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bearded dragon help - it is spinning and flipping over
10 years ago
General
I am posting this for a friend, he has a young bearded dragon he got as a baby at the start of October, it is only half grown at best. It came with a tank set up and 3 lights, a UV daylight, a white daytime heat light and a red nighttime heat light. It gets primarily a jarred dry food meant for beardies, it sometimes gets mealworms for treats, I am not sure how regularly he feeds it crickets.
For the last month it has been walking in circles more often than it walks straight, doing erratic flicky and side to side head movements, and sometimes it flips over then rights itself, its behavior overall seems neurotic. It eats and drinks, it walks with its belly off the ground, seems plenty alert, its skin and color is great, to me it seems otherwise perfectly healthy. I figure since it has been a month whatever is wrong is not lethal?
He says the only things he can think of that could account for this behavior is right before it started doing this it did jump off him and had a bad landing onto the hard floor, so could it be brain damaged? He also gave it dandelion greens that same day for the first and only time and suspects that as well even though he was told feeding it the greens was fine.
For the last month it has been walking in circles more often than it walks straight, doing erratic flicky and side to side head movements, and sometimes it flips over then rights itself, its behavior overall seems neurotic. It eats and drinks, it walks with its belly off the ground, seems plenty alert, its skin and color is great, to me it seems otherwise perfectly healthy. I figure since it has been a month whatever is wrong is not lethal?
He says the only things he can think of that could account for this behavior is right before it started doing this it did jump off him and had a bad landing onto the hard floor, so could it be brain damaged? He also gave it dandelion greens that same day for the first and only time and suspects that as well even though he was told feeding it the greens was fine.
-Bearded dragon owner
Or if there is also another male, he might be showing off his dominance to the other.
Head bobbing and walking in circles are usually signs of them just being territorial.
If there were another beardie in the same take, it would be more so territorial aggression.
Like spookyspooks said, tell them to take him to the vet for a check up if it seems off at all from the normal behavior. There could be more going on internally. Maybe a bug or something.
I've owned beardies for many years, and never heard of their head movements and such being as twitchy as you are describing it.
Just make sure when they go to take them in, have them describe exactly what is going on. Possibly even take a short video on your phone to give them a better idea. Most vets just see it as normal behavior, unless you show them exactly what you mean.
Keep us updated. I hope your friend is able to figure out what's going on.
https://www.beardeddragon.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=45&t=105108
Generally make sure that lighting, temps, supplements (calcium? with or without D3?) are all correct. I know more about leopard geckos but with some googling you should find some legit sources.
Best course of action though would be to take him to a vet– usually good to get in the habit of annual checkups anyways if they haven't already since they live for such a long time. Bring a stool sample so they can check for parasites while they're at it.
Spookyspooks has a wonderful suggestion of a fecal sample for parasites.
When i worked at a wildlife care facility thats how we would test birds for parasites, illnesses, or other anomalies.
Certain illness can cause strange behavior, or head trauma can too.
at night, he'll be okay without it. Mealworms are more fatty than crickets, so those should be given sparingly, maybe about 2 or 3 every other day. Mine has had some scary falls but not ever on his head, it could be trauma or lack of a nutrient/vitamin.
But as everyone else has suggested, going to the vet is your friend's best bet. I would tell them to keep a log for a couple of days beforehand, marking when the beardie is fed at which times, any supplements he is receiving, exercise time out of the tank, when the movements start and stop, etc.
Most prepared canned/jarred foods are actually kind of shit, with minimal nutrition at best, and downright dangerous ingredients at worst. Live food or at least freeze dried food is a necessity. Crickets are the most easily available, but dubia roaches and phoenix worms are best; you can find both on reptile pet supply websites. Mealworms and waxworms are fine, but not nutritious enough to be a staple food, and waxworms are high in fat.
I believe feeding greens to beardies is fine, but you do have to be careful with the source. You said they were dandelion greens. If your friend pulled them from their yard, they could have been treated with a pesticide. Could also be the case if they bought them, depending on the source.
It may not be immediately fatal, but it could shorten its lifespan, especially if it gets worse and/or impairs its ability to function normally. Definite vet trip.
Rainbowmealworms is a great website in my opinion. Lots of variety and pretty cheap! Idk where your friend lives but dubias are illegal some places, so watch for that! Even freeze dried food can be low in nutrition. If storage is an issue, I suggest mealworms over freeze dried personally.
when it gets older, the ratio of greens should go up, and bugs go down
good bugs are superworms, dubia roaches, hornworms, waxworms, butter worms, phoenix worms, crickets.
good veggies are : (and you want at least 2-3 leavy greens and 3-5 of the other things
Acorn squash
Artichoke Heart
Asparagus (Raw)
Bell Peppers (Raw)
Bok choy
Butternut squash
Carrots
Collard greens
Cucumber (Peeled)
Endive
Mustard greens
Okra (Raw)
Spaghetti squash
Turnip greens
Zucchini (Raw)
Yellow squash
if he took a fall, id say vet. better safe than sorry
With my previous beardie, he would sometimes get all twitchy and territorial with his reflexion in the glass of his aquarium; not sure if this situation is anything like that but I figure I'd mention it just in case...However, unless your friend is in a super tight spot, I'm gonna have to hop on the 'take them to the vet' train (one that knows reptiles preferably).
On a side note! I've always heard nightlights (even redlights) are a no no with beardies if you can keep it warm enough without it. Keeps them awake and can make them act strangely/feel sick because they can't sleep well.
If the beardie's in a glass or acrylic tank, get either an under-tank heat mat that covers about 1/3 the bottom of the tank and keep it to one side, or a ceramic heat emitter, if you can afford one. If it's in a plastic cage, stick to the heat mat. Depending on the size, a heat pad made for humans is fine, so long as you keep an eye on the temperatures. Leave that on 24/7 and turn the UV light on during the day.