Increasingly concerned about beardie. First time owner.

Status
Not open for further replies.

oz89

Member
Hi all, I wrote here a week or so ago about some concerns and I am becoming increasingly more worried. I'm unsure if I'm just being paranoid or if something is up.


Bought my bearded dragon from a family about a month ago. She was 7 months old at the time. They had 4 bearded dragons and had decided to sell one as well as another reptile due to how much it was costing them with upkeep and live feeders.


The beardie came with everything. Since having her she goes through constant waves of being active for maybe a day at most and then will be in her hide for 2 to 3 days. Since owning her she has gone to the toilet 3 times. We are now at 8 days with no poo. I try to bath her every couple of days but if she is in her hide she makes it quite clear she doesn't want me to pick her up. She will back away if I begin to put my hand under her. She is happy to be stroked and doesn't seem scared but just incredible docile. When I use the word 'active' it's more her being out of her hide and basking.


Every day I give her fresh salad (have tried a few different types (all of which are beardie recommended)) and have tried things like blueberries. So far she has eaten half a blueberry. Her salad is never touched, I have tried hand feeding it to her but she is not interested.


I offer her live feeders each day. She was eating about 5-6 super worms every other day. I am now using dubia roaches, the most she has eaten is about 8 and these are medium in size (no bigger than size between her eyes). If she eats roaches she won't eat for 2-3 days after. I offer each day but she just won't react or be interested.


In regards to her temps and bulbs. She has a UVB (this was replaced 2 months before I bought her) as well as a basking light. I have a thermostat probe as well as a temp probe. I have tried different temps over the last month and currently it sits at around 100f. I have had it slightly higher and slightly lower but it doesn't change how she is.


In terms of length, she is 16 inches and I'd say slightly underweight (based on my limited knowledge). I am at a loss.


Her vivarium is large, she has a decent amount of stimulation and is in my lounge (open plan lounge/kitchen).


I am unsure if this is just brumation but from what I've read it doesn't seem to be consistent enough but I could be completely naive to how this is.


Any advice at this stage would be great.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Relocation stress--- her eating will slow down but eating 8 medium roaches is alot -- roaches are more filling--- what type of UVB are you using? Can you post a pic of your tank set up w/ the lighting etc--- click on the user image upload at the top of page in the banner load pics and then click on the XIMG at the top of the message box then the pic you want to post
We can get a better idea of how to help if you need it - how are you getting the temps ? stick ons? digital probe? infrared heat gun?
Karrie
 

oz89

Member
Original Poster
Relocation stress--- her eating will slow down but eating 8 medium roaches is alot -- roaches are more filling--- what type of UVB are you using? Can you post a pic of your tank set up w/ the lighting etc--- click on the user image upload at the top of page in the banner load pics and then click on the XIMG at the top of the message box then the pic you want to post
We can get a better idea of how to help if you need it - how are you getting the temps ? stick ons? digital probe? infrared heat gun?
Karrie

Thanks for the reply.

The temp is a probe which is attached to a thermostat. I have also checked this with a heat gun and it is pretty much spot on. The probe is secured to a basking spot log (as seen in photo)

The image attached is the only one I have on my phone as I am currently at work.

I understand the relocation stress but it seems to go through waves and I wasn't sure that was normal but maybe it is. For instance, she glass surfs every now and then so I let her out and let her explore the room. Then she will be active and make it known she is there. Then we will go 2-3 days of being in her hide and refusing to eat or come out. I guess it just seems odd to me but maybe it's normal.

Food - even before I introduced dubia roaches she was eating maybe only a few super worms every 2 days and absolutely zero salad. I understand the roaches are certainly bigger but I guess I just assumed (from what I've read) she should be eating far more or at least a few a day.

106720-9476822638.jpg
 

Ellentomologist

Hatchling Member
Hello,

At 7 months old, since you've only had her for a month, I wouldn't be too worried. She's old enough and long enough a little while without or light on eating won't harm her too badly, and young enough that her being picky about salads is normal. It's probably just relocation stress.

