Jump-start / appetite stimulant - anyone use it ? Tips pleas

Hi there-

Anyone use this product? I have a young/small dragon therefor using a small needle-less sirynge (sp?) to give it to him. It is extremely thick and I'm having a hard time getting it into him....I tried mixing with water but it seperates and remains very thick. He is very stubborn and refuses to open his mouth for me so the thinner it is the more likely I can get a little bit in there.

Any replies appreciated

Why are you using it? Will he eat anything else? When I first got Vyllyn he wouldn't eat for 3 weeks until I tried roaches. To help him along I was putting a glob on each roach I fed him. Crickets love it too, I always put a couple globs when I'm gutloading. I have read in other posts that people usually mix it with something else like baby food or repti-aid when nursing sick dragons back to health. Have you tried warming it up by soaking in some hot water?

I've used "Repta-Aid" from Petsmart/Petco multiple times and always have great results with it. The dragons LOVE the taste and you can make it as watery or thick as you need to. It comes with everything you need too - a syringe, mixing cup, little mixing spoon, etc. It's always helped mine put on weight and get them eating again.

The reason he might not be eating could be within your setup....have you gone over it with anyone on here? Temps, substrate, etc?

Good luck!

A daily dose of Probiotics might have the desired effect as the appetite stimulant!

I rehab sick beardies and my preferred formula is ReptiAid. It is a protein based nutritional substitue for anorexic reptiles and does have an appetite stimulant. It also has pro biotics, and as the other poster said, they love it.

I do wonder why you feel the need to provide a critical care formula. Is your beardie sick or not eating? I also think having a look at your setup is a good idea. Have you answered the following questions yet?

How old is your dragon?
How long have you had your dragon?
How long is your dragon?
What is the sex of your dragon?
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in?
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank?
Do you use UVB lights?
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb?
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)?
How old is your UVB bulb?
How close can your dragon get to the UVB?
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage?
What are the basking temps?
What is the cool side temp?
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun?
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps?
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad?
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)?
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc?
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them?
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)?
Do you bath your dragon? How often?
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath?
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon?
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done?

How old is your dragon? roughly 4 monthsold- pet store bought-unsure
How long have you had your dragon? since July 19th
How long is your dragon? 12 inches
What is the sex of your dragon? male
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in? 12 x 29 x 12
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank?paper towel
Do you use UVB lights? yes reptisun 10.0
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb? flourescent
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)? Reptisun 10.00
How old is your UVB bulb? bought July 2008
How close can your dragon get to the UVB? 6 inches
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? 2 seperate 60 watt household bulbs
What are the basking temps? 104-108
What is the cool side temp? 80-87
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun? probe style digital thermometer
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps? on the basking surface
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad? no
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific. tried crickets and pheonix worms and veggies
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)? a.m. and p.m.
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc? yes crickets - no on PWs
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them?
Rep-cal pink label calcium and rep-cal herptivitive blue label )cal 1 x daily and vits x2 weekly
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)? yes once daily
Do you bath your dragon? How often? every 2 days
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath? no
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon? no
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done? 3 times - battling coccidia and I believe that's why his appetite is down to nothing.

I do have him on Acidopholiz probiotics and ordered the jump start. He really refuses to eat either one ?????


I really have to wrestle with him to get anything in his mouth....I only get about .03 cc's of anything because he really doesn't want to open his mouth=stubborn just like his mother :mrgreen:

Maybe I need to go buy Repti aid instead of the jump-start ?????? Anyone use both and have any preferece ?

Everything looks okay except the size of your tank. It seems a bit small for a 12 inch beardie. Do you plan to upgrade soon?

Is he not eating then? Why do you think he needs the formula? Is he eating the crix and pheonix worms?


I have never used Jmpstart, but I have used ReptiAid LOTS and I am very happy with it. All of the reptiles that I have rehabbed liked it and all that survived went back on a regular diet. But you do have to kinda wean them off once they are well hydrated and have gained so that they will eat on their own. Is your beardie underweigh or dehydrated?

Rosebud":a6d0e said:

Everything looks okay except the size of your tank. It seems a bit small for a 12 inch beardie. Do you plan to upgrade soon?

Is he not eating then? Why do you think he needs the formula? Is he eating the crix and pheonix worms?


I have never used Jmpstart, but I have used ReptiAid LOTS and I am very happy with it. All of the reptiles that I have rehabbed liked it and all that survived went back on a regular diet. But you do have to kinda wean them off once they are well hydrated and have gained so that they will eat on their own. Is your beardie underweigh or dehydrated?

Click to expand...

Hi Rosebud,

I would love to move him to a larger viv - which we are building at the moment but the vet says to keep him in the smaller viv till the coccidia is cleared.

