My baby beardie won’t eat

I’ve had my baby beardie for about a month now. I got her on February 1st. She was eating fine. Then just started eating less and less and for the past week and a half she doesn’t want to eat. I’ve been assist feeding her and giving her baby food and lots of baths to try to keep her going and keep her from losing weight. The most crickets she’s ever ate at one time was 8 small ones. She’s only around 6-7 inches long. I’m not sure what to do to get her to eat live food. I’ve tried in her tank and in a tub so the crickets and wax worms can’t escape. When she stoped eating her crickets I got her some wax worms just to try to get her to eat something and now she won’t eat either. She’s in a 55 gallon tank that opens on the front. She’s got a 105-110 degree basking spot and a cool side of the tank that’s 75-80. I also have a bar UVB bulb 18in that sits below the screen. I just changed it out today for a Lucky herp 15w 10.0 UVB bar light thinking maybe she wasn’t getting enough UVB. She poops fine when I assist feed her so I don’t think she’s impacted. The day before she didn’t want to eat I had got crickets and trusting my friend that owns lots of reptiles I got medium crickets for her. She had a poop where it looked like they weren’t 100% digested and then started loosing her appetite... I know they aren’t supposed to eat food bigger then the width between their eyes and didn’t see how huge the crickets were untill I got them back home and had nothing else to give her and because of a crazy work schedule couldn’t get her anything else till the end of the week. So I was giving her the smallest ones I could find in the batch. She would eat like 2-3 small crickets sense that day and not want anything else.... I don’t know if I psyched her out on crickets or what I just want my baby to eat on her own again ...

Temps should be 105-110 taken w/a digital probe thermometer-- No stick ons they are inaccurate -- please go get a Reptisun 10.0 T 8 bulb and get rid of the Lucky Herp bulb --- the Reptisun is one of the best on the market --- make sure there is NO clear plastic cover over the bulb you want the bulb exposed and its directly above the basking decor 6-8 inches -- they will eat less when first coming home as they go thru relocation stress but you want those basking temps correct and that UVB correct also --- those two things are the most important things in the tank now

Hollynichole1123":1m9d9mn3 said:

I’ve had my baby beardie for about a month now. I got her on February 1st. She was eating fine. Then just started eating less and less and for the past week and a half she doesn’t want to eat. I’ve been assist feeding her and giving her baby food and lots of baths to try to keep her going and keep her from losing weight. The most crickets she’s ever ate at one time was 8 small ones. She’s only around 6-7 inches long. I’m not sure what to do to get her to eat live food. I’ve tried in her tank and in a tub so the crickets and wax worms can’t escape. When she stoped eating her crickets I got her some wax worms just to try to get her to eat something and now she won’t eat either. She’s in a 55 gallon tank that opens on the front. She’s got a 105-110 degree basking spot and a cool side of the tank that’s 75-80. I also have a bar UVB bulb 18in that sits below the screen. I just changed it out today for a Lucky herp 15w 10.0 UVB bar light thinking maybe she wasn’t getting enough UVB. She poops fine when I assist feed her so I don’t think she’s impacted. The day before she didn’t want to eat I had got crickets and trusting my friend that owns lots of reptiles I got medium crickets for her. She had a poop where it looked like they weren’t 100% digested and then started loosing her appetite... I know they aren’t supposed to eat food bigger then the width between their eyes and didn’t see how huge the crickets were untill I got them back home and had nothing else to give her and because of a crazy work schedule couldn’t get her anything else till the end of the week. So I was giving her the smallest ones I could find in the batch. She would eat like 2-3 small crickets sense that day and not want anything else.... I don’t know if I psyched her out on crickets or what I just want my baby to eat on her own again ...

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I agree with the person below you want to make sure and have a UVB bulb specific to reptiles I don't trust others. I however like the T5 hood so I don't have to worry about it being under the metal screen I have. Since you have a mount already the T8 works great too. It's sounds like you are doing everything you can but just a suggestion a lot of people don't do is give vitamins besides calcium. My beardies are 11 and 6 years old I've had one since baby and they have never been sick. I always keep baby clear plain Pedialyte in my house at all times along with pumpkin and prune baby food both help them poop if having trouble. I order a spray on vitamin from Chewy.com mostly because my beardies are picky eaters. Spray a little right on the veggies a few times a week you don't need much and it's 5 or 6 bucks will last you quite a while. They can easily get parasite from crickets its common they won't feel good but mine never have and I feed crickets all the time. I also feed Dubia roaches and super worms. I do have Bio Dude set up so I don't have to really clean my tanks anymore the clean up crew does that just make sure keep it clean and no sand for the bottom it can cause obstruction. Honestly for being new at this sounds like you did your research so that's awesome! Any time you worry about something hop on here and ask its how you learn and someday you will be helping others. Awesome job on feeding the baby food that is what I do if for my babies. Also on Chewy.com you can get a little box of Repti-boost which will help with appetite. I have it an have used it a few times over the years and it works. Give her some time to get used to her new home just make sure she is eating and drinking something and give the baths to help dehydration. I trained my female beardie to drink from a kitten baby bottle and I'm glad I did. I always worry about her because she's not one that drinks from her dish. To make myself feel better I feed her baby food once a day probably every couple days or when she looks dehydrated a little. She loves it! She loves sweet potatoes and squash her favorite. I do not feed my beardies a lot of fruit because they don't like it very much. I have a little food chopper or processor and I put the veggies and vitamins in it and chop it up put it on dish they like that sometimes I sprinkle extra water on it they go to town. Any other questions just give me or someone on here a shout we will be glad to help no question is to small or stupid to ask when you are learning.
Heather
330-806-4156