Baby bearded dragon never eats and I'm worried

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levinjos

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Ok so basically I bought a baby bearded dragon at petco September 23rd last month, at the time he was a week old so rn he's about 1 month old I have a 40 gallon breeder tank and at first I bought a coil uvb which I just switched to a reptisun 5.0 T5 UVB and I have a 100 watt basking bulb, the warm side gets to about 105 degrees and the cool side is 80-85 degrees although he never really moves at all . The first day I got him he ate a meal worm and a few veggies the next day I bought crickets with calcium powder but he only ate about 2 a day even though I offered him more throughout the day he never wanted to eat, and about a week ago he started shedding his tail and he completely lost his appetite and only wants to eat every other day even when I offer food 2-3 times a day. I offer him crickets meal worms kale and Phoenix worms but he doesn't eat and I don't know what to do I don't know what I'm doing a wrong also other than the fact that he's not eating he's also very skinny at 6 inches long from tip of the nose to the end of the tail, and his eyes were barely ever open but when I got him a new uvb bulb and I gave him turtle eye drops his eyes are fine but what really concerns me is that he never eats and he's skinny and lethargic, he's still shedding his tail so I don't know if that's the reason but if anyone can help me or give me advice that would be great :)
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AHBD

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Hi there, he's a pretty little guy/girl. :) There may be a few things going on, so some questions....what EXACT size were the crickets he ate and the mealworms ? For now, cut out all mealworms, they can cause impaction as well as crickets that are too large. Pet stores may label crickets as small and they may still be too big for a 5-6: baby. They need to be smaller than the space between his eyes. If you can post a pic of the crickets with a penny for scale that would be good.

The uvb bulb you got is pretty good but he needs to be within 8-10" at the most. You may need to mount it in the tank. If you can get the 10.0 that would be better. He may have a calcium deficiency from lack of uvb and/or may be impacted from the mealworms and possibly crickets as well. Has he been pooing regularly ? How do you hydrate him ? Drop water on his snout to see if he'll drink , also give a 10 minute warm bath [ stay with him so he doesn't drown since he's weak ] After the soak, pat him dry + put him in his tank where it's warm. Hopefully a few adjustments can help him ut.
 

levinjos

Member
Original Poster
AHBD":2hjdbf6e said:
Hi there, he's a pretty little guy/girl. :) There may be a few things going on, so some questions....what EXACT size were the crickets he ate and the mealworms ? For now, cut out all mealworms, they can cause impaction as well as crickets that are too large. Pet stores may label crickets as small and they may still be too big for a 5-6: baby. They need to be smaller than the space between his eyes. If you can post a pic of the crickets with a penny for scale that would be good.

The uvb bulb you got is pretty good but he needs to be within 8-10" at the most. You may need to mount it in the tank. If you can get the 10.0 that would be better. He may have a calcium deficiency from lack of uvb and/or may be impacted from the mealworms and possibly crickets as well. Has he been pooing regularly ? How do you hydrate him ? Drop water on his snout to see if he'll drink , also give a 10 minute warm bath [ stay with him so he doesn't drown since he's weak ] After the soak, pat him dry + put him in his tank where it's warm. Hopefully a few adjustments can help him ut.

I got size small mealworms and I ask the people at the pet store for small crickets and they are all pretty small but then there are a few larger ones. And I give him baths once every few days, also I give him water by misting him and put little droplets of water on his mouth and he's definitely not dehydrated, he poops once a day. About the uvb light I got The reptisun t5 ho high output that came with a 5.0 bulb. And when I got home and I realized it was a 5.0 bulb I went back to return it but the guy said that the t5 is powerful so it's just as good as the 10.0 so I trusted him and he could be impacted by the crickets, but he poops regularly... he never really ate the mealworms And sometimes there would be a few medium crickets mixed in so I would give him it and he would eat it and just recently after he started shedding he rarely eats I mean every now and then he will eat like 6 crickets but most of the time he eats 1-2 crickets a day and sometimes not even everyday sometimes it's every other day
 

destiny1998

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Hi. Do you k ow what the temps are? How do you take them? Also the 5.0 is more for shaded animals. Definitely get a 10.0. That can make a big difference.
 

levinjos

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Original Poster
destiny1998":314t5aai said:
Hi. Do you k ow what the temps are? How do you take them? Also the 5.0 is more for shaded animals. Definitely get a 10.0. That can make a big difference.

