Worrisome behaviour change in young beardie

Hi all,

I've noticed behaviour changes in my 8 month old beardie, Maximus, over the past month or so that are beginning to really worry me.

For one, he almost never eats his veggies anymore. He used to love them, especially green ones. Now he ignores everything. He'll occasionally take a bite of dandelion greens and will eat bananas if I hand feed him them (I rarely do don't worry).
He also just doesn't seem as hungry anymore. He will keep eating insects until he explodes lol, but he used to 'beg' for them if he was hungry. But now, even if I miss a feeding, he won't look for food.

Another thing he's doing is hiding in the cool end. He'll dig up the shelf liner and hide underneath it for hours at a time sometimes. I have to move him myself to get him out sometimes. He occasionally has a black beard while doing this, but not all the time. He even does this after eating

He also tries to hide underneath the shelf liner at the hot end. I caught him doing this when I blocked his access to the cold side.

He's releasing excess water, but parts of his urates are a little hard. He refuses to drink water, always had.

The temperatures in his vivarium range from 22°C to 43°C. He has an Arcadia D3 T5 for UVB. Please help if you can, thank you

Distance of the UVB to decor piece?? Is sit 12-15 inches ? Temps sound good can you post pics of the tank so we can see what might be causing the behavior
https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ click on XIMG at the top of the message box then click on the pic it should post
Karrie

Hi Karrie,

Sorry the button for 'quote' isn't working for some reason :? . He can get a little too close to the UVB if he sits on the part of the branch at the back of his vivarium, that's about 8" from the uvb. But when not hiding, he prefers to sit on his rocks, or further up on the branch. He can adjust if he feels he's getting too much (I did try turn off the UVB for a while, his behaviour didn't change)

Something seems off in the tank --- how are you getting basking temps? I see no temp gauge at all - temps need to be taken w/ a digital probe therm or a infrared heat gun-- is the UVB inside the tank or on top of screen?
Karrie

KarrieRee":23bexe42 said:

Something seems off in the tank --- how are you getting basking temps? I see no temp gauge at all - temps need to be taken w/ a digital probe therm or a infrared heat gun-- is the UVB inside the tank or on top of screen?
Karrie

Click to expand...

I'm using an infrared heat gun for the temps. It's inside the tank, don't think I can put it outside it; cutting a hole would make the lid too weak (the wood isn't the strongest)

Ok so the UVB is good and temps are good - I would say maybe parasites --- is he hydrated? Both will cause lack of appetite and parasites cause of both the not eating and the not feeling good -- what does his poop look like ? is it real runny -- the smell so bad it makes you want to leave the room? dehydration the urate is gonna be dry and chalky looking
Karrie

KarrieRee":1p10lslv said:

Ok so the UVB is good and temps are good - I would say maybe parasites --- is he hydrated? Both will cause lack of appetite and parasites cause of both the not eating and the not feeling good -- what does his poop look like ? is it real runny -- the smell so bad it makes you want to leave the room? dehydration the urate is gonna be dry and chalky looking
Karrie

Click to expand...

I think he's fairly hydrated. His skin is a little wrinkly, but when I pinch it it goes back into place. It smells bad but I haven't noticed a change, like it doesn't seem to smell way worse. His poop is fairly solid, and there's usually a small pool of water surrounding it. It looks almost covered in a very light film of urate (apologies for all the details haha). His urate looks wet but if smushed the end feels quite hard

So the extra water is good means hes hydrated --- is he losing weight? Usually parasites the poop smells so bad it makes you want to leave the room type of smell - get a weight on him a kitchen scale will work weigh in grams and watch it for a week or so see if hes losing weight -- if he sees its time to see a vet --- it could be just him being lazy --- so hes eating and basking? correct? Does he have a hide in the tank? Not sure why he would be getting a black beard after eating -- odd - what does his diet consist of?
Karrie

KarrieRee":1mizpda3 said:

So the extra water is good means hes hydrated --- is he losing weight? Usually parasites the poop smells so bad it makes you want to leave the room type of smell - get a weight on him a kitchen scale will work weigh in grams and watch it for a week or so see if hes losing weight -- if he sees its time to see a vet --- it could be just him being lazy --- so hes eating and basking? correct? Does he have a hide in the tank? Not sure why he would be getting a black beard after eating -- odd - what does his diet consist of?
Karrie

Click to expand...

