Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Alright, so here's the story. Sorry if I ramble on a bit.

I bred my two dragons this year and was very happy when my girl laid 19 little eggs! I've been keeping all kinds of reptiles for years, but this was my first time breeding. It was awesome.

Fast foward to hatching day. 9 of the eggs made it, the other eggs turned icky back shortly after they were laid. Of those 9 eggs, 8 babies popped out. The other one never hatched, we waited and waited and nothing. We finally opened it up was a perfect little baby dragon starting to stink a little x_x Stillborn I suppose, very sad.. But anyways.

So I have 8 baby dragons! 7 are in perfect health, happy bouncy hungry little dragons. But there is one that isnt. Right off the bat he would randomly turn around in a circle, like he was chasing his tail. And it was a sloppy turn, wobbling real fast, head whipping sideways. He also was staring off into space oddly... head at a very weird almost upside down angle. Things didnt look good for him, I was expecting him to die.. and Im -still- kind of expecting him to die.

He cannot walk straight what-so-ever, he wobbles side to side. Will randomly run in a circle. I starting off feeding all the babies crickets, but the retard cannot catch one for the life of him. He always misses, falls over, wobbles crazily, He just cant catch a cricket. I even disable crickets, and he still couldnt get them. So I have to hold about 30 crickets a day with tweezers right infront of his nose just so he can eat. Thats the only way he has ever eaten... he just cant catch food!

He's now three months old. All of his siblings are still happy healthy hungry dragons, I ended up giving away all but one of the healthy ones. But this retarded one... He's still retarded. Im still hand-feeding him. He still wobbles, runs around in circles and acts like well.. a retard. His sibling I kept is four times his size, at least! And they have both been eating the same amount of food. (housed seperatly) One thing the retard doesnt- do anymore is stare off into space at odd angles, he's very alert and curious... its like he just cant handle his body!

Anyways! My question is... This is really saddening to see him like this. I almost want to put him down because falling over and wobbling and smacking into things as he is wobbling seems like a horrible life. And he has hardly grown! But, I dont want to put him down because he has a great appettite, very active and so adorable!

Any suggestions as to what the hell is going on? And what should I do?

Sorry I ranted forever

Thanks!

(Oh yeah, the picture is of the retard baby at two months old. And he is still the size he was when he was born! Not grown a BIT!)

-Randilyn

Nyxilyn.com

I'm sorry to hear about your little hatchling...

Sadly, this is something that every breeder has to come to terms with. Some of these hatchlings just aren't meant to thrive and survive.

I had 5 hatchling Leos this season that just simply did not thrive (out of 40 or so babies). It's survival of the fittest. If it hadn't been for your unwavering determination, the little guy would have passed a long time ago.

If you feel that he can live a comfortable life, and you're willing to take on the responsibility of caring for a "special needs" Dragon for the rest of his life, don't put him down. If you think he's suffering, take him to a vet and have him euthanized.

Good luck with whatever you do. Kudos to you for going this far with him!

And that is what I've been really afraid of.

Its going to be a tough choice to make... since Im not sure if I can continue to give him this much care for the rest of his life... hand feeding, every single time... It takes a good hour out of every day just to feed him! I tried getting him to eat pellets, veggies, various worms, lobster cockroaches, dead things, live things... he wont/cant eat it unless its squirming, right infront of his nose.

But I really like this guy! Ahhh, blah.

Thanks for your reply Its just natures way I suppose. I shall have to ponder further.

I remember reading somewhere about a condition called "Star-Gazing" where the symptoms resemble what you are describing. I don't know much more about it, but maybe now you can find more info.

-----
3.4 Chavez, Lou, Little Lou, Olivia, Lucy, Lilly, LittleGirl

I've read up on "stargazing", as its semi-common in snakes and thats mostly what I keep. But this doesnt follow the same rules. Stargazing is more of a disease that they pick up from other reptiles. And my baby has been doing this since he was born, and none of my other animals have it.... If it was "stargazing" other animals would contract it. Hence why I am completely confused...

-Randilyn

I'm a little confused. How big is he now?

At three months old, he is only slightly bigger than he was born. And I mean slightly. That photo is a month old, but he's still that size.

His sibling is easily four times bigger.

i had a green anole that was like that. she eventually started catching crickets when in a confined space and i would just hold her with some babyfood in front of her. she lived for a while and probably still would be except that she would fall and land on her back and just flip around trying to get up alot... one day she fell in a water bowl and i didnt see her and she drowned. if you have the time, and watch out for water bowls, it is possible the little guy with live.
-----
1.0.0 bearded dragon
1.1.0 green iguana
0.0.1 columbian tegu(for sale)
0.1.0 knight anole(looking for male)
0.1.0 green anole
0.1.0 asian longtail grass lizard
1.1.0 golden gecko
1.0.0 ball python
0.0.5 oriental firebellied toad
0.0.1 green treefrog
0.0.1 barking treefrog
0.0.1 cuban masked treefrog
0.0.1 gray treefrog
0.1.0 gulf hammock rat snake
0.1.0 eastern kingsnake
0.1.0 siberian husky

There is a really good chance it is just the runt.

or there could have been something that went wrong during incubation, like a bacterial or fungus attack. You mentioned the other eggs turning black this could have effected this dragon.

In nature not all the dragons hatch and not all hatch 100% healthy. unfortunatly you still have to deal with this when breeding in captivity.

just my 2 cents

peace,
nate

if it's no excessive problem, I'd keep it alive as long as possible. I would do what ever i can just to learn from the experience. Since, it was born like this it is probably not suffering too much because it doesn't know otherwise. If there is any sign of suffering though...you should do the right thing.

This is a little more extreme than what you are witnessing but...There have been people who have had conjoined twins hatch from a single egg. Obviously, the pair can't survive without substantial care. No one that i know of has ever raised a conjoined twin to adulthood.

I have had a similar situation with a baby before. My problem may have been diferent because i think that the baby had ingested some of the vermiculite just after hatching. The baby would eat and never pooped. Eventually the stomach got so enlarged that it couldn't even walk.

IF all vital signs are great, yet just seems "retarded" then I'd see what happens
-----
a free range dragon is a happy dragon