In the hot end it's 95-105 degrees and the cool side is 75-85 degrees. Also about the uvb.. it's a reptisun T5 HO hood that came with a 5.0 bulb, I went back to the store to return it when I realized it wasn't a 10.0 bulb but the person there said that since this is a T5 and not a T8 it's a lot more powerful and works just fine for baby beardies so I trusted him when he said that.
 

destiny1998

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Sorry to say , but those people in pet stores are not trained properly and those 5.0 do not put off the proper amount of uvb. As i said be for they are good for animals that don't need direct sun light. Beardies need direct sunlight. Also what kind of thermometers are you using? In order for beardies to be healthy they need the proper lighting and proper heat.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
The 5.0 would be fine if you could get it down closer to him in the tank. It's the same strength as the 10.0 t8.
 

levinjos

Member
Original Poster
destiny1998":3vyrtutv said:
Sorry to say , but those people in pet stores are not trained properly and those 5.0 do not put off the proper amount of uvb. As i said be for they are good for animals that don't need direct sun light. Beardies need direct sunlight. Also what kind of thermometers are you using? In order for beardies to be healthy they need the proper lighting and proper heat.

I use a digital thermometer to measure the temperature also the pet store said that the t5 5.0 uvb is just as powerful as a 10.0 t8 uvb and as long as I have at least 6-8 inches away from the uvb then it's fine which I do ... is there any other reason my bearded dragon is acting this way do I think he's sick or maybe it's because he's shedding I don't know
 

levinjos

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Original Poster
AHBD":2qti4z5i said:
The 5.0 would be fine if you could get it down closer to him in the tank. It's the same strength as the 10.0 t8.

Yeah it's about 6-8 inches way from him maybe even less but do u think he's not eating because he's shedding I'm not sure but I'm really worried
 

destiny1998

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Is the uvb light mounted in the tank? Or is it on the screen? Is there any plastic covering it? Do you have a wire probe on the thermometer so you can get an accurate reading of the temps on his basking spot.
 

levinjos

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destiny1998":ey622ilx said:
Is the uvb light mounted in the tank? Or is it on the screen? Is there any plastic covering it? Do you have a wire probe on the thermometer so you can get an accurate reading of the temps on his basking spot.

The uvb is on the screen. It's 6-8 inches above where the beardie is , there is no plastic covering on it and yes I have wire probe for my digital thermometer. Do u think he's acting this way because he is shedding ?
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Shedding shouldn't affect him that much at all. He's probably still sluggish because you had the coil uvb until just recently so he never really got enough uvb for that time period. Was he very active at the store when you bought him ? Some stores don't feed babies very well and it slows down their growth and affects their health. He should respond to better uvb if he doesn't have an underlying illness.
 

levinjos

Member
Original Poster
AHBD":3kk9m07d said:
Shedding shouldn't affect him that much at all. He's probably still sluggish because you had the coil uvb until just recently so he never really got enough uvb for that time period. Was he very active at the store when you bought him ? Some stores don't feed babies very well and it slows down their growth and affects their health. He should respond to better uvb if he doesn't have an underlying illness.

Yeah when I first got him a month ago he was active and then just 2 days ago I bought the new uvb .
 

Gormagon

Extreme Poster
Yup, you really need the 10.0 t5 if it is on top of the screen top. The screen will filter out up to 50% of the uvb. UVB is crucial to their overall health.

Cute little bugger!!!
 

destiny1998

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Yes. Definitely mount the uvb in the tank. The screen does block a lot of the rays. Hopefully if you do that it should help him.
 
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