NOT eating

I have a a 8 week old beardie i got him exactly 2 weeks ago and he seemed healthy but for the past 2 weeks he has barely eatin anything he lives in his own cage has the right heat lamp/temps he doesent have impaction he poops every 3 days (about) iv tried everything to feed him the only thing he has eatin is a couple crickets and wax worms...at first i though he might have just been scared and adjusting but 2 weeks later and hes only eatin a wax worm or cricket every few days..
idk what to do my other beardie is 4 months old and 3 times his size

Hello,

Well, he could be going through relocation stress which usually lasts around 1-2 weeks most of the time. Also, we should go over your setup to make sure everything is good.
What type & brand of UVB light are you using, is it a flourescent tube bulb or a compact or coil light? What type of basking light are you using, a bright white light or a colored light?
What are the temps in the tank? What type of thermometer do you use to measure the temps?
What type of substrate do you have in the bottom of the tank?
The crickets, are they appropriately sized for him?

Tracie

well i hope it is relocation stress and that it is lasting just a bit longer..well iam using a 100w Sun Glo tight beam basking lamp its white compact...he his basking area is 107 and the furthest part from the light is 84 but at night he does not have a light and the coldest it gets is 70..the bottom of his tank is just newspaper..crickest are right size he ate 2 today :roll: witch last time he eat was more than 2 days ago..
i attempt to hand feed him many times a day and also leave some greens and exc in there..
hes getting vary skinny
any ideas would be helpfull
thank you

Hi, sorry to say that it sounds like your beardie isn't doing very well and he should certainly be wanting to eat more than 2 crickets. Is this the basking bulb that you're using? If so, that isn't a compact bulb, just a basking bulb. http://www.shopwiki.com/detail/?q=Sun+Glo+lamps&s=277571&o=151903814&d=Hagen+Sun+Glo+Tight+Beam+Basking+Spot+Lamp+100+Watt What size tank is he in? What type of thermometer are you using to check the temps? If any type of stick-on thermometer, those can be off by as much as 20 degrees. The only 2 ways to get an accurate reading are with either a temperature gun or a digital thermometer with a long wire & probe end.

You didn't mention anything about a UVB light. They need that in order to prevent metabolic bone disease and other health problems. Here's the best fluorescent UVB you can get in the U.S. http://www.petmountain.com/product/bulbs/504983/zoo-med-reptisun-10.0-high-output-uvb-bulb.html

Babies can get dehydrated very quickly and that can affect their overall health, so I suggest you give him a warm soak (test the temp by the inside of your wrist) for about 20 minutes in either a transparent container or the kitchen sink. Make sure to put a washcloth down in the bottom to keep him from sliding around. Doing this at least 3 to 4 times a wk is very beneficial.

I suggest you pick up some chicken or turkey babyfood as well as some babyfood squash, mixed vegetables or green beans. Use a smaller amt of the meat and mix that in with one of the veggies. Heat in the microwave to take the chill off then use a plastic medicine dropper and put drops on his nose for him to lick off. Once he gets a taste, he should really like it. It's important that you get some food into him.

Are you using calcium and vitamin supplements? With your aged beardie, you should be dusting his live food with calcium with D3 but phosphorus-free 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.

Do you have the 2 beardies housed together, hopefully not since they are both so different in size. Please keep us updated on your baby.

i toke your advice and order that bulb..and everything else also i will work on.he still wont eat crckets or anything But he did go for parsley he ate alot of it iam thinking he may be a picky eater?? he ate a huge handful of parsley but wont eat kale,colered greens mustard greens or crickets/worms..ill keep trying different things..hes a wierd beardie..my others will eat anything

Hi again, that's good that you ordered that UVB light and hopefully once you make the other changes you will notice a big difference. It's important that he get some protein from crickets, other live feeders or at least some chicken babyfood since he is only 8 wks old.

That's good that he ate some parsley, but according to this site http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html, it should only be fed rarely. The staple greens are printed in green ink. Since he likes parsley, perhaps if you sprinkled some over his dish of some of the staple greens he would smell it and eat some greens too.

Is this beardie housed with any of your other beardies?

Please let us know how he is doing.

I would also recommend getting a fecal done. Parasites or bacteria can also cause a beardie to stop eating or growing.

Yes, a fecal check would be a good idea also.