Beardie not eating or pooping! Please help

[Mikeed]

Hi, our Beardie Spyro is not eating properly.

He is 9 - 10 months old and has gone from eating around 20 medium crickets per day to around 0 - 4 per day currently, I have tried to vary his diet a little more and have given him locusts but to no avail.

As a result his pooping has gone from every 1-2 days now to around every 4 days and only when I bath him.

Spyros temperament seems a little lethargic. He is awful at eating greens, which is also a worry! due to this and that he wont drink from his water bowl I mist him briefly once each morning and he seems to lick the water to remain hydrated.

his weight seems ok, there are no bones showing and does not appear skinny. but he is not fat either.

We have had him about 6 months now and so yesterday swapped out our 25W 30" Exo Terra Reptile desert UVB 150 for a new bulb. the new bulb is: 25W 30" Exo Terra Repti glo U10.0 (I have just read in a few places the repti glo is bad? is this the case?!). i had wonders id the bulb age was the case.

His temps is around 103/105 under the basking spot. which is ceramic and on a pulse stat.

The rest of the set up is in my signature.

I would love you hear your thoughts., perhaps this is early brumation?! I am keen to get him eating well and put my mind at rest.

Thank you all in advance

[KarrieRee]

Welcome to the forum and yes the reptoglo is no good --- here is the lighting recommended on the forum--- Which UVB light should I use?
The best UVB light is a ReptiSun 10.0 fluorescent tube T 5 HO or T 8(Or Arcardia 12% in the UK). Compact or coil bulbs do not emit the proper amount of UVB light for a bearded dragon, and should not be used. Other brands, such as the Zilla Desert Series and ReptiGlo have been known to cause eye problems and other health issues with bearded dragons, and should be avoided. The reason that some UVB lights (Zilla, ReptiGlo, coils/compacts, ect.) are considered dangerous is because the wavelength of UVB that they emit is shorter and more intense than the wavelength of the "safe" lights (ReptiSun, Arcadia).
UVB lights should be replaced every 6 months. The T5’s are a strong bulb and only need to be replaced once a year – the T 8 every 6 months--- where as the T 8 are not as strong—they need to be placed inside the tank the T 5 10.0 bulb approx 10-11 inches from basking spot – the T 8 approx 6-8 inches from basking spot—the cover needs to be off the bulb for full effect of the UVB rays-- Their lighting is crucial and will effect their behavior as well as their overall health-- just make sure you get the 10.0 bulb -- the 5.0 HO will work but are not as strong as the 10.0
As far as the vegies his main diet is bugs so its ok if hes not eating his greens (mustard turnip collard green beans squash fruit like apples strawberries blueberries mango etc NO Citrus) but please keep offering them to him - around a year or so the diet will flip to mainly greens and less bugs-- try offering him some dubia roaches and his bugs should be dusted w/ calcium D3 5 x per week and vitamins 2 x per week -- this is all very important in their diet to prevent MBD--
Get your lighting changed out and you will see a difference in his behavior
Karrie

[Kaelwizard]

Mine acts the same way but likes greens. Mine is even younger though at around 5 months of age. He also hides all the time and when he wakes up in the morning he doesn't want to move at all. I have to move him to his basking spot.

[KarrieRee]

@kaelwizard -- can you post pics of your tank and lighting -- he should not being doing that
Karrie

[Mikeed]

Thanks KarrieRee. It would seem I am doing everything correctly based on your message, thanks you I only put the repti glo in yesterday as the 6 month replacement. I have already ordered the Arcadia FD3P25 D3+ 12-Percent Reptiles Lamp, 25 Watt, 30-inch (https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00 ... UTF8&psc=1) and will immediately return the repti-glo. I have also brought a reflector. hopefully this will see am improvement. in his poo and eating.

I have attached a photo of his set up, its an old photo but the only one i had so Spyro is a lot bigger now! However the set up is still the same with the exception of the beardie-sand substrate, this is replaced with with a reptile carpet. I’d really appreciate any feedback on this.



Thanks again

[KarrieRee]

You can replace that reptile carpet w/ non adhesive shelf liner or a slated ceramic tile- both can be bought at Home Depot or Lowes-- cheap and easy to clean w / vinegar/ water 50/50 or so in a spray bottle --- the tile I would suggest to go into a permanent enclosure-- it needs to be cut to tank size but the shelf liner is easy to cut --- and the bugs dont get under it -- many on the forum use this type of substrate--
Karrie

[Mikeed]

ok... when you say shelf liner, do you mean somthing like this?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Transparent-No ... spons&th=1

would you recommend the textured versions?

Sorry for the silly question!

[KarrieRee]

yep looks like it could work -- just want non adhesive and its says non adhesive -- I think someone else was looking at the same stuff--
Karrie

[Mikeed]

Great, I will give it a shot... Thanks

[Mikeed]

update... the cheap amazon shelf liner worked well!

[KarrieRee]

The tank looks very nice
Karrie

[Mikeed]

Thanks

[Mikeed]

Hi Guys,

Still on this thread... sorry! I have the new light in (Arcadia 12% in for about a week now) and the temp is 105. Spyro, seems happier, but is eating very slowly and no longer chases is food to eat it. He will slowly eat it as it passes him, and will eat around 4-6 standard crickets. For context up until a couple of weeks ago he would enthusiastically devour around 15 crickets in a few mins!

To add to this, he has not pooped since Thursday, which was 4 days after his last poo, each time has been in a warm bath. again to ad to the context he was naturally passing once every day or two up until a couple of weeks ago.

All in all he is up and about, not hiding and seems a lot happier now the lighting is sorted. How worried should I be about the food and poo situation?! and is there anything else I should be doing / might be missing?

Spyro is approx 10 months

Thanks,
Mike

[KarrieRee]

Now that the lighting is good I would suggest maybe taking a fecal into the vet and see if its possible parasite issue- I am having same issues w/ my dragon and currently are waiting to hear back from the lab -- but I am expecting the fecal to come back w/ parasites- currently I am feeding Herbivore Critical Care - he is 14 months old -- is Spyro eating vegies at all? Hiccup isnt eating anything at this point but is up and about - basking - and very alert-- just not eating or pooping which is to be expected since hes not really eating - and w/ me feeding him the CC stuff its taking forever for him to poop it out-- so you know what comes in must come out at some point! Thats just an idea -- some others on the board might have some other ideas for why hes not eating
Karrie

[Mikeed]

is Spyro eating vegies at all?

no not yet unfortunately, I give them daily but to no avail!