3-4 Month old won't eat, runs for life.

[Shredder7]

First off, this site has helped me tremendously with issues I've had w/ my Beardie, getting the lighting right, he had tail rot from what looked like a bite on his tail when I bought him. So thanks to this board and everyone on it who helps!

Now, my problem. I got Shredder on 5/29 and he was maybe a few weeks old, maybe a month. He was eating 14 crickets a day, I would go to pet smart because they had small/mediums, well one day I went in, and they only had small on one side, and large on the other. I asked the "expert" there who said oh we feed our baby dragons 5 large crickets daily it should be fine. So I took their word seeing as Shredder was growing. He was eating maybe 5-6 a day. Then suddenly he would only eat 2, 3 if I was lucky a day. I bought 30 large crickets the last week of June, and they lasted until last week.

He poops one large poop in the morning, and then it seems like as soon as I put him in the feeding tank he poops again, smaller, and then later in the day he'll poop a third time again smaller. The poops look normal. He's active in the tank and doesn't seem unhealthy except for the fact he's not growing, and not eating.

I found a pet store that sells medium crickets, because (thanks to this site) I read the large crickets are hard for them to digest, and not to feed them anything bigger than the distance between their eyes. I bought a box of small crickets at first, and he ate 2 and wanted out of the tank right away. So I got him mediums, and he ate 4, and it's been about 4-6 daily for a week now. The last two days however, he ate 2 yesterday, and none today. He wants out immediately after I put him in the feeding tank, he freaks out and kicks the crickets all over the place.

I have a 50 gallon long tank, a reptisun 5.0 uvb long tube, it's actually hanging on the inside of the lid, and it's the proper distance from him. He can get no closer than 6 inches away. He has rocks that he loves, and the basking spot is 110 - 115. The cool part of the tank is 80 degrees.

I give him fresh water daily, he actually chugs the water every morning, and he'll eat dandelion greens, escarole, if I put a leaf in front of him he'll eat one square piece, but rarely any time after. I have noticed he'll eat dried out leaves right away in the morning, he'll proactively go over and eat them.

I'm sure I'm leaving more info out, so hopefully someone will help w/ this issue.

Oh I've tried phoenix worms, and he barely cared for them, he would eat some, but again not a lot. I'm alarmed because I read about people feeding their dragon of the same age dozens of crickets daily.

He's 6 inches long counting his tail. He's skinny too.

 

[BeardieMommy3991]

A reptisun 5.0 is for tropical lizards- and does not give out the high ammount of uvb a beardie needs. They really need the 10.0 reptisun tube.

I hope he eats more for you

 

[Shredder7]

Thanks, I read a few places that the 5.0 was ok, I just got the tube because the only place I could find one (petsmart) didn't have anymore 10.0. I have a 10.0 coil light, but I keep reading how bad they are for the Beardies, so I've only switched lights a week ago. He wasn't eating before the light switch.

 

[jellybaby90]

what kind of 'tank' do you use to feed him in? I found with my beardy she hated being put in anything that wasn't her tank, especially when i first got her as she wasnt that used to being out and about (I started handling her inside the tank to get her use to me) I think the fact she could see all the way around her scared her a bit and she spent more time trying to get out than eating her crickets.. I then took to catching one cricket at a time (this takes patience I know) and letting it out in her viv where she quite happily chased them around and munched away happily..

I hope this helps

 

[Shredder7]

Thanks, I got a 20 gallon tank when I got him, but read more and more how that was not a good size for them. So I have him in a 50 gallon, and I use the 20 gallon to feed him in. The reason I used the 20 gallon is, I had a lizard carrier he was eating 14 a day in, then all of the sudden one day he started freaking out and running in the corner, and the crickets went flying and they were dying. So I thought maybe it was too small for him. I have tried putting the crickets in his tank he lives in, but they run and hide and he never tries to go after them. I have them in there as we speak, and I just watched 3 of them run out and he just sat and watched.

