my beardie has an issue

tyrant963

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 25, 2007
Messages
139
So I just put some lettuce, apples, and carrots in my dragons bowl. I pick him up and put pretty close to the bowl, because i wanted him to see it. Well this time i just got done setting him down and he just flips out. He started running faster then i’ve even seen him run and is jumping up and down the tank. When he stops i try to calm him down by rubbing his back but he opens his mouth up real wide. So my reaction was to pull my hand out of the tank and leave him, but i put my finger up against the glass and he attempts to bite me. I left him alone for a good 3 minutes tops and start rubbing his back and he is just fine. And when he eats the mealworms, he craps it out as the mealworm, undigested as it looks. Is it because of the lack of my UVB light? Im getting a new one as soon as i can. Im really worried.
 

Mushroom Spore

Arachnoemperor
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 14, 2005
Messages
4,588
Passing undigested food is a really bad sign. Do you at least have some other heat source on him while you lack a light? Because they cannot digest without heat, and will either pass it undigested or it will rot in their stomachs. Then there's the diseases and the hypothermia...

As for the diet, you may want to alter it. Most (or some say all) kinds of lettuce have next to no nutritional value, or a tendency to give animals the runs.

http://www.dachiu.com/care/abeard.html Plus there's a LOT of other veggies you should be offering at least sometimes, so they can get a variety of nutrients. :)

(I'm not sure touching an agitated animal is ever a good idea, for the record. It probably does not have the effect you expect it to.)
 

tyrant963

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 25, 2007
Messages
139
I have a 50 watt bulb heating my 10 gallon tank. A guy at a pet store told me to get a 50. But since heat is the problem, i will use a 75 watt as soon as i can.
 

Mushroom Spore

Arachnoemperor
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 14, 2005
Messages
4,588
Woah woah woah, let's not run around like decapitated chickens, now. ;) Since you DO have a heat source, we'll start with "what are the temps in the tank?" before you go and throw on something more powerful.

The basking area should be about 100F, the other end of the tank should be 80-85.

Also a 10g tank is in no way big enough for a beardie. Tiny tiny babies are suggested 15 gallons, adults should have like a 55 or better.
 

Bedlam

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Mar 2, 2006
Messages
442
How big is your beardie?

And does that heat light you use also have UV coming out of it?

I've got a little one and it isn't fully handleable yet, so I do see that open mouth display from it once in a while. I usually just let it be whenever I see that as its obviously not in the right mood for anything if its doing a threat display. As for food, I just let it find its food.
 

Choobaine

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 15, 2007
Messages
561
Right one important thing to cover is your setup.

You out to get a uvb ASAP. It's super important.

I want you to pay REALLY close attention to the following questions and answer them for me.

Right what age is your dragon, what are the temps, what do you use to measure the temps, what is it's normal diet, what do you use to supplement and what substrate do you keep it on?

If he's little - mealworms are not a good idea - they can cause impaction but not in all cases though I'd still be wary of them. Lettuce isn't a good idea in general, you can feed your little one Romaine lettuce now and then but it's not a good staple. Try dandelion greens, collard greens and kale, with tiny chunks of apple as an occasional treat. My dragon has been raised from tiny on crickets and now he's on locust now he's big and greedy. :)

And don't worry I've had my share of knocks but dragons are hardy things.
We'll do our best to help but make sure you can make those changes. They are the gap between a healthy beardy and not.

We'll help you get the best setup possible when you give us your info. Then well work out what's wrong and how to fix it.
 

Sequin

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Apr 18, 2004
Messages
415
Rubbing your beardies back is not going to calm it down. When it starts panicking, just leave it alone. Harassing it will only make the situation worse.
 

tyrant963

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 25, 2007
Messages
139
Thanks for all the info.
Alright i got everything back in order now.
-The basking spot is 90-95F, rest of tank is around 80
-I finally got a new UVB lamp to replace the old one

Is there anything else it needs?


Oh and im planning to get a larger tank asap
 

Choobaine

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 15, 2007
Messages
561
As a temporary set up that's ok. And the temps seem fine too. The diet needs worked on but I highly doubt that's the cause of his little escapade. The poop needs adressed seriouly fast though. I'd check with a vet because regardless of all the ideas we can put forward if he's pooping whole mealworms that's something none of us can tell the cause of.
Sometimes large amounts of mealies can cause impaction, it's also known to rub against the dragons spine cause seizure or running about and agression (from the pain) but I cannot tell as I don't know what amounts he's eating in.