I keep track of his weight, and he's gaining about 15-20g a week. Ahh no it doesn't smell that bad. He occasionally basks yes. And yes he's eating insects. He has a hide on the cool side, it's on the left of the tank you can't see it super well in the picture.
Oh no, he gets a black beard sometimes when he goes to hide. He hides after eating at nighttime instead of basking (I move him which works for a while). His diet consists of various types of roaches, mealworms and superworms. He also no longer eats calcium worms, which was something I thought he grew out of but the behaviour is back.
I considered using bee pollen to make him want to eat veggies again. But the only sweet thing he likes are overripe bananas, and even then he'll only eat them if I hand feed them. So I don't think it'll work?

KarrieRee":2spq8ao9 said:

So the extra water is good means hes hydrated --- is he losing weight? Usually parasites the poop smells so bad it makes you want to leave the room type of smell - get a weight on him a kitchen scale will work weigh in grams and watch it for a week or so see if hes losing weight -- if he sees its time to see a vet --- it could be just him being lazy --- so hes eating and basking? correct? Does he have a hide in the tank? Not sure why he would be getting a black beard after eating -- odd - what does his diet consist of?
Karrie

Click to expand...

He's gaining 15-20g a week atm. Ah no, it doesn't smell THAT bad xD.

Yes he's eating insects and basking a little. Oh no, he doesn't Blackbeard after eating. He does it sometimes when he goes to hide (he has a hide yes). And he goes to hide straight after eating sometimes

His diet consists of different types of roaches, superworms, occasional waxworks and mealworms. He also no longer eats calcium worms. He went through a phase before of not eating veggies or calcium worms, and now he's doing it again months later.. which is strange.

Yes he got tired of them like mine did - I was using the calci worms as lures to the salad bowl when mine was little - I think he got tired of them around 5-6 months old -- you got a variety diet going so that is good -- ok so w/ him gaining weight --- and doing everything hes supposed to do he should be fine and its just him being lazy --- let him do his thing -- its when they quit eating basking and not pooping and losing weight is when you need to worry---
Karrie

KarrieRee":ooo7fyqg said:

Yes he got tired of them like mine did - I was using the calci worms as lures to the salad bowl when mine was little - I think he got tired of them around 5-6 months old -- you got a variety diet going so that is good -- ok so w/ him gaining weight --- and doing everything hes supposed to do he should be fine and its just him being lazy --- let him do his thing -- its when they quit eating basking and not pooping and losing weight is when you need to worry---
Karrie

Click to expand...

Any idea why he might be lazy? He's not coming out of his hide at all now unless I move him. When I move him, he'll stay out for an hour or so then go back to hiding. He's only properly basking in the morning now :/

Not sure -- I had to get my 11 month old out of his hide this morning he went in early the other day didnt come out all day yesterday so I pulled him out of his hide and cleaned up a little bit - fed him and my older one who has been awake and basking etc- the 11 month old is eating and basking today so not sure if its the weather or what -- so did yours eat today?
Karrie

KarrieRee":2qaxel11 said:

Not sure -- I had to get my 11 month old out of his hide this morning he went in early the other day didnt come out all day yesterday so I pulled him out of his hide and cleaned up a little bit - fed him and my older one who has been awake and basking etc- the 11 month old is eating and basking today so not sure if its the weather or what -- so did yours eat today?
Karrie

Click to expand...

Sorry for the delay in reply ?. He's eating yes. But he's only eating mealworms and superworms, when he ate everything before. He'll take a bite of veggies every now and then, but that's it. He used to love crickets, now he won't touch them. He now only eat roaches by hand, and only occasionally, when they used to be his favourite (hasn't had them in a while though)

He doesn't really bask anymore. He hides almost all day. When he does come out, he'll sit around the middle for a while. Or, at night time, he goes to his branch, which is about 34°C. The evening is the only time Hell come out of hiding. Could this be because of the outside weather here? His enclosure is a little hotter than usual lately, due to outside weather. But he usually hangs out where it's in the low thirties, so idk why he'd want to stay cooler now?

Is he losing weight? Keep track of his weight w/ a kitchen food scale-- maybe some others on here can advise what the issue could be
Karrie