MarstheDragon
New member
Intro
Hello there. This is my first post, and I'm concerned about my little dragon, Mars, who I've had for about a month now. Mars isn't eating much of anything at all. I say "much" because he will occasionally eat a roach, but only if he sees the roach moving, and he won't eat if hand fed. I have also tried crickets, wax worms, mustard greens and collard greens to no avail.
Every resource I've read regarding bearded dragon behavior when they're young has led me to believe that they should have a rather voracious appetite, but all little Mars does is hang out in the cool side of his enclosure. He also still seems rather scared of me, and I'm not quite sure what to do to remedy that.
Husbandry
Here's my setup, don't worry, the white powder is just calcium dust:
To sum up what's going on here, It's a 40 gallon tank (which I will be upgrading once Mars gets larger to a 75 likely), with a 22" T5 high output 10.0 UVB bulb, a 150 watt basking bulb on one side hooked up to a thermostat (though I can never really get the probe in a good place, anyone have tips for that?) and a timer (I give him 15 hours of daylight and 9 hours of darkness), and two hides, the top of one of them serving as the basking spot. I can say that the temperatures in the morning tend to be colder on the cool side, and he likes to hang out there a lot, despite his basking spot being only 105 degrees. To get the humidity right, I have a dehumidifier in the room which is keeping the humidity at 40%.
I try to feed him twice a day, but since he's not eating that's been problematic. Up until he started eating a couple dubias, I've had to force feed him as instructed by my vet (we'll get to that in a moment). I gave him a carnivore powder supplied to me by said vet, which I've had to stuff down his throat with a tiny syringe to get him to eat. He would barely touch it if I simply put some on his snout.
I'd like to believe all of that is optimal, but if there's anything you guys can suggest regarding my setup that needs to change, please do. I care a lot about this little guy and I'd hate to be doing something wrong.
What I've Tried
This problem has been going on for a while, really, since I first got Mars. At first I attributed it to him being stressed, but it was clearly not that when he got used to his enclosure. I tried feeding him crickets because I couldn't get ahold of dubias, now I do have dubias, but he will only barely eat those. I did take him to the vet, who was able to tell he had "bad bacteria" (no mention of what bacteria, which I would have appreciated) when they performed a fecal, and supplied me with an antibiotic. They gave him the first dose on the spot, and he ate better for a bit... but then the problem re-emerged. I gave him another dose of the antibiotic recently and that's how I've gotten him to eat 2 dubia roaches, but he's still not eating well.
I took him to the vet a second time to see if the bacteria was still there, and whether that was the problem, but they were unable to get a fecal from him. He's also too small to draw blood, so this was to no avail. I'm not really sure how to get him to eat, or if I should still be force feeding him.
I guess my question now is... does anyone have any advice?
And of Course, Beardie Tax
Hello there. This is my first post, and I'm concerned about my little dragon, Mars, who I've had for about a month now. Mars isn't eating much of anything at all. I say "much" because he will occasionally eat a roach, but only if he sees the roach moving, and he won't eat if hand fed. I have also tried crickets, wax worms, mustard greens and collard greens to no avail.
Every resource I've read regarding bearded dragon behavior when they're young has led me to believe that they should have a rather voracious appetite, but all little Mars does is hang out in the cool side of his enclosure. He also still seems rather scared of me, and I'm not quite sure what to do to remedy that.
Husbandry
Here's my setup, don't worry, the white powder is just calcium dust:
To sum up what's going on here, It's a 40 gallon tank (which I will be upgrading once Mars gets larger to a 75 likely), with a 22" T5 high output 10.0 UVB bulb, a 150 watt basking bulb on one side hooked up to a thermostat (though I can never really get the probe in a good place, anyone have tips for that?) and a timer (I give him 15 hours of daylight and 9 hours of darkness), and two hides, the top of one of them serving as the basking spot. I can say that the temperatures in the morning tend to be colder on the cool side, and he likes to hang out there a lot, despite his basking spot being only 105 degrees. To get the humidity right, I have a dehumidifier in the room which is keeping the humidity at 40%.
I try to feed him twice a day, but since he's not eating that's been problematic. Up until he started eating a couple dubias, I've had to force feed him as instructed by my vet (we'll get to that in a moment). I gave him a carnivore powder supplied to me by said vet, which I've had to stuff down his throat with a tiny syringe to get him to eat. He would barely touch it if I simply put some on his snout.
I'd like to believe all of that is optimal, but if there's anything you guys can suggest regarding my setup that needs to change, please do. I care a lot about this little guy and I'd hate to be doing something wrong.
What I've Tried
This problem has been going on for a while, really, since I first got Mars. At first I attributed it to him being stressed, but it was clearly not that when he got used to his enclosure. I tried feeding him crickets because I couldn't get ahold of dubias, now I do have dubias, but he will only barely eat those. I did take him to the vet, who was able to tell he had "bad bacteria" (no mention of what bacteria, which I would have appreciated) when they performed a fecal, and supplied me with an antibiotic. They gave him the first dose on the spot, and he ate better for a bit... but then the problem re-emerged. I gave him another dose of the antibiotic recently and that's how I've gotten him to eat 2 dubia roaches, but he's still not eating well.
I took him to the vet a second time to see if the bacteria was still there, and whether that was the problem, but they were unable to get a fecal from him. He's also too small to draw blood, so this was to no avail. I'm not really sure how to get him to eat, or if I should still be force feeding him.
I guess my question now is... does anyone have any advice?
And of Course, Beardie Tax