My baby is not eating...

Hello.. I am new to this but I have kept referring to this site for beardie info. I have a 7 month old beardie named Os (short for Ostrich as he likes to stick his head in his bedding). When I got him at 3 months old (this July) he was a greedy little guy. Then in October he went off his food so I took him to the vet and he had impaction due to him eating his calci sand. I had removed his intially bedding due to the fear of impaction and had been told to use calci sand. I have now removed this. Anyhow after a few weeks of bathing and lacotose Os pooed all the sand out and was fine. But he still won't eat his crickets and has no real interest in food. Initially after he got rid of the sand he gobbled up some waxworms and seemed to be back to normal but since then I am lucky if he eats some waxworms or mealworms every 2-3 days. I don't understand...the vet grilled me at the time to check of I was doing everything right and said I am doing everything right including the height of his uv light and the temperature.

Why has my boy lost his appetite? He used to love his greens now he just looks at them. He's too young to brumate surely? He sleeps alot. In fact he reminds me of the "eat, poo and be merry" beardie.

Any sugestions welcome.

Also how big is a 7 motnh old beardie suppose to be? Mine is 11 &1/2 inches or 29 cm nose to tail tip.
Thanks
T

Hello,

Could you go over your tank setup though, just so we can be sure everything is good. What type & brand of UVB light are you using, is it a flourescent tube light or a compact or coil light? How old is it? How close is it to your dragon?
What type of basking light do you use, a bright white light or a colored light?
Do you use calcium supplementation?
Did you change out the calcisand to another type of substrate?
Sometimes, at young ages, they can slow down due to the season. It is not uncommon.
However, we need to make sure that there is nothing else wrong. Maybe you should get a fecal done on him to make sure he doesn't have worms or parasites. After being impacted with sand, he is lucky that he passed alot of it. There could still be some residual sand left that has not passed through.
Did you treat for impaction with soft foods, & a little bit of olive or mineral oil?
What are the temps in the tank, & how do you measure them?

Tracie

My beardie's set up is as follows

UV light is a repti glo 10.0 uvb (30 W) 90cm long. Flourescent light.
I have a Habistat heater on the roof of the viv at one end. So no basking light.
I use a thermo control II which controls the temp and doesn't allow the heat to drop less than 1 degree before it boosts the heater. The heat is set at a max of 35c.
I have a thermo control temperature gauge in the viv and at each end I have a thermomiter stuck to the two end sides.
The cool end is at approx 70 - 73 F and the hot end goes anywhere from 90 - 95 F

The substrate is only at one end- where he sleeps as he likes to bury his head - the stuff is called Aubiose. It is organically cultivated hemp. But looks like large wood shaving/chips
The whole viv is laid with newspaper.

The viv is four feet long, 40 cm wide and 46 cm high.

The vet checked his fecus when Os origignally had impaction to check that the sand was coming out and he detected nothinbg. He also said that he was healthy and very strong.
To get rid of the impaction Os was given reptibol once a day with a syringe and bathed in it. He as fed lactose (laxative liquid) twice a day. I also gave him some pureed baby food (fruit).
I was sprinkling the calcium supplments (nutrobol) onto his crickets but since he is not eating them, I gues he is not getting any. I have ordered some more reptibol to give him.

Thaks
T

Hello T,

How long have you had the Reptiglo 10 flourescent tube light? Also, not using any bright white lighting along with UVB lights are harmful to their eyes. I would take the ceramic heat emitter & replace it with a bright white halogen type of bulb.
The Reptiglo 10's have not had good reviews for UVB emission. That could quite possibly be the reason that he does not have much of an appetite, because it is just not a strong enough light. The wavelength that the light puts out does not emit favorable wavelength to promote D3 synthesis which over time, can contribute to poor calcium absorption along with metabolic bone disease.
I suggest trying to upgrade to the Reptisun 10 flourescent tube light. You are in the UK, correct? If so, look for the Arcadia D3 12% flourescent tube light, it is just a little stronger than the Reptisun.
When setting up the lighting, make sure that you have the UVB flourescent tube bulb setup directly beside the bright white basking light to encourage basking & so he can have a focused area where he can get heating & UVB lighting at the same time.
Also, for the heating. He needs a steady basking temp of 35C to 43C, focused. The hot side temps should have lower gradients, otherwise, he will overheat. The cool side needs to be more around 26C to 29C. The ambient temps should be around 27C. That is really important. If the ambient temps get much higher than 29-30C, then he will not be able to properly thermoregulate.
So the newspaper is on top of the Aubiose? I have heard of that stuff, but does he attempt to ingest any of it? If the newspaper is over that, then it should not be a problem.
The size of the tank is perfectly fine. He should have plenty of space.
The nutrabol is ok, but it has vitamins & calcium mixed. Alot of times, when only that is given, they tend not to get enough calcium when taking a supplement that has the mix. I recommend getting either Miner-All or Calypso calcium to ensure he is getting enough calcium.
Has his impaction passed completely yet? Can you post a picture of him? Why is he being given lactose for? How do his stools look? They are lactose intolerant, so that could be bothering him. Did the vet give that to him for a reason?
Good you have ordered some Reptobol to help him out. If he is not eating, get some squash babyfood, & chicken babyfood to give to him, with just a small amount of fruit. Too much fruit can cause diarrhea, so he only needs a little bit.
How old is your dragon?

Tracie

Hi Tracie

I definitely will replace his light. Should I add the basking bulb to the viv in addition to the heater? What do you use to heat your beardie's enclosure? Should I replace mine with something better?
Os is 7 months old now.
The vet recommended the lactose for Os to help him poo his sand out. I am currently giving him some baby food to ensure he is eating but I would really like to get him back to his old self.
He still enjoys his baths and has a little run around. But I would like to see him out more as he spends a lot of time under his log.
I will let you know if the light makes a differnce. I am going to go ahead and get a basking lamp too and I hope that helps too.

I will try to get a photo up at some point.

Thanks for all your advice. I appreciate it.

T

Hello T,

Yes, definitely replace your heater with a bright white basking light for during the daytime. They need bright white light to be stimulated to eat & be active. Oh you don't have to spend alot of money on a fancy reptile basking lamp, either. You can use either a regular household lightbulb, OR a bright halogen which I like to use.
If he needs any heating for nighttime, then you can use the heater, that is not a problem.
Oh ok, that should help his system get flushed out using the lactose. How long did he say for him to use it for?
I think if you get a better UVB light & add a basking light to his tank, that he will begin doing much better for you, & should stop hiding so much & eating better too. Good you have been getting him some babyfood to help him out.
Let me know how things are going for him.

Tracie