New Rescue Bearded Dragon Rarely Eating

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hannahbeefit

New member
Hi all!
I just adopted Norbert; a hefty, 3 year old craigslist rescue. I adopted him almost exactly one week ago.
Since he's got home, I've set up correct lighting, correct diet and correct substrate (he had no UVB bulb for over a week (but was sitting in front of a window), he was eating almost only worms and he was on sand; so I moved him onto a mat style substrate.
He's an active fellow; loves running about with the cats, sitting on my shoulder and will lap up water happily in the bath every couple days.. he'll bask, gape, move around his tank often.. but I can't get him to eat!
I've seen this guy eat probably 3 worms and one piece of apple since getting him. Which is confusing me because he's QUITE large and his previous owner said he ate normally, and pooed once a week.
He's already pooped for me, but like I said, eating very very little.
Is this normal for new beardies in new environments? I'm quite an anxious, anal owner and want the absolute best for him. I knew I ran a risk by rescuing, but I'm a huge advocate for saving animals before buying them form breeders..
Anyway, should I be concerned? His poo is normal and everything seems to be a-ok with him otherwise. He's such a sweet boy.
 

kyleena29

Sub-Adult Member
It can take a couple of weeks for them to get used to their new home. As an adult you should get him to eat more greens and less bugs. A ratio of 80% greens and 20% bugs. Ideally you want him eating his salads every day of the week and bugs a few times a week. Here is a good reference on foods:
http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html
You can also try different feeders like dubia roaches, phoenix worms, silkworms
For treats wax worms, super worms, hornworms, butterworms.
I would keep an eye on his weight. You can use one of those kitchen scales. As long as he's not losing much weight he will be ok and should pick up eating again.
 

CooperDragon

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
I agree. It's a good sign that he's active so I'd just give him time to settle and keep offering a healthy diet. He should be offered a salad daily and bugs only once a week or so. In this case since he's a big dragon I'd probably hold off on bugs until you can get him eating his veges reliably. Be patient as it can take some time for an adult to adjust to a new diet and new space.
 

Sharavito

New member
Hi I also adopted a 3yr Dragon my husband named him Moses. ..he is beautiful. The lady had him in sand and coconut. Bad bad I know they can get impacted so I have removed him into 75gl UV 2heat lights and heat mat on carpet I've taken him to a exotic reptile store and the man said he is chubby loll. He refuses to eat any greens fruit only super worms and cricket (calcium) by hand from tweezers. And won't drink I mist him 3 to 4 day warm bath he has popped 2x I've had him now 1week.....I've tried EVERy Thing that I've read. Ggrrhhh. Babyfood worm in greens fresh fruit dandelions. Kale celery bellpeppery tomato watermelon. I can go on and on!! I believe she only fed him insects
 

acmoore27

New member
Sharavito":4e79x5i6 said:
Hi I also adopted a 3yr Dragon my husband named him Moses. ..he is beautiful. The lady had him in sand and coconut. Bad bad I know they can get impacted so I have removed him into 75gl UV 2heat lights and heat mat on carpet I've taken him to a exotic reptile store and the man said he is chubby loll. He refuses to eat any greens fruit only super worms and cricket (calcium) by hand from tweezers. And won't drink I mist him 3 to 4 day warm bath he has popped 2x I've had him now 1week.....I've tried EVERy Thing that I've read. Ggrrhhh. Babyfood worm in greens fresh fruit dandelions. Kale celery bellpeppery tomato watermelon. I can go on and on!! I believe she only fed him insects

I am having the same issue. My husband bought my 10 year old son a Bearded Dragon Sept 17, 2017. He was particular on the dragon and made sure he found an adult beardie and had been handled a lot since a baby. He finally found a 2 year old dragon from a very nice family. Mom was a principle and the son was off to basic training for the air force. The boy had two beardie's but thought the one he gave us would be a good match for my son. He raised both beardies since they were babies and Iyro is a super laid back loving dragon. My husband purchased the beardie and the son gave us his 40 gallon aquarium, all aquarium accessories, his dual uva/uvb lamp, dragon food, cricket carrier along with the cricket food and calcium water.
It was of no surprise to me that he didn't eat for the first few days even though I made sure he had fresh food and water everyday and never let his dishes get low. Yes, I made sure to add fruits and vegetable to his bowls too. I tried to take him outside for exercise and sun at least 30 mins to an hour every day, weather permitting. It's been well over a week now, almost going on two, and it seems as though all he will eat is super worms, not even crickets. Everyday I set up his food dish a certain way so I will know if he's been in it eating and nothing looks touched when I check it. Last night my husband said he looks skinner than when he first brought him home. :(
I have redone his aquarium since getting him. Felt carpet taken out and replaced with shredded walnut shells (so he can dig and burrow), put some big flat rocks in, and I did keep his large hammock hanging since he uses it to bask in. His UVA/UVA light is a mercury vapor flood light that produces the UVA/UVB as one unit. I was hesitant to go with a fluorescent. His light stays on from 0700-9:00 pm and then it gets turned out for bed even though I need to start adjusting that since it's getting darker earlier now.
I have been misting him every morning and evening. He has one 10 minute warm bath (he's due for another). He does seem to sleep a lot but once he's up, he seems fairly active. He loves to burrow himself in the substrate or him under his rock arch. He sits up on his hammock a lot basking.
What more or less can I do? Iyro is concerning me because I know how important his regular food w/ fruit and veggies are and would think he would be adjusted to his new surrounding by now. Any advice would be much appreciated.
 

CooperDragon

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
It's probably best to build your own thread so info can more easily be tracked and kept sorted between issues/dragons.

I would avoid using walnut shells as substrate because they are very sharp and if accidentally ingested they can wreak havoc on their internal organs. I've had good luck using small fleece blankets and fleece scraps which are both easy to clean in the washer and soft and easy to burrow in.

Which mercury vapor bulb do you have? How far is it above the basking area? The different models and wattages all have different beam shapes and effective distances so it's important to set them up according to appropriate height for their UVB output.
 

acmoore27

New member
CooperDragon":1dtu8fb8 said:
It's probably best to build your own thread so info can more easily be tracked and kept sorted between issues/dragons.

I would avoid using walnut shells as substrate because they are very sharp and if accidentally ingested they can wreak havoc on their internal organs. I've had good luck using small fleece blankets and fleece scraps which are both easy to clean in the washer and soft and easy to burrow in.

Which mercury vapor bulb do you have? How far is it above the basking area? The different models and wattages all have different beam shapes and effective distances so it's important to set them up according to appropriate height for their UVB output.

Yes you are probably right about building my own thread. Just new to forums so I wasn't real fore sure. I did swipe his felt carpet out originally and was using my old hedgehogs custom made fleece blankets (they are super easy to clean) but Iyro would just keep kicking it up and sleeping under it. The shredded walnut shell I am using now is a lot softer than sand but is a pain to clean every day.
The UVA/UVB light is a Reptispa UV Sun Lamp 100 watts- Self Ballasted Mercury UVB/UVA lamp. I have it sitting on tank screen top left corner. His basking ledge is directly underneath it which he can climb a bit higher if he wants to get closer. The temp gage is located between basking rock and light (that's where the gentleman from the pet store told me to put it).It reads about 105 degree F and the humidity gauge reads at around 40% (dessert).
 

Sharavito

New member
Hi again. I adopted Moses about 2wks ago now and still no grensvor fruit. Refuses to eat unless I use tweezers. Should I stop with insects and just provide him fresh greens and fruit until he eats. He is about 3yr we adopted him off Craigslist. HELP. No greens. He is stubborn
 
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