Baby beardie not eating

Status
Not open for further replies.

JennR

Member
Hello! I got my hatchling about 3 weeks ago from an online breeder. Anakin is supposedly male, and a citrus leatherback. The first day I got him, he ate one piece of greens but has not been interested in eating anything-not crickets, various worms, dubias, or any form of vegetable or fruit. I have resorted to mixing a disgusting concoction of worms, roaches, calcium, greens, and baby apple sauce in my Magic Bullet. He will drink that from a syringe eagerly and I feed him 3x a day.
I also occasionally give him a warm soak, either with electrolyte mix or not.

After having him for a week, I was an anxious new owner, but I wanted to take him to the vet to see if there were any issues he could see or tips to give. Anakin's exam went well and he appeared to be doing fine to the vet. He's too small to do a blood test on yet, he only weighs 1/2 a gram.

He is otherwise alert, active during the day, not stressed or dehydrated.

His tank is 40 gallon, hot side is about 100 and cool side in the 80's. I just got a new UVB bulb and his basking lamp is 150w.

By all I've studied and been told, he is physically, and guessing mentally, fine. I checked in with the breeder too and they said it sounded normal.

I just wanted to check to see if anyone else has had this issue-their hatchling not wanting to eat "real" food, how long this may last, why, and what anyone has done about it?

Thank you!!!

(My Uromastyx that I had before this recently died so I am extra paranoid-went to vet-no known cause)
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
First we need to go over the lighting in the tank --- what UVB are you using ? Brand and bulb coil or tube and where in the tank is it ? Top of screen or inside the tank? Basking temps are taken w/a digital probe thermometer? NO stick ons they are inaccurate--- probes only!!!!
It is not uncommon for them no to eat at first --- relocation stress is a factor --- but you must have the correct basking temps should be 105-110 for a baby--- but that temp needs to be taken w/ the probe placed on where he sits for 10 minutes or so then get the temp---- all this needs to be correct so he adjust to the tank and surroundings and then his appetite will pick up ---- make sure hes hydrated -- another factor they will not eat if dehydrated ---- placement is also key here for the UVB --- they have certain distances as well ---
 

JennR

Member
Original Poster
It is the UVB which came with the tank-Repti Sun I believe? and is the horizontal kind that runs along the top of the tank. I forgot the number/strength of it but I just bought it a week ago so it's brand new.

His basking spot runs about 100-105. I have one of those temp guns-no stick ons.

When I feed him the blended mixture, I have greens in it and some warm water to dissolve the repti vite and it ends up being an entire liquid form. The vet also told me it was OK to soak him in warm water every other day or so for a bit.

The weird thing is, he is going to the bathroom fine-every couple days or so-and it's not odd, runny, etc.

Thanks
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Please look on the bulb it will tell you the bulb look for T 8 or T 5 I need that so I can tell you the correct placement-- do you have a digital probe thermometer? If not get one the IR gun is good but sometimes they can't read off of certain materials example hammocks- I would lay off the soaks for awhile- it's stressing him out--- I recommend live insects dubia roaches-- some BSFL you can order roaches from here http://www.dubiaroaches.com BSFL from here http://www.symtonbsf.com you want to dust your live insects w/ calcium D 3 5x per week and the reptivite w/ beta carotene 2 x per week ONCE per feeding on both supplements--- I will get a nutrition website posted for you along w/ a bowl to feed that insects/ worms can't get out of but I need that bulb for UVB
http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html ignore the kale thing its a good staple feeder
https://www.amazon.com/MACGOAL-Reptile-Ceramic-Leopard-Bearded/dp/B084VJJWTV?pf_rd_r=R0HNPKXJ2ZARWAT5MPAH%E2%A6%81&%E2%A6%81pf_rd_p=c5b6893a-24f2-4a59-9d4b-aff5065c90ec%E2%A6%81&%E2%A6%81pd_rd_r=0173f98f-f39b-4d44-9f76-6ae4d88c419b%E2%A6%81&%E2%A6%81pd_rd_w=AuGQB%E2%A6%81&%E2%A6%81pd_rd_wg=tLkwE%E2%A6%81&%E2%A6%81ref_=pd_gw_ci_mcx_mr_hp_d
 

JennR

Member
Original Poster
Thank you. I think the UVB is T5. It is placed inside the tank and secured to the top.

