Bearded dragon not eating need help

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Furmeses

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Hi, I have a male bearded dragon, who is about a year and a half who for around the past week and a half hanst been eating and i can notice some weight loss. He lives in a 4ftx2ftx2ft viv with a basking spot of 37-40 degrees Celsius and a uvb tube 10.0 that had been changed 2 weeks ago. The substrate is also lino. I would have mainly feed him roaches along with some locusts and wax worms occasionally with calci supplements(i haven't been able to use these as often because he isnt eating).I also use rocket and collard greens for his veg. His eating for the past month was slowly declining however he was still pooing regularly. I sent poo to the vets last week to check for parasites and they informed me today that nothing showed up. So im lost at what to do.Ive have began feeding him some baby food liqud prunes through a syringe mixed with veg as some sort of food. I might be able to assume its brumation because he isn't totally "sick" as he can still move back into his viv when i bring him out without any trouble and i also give him a bath at least once a night now since then to keep him hydrated more. His night temps are also fine as it never drops below 20 degrees celcuis. Any time i come home from school i sometimes see that he had moved to the cool spot as well and hid on his own. However during this week and a half he did eat 1 white cockroach although i think thats because it looked different and he was just curios. Any advice would be helpful as im very confused what to do now, and hope this is just a brumation cycle
 

HylianHealeys

Juvie Member
It sounds like brumation to me, although the weight loss is worrying, especially since 1.5 weeks of diminished appetite should not have much of an effect in a bearded dragon. Do you know exactly how much weight he has lost?

Sometimes an animal can have a clean fecal, yet still have a parasite load. Parasite sheds tend to go in cycles, so doing another fecal might be worthwhile if the weight loss continues. If the test comes back clean but he's still losing weight, I would recommend further testing by the veterinarian.
 

CooperDragon

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Is he alert and active when you have him out of the tank? I would pick up a cheap digital kitchen scale and track his weight so you can quantify the weight loss rather than doing it visually which can be misleading at times. If it's steady weight loss then there could be an underlying issue but some fluctuation is normal.
 

Elisa

Member
What qualifies as a significant weight loss? My 12 to 13month old dragon, approximately 16 1/2 inches, went from 311 g on October 22 to 302 g today. His activity certainly has slowed down but he is not in constant sleep. He never touches his veggies even though I offer them every day. And I have to strongly encourage him to eat his roaches which used to love. Hell eat maybe one or two every other day. Also, I have to give him a bath in order to make him poop. His poops are normal and he is somewhat active and alert. He looks fine to me but I’m just worried about that 9 g weight loss
 

HylianHealeys

Juvie Member
9 grams over that period of time is enough to count as a fluctuation, in my opinion. Keep a close eye on him, though. If he seems to be deteriorating or he loses more than ~30 grams (moderator — does that sound about right?) there could be a problem.
 
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