baby bearded

[neven]

one of my baby bearded dragons that is about 2 weeks old has stoped eating and i have noticed a little lump just after its ass. like right at the base of the tail... i had the other beardy that was also 2 weeks old pass last nite that had a lump in its stomach.
any ideas?
nev

 

[hugsta]

What sort of substrate do you have them on? If the lumps appear to be in their stomach they may have ingested the substrate which can be fatal to hatchies. Best of having no substrate till they get older to avoid the risk of ingestion.

As for the lump on the tail, I'm not sure. However if your bending the tail up and looking underneath, then there will be a small bulge for their sexual organs.

 

[neven]

nah its not sexual organs... never seen it before... and i have 18 other hatchlings to compare to and none of the rest have it. my substrate is news paper.
nev

 

[neven]

i think he just went
ta for the help hugsta
nev

 

[zoe]

thats sad nev

cant lumps be a deficiency? like calcium? not talking from experience but i think i have heard that before...anyone know?

 

[neven]

well if its got to do with calcium maybe it was too much... cos i dusted most of their food... :S
nev

 

[NoOne]

Are they getting enough water? Baby dragons don't really like drinking from water bowls.
I wouldn't put calcium on every feed, every second or third feed would be better as you should be feeding them daily.
What sort of food are you feeding them? Big insects or big bits of veggies are not good for small beardies and should be fed smaller food items.

Is there any color to the lump?

 

[neven]

nah no colour to the lump... i spray them often with water... the insects are small crickets and im sure arent to big as i have fed bigger before and hvnt had any troubles...
nev

 

[Matty_2004]

I've sadly experienced this before and it is caused by not enough UVA/UVB absorption and too large food items, they cannot be disgested properly yet they still pass through the digestive track, but end up getting stuck and cause impaction.

Try again.

Give them as much time AS POSSIBLE (don't be slack here, it really is vital) in natural sunlight or under a UVB tube (ZooMed 5.0 sunlight is the best), and give them very small crickets - just more of them, avoid meal worms too - the ones from the zoomed cans aren't too bad, and chop them in half. It may have been large bits of carrot or even items such as not entirely ripe avacado, it really dosen't take that much to upset baby beardies digestive tracks.

the insects are small crickets and im sure arent to big as i have fed bigger before and hvnt had any troubles...
nev

Don't go by this, some have troubles, some do not, they're all different. If you've ever been told about the rule (prey items should be no longer than the space between the dragon's eyes), i even try to go smaller than that with beardies when they're young.

I'm sure you'll try alot harder the second time around - i did anyway but still don't forgive myself for killing my first one - R.I.P Oscar.

 

[neven]

yeh i have had 3 clutches before this one so im thinkin the uv should be ok but i still will take them out side as much as i can... however it is very cold in melb... half an hour out side woudl this be ok?
nev

 

[Matty_2004]

As much as possible, but not if they're going to freeze...i'm from Melbourne too.

Just make sure they've got good quality UVB/UVA lighting that gets replaced frequently (8-9 months max).

 

[Tommo]

i had that happen to my first beardie. i found that feeding it soft fruits will help it poo. also putting them in warm water for 15 minutes ususally helps

 

[earthmother]

Sorry Nev.

 

[Matty_2004]

The chances of the lizard surviving after the lump has developed is extremely low, i even gave mine a steroid liquid and long periods in the sun, he lasted about a month after the lump had occured, so he was almost there, but sadly not close enough.