Beard not eating!! Please help!

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amberwor

Member
So, I've posted before on here about my beardie Bean who I rescued and has MBD. He was doing great, had some calcium injections from a vet, is constantly given calcium powder on food, has a 20 gallon tank now since he's grown some and UVB is pretty perfect for him.

Recently, however, he isn't showing much interest in any of his greens like he used to or any live food really. His appetite has decreased and he usually only eats about maybe 2 or 3 of the feeders that we're using at the time. We've noticed that he smacks his mouth a lot, especially when there's food in front of him and it almost looks like his tongue might be too big for his mouth. It doesn't hang out, but it just looks like he's struggling to use it. He's not lethargic, he's very active and we've started giving him hornworms because those are only feeders that really interest him but he usually only eats about 2 a day.

I'm just at a really big loss of what to do, currently struggling with money (thanks COVID) so I haven't had the chance to take him back to the vet. Just wanting to get some advice from y'all and hopefully figure out what we can do to make sure he stays well fed and healthy.
 

amberwor

Member
Original Poster
KarrieRee":3c1tdcq8 said:
Please get a pic of the inside of the mouth so some more experienced can look and see what might be going on
https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ click on XIMG at the top of the message box then click on the pic it should post
Karrie
So sorry for such a lat response, it’s been a very busy weekend for me with work. How would I go about getting a picture of the inside of his mouth? I don’t wanna hurt him or anything
 

Lizard of Light

Hatchling Member
Beardie name(s)
Ardbert
amberwor":2yftkixg said:
KarrieRee":2yftkixg said:
Please get a pic of the inside of the mouth so some more experienced can look and see what might be going on
https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ click on XIMG at the top of the message box then click on the pic it should post
Karrie
So sorry for such a lat response, it’s been a very busy weekend for me with work. How would I go about getting a picture of the inside of his mouth? I don’t wanna hurt him or anything

The easiest and safest way is to wait for him to gape while basking and look down his mouth.

There is a method to open a beardie's mouth manually, but I would advise against it if you don't know what you're doing.
 

amberwor

Member
Original Poster
Poggerna":hvaqs6bn said:
amberwor":hvaqs6bn said:
KarrieRee":hvaqs6bn said:
Please get a pic of the inside of the mouth so some more experienced can look and see what might be going on
https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ click on XIMG at the top of the message box then click on the pic it should post
Karrie
So sorry for such a lat response, it’s been a very busy weekend for me with work. How would I go about getting a picture of the inside of his mouth? I don’t wanna hurt him or anything

The easiest and safest way is to wait for him to gape while basking and look down his mouth.

There is a method to open a beardie's mouth manually, but I would advise against it if you don't know what you're doing.
I’m not sure if it’ll even be possible for me to get a picture of the inside of his mouth then. We haven’t seen him gape while basking in quite awhile, and the basking temperature he has is right around 100 degrees. And I don’t want to risk hurting him by manually opening his mouth. I’m not sure what else to do now other than wait until I have the money to take him to the vet. It’s just very disappointing to see the decline he’s taken and how weird he’s been acting recently. If there’s any other advice that can be given, I would greatly appreciate it!
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

Can you post some pictures of him, in his tank for us so we can see everything in general,
to be sure it is all setup properly.
What type of calcium are you giving him, when he eats?
Since he has metabolic bone disease, that can cause some complications due to the calcium
issues. There have been reported cases with them having trouble striking or with the overall
stickiness of their tongue, etc.
Sometimes you can give too much calcium. How many calcium injections did he receive & is
he still getting them?

Tracie
 

amberwor

Member
Original Poster
Drache613":1plkw283 said:
Hello,

Can you post some pictures of him, in his tank for us so we can see everything in general,
to be sure it is all setup properly.
What type of calcium are you giving him, when he eats?
Since he has metabolic bone disease, that can cause some complications due to the calcium
issues. There have been reported cases with them having trouble striking or with the overall
stickiness of their tongue, etc.
Sometimes you can give too much calcium. How many calcium injections did he receive & is
he still getting them?

Tracie

108130-71359091.jpg
This is his enclosure, we had to "raise the floor" of the tank so that he could be within 6-8 inches of his UVB since he can't move around very well or use his back legs so no basking platform ): Also, for the UVB it's the Zoo Med T8 Reptisun 10.0 UVB bulb and I have a piece of the tank lid mesh cut out to prevent any type of blockage.

108130-2237398885.jpg
This is Bean himself. When we feed him we've been using Zoo Med Repti Calcium w/ D3. I took him to the vet when we first got him about 5 or 6 months ago, he got 2 calcium injections a day for 4 days I believe. He is not getting them anymore.

108130-8607748719.jpg
108130-5211042706.jpg
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
You need to get Beans UVB inside his tank -- at this point hes not getting much UVB -- T 8's are not strong enough to go thru the screen its blocking 30% of the rays --- I would consider changing his T 8 out for a T 5 better and stronger bulb --- but for now get it inside the tank NO clear plastic cover over the bulb needs to be exposed and if its over 6 months old you need a new one---- you want the basking area 6-8 inches directly under the UVB ---- here are some ways to hang
3 M command Velcro fasteners- picture hanging wire –long plastic zip ties-- potted plant wire hangers-- fishing line --- TAK TY cable and hook ties they look like Velcro straps - look at Walmart dont know if they carry them I use them in my tanks they work really good -- also what is the distance from the floor to the screen?
Karrie
 

amberwor

Member
Original Poster
KarrieRee":2z8i349k said:
You need to get Beans UVB inside his tank -- at this point hes not getting much UVB -- T 8's are not strong enough to go thru the screen its blocking 30% of the rays --- I would consider changing his T 8 out for a T 5 better and stronger bulb --- but for now get it inside the tank NO clear plastic cover over the bulb needs to be exposed and if its over 6 months old you need a new one---- you want the basking area 6-8 inches directly under the UVB ---- here are some ways to hang
3 M command Velcro fasteners- picture hanging wire –long plastic zip ties-- potted plant wire hangers-- fishing line --- TAK TY cable and hook ties they look like Velcro straps - look at Walmart dont know if they carry them I use them in my tanks they work really good -- also what is the distance from the floor to the screen?
Karrie
Even though the UVB is sitting on the tank lid, I made sure to cut out a rectangular piece of the mesh screen where the bulb is so that there’s absolutely nothing blocking the UVB from getting to him. There also is no plastic cover over the bulb and I want to say there’s a reflector in the light fixture as well. With the floor raised, he is about 7 inches from floor to screen. I’ll look into some of those suggestions and see if I can get the UVB in his tank, I’m just a bit nervous about it since he’s already quite close to the screen I don’t want to put the UVB in the tank and he ends up being too close or something.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Nope your good-- as long as the distance is there and nothing blocking it your fine-- so he's not eating-- let's see what Tracie comes up w/ I would answer her questions
Karrie
 
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