Bearded dragon barely moving please HELP

satanslilhelper

Arachnodemon
Old Timer
Joined
May 24, 2009
Messages
734
My girlfriend and I just thought our beardy was dead. While she was crying I moved the tank and it opened its eyes. We had recently moved her heat lamp to her veiled chameleons tank. I think the temp. drop caused this. I was against taking her heat away. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.
 

Fluke

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Jul 13, 2008
Messages
203
My girlfriend and I just thought our beardy was dead. While she was crying I moved the tank and it opened its eyes. We had recently moved her heat lamp to her veiled chameleons tank. I think the temp. drop caused this. I was against taking her heat away. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.
What size is it? How big is your tank, what bulbs you use? When was the last feeding? Etc etc... We need more overall info!
 

satanslilhelper

Arachnodemon
Old Timer
Joined
May 24, 2009
Messages
734
She's about a foot long. We keep her in a 10 gallon for right now and she eats daily of course. Mostly crix and then some veggies daily as well. A 10.0 UVB light and a ceramic heating lamp. We put the heat lamp back on her after we took her out. Now that she is back in with the heater she seems to be fine. Like I said my first instinct was that that was the cause of her being so lethargic. I told my girlfriend that we need to buy another heat lamp which we will be doing tomorrow. Thanks for responding. If you have any tips they would be appreciated. I think we're on the right track though. This is our first beardy. I got her for my girl for christmas.
 

Ricki123

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
May 10, 2008
Messages
72
What was the temperature within the viv, when you took the heat lamp out?

Any bearded dragon vivarium should be reading a temperature of 35-40 celsius under a basking spot and shouldn't get any colder at the cool end of the vivarium than 26-28 celsius.

If there was quite a large temperature drop upon you taking the heat lamp out, then it sounds like your bearded dragon prepared to go into brumation.

Ricki
 

satanslilhelper

Arachnodemon
Old Timer
Joined
May 24, 2009
Messages
734
The temps. were around 73 degrees farenheit. I read up on brumation and I think your right. My girlfriend actually mentioned that a few minutes ago and I shrugged it off. I know beardies love it hot. I think we're all o.k. now, but it sure scared my girl when Freddy didn't move or open her eyes when she went to check on her.
 

sean-820

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 15, 2008
Messages
547
Do you have sand in the tank as that can lead to impactation. If so remove it. I would also give it a luke warm bath as that can help with bowel movements, just keep it supervised when in the water.
 

satanslilhelper

Arachnodemon
Old Timer
Joined
May 24, 2009
Messages
734
Do you have sand in the tank as that can lead to impactation. If so remove it. I would also give it a luke warm bath as that can help with bowel movements, just keep it supervised when in the water.
No we don't use sand for that very purpose. We use the green carpet strips they sell at the lps. She definitely poos freely as seen by the quite massive piles we clean out every day or two. Our girl seems to be fine. The temp. drop seems to have been the cause of this. I first posted just after I saw she was alive. I came on here for some advice from more experienced keepers and by the time we got a response she was back to her old self again. Lesson learned... never take away a beardies heat lamp!! Thanks to everyone for being concerned and helpful.
 

Faing

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
Sep 14, 2008
Messages
162
10G seems a little small to keep a 12in beardie in. getting a bigger cage soon?:D I should hope. Good luck.
 

aluras

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Jun 23, 2008
Messages
435
10G seems a little small to keep a 12in beardie in. getting a bigger cage soon?:D I should hope. Good luck.
Thats what I was thinking, Not trying to bash on you though. I just built one for our beardie it was cheaper then buying a whole new Tank and all. http://www.freewebs.com/crossfireenclosures/
I didnt build it exact. I would guess that the sudden drop in temp would do it, as well as the beardie not getting the excersise it needs. Mine sometimes flop if it gets too cold at night, and it takes some time to get them back into their normal temperment. Maybe you should try and give it a WARM bath to slowly raise the overall body temp. Then get it to eat,,,,Also if I just have the heat emmiter on they are not nearly as active as when the basking lamp is on...GOOD LUCK:D
 

satanslilhelper

Arachnodemon
Old Timer
Joined
May 24, 2009
Messages
734
10G seems a little small to keep a 12in beardie in. getting a bigger cage soon?:D I should hope. Good luck.
Yeah, I just measured her at approx. 11 in.. She would be a little longer, but she had part of her tail cut off at the lps. What a surprise right?! We are definitely getting a bigger tank in the near future. When it comes to exercise we regularly take her out and let her roam. We even take her outside with a very non-restrictive ferret leash and let her do her thing. The harness isn't thicker than most shoestrings. At least once a week my girlfriend gives her a bath in warm water as well. They both seem to really enjoy that. Thanks for all your comments and trust me I can tell when someone is being harsh instead of constructive. There is at least one person on here who I avoid just because of his self-righteous and pompous attitude.:embarrassed: ;P
 
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