'Baby' Dragon - Not eating - Digging.

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AdamBeth

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Hi,

We own several bearded dragons, one of which we are particularly concerned about.

We had several housed together for around 2 months with no problems. Then all of a sudden around a month ago one started digging furiously.

Around 4 months old we thought she was way to young to lay even infertile eggs. But we went ahead and placed a box of damp sand for her, she dug herself a little nesting hole and stayed there for over 24 hours. She then dug herself out and ate like a pig.

However over the following weeks she hasn't touched a single live food, apart from the odd cricket every so often, but very rarely. She's now housed separately but unfortunately she is still not interested in any live food. She does eat her greens a lot and seems active and alert in herself, and poo's regularly whenever shes eaten veg, which is almost daily.

We've tried various live foods for her, but she just isn't interested in anything. All she wants to do is dig and scratch away at the bottom of the viv.

Date Weight Length Age
9/10/2010 7.4 Grams 9 Weeks
16/10/2010 8.5 Grams 5.5” 10 Weeks
23/10/2010 10.2 Grams 11 Weeks
30/10/2010 12.6 Grams 3 Months
06/11/2010 14.2 Grams 13 Weeks
13/11/2010 18.7 Grams 7” 14 weeks
20/11/2010 22.5 Grams 15 weeks
27/11/2010 23 Grams 4 Months
04/12/2010 22.7 Grams 17 weeks
11/12/2010 22.2 Grams 7.5” 18 weeks

Her growth chart.

any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Adam
 

diamc

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hi Adam, she is very small for a 4 month old as you probably already know. How often are you dusting with calcium and vitamins? Sounds like something is making her uncomfortable since she is digging and not eating. It would be a good idea to get a fecal checked for parasites.
Sometimes when the seasons change, it becomes necessary to change the bulb wattages. So, if you haven't checked the tank temps in the past 2 wks, it would be a good idea to check them. Make sure you're using either an infrared temperature gun or a digital thermometer with a long wire & probe end as those are the only 2 ways to get accurate readings. If using any type of stick on thermometer like a strip or round gauge, those can be off by as much as 20 degrees. I'm wondering if she might be overheated and she is digging (especially in the cool sand) to try to escape the heat. Would also be a good idea to make sure she is well hydrated if overheating is a possibility. Another sign that they are uncomfortable is when they spend a lot of time away from the bulbs rather than wanting to bask. One of my beardies was retreating to his hide in the early afternoon and at first I thought he was starting to brumate, but it turned out that I needed to go down to a lower bulb wattage and now he is basking again most of the time. Could you fill us in on the brand and type of UVB you're using and what the distance is of it? Since there are some UVB's that can cause different behavior, just trying to cover all the bases and possibilities.
 

AdamBeth

Member
Original Poster
Hi,

Thanks for the quick and informative response.

She's 3/4 times smaller and lighter than the others of her own age. So I understand shes heavily underweight for her age.

We dust live food with calcium each and every morning, and nutrobol at the weekends. She is offered live food 2/3 times a day, but hasn't been interested in anything for a long while.

We have tried to get a fecal checked before but as we are both out at work all day, when she does rarely poop it always seems to be when we are at work.

As I type this shes glass dancing all over the place, shes still full of energy and alert, which seems strange having not eaten properly for atleast a month now.

Her temps are as follows:
Basking rock (slate under a spotbulb) : 112F
Cool end: 79F
Measured with 2 digital probe thermometers.

Were using a 12% Arcadia tube with a reflector. No longer than a month old. Shes around 6 inches away from it when she basks. Or she likes to climb her plastic cactus' which are around the same sort of distance.

Any other advice or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

Adam
 
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