Bearded dragon has me worried

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Poodlin

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The past few days my bearded dragon does not seem interested in food. I offer it crickets, mealworms, waxworms and hornedworms. I also give it veggies along with a little fruit. Out of everything it only eats about 3 crickets and a couple bites of the salad. The lizard is about 2.5 months old when I first got him he was eating like a pig. Now hardly nothing. In the past 3 days he has started hiding a lot,he has never done this before, and when I picked him up to move him from his hiding spot to see if he would eat he tried to bite me. Does this sound like worms/parasites? I have worm medicine for him if it sounds like worms. The nearest reptile vet is over 2 hours away. Would it hurt for me to sprinkle a little of the medicine on his salad as a precaution? Or could it be Brumation?, or is it to young for that? His daytime temps are around 105 and nighttime temps are around 75-80.
Thanks
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KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Lighting and basking temps are key here -- the basking temp is being taken w/ a digital probe thermometer correct? If its a stick on it is incorrect-- the UVB is a coil - tube ? If its a coil what brand and wattage? If its a tube what brand and bulb and where in the tank is it? top of screen or inside the tank ? We will start there
Karrie
 

Poodlin

Member
Original Poster
I know I need a better thermometer. I have one coming from Amazon. The uvb is a coil it’s a 10.0 uvb and 15 watt. The heat bulb is a 150 watt reptisun that I bought at the pet store. It is on top of the screen since it is only a small tank for now. I’m getting a 30 gallon tank for him hopefully it comes today. I will get a bigger one when needed. Just now he ate a good bit of his salad but no insects. He is warm when I pick him up. But early in the morning he is really cold. What else can I do? I am not able to buy the tube light cause I lost my job due to the virus. One other thing, it feels like he is losing weight. As he feels lighter and I see wrinkles that I haven’t seen before.
Thanks
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
You need that tube- the coils are no good- the 30 gallon tank will not last long- he will quickly out grow it--- what are your temps in the morning? They should not be below 65- a 150 watt bulb for a small tank is alot- you need that digital probe thermometer ASAP-
Karrie
 

Poodlin

Member
Original Poster
Just for the heck of it. I went outside just maybe 15 minutes ago and found a black cricket. Not thinking he would eat it I put it in his cage and he ate it quick. So I found another one and he ate it also. So I tried a brown cricket and it was a no go. So one last time I found another black cricket from outside and he ate it. So he will eat the black crickets but not the brown ones I buy from the pet store. Does this mean I am going to have to buy him black crickets online from now on? It seems like whatever insects I buy him he will not eat, but if I catch them he will eat them. Is there any place online to get the uvb tube cheap?
Thanks
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Yes I will post websites for uvb when I get home--- NO MORE outside crickets- you don't know where they have been they could have insect poison on them-- I will post websites for feeders too-- your gonna haft to upgrade that tank in the next 6 months
Karrie
 

Poodlin

Member
Original Poster
It was a one time thing for the outside crickets. I just wanted to see if he would eat and he did. Why would he eat the black crickets but not the brown? So this doesn’t sound like worms/parasites? I know I will have to upgrade the tank in a few months,but it’s better than the small one he is in now, and this gives me time to save money for it.
Thanks for all the help,I appreciate it.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
https://www.pangeareptile.com/store/zoo-med-reptisun-t5-ho-terrarium-hood.html 24" fixture for a 40+ gallon tank this fixture comes w/ a 5.0 bulb that would be perfect for the 30 gallon now these fixtures sell out quick off this website
you need this bulb when you up grade to a 40+ gallon
https://www.pangeareptile.com/store/zoo-med-reptisun-10.0-uvb-t5.html 22" bulb these are one of the best on the market now shipping is cheap and they sell out of these bulbs and fixtures fast
website for nutrition http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html ignore the kale thing its a good staple feeder
Website for feeders
https://symtonbsf.com/ great place for BSFL they are a staple feeder they are small order large do not dust
http://www.mulberryfarms.com/ spendy on shipping they are the only ones carrying butter worms which are a good worm to feed add to the salads they also carry small super worms that are good to add to the salads
http://www.aafeeder.com/feeder-worms/superworms/ they have a bundle pack -- look at that
http://www.reptilianarts.com great place for silk worms -- they usaully have bulk that come in 50 and they come small looks like theyre still out --- they have cups that come w/ food but depending on how big he is you would haft to look to see if he could eat them - you dont want to feed him something to big
http://www.coastalsilkworms.com they have two places to order east and west coast they come w/ food and you can order smalls --- they are another great staple feeder --
I would order some roaches they are easier to care for and keep - they last longer and better nutritional feeder --- you can keep them in a 10 gallon aquarium feed dubia food and carrots or squash for hydration --- they are cheaper than buying from the petstore
Fresh salads can be kept in ziploc bags -- get as much as the air you can out of the bag I can keep greens in my fridge for like 2-3 weeks - mustard are hard to keep but collard turnips and kale keep for a while -- look at the website I posted --
Let me know how it goes ---
Karrie
 

