Not Eating, HELP!

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My yearling bearded dragon has completely stopped eating. He's become lazy and quite skinny. I've force fed him some veggies and crickets because I was worried. He isn't dehydrated, and drinks when I put a droplet on his nose. I've tried everything- egg, his favorite veggies, crickets, etc. He just won't eat. He's showing no signs of stress (no black bear, stress marks) and he reacts to soft tail-pinches and turning him on his back temporarily. I'm extremely worried and I want the best for him. Should I see a vet? Could he be going into brumation? Please help!

(P.S. his cage conditions are correct, temperature, uv, etc.)

2 Days Update: I've started syringe feeding Digit Ferber 2nd Stage Butternut Squash Baby Food, and I've managed to get him to eat 5ML of it at night. He really enjoys it and doesn't resist the feeding. Hopefully with some food in his belly I can get a feces sample from him to take to the vet. (I tried putting him in a warm bath, but he had nothing to give.) I gave him another 2ML this morning and he finished that as well. I'm gonna try offering solids every day, but I have no hopes he'll eat them anytime soon if it's true he has a parasite. My father talked to our vet and we're taking Digit in for an examination ASAP. Hopefully tonight. I'll keep you guys updated! (4/24/18)
 

VenusAndSaturn

Sub-Adult Member
Well probably not burmation if he's loosing a lot of weight... I'm gonna guess parasites or incorrect care.
Can you please go over the setup rather than saying everything is correct?
Temperatures inside the tank, any colored lights, brand and type of UVB your using, how old the UVB is, ect.
Post pictures of him and the tank as well.

Also what's his normal diet, how much do you dust his food and how many times a week do you feed him?
 

ncc74656

Hatchling Member
baby food blended with beardi food pellets and a syringe can be a way to get food into them when they dont eat, buy you some time while you try and find out whats going on.
 

clayandgizmo

Member
Original Poster
VenusAndSaturn":1kbhbyex said:
Well probably not burmation if he's loosing a lot of weight... I'm gonna guess parasites or incorrect care.
Can you please go over the setup rather than saying everything is correct?
Temperatures inside the tank, any colored lights, brand and type of UVB your using, how old the UVB is, ect.
Post pictures of him and the tank as well.

Also what's his normal diet, how much do you dust his food and how many times a week do you feed him?

Oops. I was in such a rush to figure things out I figured skipping over his tank setup and such wouldn't really be a huge matter. His basking area is 102F and the other side is in the low 80s, but I don't see him there much. He has a large water bowl in the cool side as to prevent large amounts of evaporation, and a large log for him to climb all over and under on his basking side. He's on Eco Earth and has been his entire life. I feed all of my lizards insects a couple of times a week with as many crickets as I have and I give salads, fruit, and worms throughout the week quite often. He weighs 144 grams and he's about 13 inches long. His UV light is a Reptisun 10.0 TUBE that extends the length of the tank and is about 4-5 inches away from his basking area. It is only around 2 months old since all the lizards got new tanks when my room was remodeled. He has no colored lights and his basking bulb is by ZooMed (Repti-Basking Bulb) and gives off white light, no colors. I dust his food every time I feed him insects and I provide probiotics a couple as often as I have time to. When I have him out, he's a little more alert and will run across my bed and headbob at his neighboring dragons. He has fake cactuses in his tank, but he doesn't interact with them as far as I know. Also, I get my crickets from Fluker Farms but I plan on starting to breed them myself so I can feed them more often rather than waiting on my next shipment to come in. He's also really colorful, not dark and brown like when he is very stressed. (If that matters). I really don't know what's going on, it happened so suddenly and he was doing great until a little bit ago. :(

Should I bring a feces sample to the vet, and if so, should I get it by putting him in warm water? Will that ruin the sample? All of his poops in his cage are covered in Eco Earth. I don't care if I have to go to a vet- I will. I just want my little guy to go back to his old self. I'll try anything.
 
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