Reptile & Amphibian Forums

When CDW's inhale, is it normal to see the rib cage expand? Should they have a layer of fat over the rib cage?

I just got this dragon about 5 days ago. The pet shop said they fed her four crickets twice a day. I've been putting four crickets in at a time, but she doesn't eat them right away. If mid-day there are still two milling about, I'll add a couple more crickets. Two days ago, I put in four large meal worms and three superworms. There are five worms in there now. She has a full plate of greens (mustard, collard, kale mix) with a little bit of mango. I gave her two wax worms on her first feeding which disappeared after a day. The earthworms I gave her yesterday either crawled out and dug into the substrate or or got all caked up with substrate. I haven't actually seen her eat anything.

I don't know if she's stressed. She runs up her branch when I open the lid. I assume she is saying "hi", but she might just want to jump out and escape. She doesn't seem to mind being picked up, although occasionally she'll squirm a little. I try not to bother her too much, but I do have to change the water and food dishes. I mist the take a couple times a day, and today she seemed to really enjoy being misted herself, drinking from the water droplets. She does have a repti-ramp bowl; the water in it just reaches the top of her back.

It really is the ribcage that is freaking me out. I'll try to post a pic soon. I just don't want anything to happen to her. I'm also waiting for her to poop again to send a sample to the vet.

I don't know, just want to hear some thoughts.

Thanks,

M.

Its quite likely that your dragon is just taking time to settle in.
Dragons won't eat if they are too cold either. What is the temperature in her basking area?

It is normal to see their ribs, they don't get fat over them. A skinny dragon will have hip bones that stick out at the base of the tail and no nice round belly.
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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
1 common musk turtle hatchling

Thanks for the replies. I think things are okay now. I feel better knowing that the ribs are normal.

She seems to be doing well now. I've seen her attack crickets, and she's even taken some waxworms from my hands. Her belly is round.

As far as the temps are concerned, it reads 72 F. I guess that's a little low. I have a 100W heat emitter and a 60W halogen household bulb. I'm going to up the heat emitter to 150W and the halogen to 75W. I also have a reptisun 5.0 flourescent bulb for UVB.

I hope things are okay for her to trive. I've become quite taken by her. She likes to be held and is not head shy at all. I'm thinking she may need a bigger enclosure soon. She's 12" and is in a 40 gal breeder tank.

Anyway, thanks for all your input.

You said you have a heat emitter....is it right near the basking light? Does she sit under the basking light at all? Some species of lizard don't recognize a heat source as a place to warm up...they look for the sunlight/light.

Some other information that you didn't ask for, but I hope will be helpful..
My dragons have always had a UVB light. The light must not pass through glass or plastic. Exposure to UVB either from a UVB light or exposure to direct sunlight allows the dragon to produce D3 so that it can use the calcium that it gets from its diet. Insects have a poor ratio of calcium to phosphorous...so I dust the insects with a phosphorous-free calcium powder at most feedings.

I also dust with a vitamin powder twice a month. I use a vitamin powder that has a beta carotene source of vitamin A so that it won't build up in the system and cause problems. Preformed sources of vitamin A can cause overdoses.

Because my dragons get no direct sunlight, I also dust twice a month with a calcium/D3 powder. D3 from supplements can build up in the system, so be careful not to overdo it.

Vitamin D3, vitamin A, calcium and phosphorous are the main players in bone health and need to be in balance. Proper temperature contributes too in that it aids in digestion.

I gutload my insects with the same greens (dandelion greens, kale, collards, endive, ROMAINE lettuce, etc.) and veggies (carrots, squash, sweet red pepper, sweet potato, zucchini, etc.) that I provide for my dragon....except that to the insects' gutload, I add white potato. I also give my dragons a little fruit (apple, pear, melon, peaches, berries, etc.)

I have a water area in their cages too so that they can swim. They usually defecate in the water, so its important to change it every day.

If you do have a female, when she is about three, she could lay eggs even if not mated...so she needs a place to dig to lay them if you don't want to risk her becoming eggbound.

BTW...a bigger enclosure would be a good idea!

Hope this helps!

it's good that you have all that lighting. i used to use like three bulbs for my stuff needing uvb, but i recently switched to t-rex floods. they produce a ton of heat, i think it's like 100F from 6 in away, and they have a ton of uvb/uva. since then all my stuff has been eating so much more and been a lot mroe active. they have them at zoomed.com i think. you only need to replace them every year, so thats a bonus.

that's completely normal, mine does the same thing. if you look at pics of wild ones, they are just not chunky lizards by nature. it brobally has something to do with their activity level. it's important that you keep misting, mine only drinks when i mist it, but recently i put an air stone in so maybe the moving water would trigger him to drink... i did see him drink once from it. give it some time to adapt, in the begenning they always act weird. also, pet stores lie. you'll have to monkey around to see what he'll eat and wouln't eat.