Bearded Dragon baby stopped eating

Hello!

We got our second bearded dragon a little over a week ago. She is a lot larger than our other wee one, but still a baby (from Petsmart). She is about 8.5 inches long including her tail. I say "she" because she waves all the time at our other beardie who slowly head bobs at her constantly but we really don't know for sure.

Anyway, when we first got this little one home, she ran about gulping up crickets at super fast lightening speed. She also loved dubias and would never refuse a meal. We tried to only feed crickets that were smaller than the space between her eyes, but there might have been a dubia that was larger... the manager at the petstore told us that the rule doesn't apply as much to dubias as it does crickets (???)

She is on reptile carpet for the substrate.

We changed our bulb that came with the kit to the reptisun 10 last night after she was acting lethargic. I also took her out in the sun for 2 hours yesterday. When we were outside, she ate one cricket... but she wouldn't chase crickets. She wasn't interested in the dubias either.

Yesterday, all she ate was 1 cricket. The day before, she only ate a couple of crickets. Normally she'll eat 4 or 5 at a time and we feed 3 times a day (sometimes more). I offered cooked butternut squash last night and she ate that for the first time. I also have been giving her water through a baby water dropper on her nose and she takes a few laps of it several times a day.

I'm sooooooooooo worried about her going off her crickets and dubias. This just isn't like her. She is still arm waving at her friend through the glass but isn't as energetic as usual. This dragon between the two of ours, is always the one we're almost afraid to hold because she doesn't like to sit still very long. I don't know what has changed over the past week?

The other night, she did gulp up 7 dubias within a minute or less. Could that have caused impaction? How would I know if she has an impaction or parasites?

I read online on another site that we shouldn't offer any protein to a stressed dragon that isn't eating so I called hubby today and told him to offer only butternut squash until we have a chance to talk to a vet.

I just don't want her going downhill too quickly as I am sure babies can do... a pet store person suggested it may be brumation but I don't think they typically do that before a year old so I don't think that's it.

She does smell more than the other beardie. I noticed it when we first got her home and thought maybe that was due to being in the small enclosure with other beardies at the petstore but now I'm wondering if that might be a sign of a parasite or something wrong?

Thanks in advance for any advice you all can give. I'm still a somewhat newbie at this although I've been reading everything about beardies like crazy for probably the past month or so! They have this Mommy hooked on them.

It's not uncommon for their appetites to fluctuate a bit for various reasons. Do you see signs of a shed coming on? That can have them acting odd and put them off food for a bit sometimes.

She shed from her tail the other day and the next day, when I had her out, part of her head shed in her bath, so yes. Do you think that is what caused the appetite loss because she looks like she's done with shedding now (it's been 3 days since I saw her shed I think). I just don't know at what point I should be worried enough to take her to a vet.

Pet store employees, in many cases, give incorrect info.... a baby beardie does not ever brumate. And the size of the insects does matter, once they're about 12" it's not as risky to feed larger prey items but at her size it can still potentially cause impaction. Has she poo'd since the larger meal ? It may just be fluctuating appetite like Cooper said, and can be evident during shedding but keep an eye to see if she's pooing regularly. It's good that she drinks from an eyedropper, extra hydration always helps in case of impaction or even a little constipation.

Thank you! Yes, it's amazing how little some pet store employees know. I talked with a MANAGER last night of a pet store and he just shrugged his shoulders when I asked about my beardie not eating as much. Then when we asked about whether a light that came with one of the fixtures would be adequate for the UVB, he told us he wasn't "qualified" enough to answer that question. Then WHY are they selling the dragons if they aren't qualified to give advice? So maddening. We ended up getting the fixture including the light and took the light out and replaced it with the Reptisun 10.0 that we bought as well ($95.00 ugh!)

I asked my husband since I'm not at home, and he said she poo'd this morning but that it wasn't a large poo. Yesterday, there were several piles but I don't know how long they take to digest their food.

I'm more of a horse person and I know that poo'ing is a good thing! We about cheer when horses with colic finally poo as they can go down quicker than any animal I've ever seen due to impactions in their intestines.

How is the baby doing today? Has her appetite picked up any?
Can you tell us a little about your temps? What your basking site is and well as the warm and cool sides?
You are right pooping is a great sign this shows us she's most likely not impacted. How is the poop (I know that's a gross question but it can tell us a lot) is it well formed, runny, extra liquidity or dry? Are her urates well formed and nice and white?

Hello! Well she is active (in that she is constantly basking and waving at the other beardie LOL). My husband said she ate two bites of butternut squash earlier today. He offered dubies and crickets but she isn't interested in those right now for some reason.

