UPDATE-Another Baby Dragon not eating post - With Pics

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Unkn0wN

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Good Afternoon. We got our baby bearded dragon 2 weeks ago. For the first 4 days-5 days, Rex ate fine. It would eat around 20-30 crickets a day, depending on the sizes of the crickets. It wouldn't eat any greens though unless I hand fed it, and then it would only eat the one piece. It mostly ate just the crickets. Then boom, it just stopped eating. It will eat 1 cricket a day if we are lucky. I seen a video on Youtube that mixed a little of the calcium powder and multi-vitamin in some applesauce and hand fed theirs. I have tried this the last 2 nights. I mixed a little of the powder with some applesauce and the last 2 nights, I have put some on the end of my finger and held it right in front of it's mouth. It will eat a tiny bit off my finger, but then is done. We have been giving him a bath every couple days and we use a dropper to drop some water on it's mouth and it drinks the water.

Rex has lost a lot of weight in the one week of not eating and we are getting concerned. I have been researching a lot, so I know you will want pictures of Rex's light set up. But for the lights, we have a ReptiSun 10.0 tube inside the tank. And then a 150 watt Zoo-Med basking Spot on top. Rex lives in a 40g tank.

One thing I an unsure of, is where to measure the temp. You will see in the one picture, that there is a dial stick on thermometer in Rex's cage, but we do use a Infrared Temp gun. When I hold the temp gun on his log that he basks on, it will give me a incorrect reading, I believe. It will constantly change between 95 - 105 Fahrenheit (in the guide on this site, it says babies like it 105-110 Fahrenheit). But that' only when I point at the log. If I point to the floor, right below where he is basking, it gives me a steady reading of 102. So, I am assuming on top of the log where he lays, it it more around the 105 mark. If I put his rock under the basking light, it gets too hot. That measures around 117 Fahrenheit.

When we try to feed him crickets, we put 2-3 crickets in the tank, and take Rex off his log and put him by the crickets hoping he will eat, but usually he will just chase his reflection for a little bit and then go back to his log. We sit and watch for a good 20-30 minutes and he won't eat. We then get the crickets out. The last 2 nights is when I tried the applesauce with the vitamin and calcium powder.

I took a couple of things out of it's tank yesterday so the crickets couldn't hide in too many spots, hoping the more Rex saw them, the more he might want to eat them. LOL. Didn't work. So, right now he just has his log and rock in the tank.

Pictures:
The ReptiSun 10.0 tube light
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The 150w Basking Spot is the left side of the dome
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Me pointing at the log under the basking light
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Skinny Rex....
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Very loose skin from loosing weight....
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Sleeps a lot.....
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AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Hi there, looks like a nice set up + temps. sound good. Were any of the crickets maybe too large, bigger than the space between his eyes ? Has he been pooing daily ? Just to rule out impaction. And how far is the uvb from his basking spot ? It may need to be a bit closer.


Other than those things he might have parasites, if you rule everything else out you might want to have a fecal test done by an experienced reptile vet.
 

Unkn0wN

New member
Original Poster
Thanks for your reply. The uvb tube is approximately 10-12 inches away, depending on where he is laying on his log. As far as the size of crickets. We get the "small" ones from the vets. Although they vary in size, I don't recall any of them being bigger than what you are describing.

My wife called and we have an appointment with the vet at 9:00 AM, tomorrow morning. Although Rex is technically my son's pet, he has become my little buddy and I have been beating myself up trying to get him to eat and be well.
 

Buk

Member
Did you purchase from Petsmart? I’m just curious, yours looks an awful like mine and your story of not eating is very similar!
 

Unkn0wN

New member
Original Poster
Buk":1fmhi9zo said:
Did you purchase from Petsmart? I’m just curious, yours looks an awful like mine and your story of not eating is very similar!

Yes we did. We weren't really aware of the "don't buy from a pet store" when we got it.
 

Buk

Member
Unkn0wN":pikcj09t said:
Buk":pikcj09t said:
Did you purchase from Petsmart? I’m just curious, yours looks an awful like mine and your story of not eating is very similar!

Yes we did. We weren't really aware of the "don't buy from a pet store" when we got it.

I wasn’t either! Wished I would have found this site sooner! They know there stuff on here that’s for sure!
 

CooperDragon

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
I think your UVB tube is too far away and not strong enough.A T8 at that distance (especially without a reflector) won't produce adequate UVB over the basking area. At 12'' and with a tank that size you are best off with a T5 tube with a reflective fixture. Try this fixture https://www.amazon.com/Sunblaster-904296-NanoTech-Fixture-Reflector/dp/B00AKKUBDQ/ with this bulb http://www.reptilebasics.com/arcadia-desert-12-uvb/arcadia-d3-12-uvb-t5-bulb-22/ hang that inside the lid of the tank at 12'' above the main basking area and see if it helps. I think your temps are OK as the temp gun readings will vary a bit depending on where you aim it. You're in the right range though so I'm not too worried about that for now.
 

Unkn0wN

New member
Original Poster
UPDATE: As stated above in my second post, we had made a Vet appointment for the next morning. The vet looked at Rex, but wasn't 100% sure what was wrong. She was honest and stated that Rex is so tiny and the vet herself has never examined a bearded dragon that tiny in a very, very, very (she used about 10 very's, lol) Long time. The vet stated that she didn't want to dig around Rex's butt because Rex was so tiny. She did state that Rex's heart rate was very fast and that could be a Respiratory Infection.

The vet called in a prescription for us for a 3 in 1 antibiotic that would 1. Take care of any Respiratory Infection, 2. Kill any parasite if Rex had any, and 3. Stimulate Rex's appetite. We were also given a special food. I had to force feed Rex twice a day for about a week.

I also made some changes to his tank. Since our house is always colder inside, I insulated Rex's tank on 3 of the sides (his was all glass). The temps in the cage are 100% better. I think the tank was overall too cold for Rex except right under the basking light.

So, We are not exactly sure what "cured" Rex. Either the medicine or the tank being warmer did the trick, lol. But Rex is Happy and eating on his own (Greens and live - A lot!). He has put back on the weight he lost and then some. Our little guy or girl is growing! LOL

Insulation i did on the tank
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Happy Rex
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BeardedDragonSteve

Juvie Member
Unkn0wN":xhg3x8wi said:
Buk":xhg3x8wi said:
Did you purchase from Petsmart? I’m just curious, yours looks an awful like mine and your story of not eating is very similar!

Yes we did. We weren't really aware of the "don't buy from a pet store" when we got it.
So you can buy from pet stores but its normally petsmart and petco that are the worst.
 
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