bottle-feeding my beardie

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Hillbillyfairy

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(I call her Sticky because she tries to hold onto everything.)
Anyway, Sticky has never been a great eater. I adopted her last November from a rescue organization, and they thought she was around 2 years old.
She loved hornworms when I had them, and then stopped eating them.
She loved super worms, and then got tired of those too.
Same with various other feeders (dubias, crickets....)
And forget greens. She seems positively confused when I put veggies in her tank.
BTW, temps are 80 on one side, 112 on the warm side, and I have a tubular UV light as well as an additional basking light and heat lamp, so I don't think there's a problem there.
She does seem lethargic and I'm wondering if she's trying to bromate.
I had a fecal test done on her due to the poor eating a month ago, and she had a fairly heavy coccidia load so I've been deworming her - a larger dose to begin with, and then 3 weeks of weekly lower doses. I'll get her tested again in a week or so.
If the test comes back negative (I hope it does, it's no fun getting that medicine into her!) and she's still lethargic, i'll make an appointment with the reptile vet. He is 90 minutes away, so I prefer not to do that.
IN THE MEANTIME, I have found that I can get her to drink her veggies. I have one of those little feeder bottles. I blend arugula, carrots, whatever I happen to have until it's mostly smooth. I hold her snugly in a towel and start dropping small drops on her nose. If I'm patient, in 5 minutes or so she'll start opening her mouth or licking, and I can squirt a good bit in her mouth. I'm just trying to think of ways to transition her to solid food. Anybody else do this?
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
tubular UV light ------brand and bulb and where in the tank is it? On top of screen or inside the tank?
It sounds interesting the way your feeding her but its good shes eating--- is she basking? When you say lethargic I think of her not doing anything at all
Karrie
 

Hillbillyfairy

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Reptisun T5 On top of mesh screen

Doubledome w/100W and ceramic heat element
And she hasn’t really been basking, which is why I thought she might be trying to brumate. She never has been very active, and is usually docile. When I got her from the rescue she had been treated (successfully) for degenerative bone disease.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Hi there. it's good to get the veggies in her , especially if she's dehydrated and be sure to add extra water. Her basking temp. is too hot, drop it ASAP to 100, that's the preferred temp. for adults. Can you post pics of her to show her full body mass and also a few of her tank ? Here's how :

https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload them
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
The screen on the tank is a fine mesh-- or wide holed? If it's a fine mesh-- like a screen door you should get it in the tank--- the screen is blocking 30% of the rays-- distance inside should be 12-15 inches directly above basking decor-- how are you measuring basking temps?
Karrie
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
As long as it's not like a screen door- it will block the Ray's too much- if it's like a wide holed your good- infrared is good--
Karrie
 

Hillbillyfairy

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That’s what it’s like. Larger holes.
I just got done bottle-feeding her some nice arugula/carrot/blueberry juice. I also got her to eat some Repashy Beardie Buffet.
She hasn’t lost weight, which I’m very happy about.
I always put salad in her tank along with whatever feeders we have. She just chooses to ignore it!
I’m going to stop worrying. If her worm test is negative and she still won’t eat, I’ll take her to the vet.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Good w/ the screen make sure your decor piece is directly underneath approx 8-10 inches
Karrie
 

Hillbillyfairy

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so it's a few months later. i think this girl is trying to brumate, she spends a lot of time in her hide on the cooler side, not eating on her own, etc. I had been bottle-feeding her, but she had progressed to taking food from a baby spoon. I've gotten about 1-2 TB of various concoctions into her, including the Repashy, some pellets i had bought, arugula, berries,
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whatever I had on hand.I went from liquify to mince on the food processor over about a month. I usually feed her every other day or 3. I noticed that she usually spends some time basking afterwards. She poops really little, like once a week. I let her soak for about 15 minutes at least once a week....Her latest fecal came back negative and the vet said she looks great. She's actually gained a gram or two since this all started, and she's starting to shed.

She still seems to enjoy time out of the tank, and hangs out on my desk while I work, but doesn't move much from her perch on the windowsill.

So I feel like she's doing really well.
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I'm just wondering if she'll ever eat on her own! If she started brumating back in August, she should be about ready to go back to "normal" soon so maybe it'll be easier to coax her to eat a tasty dandelion!
Anyway, thoughts?
 
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What is a quick way to warm up a cold beardie? His heating element went out overnight and now he's very cold.
Pearl Girl wrote on moorelori1966's profile.
i feel so sad reading your about me 😢
Clapton is acclimating okay I think. He's quick as lightning so I'm not sure how much I should bring him out of his house yet. He's not at all interested in his salad though. I wonder if I should change what I'm giving him. Least he's eating his crickets.

Things to do:
Buy calcium powder
Material to raise surface for basking spot
Scenery decals for back of tank
Taking my beardie for a walk

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