Help!! My beardie isn't eating and he throw up!

I have a baby beardie got him about 4-5 days ago. He seemed healthy up untill 2 days ago. I've been feeding him food no bigger then his head. I usually alternate feeding him about 3-4 crickets or mealworms dusted in calcium in the morning. Finely chopped carrots and romain lettuce at about noon and then 3 crickets or mealworms at night depending on what he ate in the morning so he gets different foods. His habitat is a 20 gallon with reptile sand substrate, trex uvb bulb, with temps about 85 to 90 around basking area and temp reaching up to 114 under basking spot. I fed him sat morning 4 mealworms dusted. Then his veggies in the afternoon but he didn't eat the veggies and hasn't eaten sence. I've tried to hand feed him and he still isn't eating. I've given him a few warm baths and even massaged his lower tummy. And today he threw up. And is still not eating. PLEASE HELP!!!

It's just a guess but I would think it's the reptile sand. It can be very dangerous to house a baby beardie
on sand. He could have ingested too much from clumsy eating and is impacted. The only thing you can really do for it is
to take it to the vet. Other than that, just hope for the best.

Is the food no bigger than his HEAD or the space between his eyes? Because it's supposed to be the space between the eyes, not the whole head. Also, as the poster above me suggested, sand can easily impact babies. So can mealworms. Mealworms are never suggested. Superworms are ok, but not until they're 16". Romaine isn't good for him either and carrots every day aren't suggested. http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html will help with veggies. I know he's not eating, but if you're only giving him 3-4 crickets, it's not nearly enough, he should be eating all he wants in 15 minutes 2-3x per day (which, if you're giving him a size he can handle, can be up to 50 at a sitting). Try giving his salad in the morning and the live food after noon.

but how do i get him to eat... rite now i took all of the sand out and used paper towel for now... and i put 2 crickets in just so if he does want to eat theyre there... but hes still not eating.

Sorry to hear that your beardie isn't doing well. I noticed that you're using a T-Rex MVB in a 20 gallon tank. Are you using a 100 watt or 160 watt? Also, how close is the MVB to your beardie when he is basking. A T-Rex bulb give off a lot of ultra violet rays and also a LOT of heat. I have a 100 watt in a 55 gallon and had to lower the basking area because it was too hot for her. In a 20 gallon, it's very hard to get good temps, offering a good basking temp and a good cool side temp to allow for proper thermoregulation. An MVB shouldn't be used in a tank any smaller than a 40 gallon because of their intensity and high temperature of the bulbs.

What type of thermometer are you using to check the temps? If using any type of stick-on, either a strip or round gauge, they can be off by as much as 20 degrees.

He is probably overheating which can cause vomiting, dehydration, loss of appetite, heat stroke, etc etc. How old is he, if you aren't sure of the age, what length is he from nose to tail tip? Babies can get dehydrated very quickly anyway, so I suggest you answer the questions quickly, because this sounds like a dangerous situation.

Since you're using a MVB, are you using calcium without D3? How often are you dusting his live food with calcium and vitamins? How long has it been since he had a poop and did it look normal with a soft urate & soft brown area?

As peera mentioned, romaine lettuce isn't a good green to feed alone, especially for a baby as there really isn't any nutritional value in it and can cause runny stools which can also lead to dehydration. Feeding carrots daily isn't a good idea either as it will show you on the website. so please check out the site that she gave you the link to.

Make sure to remove any uneaten crickets or they will chew on him when he is sleeping causing nasty sores.

Please fill us in on the unanswered questions so we can try to help your baby before he gets any worse.

the light is a 100 watt and he can get about 8 inches away... and i put the calcium on his crickets once a day and the vitamens every other day.... the calcium does have d3 in it and im using a thermometer with a probe. wen i take him out to give him baths he has drinken water and i do mist him once a day so if hes not drinking he can drink that way as well. last time he pood was sunday he ate last on sat. the poo looked normal. wasnt runny or ne thing. and it was mostly white and black... the only thing different was it was a lil bigger then usual.. but he is about 5 inches full in length but he has a nipped tale. we got him like that and he was very energetic wen we brought him home. and is still somewhat energetic.... yesterday he was running around his cage and jumping from branch to branch but he still wont eat

well this morning i made the minimal distance he can get to the uvb light at 10 inches.... and put 4 crickets undusted for now to see if he'll eat.. i went to work and wen i came home there was some poo.... finally..... all 4 crickets were still there but i did hand feed him two small amounts of collard greens so i mixed him up a bowl of collard and mustard greens so if he wants he can eat that... hes still not eating that much though.. but at least its an improvement

With a 100 watt MVB, especially the T-Rex, it needs to be a minimum of 12 inches away from him, that's extremely important. It's a very strong bulb and throws out LOTS of heat. So, even a distance of 10 inches is too close for a baby. Can you lower the basking area or get a lamp stand to increase the distance? Does your thermometer look similar to this?