Kinda strange but when he first started antibiotics for coccidia his appetite increased.....went to about 40 PW's p.m. and 15 1/2 crickets a.m. (and actually went from 39 grams to 65 grams in two weeks but since then....in the last week his appetite has been decreasing slowly and now is down to only a few crickets ans worms a day. I have been giving him babyfood green beams /chicken/peas mixed with water . I believe he isn't dehydrated because I force as much water/baby food as I can but he is DEFINATELY losing weight . (His eyes aren't sunken in but his fat pads above his eyes are flattening out.)

Thanks for your replies.....I've seen many of your older posts and really appreciate your opinion

Can you get soy yogurt where you are? If you are in the US, you can get O'Soy, by Stoneyfield Farms from either a super Target or a super Walmart. I would definitely get the ReptiAid, and mix a dab of soy yogurt or your pro biotic in once a day, and try to feed him around a few tenths of a ml a few times a day. If he likes it, you can feed more. Then when the medication is through, you can reduce it to once a day in the evening, and then if his appetite pics up, reduce it to every other day or eliminate it.

To answer your earlier question, Jumpstart is more about dehydration and a temporary recovery aid. I had a long talk with a pretty well respected herp vet in this area a few months ago about this. Jumpstart is molasses based, mostly electrolyte and is intended mostly to rehydrate. ReptiAid is protein based, and is a full blown critical care/recovery formula for omnivorous herps that replaces or simulates the natural diet of insectivores. Then we have another critical care formula for carnivores that the vet prescribes. I've used it on an emaciated snake. Finally, there is both a ReptiAid and a Critical Care for herbivores that is timothy hay based. All of these have an appetite stimulant, but for a longer term issue, like a long round of meds or a severely emaciated animal, I prefer the ReptiAid OR mix a little baby food chick/veggies and the soy yogurt in with the Jumpstart to make it a bit more nutritious for a growing beardie.

Thanks for the confidence! You sound like a very well informed, conscientious beardie Mom!

Rosebud":10ab2 said:

Can you get soy yogurt where you are? If you are in the US, you can get O'Soy, by Stoneyfield Farms from either a super Target or a super Walmart. I would definitely get the ReptiAid, and mix a dab of soy yogurt or your pro biotic in once a day, and try to feed him around a few tenths of a ml a few times a day. If he likes it, you can feed more. Then when the medication is through, you can reduce it to once a day in the evening, and then if his appetite pics up, reduce it to every other day or eliminate it.

To answer your earlier question, Jumpstart is more about dehydration and a temporary recovery aid. I had a long talk with a pretty well respected herp vet in this area a few months ago about this. Jumpstart is molasses based, mostly electrolyte and is intended mostly to rehydrate. ReptiAid is protein based, and is a full blown critical care/recovery formula for omnivorous herps that replaces or simulates the natural diet of insectivores. Then we have another critical care formula for carnivores that the vet prescribes. I've used it on an emaciated snake. Finally, there is both a ReptiAid and a Critical Care for herbivores that is timothy hay based. All of these have an appetite stimulant, but for a longer term issue, like a long round of meds or a severely emaciated animal, I prefer the ReptiAid OR mix a little baby food chick/veggies and the soy yogurt in with the Jumpstart to make it a bit more nutritious for a growing beardie.

Thanks for the confidence! You sound like a very well informed, conscientious beardie Mom!

Click to expand...

Thanks Rosebud....I appreciate you taking the time to show me the differences between the products and will switch to the ReptiAid. Now I know why the jump-start was so sticky (Molasses based) and that's also probably the reason it doesn't mix well with any fluids. I have looked for the Soy yogurt but no luck - but I did not try the stores you recommended.....if I get extra time I'll try them. Thanks agan for your time-much appreciated

Take care and best wishes to you and your dragons

BaskingBaby":0f4ce said:

I've used "Repta-Aid" from Petsmart/Petco multiple times and always have great results with it. The dragons LOVE the taste and you can make it as watery or thick as you need to. It comes with everything you need too - a syringe, mixing cup, little mixing spoon, etc. It's always helped mine put on weight and get them eating again.

The reason he might not be eating could be within your setup....have you gone over it with anyone on here? Temps, substrate, etc?

Good luck!

Click to expand...

Thanks for the tip....I'm gonna be out looking for it soon. Thanks for taking the time to reply.

seadooz":17f9b said:

Why are you using it? Will he eat anything else? When I first got Vyllyn he wouldn't eat for 3 weeks until I tried roaches. To help him along I was putting a glob on each roach I fed him. Crickets love it too, I always put a couple globs when I'm gutloading. I have read in other posts that people usually mix it with something else like baby food or repti-aid when nursing sick dragons back to health. Have you tried warming it up by soaking in some hot water?

Click to expand...

Good idea I didn't think of warming up the whole tube....great idea. Hadn't thought of putting it directly on the feeders either...

Thanks for the tip....

mwrinkle":2b06b said:

A daily dose of Probiotics might have the desired effect as the appetite stimulant!

Click to expand...

So far the acidophiliz hasn't helped the appetite....Gonna try the Repta-aid and see how that goes....thanks for replying