Baby Beardie rarely eating and no bowel movements so far

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I just purchased my first baby bearded dragon saturday afternoon. When I got Little Bit (waiting to see if its a he or a she before naming permanently) home, it ate a few crickets and later went to sleep. Yesterday i tried to feed it crickets three times and it only took a few. I thought maybe the enclosure was too big so i got a small container today and tried to feed it inside the container. it only ate three this morning and none when i tried 15 mins ago for its second meal of the day.

It also has had no bowel movements that i have noticed since getting it home. Im afraid that it may have been impacted when i bought it. Other than those two issues little bit is very alert, and watches everything that goes on in the room with interest.

Any suggestions on what i should do? Should i keep trying to feed it inside the smaller container or let it eat in the larger 20 gallon aquarium?
and how long should i wait to see if there is a bowel movement before i start to treat it for impaction? Since its stress level is probably high(and might be a cause to less eating) i dont want to take it out of its inclosure and place it in another place it isn't familiar with if i don't have to so soon.
 
Depending on how young your dragon is, he may not be a big eater right away. Dragons only a week or two old are very light eaters. Dragons can also experience relocation anxiety that may make them hesitant to eat at first. After a few days, he will feel more at home and settle in. By 4 weeks of age, he will be eating more crickets, and having more bowel movements, than you can imagine. :D
 

WarsawRiddler

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Original Poster
I was hoping for the most part that it was from the relocation, but just checking to make sure so i can give it the attention that is needed. Right now its running circles around the cage exploring and wont move if i am watching lol. I cant wait to watch it grow! Im already addicted to having one, I am already wanting another.
 

lauraj1055

Gray-bearded Member
WarsawRiddler":2o07z3ms said:
I was hoping for the most part that it was from the relocation, but just checking to make sure so i can give it the attention that is needed. Right now its running circles around the cage exploring and wont move if i am watching lol. I cant wait to watch it grow! Im already addicted to having one, I am already wanting another.

They are super addicting. I bought a 7 month old one in December, than a 5 month old one in February, and now I am on my first baby beardie.. I can't wait to get home everyday to see them.. It's quite a lot of work to take care of them, even though I enjoy it very much!
 

mellu

Juvie Member
When I brought my baby Kira home she was extremely tiny and skinny and I couldn't get more than 5-6 crickets in her per day for at least 3 weeks, and she wouldn't hunt, I had to hand feed her. Be consistent and she will pick up on eating. For pooping try giving her daily baths, I trained baby Kira to poo in her bath every morning, she WILL go in her tank now but in the beginning she wasn't a big pooper at all. As soon as she picked up on eating she pooped at least 2-3 times a day, she still poops in her bath. Babys are ridiculously addictive, when we got Lagu he was probably about 4 weeks old and the biggest of all of our babies, when we bought his big boy tank we went to go buy a new light fixture for him and I ended up coming home with Mika, Kira was essentially a rescue. Every time I see a baby beardie I want to take it home.
 

WarsawRiddler

Member
Original Poster
Thanks for the advice, and things seem to slowly be turning around. About hand feeding though, its very timid and wants to run from me...obviously i haven't handled it much since i am trying to give it time to recover from the relocation. any suggestions? or should i just continue what i am doing and wait to see if things NEED to change?

And yes they are addicting, if i could afford another on my budget(college student) I definitely would, i guess ill have to wait a year and graduate to see if i can get another.
 

mellu

Juvie Member
Oh, I only hand fed her because that's the only way I could get her to eat, I would never do that by choice, she eats out of her bowl now as well as from our hands.
 

WarsawRiddler

Member
Original Poster
I do not plan on hand feeding it unless it comes down to that point. Which i am hoping doesn't happen, Ill give it couple more days, it seems to want to eat greens more than the crickets. I guess its better than eating nothing.
 
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