strange behaviour from my baby beardie

[kelbel]

hey everyone,

i recently got 2 little baby beardies, and they both have been doing great, eating well and regular toilet movements. but the past few days one has been on the ground and everytime he/she moves will shake its head like something is annoying him/her.. will twitch uncontrollably. they are both eating though, and drinking well as i spray them often. if i need to i will take it to the vet as i am concerned, im after some advice please as this has never happened to me before. i also have a 2yr old beardie and he is great, never had a problem.

also when i got them one did this strange waving thing when walking up the branch, stopping and waving then walking again. i dont know if was the same one, or has something to do with it.. please.. any advice.

Please help

 

[Bel03]

Im guessing you have uv for them? What strength bulb & how long daily to you leave it on? What are you feeding them? Twitching is usually a sign of too little uv or impaction, HOWEVER i have asked a similar question on here as my baby was also doing this 'head shaking' thing whenever i pat him.......it ended up being that he was just itchy & cranky while shedding though as once he finished shedding so did his 'shaking' behaviour.

 

[Jpetrik]

The waving thing they do while walking up a branch is just natural behavior for a baby beardies they love to wave hello

 

[KaotikJezta]

Take it to a vet to be on the safe side, I just lost one of my little black soil beardies to impaction and it was doing a very similar thing.

 

[goyathlay2]

When you feed your beardie do you sprinkle calcium powder on its food because it could be calcium deficient

 

[kelbel]

i feed them with crickets, and yes i use the calcium powder. got a 10.o uv i think it is, and have it on from about 8 am untill about 9-10 pm just in case for them. i dont think it is shedding, as its acting very strangly. i understand it is hard to know exactly whats wrong as your going by what i say, and not what you see. when i pick him up he goes mental and rolls off my hand in any way he can. most of the day he sits still the other half is spend looking at the ground in front of him, and keeps turning his head from left to right.. most of the time it looks to me like he is trying to look for something..

 

[KaotikJezta]

So, why are you not taking him to the vet.

 

[kelbel]

i have no reptile vets near me, the only one i know of is in brisbane so i have to somehow get there.

 

[kr0nick]

And get to one asap mate. my closest is deception bay. And it is A 2 1/2 hour drive from my town. When I brought my beardie from the petshop. His leg went lame and I had to take him down there nothing wrong with him only needed more UV. My point being get to the vet or don't buy any type of animal.

 

[Colin-Shoemark]

He is lacking calcium get drops for him put them in water and then soak him in it

 

[Manda1032]

i have no reptile vets near me, the only one i know of is in brisbane so i have to somehow get there.

I know where you're comming from, i use to be there but you need to have a backup plan. I live heaps further away than you do. I know who to take them to in Bris or Toowoomba, their contact details and I also have a credit card that sits in the drawer and is untouched just for that emergency for my reptiles. I think it may be more serious and you need to get to a vet. Pull any favours you can, owe people heaps but if you love them get to a vet

 

[JKretzs613]

Hello,

The UVB is a 10, what brand, the Reptisun or the Arcadia & is it a tube or a compact/coil light?
You can try to find some liquid calcium if possible until you can get him to a vet, that should help
get his levels up a little bit. If you can't find liquid calcium, you can mix some powdered calcium
with some water, to help it absorb a little bit better.
If you have another tank to put him/her in just in case the other one may bully it around a little bit.

Tracie

 

[Bedella]

this has been happening for what 3 or 4 days now ? If you cant take him to a vet at least call one...?

or maybe even - Veterinary questions? Ask a veterinarian for answers ASAP
maybe someone on that could give you some info... i dont know i havent used it but if you really cant get to a vet maybe this could help....?

 

[kelbel]

should i bathe him in the water with calcium powder or use the syringe with the calcium powder and feed it to him? its very hard to hold the dragon still, doesnt want to be touched.

thank you for that i will get onto a vet my mum has been to im not sure if they are open 24 hrs, but ill first get the number and give that a try. for the moment all i can do is feed him/her the water with calcium and wait to hear what the vet says.

the vet that i know of is closed until monday 8 am. is there another one who specialises in reptiles that i could have the number for? im searching the net, but cant find much

 

[Manda1032]

bris bird and exotics. dr deborah monks 34206773. ask if they do exotics. be careful of vets, many will take $$ but know nothing. I'm sure there are more people in bris who can post who they see

 

[kelbel]

bris bird and exotics. dr deborah monks 34206773. ask if they do exotics. be careful of vets, many will take $$ but know nothing. I'm sure there are more people in bris who can post who they see

thank you for that mate, ill keep their number down also. im going to keep trying, and hope for the best.

 

[souldoubt]

try the emergency vet in wolloongabba (cant remember the name sorry) I have heard that they have a vet who is experienced with reptiles. The are a 24 hour service as well, I have never been to them though so this is word of mouth.
BBEVS are incredible, I cant recommend them highly enough - the only problem is that they aren't 24 hours

 

[Bearded_Penguin]

I'll parrot everyone else here and say get the advice of a good reptile vet.

In the meantime, make sure the UV is close to the basking spot. What distance is it currently?
I wouldn't put calcium powder in the water, I'd leave the water clean and coax him to eat a few heavily dusted (in calcium powder) crickets.
Can you grab a thermometer and check the temp of his basking spot.

Those two bits of info will help greatly. Distance from UVB source to basking spot, and temperature of basking spot.
One more Q. How old is the UV light.

 

[kelbel]

i just bought the UV bulb, cost me around $40, and its about 30cms up from where he sits, i will get a temp of the heat today when i can i have been feeeding him crickets, they both are eating and staying away from eachother so they are not picking on eachother.

 

[Manda1032]

there is no glass between globe and reptile is there? or mesh? that can drastically reduce the UV that reaches them