He's eating fine now?

Is he in the picture there? If that's the size of him compared to the tank he wont need one for a couple of months - he's tiny. Right? Or is that a shadow?

Anyways yes. Get him to a vet. What age is he and how long you had him? And what supplement do you use? (It's not the root of the problem but it might help. every little helps, seriously :p )
 

scolex

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
May 8, 2007
Messages
164
I second the dandelion greens, collard greens and kale for the main diet with supplements (I use both rep-cal)http://www.reptiledepot.com/vitamins.html! For the meat side I would treat once to twice a week with crickets, wax worms, silk worms, butter worms! When adults Horn Worms. example http://www.herpfood.com/ Since your guy looks kinda small I would keep him in that tank for a while. Until he gets a little bigger. For water one of mine never did figure out how to drink out of a water bowl so I whould mist his face and he licked it up. Paper towls or even calic sand might be better then that turf, nails might get caught.
 
Last edited:

Choobaine

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 15, 2007
Messages
561
Actually I have to correct you there - calci sand is a horrible no for beardies - many beardies are clumsy and often ingest the stuff and the calcium put in the sand often impacts the reptile as it clogs up it's intestines from the moisture within the dragon. It's a cause of many beardy deaths. Normal sand has been also linked with impaction, I strongly advise away from it. I have used play sand before (as it does not clump up) but sometimes if it's too fine it will often become dry and dusty and cause a risk for a URI (upper respitory infection) and paper towels are allright but only really for a temporary.
You're substrate is allright, my dragon is the healthiest animal you've ever seen and he's grown up on reptile carpet. If you see your dragon having problems with it consider getting him tile. Many people have kept their dragons on tile as it allows quick clean up but I have not used it therefore cannot say if it has any specific benefit apart from being one of the only substrates your dragon wont ingest.
If your dragon isn't biting the reptile carpet he's probably not going to start.
Your tank is so far, allright as far as I can see.
Behaviour wise you'll have to observe him, health wise you'll need to get an expert.

Misting doesn't seem to quench my dragon's thirst, he's far too big, I use a needleless syringe and give him the amount of water he desires on tap :p he seems to enjoy it. Or he drinks from the tap (our water is safe for all animals to consume here).
 

Bigboy

Arachnoprince
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 18, 2004
Messages
1,233
Photograph the droppings macro best quality you can and the animal itself from different angles the best you can please. I saw no water dish in the picture is there one?
Hot tide temp (day and night)?
low side temp (day and night)?
humidity?
length of photoperiod?
Captive born
wild caught
age?
 

scolex

Arachnoknight
Old Timer
Joined
May 8, 2007
Messages
164
I do have mixed feelings on the sand too and maybe for when I did use diffrent types of sand, it was only for short periods of time. What I found best was a nice piece of cage like carpet from Homedepot. The sand only helped with hatchlings to help with the shedding between there toes. When mine were more like 3-4" I did the switch.
 

tyrant963

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 25, 2007
Messages
139
O here is a new picture of the tank with my dragon


And he is eating fine now, he ate a cricket with calcium power. Im sure its captive bred. I now use a day/night time cycle. The temp is 95F on hot side, and 80 cooler side of tank.
 

Choobaine

Arachnobaron
Old Timer
Joined
Oct 15, 2007
Messages
561
right another thing that might be important - what size is the cricket? I'm sure you know not to feed anything bigger than the space between his eyes. How often do you feed him bugs?
As a hatchling you need to give him a lot more bugs than greens but allways offer greens. As he grows increase the amount of greens. I feed mine a ratio of three parts greens to one part bugs and that seems to work for him.

But yeah - how long have you had him?

Your tank seems fine, a small water bowl wont do any harm (but not too big, dragons don't like humidity) and if you do spray him don't do it in the tank. Other than that, it's all good. Your tank setup is good. Have you arranged to get him to the vet? If you haven't had him long it's best to check for parasites (as many don't show symptoms for a while, and dragons don't often show they're feeling bad).
 

tyrant963

Arachnosquire
Old Timer
Joined
Nov 25, 2007
Messages
139
well this is final tank until someone tells me i need something more.
yes i do feed he/she eather cickets or mealworms every other day so he
eat his lettuce. I have only had he/she for a about a week and a half
but not too sure how old he/she is.
I probably gonna go get him checked out at the vet soon :0 thnx for all the help.

i forget to remove the thermometer xD
 
Last edited:
Top