baby beardies dying HELP

[bluewren24]

Desperately need advice on what i am doing wrong?? My baby bearded dragons are dying and not sure why? They are only a couple weeks old and were eating but now don't seem to be interested in food.
The ones that have died became lethargic and their little bellies become tight like they are bloated.
We are spraying them a couple of times per day but they never seem to drink. Also have a shallow water bowl in enclosure at all times. I moved them out of an enclosure that was getting too small...into a larger enclosure, but was putting them back into smaller one for feeding.
Am also concerned with temperatures...what is right temp? and should i have heat on at night?
Any help would be greatly appreciated thanks as this is really distressing for me and horrible for my little ones.

 

[funcouple]

hatchling beardies dont normally drink from a bowl so they need to be misted to get water. temps of around 35deg 24/7. what have you been feeding them?

 

[gravitation]

What is their substrate? What are there temps? What are you feeding them? and where?

 

[bluewren24]

Started feeding them tiny crickets dusted with calcium powder, then started them on small crickets once they got a bit bigger. I have only been able to give them tiny roaches once as we have had a shortage of supply here in perth.

I have not had heat on at night as up til now it had still been fairly warm at night. And although i have tried to keep hot spot to around the 35 degree mark, i admit, i am having trouble with this new enclosure and not being able to control the cool end
I even tried half opening up the sliding door and stapling flywire to cover, in hope of cooling off the cool end more, but that didn't seem to have any effect.
What should the cool end be?
Do you think perhaps they are not digesting the food at night due to them getting too cold?

 

[bluewren24]

I just have that fake grass on the floor and have had a small log for them to climb up higher to the light & heat

 

[Inlandtaipan078]

How many have you got? put them in A smaller tank there still very young and probably scared sh....less keep the temps around 28-35 mist once A if that doesn't help every second day put drops of water on there nose with an eyedroper or your finger and they will suck it up you wil see there tongue lap it up, now you know how much fluid intake I assume you have pinheads in there 24/7 hold up with the feeding for 12 hours and see what happens ideally they should have 2-3 pinheads A day and greens all the time they sound stressed play with the temps around what there at (what temps do you keep them at) and as said previously substrate can be A big factor what are you using?

 

[Inlandtaipan078]

cool end 18-25

 

[bluewren24]

thanks heaps,
I think maybe i have stepped the food size up too early?

I have been trying the eye dropper trick as this is what i do with my adult beardies, but there is only one who will drink like that. My son has been spraying them a couple times a day, is that too much?
I have now put them back into a smaller enclosure but as i said, am having trouble with the cool end overheating.
I just have a 40 watt globe in there and a uvb globe....i guess i will have to purchase a ceramic heat emitter so they can have the heat thru the night (without the light).
I do have this setup on my adult beardies but only use that in winter with the day/night thermostat

 

[Inlandtaipan078]

you should drop them to around low twenty's overnight if ou have troubles with the temp's turn off the lights and keep an ambient room temp around 24-28 should keep you out of trouble short term until you get the tank sorted at that age to much water will lead to breathing difficulty's and quit often death
let us know how you go!

 

[bluewren24]

Really appreciate all your advice and suggestions....Thanks Heaps & Heaps!!!

I will try everything that has been suggested...and more if needed. I had been trying to keep live food out of their new enclosure and was moving them to the other little feeding tank, but it seems as soon as i move them there to feed, they behave lethargic and just lay there. I have just noticed that since placing them back in their normal tank tonite, they are sitting with their heads held high and look calmer.

I will let you know how things go Taipan....thanks for everything

 

[notechistiger]

Could it be possible that the new tank isn't getting warm enough for them? Bearded's can become lethargic if the temperatures are too low.

 

[gravitation]

Yeah 40w is pretty low, how big is the tank? and as long as temps are 30-35 during the day and 20-25 during the night they should be fine.

Can i ask how your babies are fed? Seperate out of the enclosure or inside the enclosure? And what substrate are you using?

 

[Dave]

40c basking spot. Heat them up they should eat Remember to mist twice a day

Yeah 40w is pretty low, how big is the tank? and as long as temps are 30-35 during the day and 20-25 during the night they should be fine.

Can i ask how your babies are fed? Seperate out of the enclosure or inside the enclosure? And what substrate are you using?

 

[melgalea]

hatchling beardies dont normally drink from a bowl so they need to be misted to get water. temps of around 35deg 24/7. what have you been feeding them?

not true, all my babies drink from the water bowl. everysingle day i see them doing it.

 

[gravitation]

40c basking spot. Heat them up they should eat Remember to mist twice a day

If he is having trouble maintaining both the hot spot and the cold spot he should keep the whole tank at atleast 35, that way they don't get too hot.

Please just stop with this bicker crud dave, there was no need for you to respond to my comment.

 

[bluewren24]

To try and answer all your questions:

I was feeding them in the enclosure but found that crickets were hiding. So decided to move them to separate feeding tank for food. I did this so i could monitor better how much they were eating. I don't think they like this new idea though. I always made sure i left a piece of carrot in enclosure overnight so leftover crickets had food rather than nibble on babies.
I have that fake green grass as substrate.
Think i will have to start feeding in their tank again.

I did have a 60 watt basking spot in there but tank was getting to near 40 degrees...Way way too hot...thats why i dropped to the 40 watt

 

[bluewren24]

Enclosure size is 60cm x 60cm and i have 10 babies in there

 

[bluewren24]

Thanks to all..... You have given me heaps to try and to think about

 

[Kirby]

the temps could range from 45-20. they will find there prefered range and temp. if your having trouble.

they will feel comfortable with something to climb, alot of small branches. they cling for security.

mist and provide a shallow water bowl. droplets on the nose daily help.

offer live feed, preferably much smaller then the size between there eyes. just incase they have trouble. dont leave them in for more then 15-20 mins. offer three times a day.

being 'bloated' before death sounds very odd. usually the problem is dehydration and failure to thrive. were they have a total lack of apetite and energy. could you give us some more info on how they were acting?

there is also bobble head syndrome. (lack of balance, they act 'drunk' and unstable) which were not sure entirely what it is. ive had it happen twice, and now a third with a 5 week old hatchling. usually leaves within days. they continue to eat and drink, but without care it could deteriorate there health. were they walking funny?

 

[richardsc]

u want a temperature gradient for them,that way if there to hot they can cool off if they want or if to cool can warm up to there prefered body temps,i see your in perth so assume u r keeping a wa species of bearded dragon,the bloating you describe has been seen in monitor juvies when exposed to to cool temperatures,have you measured there temps in various locations in your enclosure and is the basking area in the 40 odd degree region,your substrate shyould be fine,ive raised central beardies on fake grass with out issues,young beardeds can be very fragile at first,usually if not kept correctly they can sucumb pretty fast,your food size sounds good,they can have issues with insects that are to big,my guess would be temp related