New Herpers/Vet help or not?

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fisherjayse

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Hello to all, its great to see so many people willing to help others like we are members of one big family with a common interest.
My son and I are new to herping, and have bought 2 adult bearded dragons recently, within the last month.
They were both in brumation, but now have woken, and been awake for 3 weeks.
The male is more active, more alert, loves his crix and salads.
The female is more docile, prefers laying fairly flat, refuses crix but eats her salads.
Crix are offered in separate tub, he charges around eating, she tries to escape the tub!
We have misted both of them and allowed them to drink off their faces, thinking it could be dehydration.
I am now applyng a light shake of calcium/vitamin powder to her greens to give her nutrition, and even squished some crix and mixed them through her salads.
His poo's are formed, white ends (urates), hers are more the consistency of pesto, mildly watery, white material in it, but mainly the colour of digested plant material i would expect.
As its warming up we have taken them out on the lawn a few times, the male active requires chasing, the female slower, will eat the clover and almost stilted in her walking.
Currently they are housed together, within a week they will be separated, Im thinking hes the dominant male and she the submissive female.
Now dont wanna panic, but am I missing some obvious ill health signs? Should she be at the vet? or will she improve when separated from him?
Thank you Fisher and Tom
 
does it look like its going to shed (pale looking skin, skin strating to tear?) if so it fine my beardy goes off food when hes going to shed. but as long as it is eating i think that is a good sign.
 
What temps are you running?
What is the enclosure size?
were they purchased from the same place?
Post some pics if possible.
 
No signs of shed, and havent seen them mating, so I dont know if she is brooding a clutch of eggs in her belly!

Enclosure is 5ft, 2ft by 2ft.
Temps 32 hot end and 20 at cooler end. The whole enclosure is heated with one 75watt globe and 24 inch uvb. I did switch up to 100w globe, got to 40 and above, and the dragons deserted their basking spot, so obviously too hot. None of my local pet shops sell a temp probe so im using a old fashioned thermometer. Looking to buy digital probed thermometer after pay day tuesday on Ebay( What brand?)
Was going to put second heat source in enclosure, but they may not be necessary if im going to seperate them. If i do go ahead and put in second heat source, need to get creative with the styrafoam to create another basking spot.
They are brother and sister and always lived together, so purchased together.
 
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Old fashioned thermometers are accurate
Babies Mercury Therms have to be within .2C to be classed as fit for medical use
Digital Therms are not classed as suitable for medical use unless you pay heaps
Absolutely nothing can go wrong with a mercury thermometer unless you physically break it
Things can go wrong with any digital thermometer
 
First thing I would do is separate them as you've already said you were going to. Her behaviour may change in a new environment if its a dominance issue. It could also be useful to get a vet check as she may need worming etc as you can't be sure what they came into contact with before you bought them.
 
if you do seeperate them, keep the female in the enclosure and put the male into a new enclosure to reduce stress on her
 
It sounds like it might be a combination of dominance and dietary problems.

If the male is doing more than his share of head bobbing and maybe arm waving and the female is slower in her head bobbing and arm waving when it occurs, that would indicate a dominant-submissive relationship. Do as suggested – separate and observe. Give it at least a week. Make sure there is no clear line of sight between cages, like facing each other from opposite ends of the room. The visual signals from can and will maintain the dominance if that is the source of the problem.

You could try introducing some Wombaroo Insect Mix in with her vegies and keep up the supplements, especially calcium and vitamin D. You can also try mixing some raw or cooked egg in with it. She is not getting as much protein which is why there are less urates. The greens contain relatively more water and provide less nutrients and highly level of cellulose cannot be as effectively digested. Try adding Dandelion flowers and leaves if you can and small crushed snails, shells and all.

Blue
 
Blue, if you ever(or have) print(ed) a publication on reptiles, I will buy it.
 
Also some dragons won't eat out of a tub and freak out when placed in one full of insects, not all dragons fit into a captive situation as well as others and require some special attention. Separating them is the first and best step, both dragons should be screened for worms / parasites towards the end of summer each year before they brumate as they easily pick up nasties esp when fed wild foods (inc. greens) which is a good thing to do but will require fecal floats being done.
 
Thanks for all your words of wisdom. I have tried to feed the female in the bare second enclsure with its heat on the keep her temperature up, all she wated to do was leap climb at the sliding glass doors and if she could speak...she was saying get me out of here!!
Neither of them head bob or wave.
My son also gets them out daily with them clinging to his shirt, is there a limit to how much handling they get?
 
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