water dragon help wanted

[CopperPenny]

I have two chinese water dragons, my youngest one is 8 months old and I have had it for three months. Despite keeping the humidity up, haveing proper uvb and uva lighting plus a basking area, pool, and feeding him a diet of crickets mealworms and greens, he looks ill. I took him to a vet once already and the vet told me it was a calcium deficency. So I uped his calcium dusting the crickets with it before feeding them, and the crickets are gut loaded to teh max. My dragon hasnt shed completly and he has been trying for three weeks, he is dehydrated even though he is drinking, his appetite has gone down a little, he is a brown color and not green. He keeps his eyes closed a lot. And yesterday I saw him have dry heaves then reguritate clear bubbly foam, he holds his mouth open to breath sometimes too. There are no signs of mouth rot, so what else could be wrong with him? Should I take him to a differant vet, closest one is 75 miles away that looks at herps. thanks!! Shaz

[babyangelb30]

I have this really great reptile guy that helps me a lot with my Water Dragons and just might be able to help you. His e - mail is RandTsREPS@starband.net. Their shop is called Pet Stop in Pueblo, CO. The number to the shop is 719 - 545 - 7687. I really hope this helps.

~~*Joie

[WingedWolf]

A severe respiratory infection. You may want to search around for a better reptile vet, but I have to say, it doesn't sound good for your little guy....once a reptile gets that debilitated, they are very hard to save.

[secretjeff14820]

my first water dragon died of a cal def. and lost use of his arms and later died

[WingedWolf]

For a growing baby lizard, EVERY meal should be calcium-dusted, (you can use a vitamin/mineral supplement once a week or so).

The UVB flourescent light MUST be within 6 inches of your reptile when it is basking! The light intensity drops off rapidly when it is further away, and at 12 inches, it has no effect at all.
Flourescents MUST be replaced every 6 months, as they lose their ability to generate UVB light.
Mercury-vapor lamps can be further away.

A vitamin D or cal/D mix can be used twice a week to help supplement the lighting. Many reptiles can't use dietary D3 very well, and you have to be careful not to overdose it.

In general, shedding problems are related to a low overall humidity. Get a hygrometer (a humidity guage) for inside your reptile's tank, and make sure that the humidity is correct for your species. A humidity too high or too low can cause serious health problems, ranging from skin infections to respiratory infections and problems shedding.

After calcium deficiency/dietary deficiencies, the most common killer of captive reptiles is probably parasite infestation.

[cheebo1]

okay so i once found a iguana that was realeased near my house it had a respiritory disease and i saved his life by gettin info from a HERP ONLY vet on the internet . u can go on google and type in herp vets and get a good reliable opinion by via e-mail..... :o

[CopperPenny]

sorry I havent updated in forever..I took Luka to the vet 75 miles away. It was good news. And Luka is doing better. I am taking all of my reptis to this guy from now on. Luka was impacted with eco earth, which is what petco was useing for bedding and told me to use too. How dumb was I to listen to a person at petco...anyway I know a heck of a lot more now about water dragons then I have in the last three years of owning one.CP

[cheebo1]

well i'm glad to here he's doin better ....i'm glad it wasn;t too late :dodgy:

[secretjeff14820]

yeah im so glad :cool2: