Sick Beardie Babys - Paw Talk

Bigs345 · #1 11-04-2004, 09:22 PM

Hello everyone,
I recently had 16 bearded dragon babys about 1 month ago. Since that time they have all been eating/drinking very well. Latly there is 2 babys that stopped eating all together and have formed like a sticky saliva. im not sure what the cause of this is but i have been manually feeding them myself. They were not looking to healthy always laying flat on their bellys and having there eyes close all the time. Since i have been (making) them eat they look a little healthier but still will not eat and drink on there own. I guess my question is i have not noticed this sticky saliva in any of my other dragons but only thew sick two. If anyone has any advice please let me know. Ive done some net research to find out about the sticky saliva but ive had no luck in finding out anything. If anyone knows anything or has any sort of info about my situation please let me know. Thank You

Purplebunny · #2 11-04-2004, 09:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bigs345


	Hello everyone, I recently had 16 bearded dragon babys about 1 month ago. Since that time they have all been eating/drinking very well. Latly there is 2 babys that stopped eating all together and have formed like a sticky saliva. im not sure what the cause of this is but i have been manually feeding them myself. They were not looking to healthy always laying flat on their bellys and having there eyes close all the time. Since i have been (making) them eat they look a little healthier but still will not eat and drink on there own. I guess my question is i have not noticed this sticky saliva in any of my other dragons but only thew sick two. If anyone has any advice please let me know. Ive done some net research to find out about the sticky saliva but ive had no luck in finding out anything. If anyone knows anything or has any sort of info about my situation please let me know. Thank You

I don't know much about bearded dragons, but I do hope they get better soon!

Millimi · #3 11-04-2004, 09:31 PM

I know nothing about them, but I hope they get better soon!

Sassy · #4 11-04-2004, 09:36 PM

Have you quarantined those two away from the other babies? Maybe they aren't eating because they are smaller and being picked on (just a idea). My son recently bought one and it had been picked on by the others that was in the tank with it.

I would diffently try to find a vet that would see them.

JEFFREH · #5 11-05-2004, 06:37 PM

First off where did you get them from? Or did you have a female who laid a clutch?

Next off, what are you feeding them? And are you keeping tham ALL together or with older dragons? If your keeping them all together that's not a good idea. Get 4 large plastic tubs that you can get anywhere pretty much for pretty cheap. Place 4 dragons in each and the dragons with the problem in speerate ones on their own. Clean with warm water daily and use paper towel so you can chenge it quickly and affectively. See to it they make no contact with each other and check your temps to make sure they are all correct and everything is perfect.

Also, where are you getting your feeders from and have you ever fed dead or diseased prey? This can lead to several health problems as well as a Beardie boycott on that food item.

Are you feeding the proper amount? If you adopted them all I hope you were prepared for pricing. Expect each one to have heat, lighting, furniture and a cage. It's not uncommon for a baby beardie to consume between 20-100+ crickets a DAY! Mine usually is capable of eating 90-120 a day over a course of 2 feeding and 6 rep cal pellets as well as a decent sized salad. He's 4 months old.

Give more info please, I'll ask a few breeders I know of and bring it up in one of reptile site I belong to for you. Sounds interesting, might have to consult Cheri Smith on this one if her computer isnt down. I'll try my best to help you out but I need more info. I hope they start getting better soon!

Bigs345 · #6 11-06-2004, 05:46 PM

My female had the clutch they are all about 1 month old. I seperated the 5 smallest from the other larger ones. The cage temps are good. The 2 are still not eating themselves but they started drinking from my dropper which is progress since they were not before.

I get my crickets from a pet shop near my house. Ive been buying them for about 1 1/2 years for my adults with no problems. They had the correct lighting and such. i do not keep them with the adult, i have the adult in a massive custom cage i built. the bigger babies in a 20 gallon, and the 4 smaller ones in a 10 gallon.

elfomatic · #7 11-07-2004, 12:30 AM

Hmmm ... sounds like it may be a repiratory infection to me. Definitely quarantine and seek the help of a herp vet.

JEFFREH · #8 11-07-2004, 09:44 AM

So your keeping 11 big 1 month old babies in a 20 gallon glong tank? If thats true I suggest you get another couple 20 gallon long tanks to seperate them.

2nd off, Your going to want to order crickets in bulk pretty darn soon. Your going to be spending about $30 at least from a pet shop for all these babies if you feed them correctly. A 1 month old - a 6 month old can easily consume 20 -100+ crickets a DAY! At 4 month old Mine easily wooofs down 110 crickets plus a relatively large salad and 8 rep cal pellets a DAy. You you feed salad in the moring IF the will eat it and offer live insects 2-3 times a day. Make sure each one gets as many crickets as it will eat in a 10 minute period if you want opyimal healthiness, growth, and happiness. I've seeen dragons get to 20" within 9 months on this schedule, and the longest lived dragons that got to 11-13 years ate lots o crickets at an early age.

Get yourself a 20 gallon long or a 15 gallon aquarium, which should house.... oh I'd say close to 2,500 crickets. Order 2,000 or 3,000 crickets from one of the following places for them to ship to you. Trust me, rather than paying 10 cents a cricket yull be paying closer to 1 cent a cricket. Take a look at these sites and makee sure the crickets you feed are no larger then the space bettween the dragon eyes
http://wormman.com
http://lllreptile.com

Ok, now for the sick little ones. Quartine ALL of them! Get each on their own 10 gaooln aquariums or tubberware containers that come to close that size. All they need is a basking rock, something to get within 8 inches of the UV light, and food dish inside the cage. Outside the cage a heat lamp and UV tube/light of course. Keep the substrate/bottom only paper towel and clean poo up the moment you see it. no water dish is needed (bad stories about them I will exaplin later).

Before you do any of this I recommend taking the dragon(s) to the vet ASAP. Could be a respiratory infection, or I'm think cocidea.

After the vet and cage see if anything gets better, could be the cagemates. But if its not keep offering chicken babyfood of some kind. The vet may give you instuctions on how to force feed if no progress is made.

This is a difficult situation, I'll try my best to help you out.

Hoep this isnt tooo confusing, had a lot in my head. I believe i said everything needed....