Sad :(

[kimby37]

Went against my better judgment and bought a bearded dragon (we named Rafiki) from the pet store. Had him exactly a week. He seemed to have adapted to his environment and was eating well, then i noticed he seemed off balance. I didnt think too much into it as he was eating and pooping. Woke up Thursday morning and he couldn't stand straight and was acting weird. (falling over). Brought him back to the pet store and they were bringing him to their the vet(he was under the warrenty still). They gave me back my $ and said they would let me know what was wrong They we guessing a neurological problem. Anyone know about this or think that may have been the problem? They said we could buy him back if he was ok or if not and had special needs we could adopt him.

 

[B K]

Went against my better judgment and bought a bearded dragon (we named Rafiki) from the pet store. Had him exactly a week. He seemed to have adapted to his environment and was eating well, then i noticed he seemed off balance. I didnt think too much into it as he was eating and pooping. Woke up Thursday morning and he couldn't stand straight and was acting weird. (falling over). Brought him back to the pet store and they were bringing him to their the vet(he was under the warrenty still). They gave me back my $ and said they would let me know what was wrong They we guessing a neurological problem. Anyone know about this or think that may have been the problem? They said we could buy him back if he was ok or if not and had special needs we could adopt him.

How old was he what kind of lighting and what was it eating.

 

[kimby37]

Went against my better judgment and bought a bearded dragon (we named Rafiki) from the pet store. Had him exactly a week. He seemed to have adapted to his environment and was eating well, then i noticed he seemed off balance. I didnt think too much into it as he was eating and pooping. Woke up Thursday morning and he couldn't stand straight and was acting weird. (falling over). Brought him back to the pet store and they were bringing him to their the vet(he was under the warrenty still). They gave me back my $ and said they would let me know what was wrong They we guessing a neurological problem. Anyone know about this or think that may have been the problem? They said we could buy him back if he was ok or if not and had special needs we could adopt him.

How old was he what kind of lighting and what was it eating.

He was a little over 5 1/2 inches. He was in a small tank till we set up the bigger one. He was eating crickets and had some greens in there too (They say they dont eat greens sometimes when little but had it in there) Had a repti glo UBV and a basking light on other end. Was setting up larger tank for him when this happened

 

[B K]

Went against my better judgment and bought a bearded dragon (we named Rafiki) from the pet store. Had him exactly a week. He seemed to have adapted to his environment and was eating well, then i noticed he seemed off balance. I didnt think too much into it as he was eating and pooping. Woke up Thursday morning and he couldn't stand straight and was acting weird. (falling over). Brought him back to the pet store and they were bringing him to their the vet(he was under the warrenty still). They gave me back my $ and said they would let me know what was wrong They we guessing a neurological problem. Anyone know about this or think that may have been the problem? They said we could buy him back if he was ok or if not and had special needs we could adopt him.

How old was he what kind of lighting and what was it eating.

He was a little over 5 1/2 inches. He was in a small tank till we set up the bigger one. He was eating crickets and had some greens in there too (They say they dont eat greens sometimes when little but had it in there) Had a repti glo UBV and a basking light on other end. Was setting up larger tank for him when this happened

I would not buy one from a pet store they are already stressed out from being shipped more then likely twice and at 5 ½ inches its might be 5 weeks old or less. There are plenty of quality breeders on line and probably close to you who can help you with a nice healthy one .You will want to change your uvb to a reptisun 10 florescent and put your basking light next to it so the dragon gets the uvb while basking.

 

[kimby37]

Went against my better judgment and bought a bearded dragon (we named Rafiki) from the pet store. Had him exactly a week. He seemed to have adapted to his environment and was eating well, then i noticed he seemed off balance. I didnt think too much into it as he was eating and pooping. Woke up Thursday morning and he couldn't stand straight and was acting weird. (falling over). Brought him back to the pet store and they were bringing him to their the vet(he was under the warrenty still). They gave me back my $ and said they would let me know what was wrong They we guessing a neurological problem. Anyone know about this or think that may have been the problem? They said we could buy him back if he was ok or if not and had special needs we could adopt him.

How old was he what kind of lighting and what was it eating.

He was a little over 5 1/2 inches. He was in a small tank till we set up the bigger one. He was eating crickets and had some greens in there too (They say they dont eat greens sometimes when little but had it in there) Had a repti glo UBV and a basking light on other end. Was setting up larger tank for him when this happened

I would not buy one from a pet store they are already stressed out from being shipped more then likely twice and at 5 ½ inches its might be 5 weeks old or less. There are plenty of quality breeders on line and probably close to you who can help you with a nice healthy one .You will want to change your uvb to a reptisun 10 florescent and put your basking light next to it so the dragon gets the uvb while basking.

Thank you for the information and responding.

 

[Cameron]

Sounds like MBD. It can be stopped, but can't be cured. He needs a GOOD UVB light.

 

[Kristina]

My first thought is calcium deficiency, it can cause seizures in Beardeds. As B K stated, get either a stronger florescent or a MVB basking light and dust EVERYTHING with calcium.

He probably won't survive in the hands of the petstore, to be honest. They won't know enough to care for a sick Beardie. Poor little guy.

 

[Tom]

Easiest way to do this is to just get a mercury vapor bulb. Its heat, light and UV all in one bulb. I've never found florescent UV bulbs to be effective anyway. What ever was wrong with him, it likely is not a result of anything you did or didn't do.

 

[kimby37]

Easiest way to do this is to just get a mercury vapor bulb. Its heat, light and UV all in one bulb. I've never found florescent UV bulbs to be effective anyway. What ever was wrong with him, it likely is not a result of anything you did or didn't do.

Thank you. I know but its hard to not think it. I just contacted a breeder not to far from us to see if we could drive over and look at what they have available. I just need to get lighting for the larger tank.

---

My first thought is calcium deficiency, it can cause seizures in Beardeds. As B K stated, get either a stronger florescent or a MVB basking light and dust EVERYTHING with calcium.

He probably won't survive in the hands of the petstore, to be honest. They won't know enough to care for a sick Beardie. Poor little guy.

I had dusted everything with calcium. The pet store brought him to a reptile vet (Hopefully they did) I feel so bad. They said i could adopt him if i wanted once they find out whats wrong but if he is sick im not sure id know how to take care of him properly and would be devastated if he died in my care

 

[B K]

This is a dragon we purchased on line as you can see she looked terrible, she had a crocked jaw and a hump in her back and was suffering from MBD and malnutrition from a bad diet and no UVB or calcium .I had to crush bugs and hand feed her she couldn’t bite them or even move to get them. But now she is doing great she was a little over 200grams when we got her now she is 628grams and her jaw has almost straightened out it will never be perfect.

2 Months later

 

[kimby37]

This is a dragon we purchased on line as you can see she looked terrible, she had a crocked jaw and a hump in her back and was suffering from MBD and malnutrition from a bad diet and no UVB or calcium .I had to crush bugs and hand feed her she couldn’t bite them or even move to get them. But now she is doing great she was a little over 200grams when we got her now she is 628grams and her jaw has almost straightened out it will never be perfect.

2 Months later

Wow she looks much better.