Please help! Baby beardie still not eating!

[victoriah8208]

Hi, I'm new to reptiles and I just got my first bearded dragon five days ago. He's very small because i got him at petsmart and they generally only carry beardies that are a few months old. When we first brought him home he ate a few crickets but the next day he didnt want anything to do with them. We then tried wax worms to see if that would entice him into eating and he ate two but after that he didnt seem interested in those either. I had a reptiglo uva/uvb coil bulb and a 75 watt basking lamp but i heard the coil was bad so I got the reptiglo 10.0 linear tube. He's been keeping his eyes closed pretty much all the time and im not sure if its the light or if hes just napping. He also has stress marks and doesnt really move around his enclosure until the lights go off at night and even then he doesnt move much. Im very worried that he isnt eating and that he doesnt seem to be very active during the day. I'm not sure what to do anymore, I really need some help.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I am sorry you are having trouble with your baby. They will go through a relocation type of stress for about 1-2 weeks, most of the time.
However, I would change out your UVB light one more time I hate to say. The Reptiglo 10 tube bulb emits low wavelength UVB & has been shown to cause eye & health issues. I would go ahead & turn off the Reptiglo 10 tube bulb right now & just use a bright white basking light.
What are the temperatures in the tank & what type of thermometer do you use?
Try getting either the Reptisun 10 tube or the Arcadia D3 12% tube, they are both very good.
What type of basking light are you using, a bright white light or a colored light?
You can try using some chicken or turkey baby food along with some squash baby food & feed to her with a plastic dropper or syringe. That should help with some food intake right now until she starts eating.

Tracie

 

[victoriah8208]

I have a white basking light and ive been using the zoomed reptitemp digital infrared thermometer. The temperatures say that its 85.5 on the cool side and 92 on the basking spot. Not sure how accurate that is because originally I had a lower basking rock and a 50 watt bulb right over it and the temp said it was 95, now i have a 75 watt basking bulb and i stacked rocks so he could get closer to the light if he wanted.... i figured that would get the temp more into the 100 range... :/

I took him outside today for a little bit and he licked a tiny amount of turkey baby food off my finger but he refused to eat anymore after that. He's been having regular stool though and is able to hold himself up when basking.

 

[victoriah8208]

Oh I forgot to add that he is shedding. Not sure if that might be another reason he doesnt want to eat.

 

[diamc]

Hi, sorry to hear that he still isn't eating hardly anything. Did you turn off the coil UVB as Tracie suggested? That bulb may very well be contributing to the appetite loss.

You're using an infrared temperature gun? How close are you holding the gun to the area you're checking? What size tank do you have?

Good that you took him out for some sunshine today. Does he spend a lot of time under the basking light?

 

[victoriah8208]

I have him in a ten gallon for now because I didn't want him to be overwhelmed and unable to catch his food. I got rid of the coil bulb completely and turned off the reptiglo tube bulb (I ordered a reprising 10.0 and it's on it's way) I've been holding the temp gun pretty close to the top of his basking rock, less than an inch away. Pretty much the only thing he does is bask all day

 

[victoriah8208]

I meant to say reptisun not reprising, sorry about that. Autocorrect

 

[victoriah8208]

Just as an update I just wanted to let everyone know that my baby ate a cricket and a worm yesterday and so far three crickets today things are looking up

 

[diamc]

That's good that you turned off those UVB lights, hopefully the Repti-Sun will arrive very soon. Great news that he ate a little today.

When you ck the temps, hold the temp gun about 2" from the area you're checking, that's what Bob from reptileuv recommends.

 

[Zeus321]

Hi, been googling and calling every expert can find, and totally consistent temps seem to be helping us recover about 5 percent, seems like basking spot easy to get right, but the rest of the tank has to be stable too...and even tho it seems like a contradiction, we are in rescue mode,maybe had a compaction, so tepid baths get ours to poop..desperate today, and on a local expert advice got a needless syringe and carrot bat food,and he lapped it up, so that was a huge relief...try it! good luck

 

[victoriah8208]

Yea, he ate Six crickets all together today. I've been giving him a bath everyday and taking him outside to bask and that seems to be helping a lot. He's been a lot more alert and that's a relief. Im hoping he gets into a more regular eating schedule over the next few days

 

[Zeus321]

Thats such good news..whatever happens with Zeus,thats great news from dragonland..its like so many people fall in love with a lamborgini (sp) but dont even know how to drive a tractor yet! They arent kittens, they're little desert refugees..I'm a 4H leader, supposed to be teaching kids about optimum animal care,but these guys are hard..the totally stable temp seems a plus..and the baby food a huge relief..tempting to keep taking him out to monitor,but resisting except for the bath...congrads on the feasting! keep it posted,its encouraging

 

[victoriah8208]

He seems to be doing much better. I'm having more luck feeding him crickets if I basically half kill them first. They're easier for him to catch I guess. Whatever makes it easier for him to eat is cool with me

 

[Zeus321]

This was greusome,but chopped up crickets and added to baby food in syringe..whatever works,still among the living!
Good luck!

 

[diamc]

That's good that he's eating more for you. Have you tried putting some in a ziploc bag & placing them in the frig for a few minutes to help slow them down? Another thing you could do to make it easier for him to catch them is to remove their back legs.