Baby Beardie? LAZY or SICK???

Ok so Ive noticed one of my babies has been acting strange..Keep in mind ive changed nothing in terms of temp, light schedules or type of food..

Well anyhow one ofmy babies has been doing ALOT of sleeping.. Now he's always opened his mouth from time to time but lately he does it more..They cant be de-hydrated cause my tanks temps are more then adequate enough for them, not to mention they get misted 3 times a day..Well the one in question was always the one that was MORE interested in eating and drinking, now it seems it has switched roles with my other one..

When he walks it seems like his head is to heavy for his body or something cause it's like he's either too weak or he's having trouble dragging it..I dont know if I should be worried or not, I had a herp vet appointment today but had some family issues that had to be dealt with so I had to miss it...

So I dunno if anyone has input...

He likes to open his mouth like yawning so I dunno what this means..

In short, its stopped eating as far as I know, likes to open mouth from time tot time and has trouble walking like it's head out weighs it's body..

Any help would be appreciated, hope it's not sick but dont see how it could be..

Drew

I should emphasize that the reason I say lazy, is because the beardie can walk normal and hold it's head up but just doesnt seem to want to most of time... I gave them a bath tonight, he's likes to open his mouth like he's swallowing/gulping air but I dont see how this could be gaping especially when there misted three times a day and it does drink water from it's head on occasion.. When I put them in bath it started to hold it's head up, it went poop in it's bath and It was more of a yellowish light tan, whereas normally it's greenish dark brown..So I dont know..

Could he have something stuck in his throat?? The cricks I feed them are small enough and I stopped feeding them wax worms only on occasion now..Ive kept those in my fridge can those spoil? Maybe he got a bad one??

I dunno Im gonna try to get into vet ASAP but if anyone has pointers let me know, im gonna wait it out, I have yet to see them shed so maybe he's slowed down eating because of that??? Dont know if this disrupts his normal activeness though..Other one is still eating though..

Ill keep everyone posted, and ill check back if anyone has replied..Thanks

How big is the cage you have have them in. The problem could be that they are growing in size and now are having trouble getting out of the heat to thermoregulate. They will gape when too hot. If you have heat on them at night turn the heat off. They will be fine with lower temps in the 70's. I am pretty new with beardeds but I read about them gaping when they get too hot and dying in a few days because they out grew their enclosure and couldn't cool themselves. Hope this helps and good luck.
Mark

I got them in a 20 gallon tank..Mt temps are still considerably diff on each side..Basking spot= 105-115 Cool Side of tank= 74-85

at night the basking side of tank gets to about 69-67 degrees with my fan on..

Can brumation be forced upon these little creatures?? Like If I start keeping it cooler then usual will they think it's winter or do they just know??

Only thing I can think of is somehow it got sick, but then again my babies have never eaten that much anyhow..Maybeone of the wax worms I fed it wasnt that good and it ate it and now it's sick..Still dont know why it's head pulls to one side..I came in this morn and it had moved from where I set him the nite before but I picked him up and he responded a little bit..I then set down accidentally flipped it over on it's back and it did nothing ..so im getting more concerned but cant do anything until I call vet on Mon...

**UPDATE**

The one in question unfortunately passed away sometime today..Dont know how or why but I came home and took one look at it and knew it was dead..It had poop hangin out it's rear and was just lifeless..So it's a sad day since I dont know why..

I will attempt to make sure other one does not die on me..Im on my way to reptile store right now to look into a partner for this one although I may wait to see how this one fairs..

I wouldn't run out and buy another dragon until you know the one you still have isn't sick... If it is any sort of pathogen (bacteria, virus, protozoan) that killed the little guy, his cagemate almost certainly has it too. You should wait a week or two, and, if the living one shows no signs of illness, you might *consider* getting another dragon. Remember that a cagemate isn't necessary and adds more work for you with making sure both get the food they need, a chance to bask, etc. I would also get another vet appointment if I were you to make sure the surving baby has nothing wrong with him.
-Drew

Exactly my thoughts..I feel bad about what happened to the last one considering I was always doing everything I could to keep them on a set schedule..I always change out tank every night, feed in morning and mist them 3 times a day with a bath occasionally (3x a week)..

So Im gonna montior the live one and I agree that it very well may have the same thing, kind wonder how it got what killed it...Think I could have bought them this way..My boss who is a snake collector but reads up on most reptiles told me it most likely wasnt my fault just the fact that they were real young and thats what happens sometimes to the babies, thats why the moms have alot of them cause not all of them make it every time..

So keep your fingers crossed for me..Im gonna do some changing around in the tank..I got some slate slabs to use as a better heating rock..but Iiwll not do this until the other little guy gets more established by himself..

Good luck!

Well the other one passed sometime in the middle of night im guessing.. I feel soo bad like it's something I did but I cant just see what im doing wrong..Temps are right (been over these with you before) got the digi therm to monitor..Kept food in their daily, misted 3x a day, soaked in baths..cleaned tank every night to ensure no cricks would munch on them..sprinkled worms/cricks with calcium..

I dont know im kinda wondering if I should even be tending to a pet..I was considering getting two more but more high end, cause I figured maybe I bought them too young and they adapted some sort of sickness in process of growing..they didnt' grow at all nor did they shed for me... But I dunno Idont want to get more then have those die as well cause that wouldnt be fair to the beardies..We'll see what I do, all I know I am stuck with an empty tank..I make some modifications to it, like I got new rocking for heat (slabs of slate) and I was gonna buy a better tree, and find a bigger branch..

So looks like im prob gonna not be seen too much round here other then keeping my eyes open for some nice looking beardies..thanks for everyones help..

Drew

Curious..is my reptisun 10.0 UVB bulb to strong for my tank??Trying to figure out a way to cool down my cool side of tank more and im not sure if the uvb bulb is keeping the temp gradient too consistent..Im in process of mapping out new tank layout..my next baby beardie will be put on playsand, sifted out