Help!! My Beardie won't eat anything!

My beardie is 20 weeks old and I have had her for 5 1/2 weeks. She is very spoiled. She is our first beardie and I am in LOVE!! Never thought I could LOVE a reptile!! She has such a funny personality. I have held her since the day we got her. No one ever told me to do differently. She ate fine once I got her tank all set up. She then stopped eating the crickets and superworms I bought the day we got her from a Repticon show. I wanted to get her from a reputable breeder so that's why I went there. I had heard things about Petsmart and those places, although I do love that store. I ordered Dubia's to give her something different and she ate about 10-15 at one time. She went crazy! Well, it's like she lost interest the very next time I fed her. She has gotten to where she wont eat live food at all. She has eaten greens maybe once that I have seen. I buy a huge variety and have let her try many, many different things from Cilantro, mustard greens, collard greens, red bell pepper, and fruits such as pears, grapes, and strawberries. I do limit the fruits. NOTHING!!! She will not eat! It's getting expensive for her not to eat them! I also have some pellets that you add water too and she turns her nose up at that as well. She will show some interest and lick the crickets or Dubia's with the Calcium +D on them and then she won't have anything else to do with them. I have taken her to a reptile vet and he stated that she looked really good and healthy. This is our first, so I took pics of the tank, temps, etc. to make sure I was doing and had everything correct. He said it looks like I have everything correct and it looked as if I was taking great care of her. She is translucent and he said he had never seen a translucent before. He called me 4 days later to check on her and said that he had spoken with some herp friends and they think that she may just be small and MAY not grow any more than what she is now. He also took pics of her belly. It is translucent but all black on her insides. He wasn't sure about that, so that's why he wanted the opinions of his herp friends/vets. She is currently going between 5-6gms and is 6" long. I also had the help of a friend who also has a beardie. He is a year old. She had been a tremendous help!! I got in touch with the breader and told him what the vet said. Needless to say I wasn't nice mainly bc I was so heart broken. This is my son's Christmas present and he is scared to hold her bc she is so little. She should weigh at least 10gms by now. I do think she has gotten longer but nothing to noticeable. My point of writing you is that after I apologized to the breader for being ugly, he gave me some advice and things to try. Probably need to let you know that I have been feeding her chicken babyfood and repti-boost. Fearful she would loose weight. Common sense tells us if we don't eat we will die. She does actually drink water from her bowl that I keep in her tank at all times and change it daily. I keep fresh washed greens in there everyday also. Anyway, I sent him videos of what she was doing after I had tried everything else and he told me to "black out" her home and leave her alone for a couple of days, which is KILLING me!!!! I put her to sleep EVERY night Last night hurt my heart a little since it was the first time I haven't been able to hold her. So, I taped the edges around the mat on the bottom of her home so the crickets and Dubia's I put in there couldn't go under it. They were escaping and weren't were she could get to them. I first used paper towels and they were hiding everywhere! I took out all the greenery and almost started from scratch. I bought the carpet like stuff for the floor. I have never used the sand. She seems interested and turns her head but only watches the insects crawl away. She does not go after them. I have my hands in there all the time cornering the crickets or Dubia's and put her in it but she still won't go for them. Wondering if it's not me that's caused all this. Well my main concern right now is, is my blacking out her tank, by covering the outside with black construction paper and putting her in a quiet room and only having interaction at minimum during the changing out of the greens and her water? She did eat and go after a cricket this morning when I was spying on her. She runs up to the glass and scratches and paces back and forth. This makes me so so sad. I miss her like crazy already and it hasn't even been 24 hours yet. Please let me know your thoughts and if completely covering the tank where she can't see and having little to no interaction with her for a few days is ok to do. I love her and if she is going to be little I will definitely keep her but will have to get my son one that will get big. I had such high hopes and I am so let down. I don't want her to be suffering either. She still looks healthy. TIA!!!!

Hi,

I'm kind of new to beardies too, but I do know they go off food from time to time, especially when getting ready to shed. Has she been pooping normally? It could be she's constipated if not. If the pads on either side of her head are firm and not flat or mushy, I believe that means she has fat reserves, and is therefore not starving. Plus it sounds like you were getting her to eat other things? Did you happen to get your vet to do a test for parasites, which can also cause them to lose their appetite?

I can't comment on the blackout bit, but occasionally my beardie Otto will go to eat something, see me, and then pause. Maybe that's what he's trying to prevent, or possibly reduce stress so that she's more comfortable in general. All guesses, but that's all I can come up with.

As for growth, there's no way she'll stay a 6". Ot was the size of my pinky when I got him, but is now 18" and 18 oz at last check, and probably has a little more growing to do. This whole thing might be a wait & see scenario, but I don't know that depriving her (and you!) of quality beardie time will make things better. Hopefully one of the more senior posters can weigh in.

Thank you so so much!! New or not, you have made me feel so much better!! Thanks again!!

Meant to add that she hasn't pooped since I have left her alone for 2 days. She has eaten some crickets but nothing like everyone else talks about. I see pics after someone having theirs a week and you can definitely tell they are growing. Razor on the other hand, looks the same. I just don't know!! It's killing me!!! I may get her out and undo her home and go on with life. Thank you and I do hope I get more comments. Good ones I pray!!