Bearded Dragons Diseases And Ilnesses Guide - How To Keep A Bearded Dragon Healthy And Long Living?
Posted: Wednesday, August 08, 2007
by Florian Ross
http://www.pets-lovers.com
Bearded Dragons are extremely hardy lizards, when they are provided with the proper temperatures and lighting in their environment. However, they are also pets who do their best to hide their symptoms from us when they become ill, as do most other reptiles. This is no doubt an instinctual behavior, since a sick Beardie, in the wild, would probably not live for very long.
Because of this, you need to be very aware of what normal behavior is for each of your particular dragons, and what is not. An alert eye can generally spot a problem long before it becomes a major concern. Particular attention should be paid to each dragon's eating habits, and the amounts that they usually eat, as well as what is the norm as far as how often they present with bowel movements, and what they usually look like, when they do. Attention should also be paid to the amount of urates (the white solid or powdery materials) that are passed within the bowel movements, as a change in this can be a sign of kidney problems.
If you purchased your dragons from a pet shop, unfortunately you may have gotten more than the one living thing that you paid for... there is a better than a 50% chance that your dragon may be carrying some type of intestinal parasite, particularly if they were being housed with other dragons, and the conditions that they were being kept in were not exactly as clean as you would have liked.
They may be infested with coccidia, roundworms, pinworms, hookworms, or numerous other pests. If you should buy from a reputable breeder, this is much less likely to be the case, but even then, it is possible.
For this reason, once you have had your dragon for two weeks, you should make it a point to have him or her seen by a reputable vet, who is well versed in the care of reptiles, and take in a stool sample for testing. Give your dragon at least two weeks to settle in, unless it is apparent that they are ill, as when they are stressed, their parasite count, particularly the coccidia count, may be higher than normal.
Diseases and Disorders
Normally, if you provide your dragon the standard habitat, food and care, you will have the healthiest bearded dragon on earth. But, from time to time your dragon could get sick. The most often diseases, beardies get are:
1. Mites
2. Terminal Ingestion
3. Thermal Burns
4. Calcium Deficiency
5. Impaction
6. Hypovitaminosis A
7. Respiratory Infections
8. Dehydration
9. Stomatitis
10. Internal Parasites
11. Coccidia
12. Other Parasites
13. Dystocia (Egg Binding)
14. MBD (Metabolic Bone Disease)
15. Skin Problems
Detailed information on every on each diseas and treating solutions, along with everything you need to know about bearded dragons, you can find at pets-lovers bearded dragons caresheet
Florian Ross developed comprehensive guides to help people succeed with their bearded dragon pet. Find out more tips about raising a Bearded Dragon and how to have your bearded dragon lizard live two times longer with his popular free ecourse .
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Top-level comments on this article: (6 total)Good article
Hello I just recently took in 2 beardies ..a friend moved and couldn't take his dragons so I took em in and there not very active and both present signs of MBD any suggestions where I can bring them ..I feel bad ..cus I really wanted a beardie but not sick ones ..plz helpppp don't want beardie lives on my conscience ..b 4 I even get to own my 1 first beardiesBefore you get your own beardie? These are technically your beardies now. So if your next beardie (which will originally be healthy, gets sick, you're going to want to give it away?). They all get sick. If they have MBD or bare barely presenting signs, go to the vet and follow proper beardie husbandry. It might not be too late. Do you give them calcium, proper diet and have a basking light? What about a UVB light? That is one of the most important things. Make sure you have adequate types of uvb bulbs though. You can get any type of mercury vapor bulbs like mega rays or power suns. Then again if these are too expensive you can get basic fluorescent uvb lights. There are some good ones by zoo med and flukers I believe, but my preference for my beardies are the ones Zilla makes (desert series 50 bulbs). I've used those for about 8 months or so (I did replace after 6 to get optimum results) and my beardies have been healthy. I recommend them.
Then again, if you're just starting and think this is a situation thats too much to handle, then contact an animal rescue in your area.i also just got 2 beardies and they r not feeling well, do you think that my beardies could have MBD?
No, the link for pets-lovers bearded dragons caresheet dosnt give you any infomation about the illnesses that bearded dragons get.
my bearded is sick and im not sure why. he wont eat, has low energy, wont poop. im very worried. and these websites wont give enough info.
i agree, my pet wont eat he wont poop and would just sit under his log all day and every time i pick him up he would just close his eyes and i am very worried and this web site does not give me info on any thing i should do to get my bearded dragon heathy again. i mean what could my dragon have and this will not tell me .
My bearded dragon is sick, loose bowel movements and occasional heavy breathing. What could he be sick with? And on average how much does a reptile vet cost to see?
My Beardie hasn't pooped in 3 weeks what's wrong?
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