I take the temps of the basking spot and then Anakin, holding it there for a while to make sure the temps are correct.

I already tried dubias, meal worms, wax worms, buffalo worms and small crickets-he will not take them from a tong, left in tank, on a tray where he could see and chase them, or put in a container so he is in a smaller space. If I leave them in a dish in his tank (the kind where they can't crawl out), he doesn't go near it. I show him and he walks away.
I did know to dust them in calcium but whatever way it doesn't make a difference. He is only interested in eating the mixture I make.

I'm pretty sure the lighting and viv are ok. Just wanted to see if anyone else had their baby not want to eat real food??
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Make sure your T 5 is approx 12-15 inches directly above the basking decor piece- no closer than 12 inches-- give him time to adjust -- you want him eating on his own-- keep feeding him--
 

mynameiskris

New member
JennR Have you had any progress yet? I am having the exact same problem with my baby and I’ve had her almost a week now with no improvement.
 

JennR

Member
Original Poster
Hi. Somewhat of progress. I've had him now about 6 weeks and I think he was about 3 months old when I got him?

I took him to a repti vet who said all looked well. He recommended I give him regular syringes full of Repti Vite, which I've been doing in the mornings.

I have tried different ways of getting him to eat and the one thing I noticed was that he seemed to prefer going after his own food, not having it in a bowl or by tongs. So I took everything out of his tank, sprinkled some dubia in there, and he would eat a few and then be done. He refuses wax worms or super worms by any method.

So, I do the syringe, then dump the bugs, at each mealtime: breakfast, lunch, dinner.
I have also made up a lizard smoothie of: greens, veggies, fruit, bugs and worms, calcium, vitamins, repti vite, and usually a bit of that baby food you get in the pouches. All that I mix together and put in my mini blender and feed him with a pipette. He LOVES that and can't get enough. Yet ignores the bugs & worms!

I do all that and continue to offer salad and bugs in his dish after that just in case.
The other day I offered him a very small hornworm. After looking at it like WTH is that at first, he quickly gobbled it. That inspired me to order them auto sent every other week from dubias.com. It's great bc you can get all worms and bugs, any size, and auto delivered. If he won't eat them, I'll mix in the gross smoothie :)

I'll keep doing all this until he gets bigger that I can encourage him more to eat the "big boy" food!
 

Gail

BD.org Addict
If he is eating any food on his own, I would stop with the syringe feedings.
Dragons can get so spoiled by hand feeding that they never willingly eat on their own and the last thing you want to do it syringe fees for the next 15 years.

At this point he has no reason to put any effort into going after food, its being served to him on a silver platter, so to speak.

It took my baby quite awhile to learn to eat out of a dish. I had to toss his feeders next to him one at a time, greens I had to tong feed.
Eventually he started going to the bowl.

Even if he doesn't seem to use a dish, always leave a few feeders for him.
 

JennR

Member
Original Poster
I totally get what you're saying but he is so small and I doubt he could survive on 1-2 (maybe) dubias a day. I mostly do this as a way to make sure he is hydrated and gets some calcium into him, as otherwise he doesn't touch anything and the feeders end up dead/dried out as does the salad.
I still leave both in the tank every day, but after a day when I see they're not eaten, I put them into the smoothie, otherwise they are wasted in the trash.
Once I get him eating the horn worms, and he is bigger, I will back off on the syringes. Now that I know he ate one, I am taking one hand feeding away per day until he's eating totally on his own.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Members online

Still Needs Help

Latest resources

Latest posts

Latest profile posts

I miss you so much, Amaris 💔
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

Forum statistics

Threads
155,908
Messages
1,255,758
Members
75,968
Latest member
Heavenbeardies
Top Bottom