I will have to try the one at a time, maybe he gets overwhelmed.

 

[BeardieMommy3991]

You can get the Reptisun 10.0 tube at www.petmountain.com for about 23$.

 

[Shredder7]

I just remembered something, when I get the cricket box out, he instantly gets excited, and when I put them in the calcium shaker he goes nuts, I've even put it in his tank and he will try and eat them through the shaker. I dump them out, he eats one immediately, then has 0 interest in anymore.

 

[Shredder7]

I changed the light in his tank, and I tried feeding him one at a time, he ate one, and had no interest in any others. He's so skinny right now. He ate nothing yesterday and took an extremely large poop first thing this morning, could this mean he's backed up?

 

[Hercules]

I'm having the same problem (minus the big poop) I'm interested in what people have to say

 

[shepp55]

I've had Iggy since Sat. i live in an area that we have Petsmart(unfortunately) and thats about it, so i picked up zoomed can-o-worms, small crickets and of coarse salads (not really expecting him to eat them) he's only about 6 inches head to tail, in a 40 gal viv. and right lighting (i've had water dragons in the past) he ate for the first few days, mainly worms, but still hasn't eaten any crickets, or veg. just a few carrots. he's pooped at least once a day, and at first i had him on playsand, but after a 2 days, i changed it out and put down tile for a substrate, but i have examined his poop and found no trace of sand in it. i generally hand fed him anyway tho to get used to me and see me as a friend with food.(best way to a mans heart is thru his stomach ya know) haha. anyway, does anyone have any suggestions tips? ive been doing ALOT of reading and he does have minimal stress marks on his belly, assumed thats from the move, and he may not be eating cuz of it too. but the first few days he was eating at least 6 worms per sitting, 3 times a day. PLEASE help

 

[Shredder7]

He ate 2 crickets today, keeps going down to the floor, just sleeps, and is barely moving. this is how thin he looks.

 

[RockHound]

Poor baby looks critical. Has he been tested for parasites? Do you soak him to keep him hydrated? There may be something serious going on internally...

 

[munchkins9802]

You say you switched thelights what did you switch it to? If it was to the coil, you will not see improvement,etc. The reptisun 10.0 is the best bulb out there for him. Has he been tested for parasites? How old is he now> and are the mediums no BIGGER than the space BETWEEN his eyes?

 

[Shredder7]

Ok, so some promising news.

I turned his lights on this morning, and about a minute later I looked over and he was in his water dish, there wasn't much left in there, I have a water bottle w/ spring water that I use to fill his bowl after cleaning it daily. So I poured some water on him while he was laying in the bowl. He started chugging the water and I had to put more water in it. About 20 minutes later he was out of the dish and the longest poop he's ever done laid in the water. He ended up eating 2 crickets yesterday, but this looks like 20 crickets worth. I got excited and prepared some crickets for him hoping he would be hungry. I picked him up and was holding him, and all the sudden he laid flat in my hand, and wouldn't move, I honestly thought he died, he didn't seem to be moving, and i even picked up his legs, and nothing. No response. All of the sudden one eye opend and he started breathing noticeably again. So I have a Lizard carrier, and I kept him in my hand for another 10 minutes while he could look into the carrier, where 5 crickets were in it. I then held him in my hand and put my hand in the carrier and kind of held him above the crickets, and slowly but surely he started to go after the crickets. I put the carrier on my window sill where the natural sunlight was shining through and he perked right up and ate all the crickets! I let him bath in the sunlight for about 30 minutes, and now, besides for the fact he's very skinny, he's looking normal and perky!

I think he must have been blocked up from eating the large crickets for weeks. Hopefully this is the start of a quick recovery!

 

[BeardieMommy3991]

Thats great news!!! Hopefully he was just impacted a little. The sunlight seemed to help him- I'm no doctor, but I'd prescribe more of that natural medicine ;D (The sunlight)