Beardie Help

[OuZo]

Maybe he's depressed :shock:

Have any of his flat mates become more dominant lately? Or was one of them younger and just matured? I've had a similar thing happen with 2 beardies so far, though none are at your guys age yet. One was a young male I bought who used to be king of the tank - until the others matured. The other males became dominant and had to be removed and I think even my female (who's a bossy boots) was making him submissive too lol. He just seemed sad all the time, awake but not moving around a lot. I also have had a young female who has done nothing but sleep under a branch that was wedged into a corner of the tank, barely coming out to eat or anything. I moved her into the tank with the submissive male and they both seem a lot happier...she's running around like a mad woman and eating like crazy and he certainly looks a lot happier too. Perhaps the heirarchy has changed in the tank and it's not working for him lol

 

[JKretzs613]

Hello

Hello,

Are you housing your male with other dragons? If so, you really should separate them immediately. That could be one reason, maybe he is getting bullied.
Never feed a rat to a dragon, they are not recommended. They can cause kidney failure, & impactions.
You need to make sure he is well hydrated by getting him oral fluids through a dropper or a syringe, & veggies & greens, daily. Do you bathe him?

Tracie

 

[cyclamen]

please do not mistake me for a newbie tracie, i have been keeping dragons and reptiles for the last 6 years..........my dragon is an adult, he doesnt get bullied he lives with 2 blue tongues and a shingleback who all get along great and have done for years
as far as eating a rat, i have always given all my dragons and lizards a rat every now and then, and it does not cause any damage. thats a load of crap.
yes my dragon eats greens every 2nd day and yes he drinks and yes he craps.
i have come to the conclusion my dragon has gone into early brumation along with his tank mates,

 

[PremierPythons]

I feed mice and rats to my beardies every now and then as well. Rats are especially great for a calcium boost. I would say that when Mel says 'rat' she's not talking about an adult rat...

 

[cyclamen]

i assume what he means by that is he found a rat that donates to charities and helps old people cross the street then he fed it to his beardy...

andrew

i am a SHE not a HE

 

[cyclamen]

I feed mice and rats to my beardies every now and then as well. Rats are especially great for a calcium boost. I would say that when Mel says 'rat' she's not talking about an adult rat...

thanks chanty, no, not an adult rat, no ones beardy could eat a adult rat. just babies.

 

[IsK67]

i am a SHE not a HE

Yeah. Sure!


IsK

 

[cyclamen]

Yeah. Sure!


IsK

hehe IsK
trust me, i am a chick.
mel.

 

[timthevet]

Hello,
Never feed a rat to a dragon, they are not recommended. They can cause kidney failure, & impactions.
Tracie

Don't know where you pulled this from. Rats can be part of a varied diet (low calcium in jouvenile rats can be avoided by injecting).

 

[cris]

Rats are good food but higher in fat than their normal diet so best only as an occasional thing as Mel has said. To my knowledge young rats have almost as much calcium as adults, mice have about half the calcium or less when they are young but its still heaps for a beardie.

 

[cyclamen]

yeah i inject calcium into the rats before feedin to the lizards...however the rats are only a treat and are not a part of there everyday meal. :

 

[cris]

Be careful, it is possible to overdose on calcium, if fed a healthy diet and kept in natural sun they dont need any suppliments IMO. Rats and even pink mice have far more calcium than insects anyway.

here is the page anyway http://www.rodentpro.com/qpage_articles_03.asp

 

[Chris1]

do u feed dead or live rats and mice?

mine have had the occasional pinky mouse, but i had to hand feed it cos its not moving,...

 

[cris]

do u feed dead or live rats and mice?

mine have had the occasional pinky mouse, but i had to hand feed it cos its not moving,...

I always feed them dead rodents and mine will just eat them if they are lying on the ground, try just dropping them infront of the dragon they will most likely eat it. It would also be illegal and wrong to feed the live vetebrates IMO.

 

[Chris1]

thanks for the answer, i dont think i could actually bring myself to feed them live ones,...

apart from roaches, mine expect to be hand fed, that was a stupid habit to get them into.

 

[JKretzs613]

Hello

Hello,

Well, older bearded dragons especially, do not need those types of feeders. As their body ages, they do not need that much protein, as their organs & kidneys cannot handle that much. It greatly decreases their life spans. It has been shown in necropsy reports here in the US.
It isn't something that I just took off of the top of my head. Fatty liver disease is among one of the leading causes of death in adult bearded dragons. Mice & or rats are too fatty & just should not be fed to them.
I will "rephrase" my words. Bearded dragons can eat them, however, is it good for their longterm health? Probobly not according to necropsy reports.
Most caresheets written by professionals, or exotic vets will not recommend mice or rats for bearded dragons.
Sorry just trying to help. Good luck to you.

Tracie

 

[cris]

Tracie, are you saying feeding them a small rat every 10-20 feeds is going to kill them? or is it just if you feed it to them often?

Do you have any links to this information?

 

[timthevet]

I agree with Tracie on the problems of feeding rats and mice regularly due to high protein. In addition pinky mice have a calciumhosphorus of less than 1. The ratio required is greater than 1.2:1

 

[JKretzs613]

Hello

Hello,

I will gather a few sites for you. Here are just a few.

http://www.reptilerooms.com/Sections+index-req-viewarticle-artid-85-page-1.html

http://beardies.awardspace.com/care.html

http://www.bearded-dragon-network.com/bvd/dragon.php

http://www.e-healthypetfood.com/html/pink_mice.html


I will get more when I have some time. Necrospy reports of course are mostly widespread. They are done postmortem & most of the time, the person had no inclination of the problem, but the reports are hepatic lipidosis or fatty liver. Bearded dragons' metabolisms & livers are not designed to handle large amounts of fat. They have naturally high blood sugar counts, around 200 mg/dl average.

Tracie

 

[reptalica]

Great post Tracie and thanks for the information. In moderation it appears it would be ok but using as a staple or on a regular basis would be a big no-no.