hatchling bearded dragon behavior

Question
QUESTION: hello my name is Steven and i have a baby beardie that is about 2 months old and he was fine one day and when i woke up one morning he was kind of sliding himself around the tank like he doesn't have any muscle strength i give him calcium powder and i give him "gut loaded" crickets with a calcium supplement in the cricket food and water like I'm supposed to... he still eats but i have seen no fresh droppings in the tank... i have him in the carpet type substrate because i thought it would be better that paper towels and the customer service representative at Petco told me that it would be fine... also when i first got the bearded dragon the were in a pair and i dunno what i did but i put the uv bulb for desert animals over them it actually killed one and ever since then the surviving male (i think) has had twitches when he moves like he cant catch up with the surroundings when I'm holding him and moving about... he seems alert still and he tries to get around but he spasms the entire time...... mostly in his back legs he looks like he has some kind of lump where his tail meets the body and when i checked on him before he didn't have it..... could he have hurt himself by falling off of  one of the things i have for him to crawl on??? like i said he still eats but i haven't seen any droppings once again i have him on a carpeted substrate so i don't know what it could be

ANSWER: Hi Steven

What size of tank/enclosure is he in?

What are the temps under the basking spot bulb?

Partial paralysis in Baby Beardies can be caused by a few things

Eating an insect that is too large can immobilize the spine and the back legs

Inability to utilize calcium can also cause nervous disorders and seizures

What is the strength of the UV florescent tube that you have for him?
10.0 is the best but you can get by with 8

I think that your best option is to take him into a vet asap and see what can be done for him

I wish you the best of luck with him

Sandy aka LadyGecko




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

QUESTION: hes in a 10 gallontank the temps are between90 and 100 under his light i dont use the uv yet because the last time i did like i said it killed one but it was the 10.well hes not having seizures really juat like it has partial paralysis will it be fixed?? i could have accidentally givin him too big a cricket maybe?? if so will it heal or will it stay like that forever??

Answer
Hi Steven

A florescent UV light will not kill a Bearded Dragon of any age and UV is essential to them for absorption of calcium
Without it -they can develop MBD and die

It is possible that the paralysis is from a cricket too large but as I said before-problems with absorbing calcium can also cause these symptoms/problems

A 10 gal tank is way too small for a bearded dragon-not for the actual size of the lizard itself-as I understand that this is a young baby but you need a temperature gradient in the tank that a ten gallon tank just can not provide

You have a temp of 90 and 100 under his light but the rest of the tank has to be very close in air temp to that and that is not a good thing
A 20 long tank is the smallest that I would ever use for a beardie baby

If it was a cricket that was too large for him and he is getting better then there is hope that the cricket has been digested and the nerves that were affected/pinched are back to normal now

If he is still the same then you need to get him to a vet asap

I am not a vet-just someone with some 12 years experience with keeping these lizards and I can only guess as to what might be going on with him

I wish you the best of luck with him and please let me know how the vet visit goes

Sandy aka LadyGecko