WARNING TO ALL BEARDIE OWNERS!

Bump

 

Was there a question you didn't get answered here?

 

No I just want other people to read it so that they dont make the same sad mistake that I did.

 

Well, I can certainly understand that. However with so many constant new threads we have in this forum, we just can't keep it on top. Don't worry though, all the moderators and regulars here are quick to warn people away from it whenever someone asks. There will be no members of this forum going uneducated about the dangers of wood chips and other bad particulate substrates! Your terrible experience was not in vein.

 

Ok I wont do it again. Thanks for the warning.

 

No problem, it's no biggie.

 

My ex partner had a beardie and he was in his grumpy stage as he always gets around breeding time. On August 7th we went to visit a friend in Norway so his sister was looking after the lizards. When we got back on the 14th Desert was fine that afternoon and later on he opened his mouth and went over to the cold part of the viv. We have no idea what happened but within 10 minutes of going to the cold area he died. When I told him to a good friend of mine that happens to be a vet she had not idea what killed him. He ate all his greens and live food, he was kept on special sand, he was cleaned on a regular basis, he had loads of exercise, the right lights and temp. and he was only 3 years old if that. It was very sudden and very sad.

 

my beardie wiggled back and forth today and threw up also. He just now got back to normal action it seems after half an hour or so of basking. i have him on the desert blend which is ground up walnut shells. He is about a foot long.. would he still be considered a baby? he just worried me today. and last night we fed him super worms for the first time... i just wonder whats up...

the weather just shifted here and its become cold in my room. i also wonder if thats part of it and he wasnt able to digest well enough. i am gonna look into getting a higer watt bulb today. (i have a 50)

 

earthtoandy- I'd get your beardie off the ground walnut shells ASAP. I've read multiple posts and sites that state how bad they are for any herp... I'm sure I can get the mods to back me on this.

 

Yeah, I would definitely get him off of the walnut shells ASAP! You are literally playing russian roulette with your beardie's life if he's kept on that junk. One thing to always keep in mind if it says it's for a reptile on the package, more times than not, regardless of what it is, it's either not going to do anything good for your beardie or it's actually harmful. Substrates are a big example. I do not think I have ever read of any substrate manufactured by a reptile products manufacturer that doesn't have a high death rate for beardies. Huh, that's really pretty sad. Wait, there is the reptile carpet which is okay. You can also use Duck brand non adhesive shelf liner or paper towels. Believe it or not the shelf liner really looks pretty good.

It doesn't sound like you have a thermometer in your setup. Is this correct? If so you will definitely want to get a digital thermometer to get an accurate reading on your temps. Your beardie's life depends on things like this. You can probably get one of those at Walmart for about $10-$12.

If I were to guess what's going on with throwing up I'd say your temps are indeed too cold.

You've really got the recipe here for a major disaster to your beardie. Low temps, superworms and walnut shells.

Low temps = bad digestion
superworms = impaction risk (increases with beardies under 12" and/or less than 6mos. old)
walnut shells = horrible, horrible impaction risk

Hopefully he's not impacted but I can just about guarantee you if you don't get rid of the walnut shells, get the temps right (105-115) and continue to feed supers your beardie will most definitely become impacted.

FYI, superworms should only be fed to dragons over 14" because the chitin shell is hard for beardies to digest. Even then they should be fed sparingly and as a treat since they are also high in fat.

I hope your little guy is okay. If you have anything else you think is abnormal make sure to ask. You may need to take this guy to a vet soon.

 

And you do have a UV light, right? The bearded dragon needs UV to be able to digest.

 

Nice, i was just about to ask that because my beardie threw up the other day while i was at school, i had decided to try a different kind of bulb, and when i came home his basking spot was only 85!!!!!!!!! I felt really bad since it had been so cold all day, but now i know what had caused it.

 

i have a thermometor and it is on the back wall of the terrarium and reads around 85 usually. I also have a below the tank heater. I just put in a 100w bulb and the temp has jumped to 95 already. this is good. I have come home and he has left me a little treat so i awesome thats a good sign. The pet store guy said to feed the superworms because they were softer and more fatty and didnt have the hard shells like the mealworms. of course my beardie had no prob with the mealworms and his throw up was full of undigested superworm parts. if the superworms are the problem i will be mad at that petstore chump (he seemed very knowledgeable too!)

as for the substrate...thsi sucks! i wish there was something good... paper seems like such a bore and rabbitpellets too. but i guess i might go with the pellets. the sand stuff is so easy to clean and all. grrr.

well he didnt have any problems til the superworm so i am gonna cut those out. only today has he ever done anything unusual and he was fed that worm last night. What worms do you guys suggest? And how many crickets a day now? Although i wanna cut back on worms and crickets because he isnt eating his greens and veggies enough.

And yeah i do have both a basking light and a UVA/B light.

thanks guys

 

How old is your beardie????

 

i dont know exactly. but i assume around 6-8 months maybe. he is over a foot long

 

Try silkies if you really wanna feed worms, they have no hard exoskeleton and are very nutritious, and if your beardie is not very old, then odds are he will not be eating much greens, but they should be provided every day no matter what, a growing beardie should be eating as many crix as it wants to twice a day in about a 10-15 mnute period. And if you look back in this thread, many suggest non adhesive shelf liner, i have some too, it looks great and couldnt be easier to clean.

 

thanks for all your help guys. Eisenhower seems to be happier now. I got home and feed him a bunch of crickets which he ate happily so he seems to be better. I got some rabbit pellets for the substrate at least til hes full grown. I was very worried all day! But he seems to of snaped back from it. Hes a tough little general.

and now a picture for you all to enjoy (sadly a bad camera)

 

Whew!! I'm glad to hear he's doing okay. You really did have a disaster waiting to happen.

I do think it's very important you measure the temperature of your basking spot with a digital thermometer. You have to make sure that spot is up to temperature or everything else you do for your beardie probably won't matter and you'll eventually have problems.

I've heard rabbit pellets are fine but make very sure you get all signs of any kind of waste out when he goes. Even take a good bit of the surrounding pellets out when you scoop up the waste. Also, make sure the pellets do not get wet because that and/or the waste will be a great environment for bacteria and mold which you'd really rather not have around.

You should be feeding him as many insects as he will eat in 10-15 minutes. He will not over eat so don't worry about that right now. You can use roaches, silkworms or crix but I think that's about it as far as a staple insect goes. Since your dragon is about 12" you can try a superworm and see how he handles digesting it. Check out his poo and see if there's any undigested parts. If he does good you can feed supers every once in a while as a treat but keep up with the other insects.

As said above, provide the salad every day but don't expect much to be eaten at this point. If your beardie is only about a foot long chances are he still has a lot of growing still to do. If you are using this routine and you don't see any growth out of your beardie in the next month or so you may have a runt and will want to cut back on the insects. Basically, the insects are needed when a dragon is growing because the have the necessary protein. When your beardie is full grown or slows growth way down you don't want to feed as many insects due to the fat they contain. This can cause fatty liver disease which I'm pretty sure is the leading cause of deaths in adult beardies.

Chances are your beardie will begin to eat salad on his own when he gets a little bigger so don't cut back on the insects just yet. Get everthing situated and have him on a good routine then see how much he grows and go from there.

He's a good looking little guy. Good luck with him and make sure you ask about anything you have any doubts on. There's a lot of info out there and a lot of it is misleading and confusing. That's why we're here.