Juvenile beardie not eating

Hi everyone! I'm new here and new to beardies. I have had my juvenile, Mushu, for around a month now. I've done a lot of reading on this site and follow dietary recommendations closely. He started out eating pretty well. He would eat multiple crickets and would eat at least some of his greens and fruits/veggies. The last couple of weeks he has pretty much stopped eating. As far as I can tell, he doesn't eat any of his little salad. I can get him to eat 1 cricket, maybe 2 if I'm lucky. Everything gets dusted with calcium every day and vitamins at least a few times a week. He seems to sleep a bit more during the day than he was at first and spends most of the day on his basking spot but otherwise he acts pretty normal. I thought it was lighting and temperature so I bought better bulbs and thermometers with probes. One bulb is a combo UV and basking and the other is just UV. The temp on his basking spot runs usually 100-108 and the cool side is around 83-86. I had rearranged his tank with the new lighting so I thought maybe he was just getting used to everything, but he's still not eating. The spots near his shoulders/beard seem darker. I can't tell if his tail is darker, it has always been a little on dark side. I'm trying to boost his appetite and get him at least some nutrition with repta boost but I'm lucky is I can get half of what he should have in him before he won't open his mouth anymore. I don't want to force his mouth open and end up hurting him. He doesn't act stressed when I interact with him and loves when I hold him and pet down his head and back. I'm at a loss. I'm concerned he's not getting the nutrients he needs and is going to end up not doing well. Also, I've read yes, keep water in the tank and no don't because of the humidity. I've tried both. He doesn't seem to be interested in it when it is there and doesn't seem to miss it when it's not around. He gets baths at least a couple times a week and drinks while he's in the bath. I have read the same thing about missing them. Should I keep water in the tank or no?

Here are some photos for reference.

This is when I got him, his tail was darker then also.

This is his tank.

This was last week.

This is tonight.

Hello,

Sorry Mushu is not doing well.
Let's review your UVB lighting a little more. The UVB combo, is that a mercury vapor bulb
& if so, do you know what brand that would be? It should say on the base of the bulb &
what is the wattage?
Then you have a tube bulb, what brand is that?
I see you are using a digital probe, which should be accurate. You might try to get the
temperatures on the cooler end to 78-82F. It is possible that he might be getting a little too
warm, but not sure. It sounds like based on the darker coloring that he may be stressed some.
Will he take food from a dropper if you drop it onto the end of his nose?
What brand of calcium & vitamins do you use for him?

Tracie

Drache613":23cxx0jf said:

Hello,

Sorry Mushu is not doing well.
Let's review your UVB lighting a little more. The UVB combo, is that a mercury vapor bulb
& if so, do you know what brand that would be? It should say on the base of the bulb &
what is the wattage?
Then you have a tube bulb, what brand is that?
I see you are using a digital probe, which should be accurate. You might try to get the
temperatures on the cooler end to 78-82F. It is possible that he might be getting a little too
warm, but not sure. It sounds like based on the darker coloring that he may be stressed some.
Will he take food from a dropper if you drop it onto the end of his nose?
What brand of calcium & vitamins do you use for him?

Tracie

Click to expand...

The tube bulb is a zilla desert series 50 t8 fluorescent bulb. The other bulb is a 100 w Thrive mercury vapor bulb. He spends most of his time on the basking side and very little on the cool side.
These are the vitamins I use, but with him not eating I don't think he's getting much. I do give the crickets food with calcium and I usually dust them also, so he's getting a little when I can get him to eat them. When I put repta boost on his nose, he'll eat the first little bit but then he'll stop. It's a task to get half of the recommended amount in him.