My beardie doesnt have a large appetite.

Hi im still new at being a beardie mommy lol its only been about 3 weeks and my beardie is 6 months old. Ive notice that people say their beardies eat upwards to 30 or more crickets a day and i dont feed natsu crickets (because ive had experience with them when i had my fire belly toad and they were noisy and stink) i feed him dubias and he may eat 10 to 15 a day, some days less than that. Hes still very active, he runs around in his tank and when i let him out to explore hes all over the place. He seems to be healthy and his temps at his basking spot range between 98 - 109 so he can choose where he wants to lay and his cool side stays at 80 - 85. Hes very alert and curious but i want to be sure that hes okay and getting all th nutrients he needs.

I went through this with my girl when I first got her. I bought her from a Petco, and it turned out that she has adenovirus, which is an incurable virus that attacks the immune system and liver. She caught it from other infected beardies at the pet store or at the distribution center. It's actually VERY common among pet store dragons.

Now, I don't want to panic you with my story because it could be a number of things causing her lack of appetite. Can you give us a rundown of his tank setup? Please include the following:

1. Name and type of UVB bulb (compacts are no good, so you will want a tube):
2. Type of basking bulb (should be a clear white incandescent bulb):
3. Substrate (tile is recommended, carpet is okay, but sand and any kind of loose substrate can cause impaction):
4. Feeders used and size (gutloaded crickets, roaches, silkworms, and BSFL are recommended, and they should be no bigger than the space between his eyes):
5. Nighttime temps (should be around 75. Do not use a nighttime bulb as it will bother him and distort his sleep cycle. a ceramic heat emitter is recommended if you need to increase the heat at night):

The basking temp range should be 105-115 for a juvenille. 98 is too cold. You also want to make sure you are alternating days with calcium + D3 and a multivitamin. I do 3 days of each per week and have one off-day. All of this is relevant to appetite. If any one of these is off, your little guy's metabolism may not function properly. I went from having a beardie who ate at MOST 10 small crickets a day to one who will eat 60+ large crickets a day. It all makes a difference! Also, I would suggest a well visit to a good reptile vet. Had I not done that, I'm not sure my girl would've survived.

Hes in a 50 gallon breeder tank reptisun 10.0 24 inch fluorescent bulb 100 watt zoo med basking bulb the bottom of his tank is lined with non adhesive shelf liner and i offer him mainly nymph sized dubias that are a lil smaller than the space between his eyes i also dust them with calcium 5x a week and a multivitamin 2x a week and hes also offered collard and mustard greens, butternut squash, carrots, and sweet potatoes. I mentioned previously his basking temps are are between 98 - 109 at different levels on his basking branch so near the top it stays at 109. I was planning on taking him for a wellness check to make sure everything is okay and get a fecal sample done at the end of this week. I also ordered him from a breeder that was well known in the area instead of a pet store idk if that makes a difference or not. Thanks for the help and info. Also his temps at night are 77 so i dont use any extra lights or che at night.

Hmmm... Well, your husbandry sounds pretty good. I would get him tested for adenovirus in addition to the fecal when you do go in to the vet, just to be sure. Even beardies from reputable breeders can carry adeno. I'd also cut the calcium down to every other day, but no less than 3 times a week. It can actually be harmful to them to have too much intake of calcium. But that's the only thing I'd change. If you've had him for three weeks, he may still be going through an adjustment period. Do keep us updated on how he is doing!

Okay thank you so much and ill cut back on the calcium for sure i dont want to harm him. Im a first time beardie mom so every little thing scares me lol and so greatful for this website and the info that you guys have to help us newbies.

I say it all the time--this website saved my beardie's life. She was SO skinny sick when I first got her because of the horrible and wrong care information I was given at the pet store. Here, she was only 16g on January 7th:


But because of the wonderful people here (Drache613, CooperDragons, Rankins, and the other pros especially), my girl is fat, happy and healthy now! As of March 7th, she's up to 196g!

Omg shes so beautiful and i see the big difference in her from when you got her up until now.

Thank you! Yeah, she was dark, had stress lines, and looked sad ALL the time before. Her eyes were always half-closed because the compact UVB gave her an eye infection. More bad info from the greedy big-box pet store. You can see her happy yellow-orange colors now, too!

So update on natsu. I took him to the vet yesterday and they said hes just fine! She said not to worry to much about his lack of appetite every beardie is different but she said hes at a healthy weight, healthy mucus membranes, and his lungs were clear.

That's wonderful to hear that he got a clean bill of health from the vet. Was he tested for adenovirus? They can live long, healthy lives with the virus, but if he has it, you will want to start on supplements early to keep him happy and healthy. There's no harm in getting the test done, but it is good to know so you can support his body functions if he does have it.

Ill have to take him back i knew i had forgotten to ask about getting it done. They asked 100 questions about everything else it completely slipped my mind ill schedule another appt next week.

That's good! It's important to know, so you can start support early. Also, I wonder, is your vet a herp vet? Because a good herp vet would have suggested getting the test right off the bat, especially because this virus is becoming more and more prevalent in bearded dragons. I'm thinking you may want to look into another finding another vet, specifically one whose background is with reptiles.

Yea she is i actually found her on this website and shes the only vet in the area that looks at reptiles other herp vets are 8 hrs away from me

She actually owns quite a few reptiles.

Okay. Well I would still suggest getting he adenovirus test. It's non-invasive. They just do a fecal swab.