Frequent diarrhea, eating less, dirty vent, less responsive

My 13" juvenile bearded dragon Aries hasn't been himself lately. There are 3 main problems. These problems started about 3 weeks ago, when I left him in the care of my family and found out his main basking platform was moved to an area where it got 90 F at most for about a week. He stopped defecating and eating until they offered him butternut squash and moved the platform back.



Setup:
Enclosure - 36" by 18" by 18" (40 gallon breeder)
UVB - Reptisun 10.0 tube-style in a reflective hood
UVA - 60 or 75 watt florescent bulb in a dimmable lamp
Hood is egg crate/light diffuser panel
Temp gun reads basking spots at 117 F, 95 F, and 90 F. Cool side gets 83 F
Substrate - tile
Timer - 12 hrs sleep, 12 hrs awake
Access to water 24/7
Insects (gut loaded) - calcium dusted crickets offered twice a day, along with a few BSFL and mealworms. Twice a week, his live food is dusted with multivitamin. Vegetables - butternut squash, romaine lettuce, bell peppers, celery, and cilantro. Banana slice once a week.



First: Aries hardly eats compared to the past!
It's been frustrating to fight him to eat. I know 5-10 crickets and a butternut squash-romaine lettuce salad isn't enough for a growing dragon. He just seems to be overall less responsive and less interested in food! I chase him around with the tongs for 30 minutes or so before throwing together a salad, just to give him the option to eat. About 4 out of 5 times, he does eat the vegetables. I feel like it's better than him eating nothing, but this routine means his diet is at least 1/3 vegetables, some days close to 1/2. Even so, he just eats a lot less than he used to and doesn't seem to have the predatory instincts or interest to chase crickets.
Maybe he's lethargic?

Second problem: Aries has reoccuring diarrhea. It seems like the butternut squash may be causing it. He goes through phases where he gets diarrhea, and then it clears up. His feces get runny at least once a week, often more. He defecates once a day pretty consistently.



Lastly, assumingly due to the diarrhea, Aries's vent has been dirty and seems a bit swollen. I'm sure bathing him will wash it away, but how can the diarrhea be prevented? How can I get him interested in live prey again?



Is there a chance that he has pinworms, or that his stomach bacteria is out of whack?

117f seems high. Should be closer to 110 for babies and 100 for adults.

The squash has a lot of water content so it could be contributing to the diarrhea. Peppers can also contribute to diarrhea. I'd give him a nice bath to clean his vent. Mine has been known to walk through her own poo so a regular bath is a great Idea.

Is he starting or mid shed? The legs look brighter than the body. If that's the case he could be grumpy due to shed.

You should swap out the squash for a bit and see if that helps him out. Swap the romaine ford something better food him like mustard or collard greens.

How old is he?

If you're worried about gut Flora bugdelite has probiotic.

This is also the time of year where some dragons start slowing down in preparation for brumation.

Overall he is a beautiful looking dragon. Are you sure he us indeed a he?

I tend to agree with SpacialCoogs, looks female to me too.

Wow! Anyone else agree about the gender? I can post a picture lifting "his" tail in the morning... he was identified as male by the breeder, dachiu dragons.

Aries used to gape a lot when he only had one basking spot (the 117 F on wooden plank) but now, he has lots of basking levels to choose from. I will lower it a bit anyways. Better safe than sorry.

Will cut way back on butternut squash, and replace romaine lettuce with collared/mustard greens.

Aries was 6 weeks old when I bought him on the 4th of July. That would make him about 14 weeks.

Will check out Bugdelite.

Yes, he is shedding. Did not know it makes them grumpy!

Was thinking brumation. Doesn't that normally start in September?

At 14 weeks old he's too young to be brumating. He's also not sexually mature so you may not truly know sex for a couple months yet.

He's still a baby so the 110 ish basking temp is good.