Bearded Dragon will not eat

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dobbikus

Member
Hello,
My Sons bearded dragon has not eaten for over a month and a half. Only pooped once and it was small and runny. I put him in the sink for a bath and drinks all the water several times. He will not eat Kale,pellets or even Crickets( his favorite) He tried to eat a cricket few weeks ago and he was having a problem opening his mouth, like it was locked. I had to hold the cricket so he can try and eat it. it just sat in his mouth sticking out. He was not chewing it. it just seems like he is having a problem. Not sure if this has to do with the time of year.Any in sight on this would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you
 

SpacialCoogs

Sub-Adult Member
A month and a half is a looong time to not eat. When you say his jaw is locked, can he open it all?
You can try feeding him some baby food using a syringe. Can you give us some insight into the tank, uv, heating conditions?
 

dobbikus

Member
Original Poster
He can open it a little but seems to have a problem chewing. Also when he does try and get a cricket it does not stick to his tongue like it use to.
you said to try and feed him baby food. which kind should i use?
I am attaching a pic of the tank and his bearded dragon.
Thank you for all your help. We have had him for 6 years now.

52407-6536016753.jpg
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
Maybe you will need to resort to feeding your beardie puree made from water and high quality insects such as BSF maggots and pupae, silkworms, crickets , or roaches .... do I hear your mom saying "yuk !.... not with my miniprocessor / stick blender" , but do you want your beardie to survive and grow ? or not.

I had experience with a very small juvenile eastern water skink who I had physically rescued from next door's cat (yet they let their cat roam day and night and it was responsible for virtually exterminating the wild skinks, frogs and many wild native birds who were frequent visits to my yard which I'd turned in a safe haven for them since retiring- was heart breaking picking little broken corpses who'd been abandoned by the cat). Lucky (he became my first pet lizard (since childhood) had dropped his tail, lost his left eye (clawed/bitten there) and had a broken left lower jaw. So I had no choice but to give him a liquid diet, as he was unable / unwilling to chew solids (hurt too much).
I squeezed out the innards of mealworm lavae and pupae , and did the same to gut loaded crickets, one at the time, to feed him, very time consuming , very laborious , and very messy , but I thought he was worth the effort.
I gave him liquid calcium (CALCIVET using a syringe with flexible part of a catheter attached to the syringe that I'd insert into the corner of his mouth (just far enough to get into his mouth).

He thrived while he was in my care , but unfortunately he had a major and vey sudden SI relapse after he'd been with me for 9 months and grown his tail back, and grown from 6g to 20g.

Note Lucky's care was vet supervised while I was giving him IM antibiotics and oral antibiotics (for about 4 months) and I was warned he was unlikely to survive the infection that resulted from being bitten/clawed by the cat , the necropsy revealed he had an abscess inside him that was full of germs and hadn't been detected. (Common outcome.)

You may need to do the same for your disabled/sick beardie, there are also commercial products made by respected manufacturers like Repashi , Bug Pie has been used by some , it can be made into a slurry and given by feeding syringe using crop needle (metal needle without a sharp end with a large bore to help with feeding animals orally). Bug Pie and Veggie Burger slurries by Repashi are a much better option for your beardie than baby foods not designed for reptiles.
Also if he's not eating, he's not getting his necessary intake of dietary calcium and vitamins, would be very adviseable to get liquid calcium and reptile specific liquid vitamins.



In the first instance I think your beardie needs to be seen by a reptile vet ASAP , he needs xrays done and maybe bloods to determine what's going in and determine how to treat your beardie, we're all guessing otherwise.
 

Taterbug

BD.org Addict
Before you start assist feeding it's a good idea to try and find out if he is having physical trouble and if so why he is having trouble. It could be a number of things (infection, injury, dental disease, vitamin deficiency) - if it's some for of injury assist/force feeding could make it worse. An experienced exotics vet is your best bet.
 
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