Hi all, first time posting but I've lurked here and there for a while. I've noticed a recent change in behavior in my bearded dragon and I'm wondering if it's something normal or if there may be a problem.
I got my bearded dragon, Charlie, in November from Petsmart. I'm not sure of the exact age of their beardies when they come in but I'm going to estimate that he's about 10 months old, and he's 21" long. He used to have quite a voracious appetite--if he saw a cricket, he would jump down from his hammock to devour it. However, his appetite has slowed down a lot. I know as they get older the amount of insects they eat decreases and amount of veggies increases, but he's not eating his veggies. He used to nibble on them here and there when he was younger, but now he barely eats them at all. Visibly, he looks fine, I have not noticed any weight loss or injuries, except for the past few weeks his stress marks are always visible except when he's sleeping. My biggest worry is that lately he's been exceptionally lazy. I know they're not always running around but he used to get down from his basking spot a couple times a day to walk around. Now he only gets down in the morning to scratch at the glass, walk around, and maybe poop before he gets back on his hammock. He will sit there throughout the day, sleep there, and then only get back off of it the following morning. Here is some care info for you guys to pick through, hopefully you can spot a problem or offer some suggestions:
-40g enclosure
-tile substrate
-dish of water is offered in enclosure, but I also give him a bath once a week. I never see him drink so I assume he takes some water in through his vent during his weekly bath.
-frozen thawed veggies are offered daily. I leave it in there in the morning/early afternoon and take it out in the evening after his insect meal. I know frozen isn't the best but I was going to change to fresh after he started eating veggies consistently so I wouldn't waste a ton of fresh food. The veggies I give him are collard greens, turnip greens, mustard greens, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, and sometimes I put a little piece of fruit to hopefully entice him but he ignores it.
--insects are fed once daily in the evening. He eats about 75 phoenix worms (should I be giving him more? Not sure of the phoenix worm to cricket ratio). I don't dust them with calcium but twice a week I dust with multivitamin powder. I usually leave them in a bowl and he gets down to eat, but lately I've been having to pick him up off the hammock and set him down beside them to get him to eat. Sometimes he doesn't want to eat and just eats them the next morning. When I run out of phoenix worms and I'm waiting for them to ship, I feed him crickets. Crickets are dusted with calcium powder 5x a week and multivitamin powder 2x a week. They are gut loaded. He eats anywhere from 10-40 of those, average is 20-30. He used to catch them by himself but now I have to hold them in front of his face for him to bother eating it.
-He poops kind of randomly. For the past few days, he's pooped every morning. He skips a couple days here and there. His poop used to be quite soft, but ever since I switched to feeding mostly phoenix worms they have firmed and dried up (and are a lot less smelly too!) They are dark greenish brown and about a third of it is made up of white urates. Sometimes there's a bit of clear liquid around it.
-UVB is a reptisun 10.0 T8 tube. It will need to be replaced in September or october. It's directly inside his cage. His basking spot ranges from 90-110 degrees depending on if he's laying on his hammock or sitting on the rock next to it. Cool side ranges from 78-80 degrees. Lights are on from 6:30 am to 8:30 pm.
-I've seen MBD and I know he doesn't have it--there's no shaking or twitching, and he has no problems sitting up, standing, and walking around.
-I'm actually not sure if he's a male--it's my best guess. I looked under his tail but of course it's not as clear as it is in pictures online.
I know that around his age, they go through a phase where they become either really active or really lazy and they turn their nose up at foods they previously liked. Is this what's happening? He used to be pretty active and eating everything in front of his face. Now he doesn't eat a lot and he barely moves. Is he bored? Is it an age thing or could there be something wrong? Thanks for any suggestions or guesses.
I got my bearded dragon, Charlie, in November from Petsmart. I'm not sure of the exact age of their beardies when they come in but I'm going to estimate that he's about 10 months old, and he's 21" long. He used to have quite a voracious appetite--if he saw a cricket, he would jump down from his hammock to devour it. However, his appetite has slowed down a lot. I know as they get older the amount of insects they eat decreases and amount of veggies increases, but he's not eating his veggies. He used to nibble on them here and there when he was younger, but now he barely eats them at all. Visibly, he looks fine, I have not noticed any weight loss or injuries, except for the past few weeks his stress marks are always visible except when he's sleeping. My biggest worry is that lately he's been exceptionally lazy. I know they're not always running around but he used to get down from his basking spot a couple times a day to walk around. Now he only gets down in the morning to scratch at the glass, walk around, and maybe poop before he gets back on his hammock. He will sit there throughout the day, sleep there, and then only get back off of it the following morning. Here is some care info for you guys to pick through, hopefully you can spot a problem or offer some suggestions:
-40g enclosure
-tile substrate
-dish of water is offered in enclosure, but I also give him a bath once a week. I never see him drink so I assume he takes some water in through his vent during his weekly bath.
-frozen thawed veggies are offered daily. I leave it in there in the morning/early afternoon and take it out in the evening after his insect meal. I know frozen isn't the best but I was going to change to fresh after he started eating veggies consistently so I wouldn't waste a ton of fresh food. The veggies I give him are collard greens, turnip greens, mustard greens, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, and sometimes I put a little piece of fruit to hopefully entice him but he ignores it.
--insects are fed once daily in the evening. He eats about 75 phoenix worms (should I be giving him more? Not sure of the phoenix worm to cricket ratio). I don't dust them with calcium but twice a week I dust with multivitamin powder. I usually leave them in a bowl and he gets down to eat, but lately I've been having to pick him up off the hammock and set him down beside them to get him to eat. Sometimes he doesn't want to eat and just eats them the next morning. When I run out of phoenix worms and I'm waiting for them to ship, I feed him crickets. Crickets are dusted with calcium powder 5x a week and multivitamin powder 2x a week. They are gut loaded. He eats anywhere from 10-40 of those, average is 20-30. He used to catch them by himself but now I have to hold them in front of his face for him to bother eating it.
-He poops kind of randomly. For the past few days, he's pooped every morning. He skips a couple days here and there. His poop used to be quite soft, but ever since I switched to feeding mostly phoenix worms they have firmed and dried up (and are a lot less smelly too!) They are dark greenish brown and about a third of it is made up of white urates. Sometimes there's a bit of clear liquid around it.
-UVB is a reptisun 10.0 T8 tube. It will need to be replaced in September or october. It's directly inside his cage. His basking spot ranges from 90-110 degrees depending on if he's laying on his hammock or sitting on the rock next to it. Cool side ranges from 78-80 degrees. Lights are on from 6:30 am to 8:30 pm.
-I've seen MBD and I know he doesn't have it--there's no shaking or twitching, and he has no problems sitting up, standing, and walking around.
-I'm actually not sure if he's a male--it's my best guess. I looked under his tail but of course it's not as clear as it is in pictures online.
I know that around his age, they go through a phase where they become either really active or really lazy and they turn their nose up at foods they previously liked. Is this what's happening? He used to be pretty active and eating everything in front of his face. Now he doesn't eat a lot and he barely moves. Is he bored? Is it an age thing or could there be something wrong? Thanks for any suggestions or guesses.