Poodlin

Member
Original Poster
Thanks. I just ordered the black soldier fly larvae for now. I got 500 first just to be sure he eats them. If he does I will buy more. Does it matter how many he gets at each meal? Or can I just put them in his bowl and let him eat as many as he wants? He will not eat wax worms. I have some still from the pet store. She does not allow me to get the Dubia roaches. I have no idea why.
As for the hood I will but it as soon as I can. Now when I upgrade from the 30 gallon to something bigger,can I keep that fixture and just get a new bulb? Or will I have to get a new fixture also?
Thanks again
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
That fixture will go right into the new tank--- you will need to upgrade the bulb and it will go into that fixture-- the bsfl feed as many as he will eat-- they are small and if you supplement them w/ silkworms that would be best- I am not understanding why he won't eat those crickets- you can see if getting them online try those- she won't let me get roaches? Who is she? It's good he won't eat wax worms they are fatty anyway and not very healthful- you can get small superworms they are cheap- feed like 1-3 on top of the salads along w/ your bsfl-
Karrie
 

Poodlin

Member
Original Poster
The she in this case is my gf. She hates those things. She runs away if I even show her them. As for the crickets, I bought 500 of them online the last time and he will not eat them. Now I have close to 500 crickets and nothing to feed them to. He will eat 1 or 2 soon as he wakes up but that is it. Then he goes to his salad and eats like 2 or 3 bites of that.then he is done for the day. I thought maybe they are to big so I bought small ones at the pet store and still won’t eat them. I can tell he is hungry cause the food gets his attention and he will watch it but not eat it. Like I said the black crickets he eats fine. His poop actually looked normal earlier. Well formed with white urates. I am hoping he eats this black soldier fly larvae. While I wait for his food to arrive,is there anything I can give him for protein? He needs to eat something more than what he is. The pet stores aren’t open today. So maybe something I have or can buy at the grocery store for protein?
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
How long have you had him? They go thru relocation stress and their eating is off -- once he becomes settled in hes going to start eating more - but you need to have correct basking temps along w/ correct UVB-- they will not eat if those things are not correct- continue to feed him the food you have in the house - as long as hes eating something you will be good -- its when they quit eating all together then there is a problem-- keep offering the salads and if hes eating those that is good -- he may not like crickets that is a possibility -- mine did not like crickets and I switched over to the dubias -- no problem there-- if he doesnt like the BSFL you can get some silk worms or there is some stuff called Repashy grub pie that you can mix w/ water I believe -- its best to get w/ Tracie or AHBD on this one as they can better advise as to what to feed -- how old is the dragon now- you dont want to over protein him - if he is indeed going thru relocation stress I would wait and see if his eating does pick up- you can rinse his salads before serving so hes getting hydration from them - I would keep offering everything you have at home and go from there -- if he quits eating then it could be he just does not like the crickets or its the UVB in the tank - its a process of elimination - if your lighting is correct and his basking temps are correct and hes still not eating the insects then I would say its him and he does not like them -- to be honest I dont know how you can stand 500 crickets in the house -- they would drive me insane :) -- I have a ton of roaches in my house that stay in a 10 gallon aquarium that I am feeding to two dragons and they are eating them really slow -but I dont see or hear them and I clean the tank out every couple of days -- and I am feeding them as well-
Karrie
 

Poodlin

Member
Original Poster
I’ve had him for about 2.5 months. He loves salads,with him only being less than 3 months old,he eats a good bit of salad. He actually surprised me this morning he ate like 6-7 of the brown crickets. I was happy cause he finally had somewhat of an appetite for the brown crickets. He would eat the black crickets all day long if he could. Lol the crickets I have don’t have the wings yet so they don’t chirp. If they did,they would be getting let go cause I wouldn’t be able to stand it, although i do like hearing the crickets outside when I go to bed. I wanted to get some Dubia roaches, but for some reason my gf is scared to death of them. Oh he shed everything but his tail within the past week. He is shedding his tail now. This wouldn’t cause him to be picky with food would it?
 

Poodlin

Member
Original Poster
Last picture oh his poop I’ll put on here. This is his poop he left while I was away. It’s a little blurry but I think you can see it. I know there are undigested cricket parts in his poop, but is that a worm also? Or am I just paranoid?, to the point where everything in his poop looks like worms?
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What is a quick way to warm up a cold beardie? His heating element went out overnight and now he's very cold.
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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.

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