Sick Beardie

[MelShaw]

HI,
I have recently purchased a 3mth old centeral bearded dragon from a breeder in QLD.
When Raho arrived he was very interested in what was going on around him, he was feeding well on salad and vegies, crickets and on some mini mondo grass in his tank.
As per advice from my local pet shop i bought meal worms and fed him 3or 4 a day and he gobbled them down and looked very satisfied, I love watching him eat.
Well its been 4 days now and he wont eat anything im very worried about his lack of activity and feeding.
I called the breeder this morning and he said to put him in the sun for an half an hour. Ive done this and while his yellow showed up beautifully and he done a small poo hes still not himself.
And to add to my worries i've noticed a hard spot on his belly ( middle on the left).
Can anyone help me?

[cyclamen]

hmmm.. sounds interesting. if it was me, i would go to the vets. because i am paranoid about everything and prefer to be on the safer side.

[MelShaw]

Do you reccomend any vets on the southern end of the gold coast?

[cma_369]

Arent mealworms bad for little beardies???

[Mrs Mac]

sounds like he has impactions from all those mealworms you are feeding them, they should only be for treats every now and then. try giving him a warm bath to try help him pass and go to the vet.

[Aslan]

Mealworms are a terrible idea for young beardies - mealworms have a hard carapace which will clog the youngster causing impaction, try a warm bath. Must be warm though, cool water will make the problem worse...you can also try a gentle massage while in the warm bath...

...keep him off the mealworms though, even as adults, mealworms have far less nutritional value...

[xander]

No good herp vets on the coast. Clayton Knight at deception bay is brillant.Actually try Robina Coast Vet as they do wildcare animals which includes lizards so I guess they would have herp experience. p.s Never believe what a petshop worker says,best to ask people on this site.Hope your little beardy is ok.

[OzRocks]

Originally Posted by Aslan

Mealworms are a terrible idea for young beardies - mealworms have a hard carapace which will clog the youngster causing impaction, try a warm bath. Must be warm though, cool water will make the problem worse...you can also try a gentle massage while in the warm bath...

...keep him off the mealworms though, even as adults, mealworms have far less nutritional value...

I would say that thats the most likely cause...because I have eaten giant mealworms and grubs and i even find it hard to chew the carapace..so it could quite easily clog a young beardies stomach..
and i dont recommend either to eat yourself......bad idea

[GARTHNFAY]

Yep, it's the mealworms.....we tell the people who buy from us NEVER feed them to beardies under Adult age.

Keep the little fella warm, gentle massaging of his belly may help also!!!
As I have stated in other threads...advice from pet shops........AAARRRGGGGGHHH!!!

Bad advice makes the pet shops that give good advice a bad name!!!
There are some very reputable petshops out there!!

[bunnykin]

pet store !!! .... meal worms especially for babbies is not good advice...
luke warm bath for about 10 mins ... may need to repeat a few times ....
also adding fruit until it has pooped ....

if you are going to at any stage feed meelies they have to be just shed and pull their heads off, but in genral they are a bad mix

[bunnykin]

oh sorry also what substrate are you using?

[Twiggz]

The person who told you that info should be shot.
See what people do to get a quick buck.

I recently had an impaction drama and the advice i was given from the breeder was to crank up the heat. Heat from both under the enclosure/tub (use a heat mat or cord etc) and provide heating from an areial position (say a basking light). I had a beardie who was knocking on deaths door, of which i was near certain was an impaction related issue since his hind legs were pinned backwards and he was having the twitches. Anyhow within 24hrs the chap was back to normal.....after quite a few poops i might ad. You should notice improvements within an hour for sure, depending on how severe the case is.

Apparently by heating them up so much it hepls their body temp to rise so that they can adequately metabolise the food sitting in the guts quicker.

If i were you i'd follow not only what i have just mentioned first, but also the massaging opinion that has also been brought up.

I'm no vet, but just my opinion. and of course if things didn't improve.....seek a vet.

[Hix]

Originally Posted by OzRocks

and i dont recommend either to eat yourself......bad idea

They're better when salted.



Hix

[MelShaw]

Im using gum bark chips as a substrate

[bunnykin]

best to use something like astro turf mate looks good, easy to clean and steralise, one time buy , no chance of baby eatting it babbie beardies tend to lick everything