Can you post some pictures of her? Four pictures in particular are the most useful:
1) A close up of her head showing her eyes, jawline, and the top of her head above her eyes.
2) A full body show from directly above her.
3) A close up of the base of her tail.
4) A torso shot from the side while she's standing.

With those pictures we ought to be able to tell more about her body condition and lend you more recommendations... If she's healthy, waiting it out is probably the way to go. If her body condition isn't great - shows signs of MBD or is too thin - than getting a vet involved might be the best route, or trying some of our more aggressive home-care solutions.

Out of curiosity what are the dimensions of the setup in inches? That's a beautiful cage, but unfortunately I think it might be a bit small which might be adding to your issues. If it is too small, rest assured that you should be able to sell it for more than enough to get an adequately sized replacement. Otherwise, the setup looks great - Good UV and heat setup... What temps are you using for her basking spot?

Good luck,
-Ellen
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
The UVB is running the entire length of the tank ? She has no way to escape those rays unless she goes in to her hide- I would try covering up a portion of that UVB-- we recommend only 2/3 of the tank for UVB--- she needs to be able to get out of those UVB rays if she wants to w/ out having to hide from them-- 7 months old is too young to brumate -- I am thinking its the UVB causing the issues --- too much of it -- others can chime in and see what they think -- that is a T 5 correct and the distance in the tank is about 12-15 inches? If that is correct shes not able to escape the UVB --- I see Ellen chimed in --- I am still thinking its the UVB --- you think she is underweight ? Get a pic of her for us and we can look --- at 7 months she should be eating salads --- not at all is not good - I would get a glass bowl that worms cant get out of and start enticing her w/ like 3 supers on top of the salad and some BSFL on top as well -- FIRST thing in the morning --- let her eat from that bowl for like at hr or so and then feed her the staple feeders -- shes gonna go thru some relocation stress like Ellen said but she should not quit eating all together -- BSFL can be ordered here https://symtonbsf.com/ they are a great staple feeder to the addition to your dubias and these do not need to be dusted -- I would order large ones ---
Karrie
 

oz89

Member
Original Poster
Thanks for both your replies.

I'll try and answer everything I can!

The UVB covers the full distance. I have read so much conflicting advice about this. Some people condemn it, others say it's no problem what so ever. What should I listen to? The owner who had her before had 3 other dragons that all looked active and amazingly healthy, they were all 2-4 years old and he had the same setup for all so I didn't see a need to change but maybe I should?

In regards to the vivarium. I don't think the photo does it justice given the angle. It is 4 foot long, 1.5 foot wide and 1.5 foot tall. The large vivariums I've seen seem to run the same measurements but have more height. Again, I am willing to change this eventually but only going by what I have seen elsewhere so far. I realize I could be ill informed!

The basking spot, as mentioned in my first post sits at about 100f. I have altered this a couple of times just in case this was a problem but it has always sat at between 100F and 105F. The probe is on a thermostat so this temperature is well maintained. I have another temp probe next to the thermostat probe that confirms this. Temps drop a little at night but never below 68F.

I am at work currently but you can view pics of her on my IG if you have access to that. Otherwise I can upload later on. @gillythedragon. You will see in the images/videos that she has been active. It's been in the last week or so that she has 'slowed down' - the dates/timestamps on images isn't accurate.
 

oz89

Member
Original Poster
UPDATE:

My beardie went to the toilet yesterday and ate 2 days in a row with no problems. I'm still trying to work out a way to get her to eat salad but she seems to be making an improvement. At least a little bit!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Members online

No members online now.

Latest resources

Latest posts

Latest profile posts

What is a quick way to warm up a cold beardie? His heating element went out overnight and now he's very cold.
Pearl Girl wrote on moorelori1966's profile.
i feel so sad reading your about me 😢
Clapton is acclimating okay I think. He's quick as lightning so I'm not sure how much I should bring him out of his house yet. He's not at all interested in his salad though. I wonder if I should change what I'm giving him. Least he's eating his crickets.

Things to do:
Buy calcium powder
Material to raise surface for basking spot
Scenery decals for back of tank
Taking my beardie for a walk

Forum statistics

Threads
155,854
Messages
1,255,181
Members
75,936
Latest member
KarmaChild99
Top Bottom