My Beardie refuses to eat!

Hi, I have a male beardie about 1 yr old. Got him last December from Petsmart as a baby. He has been perfectly normal his whole life so far. I think he is a little smaller than most beardies and could have possibly been the runt. Regardless, he has not eaten anything in the last 4 days. He closes his eyes if I offer him anything. I bathe my beardies every morning as they are potty trained to poop that way, he did poop and urate today but nothing the last 2 days. He just wants to lay around. Sometimes in his basking spot and sometimes on the cooler side. I live in Arizona, which is 108 degrees today so I don’t think he is going into brumation or could he be? I have him in a 40 gal tank with tube uvb 5.0 lighting and his basking spot is 110 degrees and cooler side is about 84 degrees
Does anyone know what could be happening?

Where is the 5.0 bulb in the tank on top of the screen and when was it changed out last? You do not need to bath them every day --- once a week is fine - how have his poops been ? Runny ? Normal ?
Karrie

KarrieRee":26cdglia said:

Where is the 5.0 bulb in the tank on top of the screen and when was it changed out last? You do not need to bath them every day --- once a week is fine - how have his poops been ? Runny ? Normal ?
Karrie

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Hi there, the bulb was actually just changed out about 3 weeks ago. I have it sitting on top of the tank itself on the edges of the lip of the tank. I do not use the screen on top as I heard the uvb can be blocked by the screen.
His poop was perfectly normal today and urate was white.

Is it 6-8 inches from basking spot?
Karrie

KarrieRee":2gw96u37 said:

Is it 6-8 inches from basking spot?
Karrie

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Yes, just measured and is just under 8 inches

Ok-- has he been basking? I am just trying to rule out possible issues besides saying it could be the start of brumation- which could be possible- is he of good weight? Is he hydrated?
Karrie

KarrieRee":1o10xa6l said:

Ok-- has he been basking? I am just trying to rule out possible issues besides saying it could be the start of brumation- which could be possible- is he of good weight? Is he hydrated?
Karrie

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Yes he will bask for hours and hours then move to the cool side for a bit. But he will sleep for hour and hours. Today has been a lazy Sunday and he has been sleeping on my chest for the last 4 hours. It’s hard to wake him but he will open his eyes if I try hard enough to wake him.
He is very well hydrated and weight is about 410 grams as of 3 days ago. He has always been smaller than his brother which is much bigger at 525 grams. But is a very healthy weight for his size.

The next time you replace the UVB I would get the 10.0 bulb--- the 5.0 is more for aquariums and not as strong--- you can use it but its just not as strong
Karrie

KarrieRee":2qoqws3m said:

The next time you replace the UVB I would get the 10.0 bulb--- the 5.0 is more for aquariums and not as strong--- you can use it but its just not as strong
Karrie

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Okay I will definitely do that. Do you think that could be the problem? Or could he be going into brumation possibly?

I would say not --- I am thinking its the weather --- just keep an eye on his weight make sure hes hydrated --- if he starts to loose weight then I would be concerned and get him to the vet --- and hes basking so thats good ---
Karrie

KarrieRee":1d5l2ptb said:

I would say not --- I am thinking its the weather --- just keep an eye on his weight make sure hes hydrated --- if he starts to loose weight then I would be concerned and get him to the vet --- and hes basking so thats good ---
Karrie

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Hi Karrie

So I took my Beardie to the vet. They said he looked perfectly normal and they thought he was just going through changes and said he will grow out of it. I forced the issue and wanted to get a fecal done. I thankfully was able to get him to poop the next day and brought the sample in yesterday. They just actually called me and said he has pin worms but it’s normal and does not need to be treated and it will go away on its own. I have never heard of this being normal. Would you know? Thank you so much

It is common for them to have parasites - your not going to get rid of all of them --- it sounds like they were in check and do not want to medicate for such a low amount which is good - good husbandry will keep them in check so your good -- as long as he has the proper basking temps and good UVB he should be ok - its when the parasite count gets too high causing them not to eat and being lethargic and horrible smelling poop as well that is when to get concerned -- it sounds like the weather is getting to him like the rest of them - its getting to be that time of year --- just keep an eye on his weight and make sure hes hydrated too
Karrie

KarrieRee":2dcy988k said:

It is common for them to have parasites - your not going to get rid of all of them --- it sounds like they were in check and do not want to medicate for such a low amount which is good - good husbandry will keep them in check so your good -- as long as he has the proper basking temps and good UVB he should be ok - its when the parasite count gets too high causing them not to eat and being lethargic and horrible smelling poop as well that is when to get concerned -- it sounds like the weather is getting to him like the rest of them - its getting to be that time of year --- just keep an eye on his weight and make sure hes hydrated too
Karrie

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Okay... what a relief! I was thinking this doctor was crazy lol
But, that makes sense. Thank you so much for responding so quickly. I told the vet all the details about his husbandry, lighting, uvb, food, and all. The vet said that everything was absolutely perfect and he couldn’t tell me to change a single thing. But then of course my worry was, why is he not eating anything. The doctor said it’s probably too early for brumation but Beardies do what they want and he could very well be getting ready for it. I guess I will keep watching to make sure he doesn’t lose a lot of weight and hopefully everything will be okay. Thank you again! I truly appreciate your advice.