Since you have a MVB, you should actually be using calcium without D3 because the bulbs are so strong that you don't need the extra D3. With a baby, you should be dusting with calcium 5 days a wk, but only 1 feeding a day and with vitamins the other 2 days a wk, but only 1 feeding a day.

He should be pooping 2 to 3 times a day, the white part (the urate) should be soft, not yellow, hard like chalk or rubbery, even you notice any of those signs, then he is probably somewhat dehydrated so increasing the baths to at least 3 to 4 times a wk would be a good ideas.

Babies need lots of protein, so the fact that he is not interested and not eating the crickets, is not good. Perhaps the crickets are too fast for him, you could make it easier for him to catch them by putting a few in a ziploc bag and placing them in the fridge for a few minutes. It's good that he ate a little bit of collard & mustard greens, but he does need the protein from the crickets. If he doesn't eat any crickets tomorrow, it would be a good idea to pick up some squash and chicken babyfood, use a small amt of chicken with a larger amt of squash & dilute with a small amt of water, use a plastic medicine dropper & put drops on his nose for him to lick off.

Please let us know how he is doing tomorrow and let us know what the basking temp and cool side temps are after adjusting the MVB.

no my thermomter isnt as nice as that one... and ive tried hand feeding him with tongs and still not interested... if he doesnt eat any crickets by the time i get home from work tomorrow ill run to the store and get the squash babyfood, and his basking area 12 inches away is 96 and cooler side is 86. and the place i bought him from says hes actually a juvenile and that hes been eating medium size crickets in the store and he wont eat the small if theyre to small so i tried med. size and hes still not eating.. he still seems very energetic... hes always running around his cage just not eating still. do i need both the squash and chicken babyfood? and does the total distance from the light have to be all around the light or just directly under neath?

The thermometer in the picture was only $12.00 from Walmart and is the AcuRite brand. You can get both the basking & cool side temps at the same time and it also has a humidity readout.

I can't believe that you're only getting a reading of 96 with the bulb 12 inches away, that just doesn't seem right. I wonder if your thermometer is defective. Are you placing the probe end right under the light so that it is touching the basking surface and waiting about 45 min for the temp to stop rising before you get the 96 reading? I have the exact same bulb in a 55 gallon and it gets SO hot that I can hardly touch the ceramic top of the deep dome. When you put your hand directly under the bulb does it seem like it is throwing off a lot of heat? The cool side is actually too warm, should be closer to 80 degrees so it's not allowing him to thermoregulate properly. It's very hard with a 20 gallon to get the temps right. I have that bulb 14" away in the 55 gallon and still get a basking temp of 104. Do you have the MVB sitting on top of the screen? The closest the bulb should be to any part of the basking area is a 12 inch minimum, he should not be able to get any closer than that to the bulb anywhere in his tank.

The size of the crickets should be no larger than the space between his eyes so please keep that in mind otherwise he could get an impaction. It's good that he's energetic but he could be running around like that trying to escape the heat so I really suggest you get something to double check the temperatures as he could get dehydrated very quickly.

For the babyfood, you need the chicken or turkey because they contain protein and he needs to have that to help him grow. The squash is important too because you need to use a larger amt of the squash than you do the chicken or turkey.

I hope I covered all your questions. :wink:

The bulb is no closer then 12 inches to any part of his basking area. And the 96 was in a 20 min period. Would he try to eat the wire or the probe? And the bulb is about 5-6 inches above the screen. How do u feel about the grass type terrarium liner? And he actually ate 3 crickets last night along with some of his greens. And this morning he ate 2 out of the 6 I put in there before I left for work. Oh and would I need any other heat source besides the mvb?

Hi
No need to worry about the wire most of them just view at as "furniture".I have a feeling your temps are way off so first thing would be to get the proper thermometer.Also are you 100% sure you are using an MVB bulb?Is ther any chance its just a regukar basking bulb?If you are using an MVB then he may have stopped eating because as stated the original 8inches was WAY too close.Also have you tried giving him a bath?If he is dehydrated that could stop his eating.Part of this is going to be simple relocation stress but you have to make sure the set up is correct or he could continue to go down hill.Also dont leave the crix in with him for more then 15 minutes at a time they could stress him or even bite him and leave some nasty wounds.Try putting the crix in the fridge for a few minutes to slow them down for him then see if he reacts a little better.

Vicky

Well the box says mercury vapor bulb so I'm pretty sure it is and ill make sure I don't leave the crix in there longer then 15 mins next time. Also I've given him about 4 baths this week so he can drink and the warm water might help him feel better.

Djliggett1":1a922 said:

Well the box says mercury vapor bulb so I'm pretty sure it is and ill make sure I don't leave the crix in there longer then 15 mins next time. Also I've given him about 4 baths this week so he can drink and the warm water might help him feel better.

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Ok good just want make sure there isnt any confusion on the bulb.Its just that usually MVB bulbs get very hot thats why they are not recommended for tanks smaller then 40 breeder.Great on the baths just work on getting that digital prone and verifying the temps and hopefully the rest will fall into place.

Wat r ur thoughts about the "grass" type terrarium lining as a substrate?