Why won't my beardy eat?

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Safron

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2 weeks ago I purchased a pygmy bearded dragon from a breeder, she's nearly 7 months old. She's never been scared or anything and will willingly climb onto your hand (she literally sleeps on me). It's been 2 weeks and she won't eat anything, she is still drinking water. I have her in a 3ft by 2ft tank with astroturf as the base and she has a water dish (big enough to get into if she decides) along with some fake greenery, a climbing 'vine' and basking log/ hide. She has a heat mat (she doesn't burn because the fake grass is fairly thick) and a 50W basking light and a 10.0 UVB light. I've tried feeding her small crickets, mealworms (which I know could cause problems but I was desperate for her to eat something), butternut squash, rocket, strawberries, carrot and a few other veggies. But she just won't eat, I thought she may have just been settling in at first. At the breeder's, she was on a sand substrate and was being fed woodies? I think, but they were huge and I didn't think that would be healthy for her (I chose the smallest beardy, was being housed with another much larger beardy). She was running at her reflection a lot (glass tank) so I covered it with white paper. Aside from not eating she shows stress marks in her tank but when I take her out and hold her they pretty much disappear and she likes to run around and is super active. I give her a bath every 2 days in warm water just for hydration. The first 4 days she was still going to the toilet (even though she wasn't eating) but now she's not doing anything at all? I'm thinking she may be in hibernation or something because that's the only reason I can think of for why she's not eating.
PLZ help
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
Safron":3vnmoj7v said:
2 weeks ago I purchased a pygmy bearded dragon from a breeder, she's nearly 7 months old. She's never been scared or anything and will willingly climb onto your hand (she literally sleeps on me). It's been 2 weeks and she won't eat anything, she is still drinking water. I have her in a 3ft by 2ft tank with astroturf as the base and she has a water dish (big enough to get into if she decides) along with some fake greenery, a climbing 'vine' and basking log/ hide. She has a heat mat (she doesn't burn because the fake grass is fairly thick) and a 50W basking light and a 10.0 UVB light. I've tried feeding her small crickets, mealworms (which I know could cause problems but I was desperate for her to eat something), butternut squash, rocket, strawberries, carrot and a few other veggies. But she just won't eat, I thought she may have just been settling in at first. At the breeder's, she was on a sand substrate and was being fed woodies? I think, but they were huge and I didn't think that would be healthy for her (I chose the smallest beardy, was being housed with another much larger beardy). She was running at her reflection a lot (glass tank) so I covered it with white paper. Aside from not eating she shows stress marks in her tank but when I take her out and hold her they pretty much disappear and she likes to run around and is super active. I give her a bath every 2 days in warm water just for hydration.
<<< unless she is drinking the bath water , the baths are doing nothing to hydrate her .

The first 4 days she was still going to the toilet (even though she wasn't eating) but now she's not doing anything at all? I'm thinking she may be in hibernation or something because that's the only reason I can think of for why she's not eating.
PLZ help
Need much more information and details on your beardie's setup and your husbandry otherwise we can't even hazard a guess.

Here's my Cheat Sheet :
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=234738&p=1806050#p1806050

If you work through it methodically , the chances are their are likely a lot of issues that need to be tweeked or changed and they will pop right out at you, if you can give very detailed answers we will then be in a position to offer help. Is impossible to help you if you don't provide thorough details .

It may prove necessary to involve a reptile vet if your bearded dragon has serious health issues.Are you in a position to afford to take him to a good reptile vet should this prove necessary ?
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
IHi Saffron, are you in the U.K. or somewhere outside the U.S. ? Can you post a few pics of the dragon as well as the entire viv set up and include a list of the exact type + brand of lights ? This will all help to narrow down what the problem may be . Here's how to post pics :

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

EllenD

Gray-bearded Member
Beat me to it, please post photos of her, her enclosure and lighting, and list the details about your lighting, temperatures, etc.

It's not brumation, she's a bit young for it (though it can rarely happen) and if she was trying to brumate she would not be active at all, she would not want to come out of her enclosure, she would be trying to hide in or under something and just sleep. It sounds like her only issue is a lack of appetite and possibly an impaction issue if she hasn't pooped in 2 weeks, though no food in equals no food out...Is she passing any urates?

Usually this issue is related to relocation stress for the first week or so, 2 weeks of eating absolutely nothing is either an issue with her UVB lighting, improper temperatures (this is a big one, especially what type of thermometer you are using to measure the temps), or an illness.

Parasites and/or worms, and coccidia are very common in beardies when they first leave the breeder or pet shop because they were with all the other animals, so a visit with an experienced reptile vet (preferably a certified reptile vet) is a good idea, it's a good idea to take a new beardie or any new pet for a wellness checkup within the first couple of weeks that you have them anyway, and then at least once a year after, just to have her checked out. Getting a fresh poop sample to do a fecal on is going to be a problem unless you start force feeding her, or at least giving her nutrition with an eyedropper onto her snout. This is something you will want to consider, because as already mentioned, baths do nothing at all to hydrate a bearded dragon, unless they actually drink the water. No hydration goes into them through their vent, that's a ridiculous myth that makes zero sense anyway.

So since she has not been getting hydrated (unless she is actively drinking the bath water) you definitely need to get an eyedropper or an oral syringe (based on how small she sounds, an eyedropper is a much better choice) and drip fresh water onto the end of her snout, let it run down her mouth and see if she'll lick it off, she should as she must be very thirsty. Beardies generally don't drink out of a water bowl (I actually have 2 that do oddly) because if they are fed a correct diet they get all of their hydration from their live insects and their greens and veggies. So you should use the eyedropper to see if she'll lick the water off, then as she's licking it off add another drop, and so on until she stops licking it off. I'd be doing this several times a day until she starts eating normally.

Please keep all other beardies (reptiles) away from her and her enclosure until we figure out what's going on.

One big question: Is your Reptisun 10.0 UVB bulb a long, flourescent tube in a long flourescent tube fixture, or is it a coiled bulb or a regular, compact bulb like a regular lightbulb? This is important...
 

Safron

New member
Original Poster
UPDATE: took her to the vet and she's perfectly healthy, setup was always fine. Apparently, because she was eating woodies at her previous home and was housed with another lizard she didn't understand that the crickets, veggies, fruits and so on were food (she was being dominated at her previous location and had gotten used to eating the left overs from the other lizard's kill). The vet had to force feed her til she tasted it and realized it was food, she's now eating properly and independently. Thanks everyone.
 

Zanna

Hatchling Member
That's such amazing news Safron!
I bet your really really glad to hear that. I'm sure she will be much happier and healthier having meals of her own choosing now :)
 
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