help with a hatchling i got this past weekend at a reptile show. It was only 4 to 4 1/2 inches long. We brought it home and set up our tank. The setup consists of a 20 gallon tank, reptisand substrate, two wood pieces (one on the basking side, one on the cool side), small drinking bowl, a small bowl for food, undertank heater for warm side, uva and uvb bulbs on the tank during the day. the warm side is around 94 degrees.

the first day we brought him home he was okay, running around the tank and eating. he ate some romaine lettuce. the following morning he ate a bit more romaine and some pinhead crickets. he ate a lot and was basking. we even saw him in the pool of water a few times. he pooped many times every day since we brought him home. it's been more than a day now that he hasn't had much activity. He has his eyes closed most of the time and remains still. i think there was some vomit in the tank earlier. I don't know what's wrong. he moved a little bit today, but for the most part he stays still with his eyes closed. i'm not sure if he's eaten anything for 2 days. can someone please help us out with some advice?

thanks ahead of time

remove that sand immediately and use paper towels. dont use sand until they get bigger and then use play sand from home depot/lowers and make sure you sift through it

The reptisand is bad and should be taken out.

I think your biggest problem is your temps. The hot spot should be aout 115 degrees. You dont need a water bowl either, just use a dropper and drip some water onto his nose.

Hopefulyl raising the temps will bring him back to normal.
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A mans got to do what a mans got to do. A woman has to do what he can't.

Mom to:

1 little boy born 7/19/04
2 male RES, born 1999
1 ribbon snake, age unknown
3 FBT, ages unknown
1 female bearded dragon, born 5/2002
1 male lab mix, born 5/24/03
1 female calico cat, born 6/7/04

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sig file edited 1/29/05 [phw]

Romaine lettace isn't very good to offer either, not alot of nutrients in it. Offer dandelion greens, collard greens, mustard greens, endive and other leafy greens (no spinach, iceberg lettace, romaine (this is alright if mixed with good greens but not alone), boston leaf lettace). For a complete list of greens/veggies good for dragons, go to www.beautifulldragons.com and check the nutritian list.

A small water dish isn't necessary but a dragon this young should be misted several times a day to ensure they don't dehydrate. If he is drinking from the dish on his own, it certainly wouldn't hurt to leave it. Just keep the dish too small for the dragon to get into, as they often poo in it.

One other t hing, is make sure you are dusting his insects with calcium d3 and a good reptile multi-vitamine once a day. Some recommend for baby dragons, dusting every insect feeding. (2-3 times a day for babies up to 3-4 months old, then once a day till about 8 months, every other day after that, till full adulthood, then just once or twice a week).
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PHLdyPayne

o k,
i did what was suggested. i took out the sand and replaced it with paper towels. also, we misted him to make sure he wasn't dehydrated. there are collard greens in his dish as well as a few crickets. when we put him in the tank again he walked around a little and went over to the cool side and put his head down. he hasn't moved all day and is getting real dark. he hasn't eaten for 2 days almost. is there anything else i should do?

thanks to everyone who replied

I am not a genius at this and have asked for help in the past on this forum and all were very helpful.

With all the suggestions for my beardie, I ended up with a starter 30 gal tank. Georgie my beardie will get a larger one when he gets bigger. His substrate is non adhesive thick shelf liner which is easy to clean and I think a little more sanitary.

By the way you may want to consider impaction of the old substrate. I had that problem once with another type of lizard and was lucky enough to be able to rinse their mouth out. Also consider seeing a good reptile vet before the problem becomes irrevisible.

I also did not go for a bottom heater because on someones advise I was warned with the possibility of burning. However I had two basking lamps one being a repti-sun 5.0. Georgie quickly showed me this was too much heat and I dropped on the the baskng lamps and stayed with the reptisun 5.0 which he likes very much. Now I don't see him panting in the cool zone anymore.

I have changed his diet, to give him a variety, and keep all his food lightly dusted with rep-cal calcium non-phosphorous and a good reptile vitamin. I have recently noticed a shaky appearance and found out some dragons do not maintain vitamin B so well so I started giving him powered brewers Yeast and he is coming around very nicely and gaining energy.

He gets misted at least three times a day and I keep a small water bowl in his house.

I don't know if any of this is a help, but I would check out the possiblity of impaction and wish you and your little one the best.

stano40

Link

i'm sorry to say folks, despite our efforts our baby beardie has passed. after removing his sand substrate and replacing it with paper towels as advised and rehydrating him, i found him under the paper towels stuck to the glass motionless. it was very sad seeing him like that. thanks to all who helped.

Sorry to hear that he has passed. Come back here if you decide to try again!

Good luck! It happens to us all!

David and Kevin
KDRKreatures
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David and Kevin

KDRKreatures.com
Exotic Reptile Breeders - Specializing in Bearded Dragons

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