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Comment on Bearded Dragon Care Guide by Sydney the Dragon | Dejay Salmon's Point of View

Sydney the Dragon | Dejay Salmon's Point of View — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 07:48:31 +0000

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Comment on Bearded Dragon Care Guide by Mary

Mary — Wed, 23 Jan 2013 18:56:11 +0000

Thanks for the update Jennifer!
It’s a great idea to clean-up the tanks of the other reptiles. The feeders are commonly the source of parasites, so it’s very smart for you to cleaning them up too. Parasites can be a serious and even deadly problem if it gets to a high load. If you think the feeders are the culprit, it might also be a good idea to treat all the lizards with medication. The most common parasite in bearded dragons is coccidia which is treated with Albon. It’s a good idea to also treat them with Albon (it also treats pinworms). You will need to weigh your beardie and look up the dosing, or go to a vet. Some sites also sell it with out a prescription (http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Albon.html). It’s definitely worth looking into if you think parasites are a problem. I hope this helps!
Best of luck with Yogi and your other lizards!
Mary

Comment on Bearded Dragon Care Guide by Jennifer

Jennifer — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 08:25:53 +0000

Thanks Mary,

To my surprise he has been a lot calmer for the last two days and has not been freaking out barley at all. I think he has adjusted to his new tank and that the de-wormer is finally starting to kick in, or at least i hope so. I am giving him his second dose on tuesday hopefully this will really help improve his erratic behaviour. But if he starts up again I will be taking your advice and putting in some egg cartons and newspaper to soften his substrate in case his falls.
Oh I decided to do a good over haul cleaning of the rest of my lizard tanks and there accessories with vinegar just to be on the safe side. I think i’m going to use a squirt bottle of vinegar and water solution to spot clean their tanks every day for now on. I also plan on being meticulous with the cleaning of the cricket tank as i think that was the real culprit. Hopefully all this will prevent parasites from starting up again in the future.

Thanks you for all your help and kind words. I will keep you posted on his recovery!

Comment on Bearded Dragon Care Guide by Mary

Mary — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 18:28:47 +0000

Hi Jennifer,
You can try covering some of the sides if you think the other reptiles are stressing him out, but sometimes covering up the sides can be more stressful for beardies. They usually like to look around. If possible, it might be a better idea to move him into another room while he’s recovering. For substrates, you can also use black and white newspaper, pieces of unmarked (no print) cardboard, egg crates, in addition to paper towels. Unmarked paper products that can be removed and replaced daily work great and can also give your beardie places to hide. Obviously, just make sure none of it can get close to the lights or other heat sources.
I hope he makes a quick recovery. The most important components of his recovery is to keep him well hydrated and on a healthy diet while minimizing stress. Best of Luck with Yogi!
Mary

Comment on Bearded Dragon Care Guide by Jennifer

Jennifer — Sat, 19 Jan 2013 02:41:20 +0000

Hi Mary,
thank you so much for your input it really helped
I removed him from his tank today and disinfect it as well as all of his accessories. I am going to try what you suggested and take him out and put him in a different tank to feed and see how that goes. I am also going to try to give him a bath later this evening and continue doing this on a regular basis. As for taking him out as much as possible that might be tricky as we have cats, but I might take him out and let him hang out in the tub some times that could work.
We have several reptiles in one room do you think I should cover the sides of his tank so that he is not stressed by the other lizards?
I was wondering if there is anything other then paper towel I might use as substrate while he is recovering? I am concerned that with him flailing himself around he might injure himself on the hard glass surface of his tank.
Again thank you so much, you eased a lot of my stress about the situation.