This morning, her poo was smaller but had the black with the white in it. When I got home (about 5 PM) she had a poo in her food dish that looked a lot like poo'd out butternut squash which makes sense since that's all she ate today. I would think it would be more digested though than it is appearing?

The temps are 100 - 105 on the hot side and about 82 on the cool side.

It's great that she is basking. 105-110 is a perfect basking site tempature for a baby. You want the actual floor on the warm side to be 90-95 so that she isn't over heated when she is not basking but can still keep warm enough to digest food properly.
The waving is very cute and can mean multiple things. In this situation it sounds as if she is trying to tell the other beardie "please go away and do not harm me." They are not social creatures by nature. I suggest separating the two so that you can examine if it could actually be stressing her out. After she's had a day or so of not being able to see the other beardie see if this may help her appetite to pick up.

Sonetimes they do have pieces of undigested food in their feces which is normal once in awhile. Monitor her poo and if you continue to notice this it may be wise to go ahead and make a vet appointment to have her checked for parasites. I suggest planning on doing this within a week anyways. This will give her extra time to settle in and for her stress levels to go down a little before being examined.

Keep us updated. It's important that she gets a little protein in her soon veggies are great but at this age protein is a must. Tomorrow let us know if her appetite has increased any

Thanks so much!

Just about a half hour ago, I put several calcium dusted crickets in front of her and she gobbled them up

She had another butternut squash-like poo too. I'm hoping now that she has some crickets in her, the poo will go back to normal. Now she's basking on her log sitting up and looking very content.

We were wondering too if they were stressed. The viv's are right beside each other so they can see each other and we sometimes will put up a white sheet of paper in between them so that they concentrate on eating or sleeping instead of sitting there communicating all night. When we take Godzilla (the smaller of the two) away, she seems to look for him. That's a good idea to visit the vet this week. I was looking in our area for vet referrals and found a couple.

Funny thing. Tonight I had the t.v. on in the background while I was feeding them and guess what comes on out of the blue? A short news special on some of the best pets and they were showing reptiles with Bearded Dragons as #1. :lol: I seriously had never even heard of these cute little things just 2 short months ago. Now it seems like I'm noticing them everywhere.

That is great! so glad to hear she's eating well again. Hopefully she will keep this up. As long as she isn't lethargic and is using the bathroom regularly I'd allow her a little more time to settle in before getting a fecal done. When they recently change homes it can take them a few weeks to settle in completely. If you take her in too soon the fecal may show high levels of coccidia which may actually just be due to stress. It's always best to wait for them to be completely settled in first if possible. Until than continue monitoring her poo and keep her well hyderated by misting 2-3 times a day.

Putting something in between of their enclosures would work perfectly this way you will not have to actually move one of their set ups. There are rare occasions of beardies getting along and displaying what appears to be an attachment to one another. Even than it is usually two females. Just be careful as this is not how it usually goes. And the head bobbing you described in the male is his way of expressing dominance and letting the other beardie know "I run the show" and hand waving is usually a submissive reaction, it could be her way of saying "I got your message and don't want any trouble"

Let us know if she is still eating her crickets tomorrow. Hopefully the hunger strike is over and your girl is back to eating well ?

Just wanted to provide a update

Our T-Rex went through a massive shed just a couple of days after I posted this! A few days after the shedding was complete, she/he is right back up to snatching up crickets at lightening fast speed. So you all were right in that it's probably due to the shed. It worried me because she had such a decreased food intake for probably 4 days.

Gosh, these little guys can be complex at times! At least it saved us a few trips to the petstore for more crickets.

Glad to hear she's doing well!

I didn't see anyone else mention that you need to separate those bearded dragons as soon as possible. They will attack one another. The fact that one is bigger than the other, and they are head bobbing and waving, shows me that one is trying to be dominant. They will fight and they can lose toes and tail tips.

If you see them sleeping on top of eachother, they are not "cuddling" - this is a sign of dominance. The dominant beardie is taking the UVB rays of the other.

The viv's are right beside each other so they can see each other and we sometimes will put up a white sheet of paper in between them so that they concentrate on eating or sleeping instead of sitting there communicating all night.

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They are in separate vivs.

So glad to hear things have improved so Much that is wonderful. Radams is exactly right, the dragons being able to see each other without being in the same enclosure can still create stress. But it has been discussed already. As long as the owner has observed the behavior and feels confident that they are okay and stess free than this is entirely the owners call. Just be observant and if you ever believe it is causing either to become stressed simply place something in between of the two enclosures to disabled them from seeing one another. The male especially will eventually start thinking with.."other parts of his body" and when this happens you will want to make sure he's not driving himself crazy trying to get to her lol.

Once again I am so glad to hear your little one is eating so well again thanks for keeping us all up to date