-HELP-

Something is wrong with my baby bearded dragon. He is 5" and keeps lifting his head verticaly straight up and down then freaks out and rolls over our flips witch puts sand in his eyes(calcium sand). So I got the sand out and put him on a paper towel which then he finally opened his eyes and did the same thing over again. Whats wrong with him is he sick, still think theres sand in his eyes, or what? Just please help me!Thankyou!

Hi Ryan...sorry about your beardie..according to the bearded dragon manual by advanced vivarium systems there are a few things it could be.It mentions inner ear infections,possible over-heating,bacterial meningitis,toxins and viruses.Says to see a reptile vet immediately.Sort of vague info,but it needs a diagnosis being a neurological problem.Make sure he's not over-heated for time being.Maybe someone else has suggestions but this book is by the leading experts and is co-authored by a reptile vet.See if you can find one in your area[herp vet]Best wishes...

Sounds like ?seizurs? ( If thats how you spell it) What is his diet like? Have you spoken to a vet? Like she above said neuro problems, as far as sand in his eyes if there swelled or clearly bother the dragons than yes he may still have sand in there, but they are desert dwellers so he may not have ever gotten it in there to begin with.
good luck hope it turns out well
Maxwell

Thankyou so much for your help!

your baby shouldn't be on sand!!!! besides that did you incubate them yourself? what were the temps? let me know if it dies and if his cage mates are doing it too.

How's the baby? Sorry for the late response. I'll pass along my experience for future reference.
For his size I'd have him on papertowel so you can mist him well daily. They're semi-desert lizards but because of the small size they can dry out or over heat easily, so babies up to sub-adults should be misted every morning. Twice a day with babies on hot days. Misting slowly getting them licking the mist, continue for a few minutes.

If it's been hot and he hasn't drank, and you see him looking up, and a little to the side, which can sometimes be acompanied by the rolling or imbalance you mentioned, he could have gotten over-heated. If severely over-heated and not caught in time, he may not survive. Angie is right they get neurological disorders.

If you catch it in time, immediately remove any waterbowls because they always end up in it and drown because of the imbalance. If your not in a position to bring him to a vet, you can work on rehydrating him by using papertowel, misting the whole tank and him with warm water to get him breathing in the mist, and hopefully he'll lick it as well.
If you have liquid vitamin spray. Normally it's to be sprayed on food, but in this instance with the small size, you can put some in a dropper mixed with water, and after he's licking the water, give him just a drop of diluted vitamins, once a day for just 2-3 days.
Main thing is to rehydrate him without drowning him and you don't want to get anything in his lungs.
And concerning Calci-sand, it's very dehydrating. It actually clings to the beardie and makes a hard shell, absorbing moisture, and many times I've had to take in a beardie that became dehydrated, and stopped growing and eating. I'd have to soak it daily for a month to get it to shed and grow again.

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