follow up on sick bearded dragon

Question
QUESTION: so i was the one asking about how i can get my six month old baby bearded dragon healthy again.

i fed him water through a dropper, tried to give him baby food (chicken & turkey & crickets) he will not eat any of them
he does drink on his own though

what is a uvb light..he is under a red basking light
he did not do a fecal on him, but he has recently gone to the bathroom, but he needs to eat!

he cut the infected skin or whatever was on the dragons stomach off and gave him the antibiotic shot, which made him worse.
i stayed up for 4 days taking care of him.

if he is not eating, why should i buy something to help his gut, if it wont do anything, or will it?

i keep him hydrated, his eyes are open some part of the day, he stays under his light most of the day, i just need him to eat before i go on vacation for 2 days.

can you please give me more advice

ANSWER: Hello Sarah,

A UVB light is a light that emits rays similiar to the sun.  It is extremely vital to their health & well being.  If they do not receive regular exposure to UVB lighting, they will get metabolic bone disease which is crippling & will eventually lead to death.
The best flourescent tube bulb is the Reptisun 10 flourescent tube which you can get for a good price from:
www.petmountain.com
Steer away from the Reptiglo UVB lights right now.  They are not good ones, especially the Reptiglo 10.  Do not get any compacts or coil lights, either.  Also, stay away from the ESU/Zilla lights as well.  There are not many good UVB lights around.  
They should have done a fecal on him to check for worms or parasites.  The antibiotic is what has destroyed his appetite.  Did you take the heatrock out of the tank?  Please do so in order to keep him from getting burned again.
Right now, until that medication gets out of his system, he probably wont eat.  That is why I suggested a probiotic.  You could get some bee pollen from the healthfood store which is also an appetite stimulant too.  If his stomach area is raw, that also needs to be treated with antibiotic ointment.  When they are in pain & not feeling well, they will not eat.  That is why for awhile, he will need some assistance with eating.  
The red light needs to be taken out & replaced with a bright white light such as a halogen.  That light needs to be placed directly beside the UVB tube light in the tank.  
Is anyone going to be watching while you are gone for a couple of days?  

Tracie


---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Tracie,
   i saw some uvb lights at the pet store today, when i get back i will probably get him one. his stomach is all healed up right now, he is drinking on his own and moving around a lot. the vet told us to put a towel over the heat rock, and i checked it i can leave my hand on there for a long time without getting hot. i couldn't find any probiotics at the pet store, i cant order them offline either. the halogen light, will that be a heating light as well? why is the red light bad? i have also been putting vitamins in his water along with the stress reducer. i am leaving tomorrow morning and will be back the following day in the afternoon. i have no one watching him. but he will be well heated and supplied with water and i left the baby turkey food out for him, along with some spinach leaves if he decides to eat (there are also small crickets in his tank) he has plenty of food if he decides to eat. his eyes are not sunken in and he drinks a lot of water daily. he climbed his fake tree yesterday, which he has not done in a week. All seems well, except for his eating.

ANSWER: Hello Sarah,

I do not recommend leaving any crickets in his tank.  They are extremely carnivorous & will chew on him if they get hungry or bored.  Try to get some type of worms instead for him to eat.  
The petstores overcharge you for the UVB lights. Which ones did you see?  The only acceptable UVB flourescent tube light is the Reptisun 10 & they will cost you $50 in the store whereas online they will only cost you around $20 or so.    
Why can't you order the probiotics online?  There are several places online you can get acidophiliz, benebac or nutribac from.  
Please take the heat rock out or unplug it.  They really can burn them badly.  He could accidentally pull the towel off for some reason running around.  
The red light is simply not bright enough for him.  They do not do well under colored lights.  They are from the desert regions & semi arid regions from Australia, & it is very sunny & bright & they thrive.  The bright light also protects their eyes once you have a UVB light in the tank.  The halogen is the basking light & then just get a flourescent tube UVB.  They need to be placed right by each other.
Do you give calcium on a regular basis?  For a 6 month old, he needs calcium for 5 days per week.  
The best greens for him are collard greens, mustard greens, dandelion greens, escarole & endive.  Spinach should be used sparingly because it contains oxalates which bind calcium absorption.  You can check this site out for feeding information:
www.beautifuldragons.com

Let me know how he is doing.

Tracie




---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Tracie,
 Thank you for all of your advice. I think the UVB light i saw at the pet store was around $25 because it was on sale, and since i am a member i get an extra 20% off. HE ATE THE CRICKETS LAST NIGHT! i was so excited to watch him finally eat after a week. i do give him calcium on a regular basis, along with my other pets. I only put a few spinach leaves in his tank. i do not have a credit/debit card to purchase anything online unfortunately. i will try to go to another pet store when i come back tomorrow afternoon. He is doing much better, but sleeps throughout the day and keeps me up at night. I do not mind staying up and watching him to make sure he is okay, but is this normal?

Answer
Hello Sarah,

That is great the UVB light is on sale, so that will help then.  Just make sure it is a Reptisun 10, ok?  
Awesome that he ate some crickets last night, too. Hopefully he will begin eating more.
No, it is not normal that he sleeps during the day & is awake at night.  That is why it is important to have very bright light on during the day so he will be more active during that time & will want to sleep at night instead.  :-))
Oh ok, well, that is probably a good thing though, not having a credit card anyway!  You can't get into trouble without one then.
I hope he continues to improve for you.

Tracie