Comment on Bearded Dragon Care Guide by Mary

Mary — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 18:13:14 +0000

Most of these behaviors sound like they are related to parasites. Parasites can cause a lot of problems like changes in behavior, appetite, defecation, stress, etc. In addition to the changes you already made to help him recover from parasites, you should also make sure you change and clean his cage every time he poops. You need to keep his enclosure as clean as possible. When a beardie has parasites, they desperately try to get away from their poop to get away from the parasites in it. If an accessory cannot be cleaned thoroughly (like anything wood) get rid of it. Also, take him out of the cage as much as possible and if you can feed him the live food in a different cage to prevent the chance of his food getting infected with parasites. Make sure he is getting as much food as possible and supplement his food with calcium carbonate. Continue to give him as many crickets as he wants, but try to lay off the superworms. Give him a bath every day if possible to get rid of anything that might be on his skin making him uncomfortable. Make sure he gets plenty of water, since panacur can dehydrate a beardie. It is normal for him to hide more often while he is trying to recover. Parasite are very stressful. Try to make him as comfortable and distracted as possible while he is recovering.

I hope this information helps and your beardie recovers quickly.
Mary

Comment on Bearded Dragon Care Guide by Jennifer

Jennifer — Fri, 18 Jan 2013 09:13:09 +0000

thanks for the Info,

I have a concern with my male beardie though and unfortunately cannot afford at the moment to take him to the vet so i was hoping to gain some perspective on here as to what might be going on thanks.

my one year old male bearded dragon has worms, we started a treatment yesterday of 100 mg of panacur orally. We also moved him to a freshly cleaned tanks with new paper towel substrate. What I would like to know is, erratic behaviour common with parasite infestations?

Why I ask is, Yogi (my male with the worms) has been acting erratic, running around his tank and flinging himself at the glass trying to climb as if needing to escape. This has been happening for about two weeks or so and is freaking me out.
We had at first thought this had to do with too hot of temperature. You see we had recently changed his tank to one that was longer but not as deep. So instead of sitting at 100 on his basking side he was at 111 or around there. We now have him in a much larger tank were his basking temp is a normal 100 on the hot side and 82-85 on the cool side, but he is still displaying the same behaviour. Does it sound like his behaviour could actually be a symptom of his parasite infection? Or does it sound like something else?

Please help!

here are some weird behaviours and physical changes Ive noticed that might help explain whats going on.
1)There has been a darkening of his skin color recently.
2)his food intake dropped off and Food choices changed? he only wants superworms and only eats about four a day where he used to eat 15 crickets a day.
3)Defecating less often? It is very smelly and of course there are worms in it (but I already took care of that!
4) He is Spending more time in hiding or in the cooler end of his tank.
5)More active, especially at odd times?
6)Increased tongue-flicking when handled or enclosure is opened?
7)he is gaping more as of today jan17th he wasnt doing this before.

Comment on Baby Beardie Hug by Stephanie

Stephanie — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 17:13:57 +0000

So adorable.

Comment on Bearded Dragon Care Guide by Mary

Mary — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 05:25:30 +0000

Hi Amy,
Sorry to hear about your beardie. Poor guy. How big is his enclosure? He should have at least a 40 gallon enclosure to be comfortable otherwise they can become very stressed out and may start to rub and dig to get out. They can also get stressed out with new situations and may take a few days to recover. Sometimes it is best to not handle them much and let them become acclimated to their new home. Also, when lizards shed they usually rub against objects to help loosen the skin. Their head is usually one of the first body parts to shed. Make sure there are no sharp or rough surfaces in his cage that he can hurt or injury himself on. If he is shedding, his skin should look grayish or more white and it might help to give him a warm bath. It can sometimes take a while for a beardie to get used to baths, but they tend to really enjoy baths in shallow water. If there are wounds from the rubbing, you can very carefully treat it with iodine (don’t use anything else as it burn or make things worse). I hope this information helps. Please let me know if you have any more questions.
Best of luck with your new beardie!
Mary

Comment on Bearded Dragon Care Guide by Amy

Amy — Fri, 28 Dec 2012 08:21:09 +0000

My son just got a bearded dragon for Christmas. We’ve had it 2 days. Earlier today we noticed him sleeping and hiding in his rock. Thought this to be unusual, so we sprayed him and fed him. He immediately became active. The. As the day progressed, I noticed him rubbing his head on the rock a few times. We left for about an hour and a half and came home to blood strewn throughout then cage. It even appeared it was sprayed on to the walls. It was his eye area. What do you think has caused this and what should we do? Thanks for your help in advance.