Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I don't know what's going on with my little beardie. I jsut noticed a few days ago that he doesn't seem to be able to keep his head up. When i pick him up he just lays there in my hand and lays his head on my hand. If i pick his head up it slowly just fallsback down. I never thought there was a problem because he was just basking on his little log all the time and i thought this was what he liked, or he would lay on the ground sometimes. The problem that i'm now seeing is that he never has his head up. His head is always down, with his eyes closed. I don't know what's wrong.

Thanks for any input

Jeremy

we need more info. what are his temps? how are you measuring temps? does he have uvb light? what type uvb bulb? do you give calcium supplement and how often? have you had fecal exam? do you have a good reptile vet close by? if so i think you better get him there quick!!!!

being knew to beardies, I couldn't tell you what the prioblem is, but I have read that a beardie only puts it's head down when sleeping unless it is resting on a slanted log, but to do so otherwise is a sign of illness...you may want to take it to the vet if he has been doing this for awhile...

We definately need more information on your set up to try and help you out. Its a good idea of always including your set up specifics in any question you have regarding a health concern, you will get much faster help

What size enclosure is it?
What are the high temps?
What are the low temps?
How is his tank set up?
How are the temps measured?
What is the substrate?
What and how often are you feeding?
What are you supplementing with and how often?
How long have you had your beardie?
How long have you been noticing him keeping his head down?

With this information (and anything else you can thing of) it will be easier to give an acurate guess on whats going on with your beardie.

Having said this, the condition doesn't sound good so i wouldnt wait on the forum and i would make a vet appointment asap.

Good luck!
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0.1 Bearded dragon
0.1 mexican kingsnake
1.0.2 Leopard Gecko's
0.0.1 Rose Hair Tarantula
1.0 BTS
0.0.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn
0.1 Bullmastiff
4.1 Cats

you need to get him to a vet asap, what type of substrate are you using? if u r using sand then i would say he is blocked

Ok i've only had him for a couple weeks now. I believe he is maybe 1.5 months olf`d right now not exactly sure on that. He is no bigger than the size of my thumb, probably 5-6 inches with tail (error towards the smaller size). When i got him he was the runt of the two that i ordered, and hasn't really seemed to grow any since i've had him. His sister is growing fine and has already finished off a shed. I have the two of them housed together in a ten gallon tank. shelf liner substrate, hot side is getting 115-120, and the cool side is about 82. I'm using an infared temp gun to check the temps. I keep a water dish in the tank with them they seem to like it. I'm feeding crickets, dusting about 4 times a week with calc, and have recently started dusting with vitamins every couple of days. I have a reptisun 10 uv fluorescent bulb in now. i've only really noticed this probably within the last few days. I'm pretty sure i know what the problem is after looking back to when i thnk it started happening.

I gave the two some mealworms and wax worms as a treat. i suppose you call them mini mealworms, i heard they were ok, but maybe these are jsut small mealworms? i didn't order mini specificaaly they are jsut really small. No bigger than the widths of their heads. Anyway, when trying to give one to the bigger beardie, Mr. Jenkins (the sick one in question) stole it from his sister, so i tried to give his sis another one after i moved him to the other side of tank and he came flying in and nabbed it from her. Mr. Jenkins may have also eaten a wax worm or two. I didn't see them eat these i left them with their veggies. i got really freaked out the next day, or possibly 2 days after, because he was acting weird, and when i picked him up he seemed really bloated, i tried giving him a bath and he would try to drown him self, i had to hold him in the water moving him around trying to get him to poo. This didn't work for the 45 minutes i did it so i gave him some mineral oil. I did see some poo in the cage the next day and he seems smaller but i wasn't there to see him poo to confirm if it was him or not.

So what i'm thinking now after looking back on this is that he maybe got impacted from the mealworms, maybe i didn't buy the right thing? maybe he overate? I'm at a coference right now, and have my girlfriend taking care of him till i get back. I plan on seperating the two because i read that even if he seems okay he may be stressed living with that other beardie, which is why he hasn't grown? If when i get back he is still acting like this i will be taking him to the vet immediately. I just hate to see him suffer, and of course i have to leave home when this happens, grrrrr.

I hope everything works out and he gets back to his oldself. I'm just so worried.

Thanks everyone
Jeremy

"Mini-Mealworms" is a brand of mealworms that are not your everyday mealworm. They are the cousin of the actual mealworm. They soak up a lot of moisture apparently and I guess it makes the exo-skeleton much softer and easliy digested. The exo-skeleton on an average mealworms, baby or not, is much harder and almost impossible for any baby reptile to digest. That could very well be what has caused this, blockage. I have a 2 different clutches right now, 1 5 weeks old, the other 3 weeks old, that have fed SOLELY on MINIMEALWORMS that are doing great. Growing like crazy. Just make sure that they are also eating their greens and are misted atleast 2 times a day. These minimealworms can be found on www.MINIMEALWORMS.com. I think they are much cheaper and less wasteful than pinheads. good luck

That is not natural behavior for a beardie. If he is that lethargic you should at least take him to a vet
to get him checked out. If a beardie is not interested in ANYTHING (movement, food, little response to sound or sudden motion), that is definitely not good. Get him checked out at the Drs., and then post up everything about your setup so we might have a better understanding of his conditions.
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Dl

A ten gallon tank is WAY too small for two beardies of any size. In reaity, a ten gallon tank is too small for even one beardie of any size. If you are heating a tank that small to the appropriate temps then you might cook the little guys. And two 5-6 inch beardies in a ten gallon tank? They are probably really stressed. I would immediately seperate the two until you figure out what is wrong witht he smaller one. and make a vet appointment immediately.
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0.1 Bearded dragon
0.1 mexican kingsnake
1.0.2 Leopard Gecko's
0.0.1 Rose Hair Tarantula
1.0 BTS
0.0.1 Reverse Okeetee Corn
0.1 Bullmastiff
4.1 Cats

He had a vet appointment for Friday, and had been looking and acting better up until two days ago. He started looking and acting worse. He would drink but wouldn't eat anything. He was looking so pitiful. I was holding him tonight because he fell off his basking spot. I tried giving him some mineral oil which he did take. About 25 minutes later if that he "pooped" if you can call it that, it was just some urate and the oil i gave him coming out. I thought this was maybe a good thing but 15 minutes later i noticed some excess oil by his mouth, i would wipe it off and then more would come, he soon started gasping and gaping and then went into convulsions and finally left me. I'm so sad now he was my favorite little dragon. I wish i had gotten him in sooner.

I really thought he was going to make it. He was doing a lot better and then everything went downhill again. It's so weird too because all my others are doing great thriving but this poor little one just never really got going. He was under 5 inches when i got him and didn't grow in the 2 months or so that i had him. His sister however has grown a lot. He was a runt from beginning to end and that's why i loved him so much. I feel so guilty now. I should have done something sooner.

Needless to say the next time one of my little guys starts acting like that i'm going to the vet first then ask questions.

His old roommate will be getting a fecal done this week to make sure it wasn't parasites or something that did this. I hope she is ok. I can't stand losing another

Thanks everyone for caring and trying to help me out.

Jeremy