3 month old hiding and not eating much

[flobeee]

Hello guys,
New beardie owner here! I am on this site daily. For hours lol.

My 3 month old Juniper has been acting strange for the last 5 days. She's gotten more jumpy and nervous around me, she's hiding in all sorts of spots she never hid before, and her appetite has almost disappeared. She seems interested in bugs, however she will only eat 1-5 before becoming disinterested (no matter how much I make those dubias move), and then she'll start rubbing her nose and signaling to me that she wants out (of her feeder viv). She won't eat any greens. Just now I tried to give her a dandelion green and she licked it, which I took as a good sign, so I waved it front of her again but then she ran away and hid in the corner looking really scared ?
She's definitely acting strange. This is not normal for her at all, she never used to hide at all. She shed a small amount a few days ago but her behavior has remained the same.

She's in a 40g tank, with Reptisun T5 10.0, 150W basking bulb. Basking temps with IR are 110. Cool side is 77 (maybe too cool).
The Reptisun T5 tube is 9 inches from her basking spot and is sitting on wide holed mesh, is this ok?
I could try to bathe her but she does not like baths!

Could it just be a shedding that she's not dealing with well? I wish she wasn't so nervous around me. I've had her for 3 weeks now and she was just warming up!

 

[KarrieRee]

She is going thru relocation stress -- it sounds like you have a good set up but that UVB is too close for a T 5 --- if its inside the tank it should be 12-15 inches from her basking spot - if its on top of screen and the screen is a fine screen like a screen door it should be 6-8 inches from basking decor if its wide holed screen it should be 8-10 inches from basking decor --- keep working w/ her putting your hands her tank - approach from side not from above - maybe get a blanket or piece of fleece w/ your smell on it and put it in her hide --- as for salads ---- you need to feed her first thing in the morning -- get a glass bowl something bugs / worms cant get out of --- then get some BSFL order large as they are small and do not dust - they are a great staple feeder feed as many as you want - they are a great lure to the bowl make sure she sees you put them in her bowl - www.symtonbsf.com next you can also use some medium size super worms 1-3 use sparingly you dont want her addicted to the worms - you can also use butter worms they are a good worm -- let her eat from that bowl for say an hr or so then take a little salad out but leave some in so she eats the salad along w/ the dubias your gonna put in that bowl -- as long as she eats some of that salad every day you will be good - right now her diet is mainly bugs but salad is good too - here is a website for nutrition http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html
here is a website for dubias and other worms www.dubiaroaches.com
Karrie

 

[flobeee]

She is going thru relocation stress -- it sounds like you have a good set up but that UVB is too close for a T 5 --- if its inside the tank it should be 12-15 inches from her basking spot - if its on top of screen and the screen is a fine screen like a screen door it should be 6-8 inches from basking decor if its wide holed screen it should be 8-10 inches from basking decor --- keep working w/ her putting your hands her tank - approach from side not from above - maybe get a blanket or piece of fleece w/ your smell on it and put it in her hide --- as for salads ---- you need to feed her first thing in the morning -- get a glass bowl something bugs / worms cant get out of --- then get some BSFL order large as they are small and do not dust - they are a great staple feeder feed as many as you want - they are a great lure to the bowl make sure she sees you put them in her bowl - http://www.symtonbsf.com next you can also use some medium size super worms 1-3 use sparingly you dont want her addicted to the worms - you can also use butter worms they are a good worm -- let her eat from that bowl for say an hr or so then take a little salad out but leave some in so she eats the salad along w/ the dubias your gonna put in that bowl -- as long as she eats some of that salad every day you will be good - right now her diet is mainly bugs but salad is good too - here is a website for nutrition http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html
here is a website for dubias and other worms http://www.dubiaroaches.com
Karrie

Thank you for your quick reply!
Yes the T5 is on top of the wide holed screen, that's why I bought the T5, and it's 9" from her basking spot. It's just strange because she seemed to be settling in and over her relocation stress and this kinda came out of nowhere and was quite a drastic change in behavior. I'm really worried about her. Right now she's been hiding all curled up in the same spot for a while looking sad.. ?
And yes thanks to your advice from a previous post I have the BSFL, and she'll eat about 3 of those before losing interest (before she was eating about 8) but I could never get her to eat them out of her bowl (even though I slowly added each one with her watching.
I have a t-shirt in there of mine which she often lies on
I wonder if it's more that there's something wrong with her than her being afraid of me? Could it be down to shedding? She hasn't shed yet since I've had her.

 

[flobeee]

Little girl hiding

 

[KarrieRee]

Not sure -- so she is eating a little? Yes shed could cause them to slow down on their eating as well - is there other animals in the house that maybe scared her ? Is she next to a window that she can see out and saw a bird? Have you tried super worms in the bowl ? Butter worms ? Is she not basking at all ? She should be basking --- it looks like shes gonna shed on her face
Karrie

 

[flobeee]

Not sure -- so she is eating a little? Yes shed could cause them to slow down on their eating as well - is there other animals in the house that maybe scared her ? Is she next to a window that she can see out and saw a bird? Have you tried super worms in the bowl ? Butter worms ? Is she not basking at all ? She should be basking --- it looks like shes gonna shed on her face
Karrie

Oops the 8 ) turned into sunglasses emoji :lol:
Yeah she is eating a little amount twice a day. A few BSFL and maybe 1 or 2 dubias. Before she would eat about 10 roaches per feeding. Nope, no other animals, but she is by a window, and that's definitely something I've considered... I have these annoying crows that fly around and land on my roof which is pretty loud (as it's metal!)
I will get some super worms and try those!
Yes she is basking, just a lot less than before. Thankfully soon after I posted that picture she came out of hiding to bask, and she ate about 5 bsfl so that's progress!
Yeah her head is definitely looking quite gray. Same with her legs. Hopefully she settles in soon, as I still haven't bonded with her and she always runs away when I put her on me

 

[KarrieRee]

Those crows may be scaring her- you may haft to either move her or put up some sort of cover on the side of that tank --- glad she's eating-- it will be slow going w/ her-- patience
Karrie

 

[flobeee]

Those crows may be scaring her- you may haft to either move her or put up some sort of cover on the side of that tank --- glad she's eating-- it will be slow going w/ her-- patience
Karrie

Yes actually now I think about it, the crows have made a significant return in the past week. I'll try to put something up. I'm so excited cos I put her out of the tank for a bit and she had her first proper explore without immediately hiding, and she actually came towards me for the first time ever! And right now she's sleeping on my chest as I type. So happy

Actually one last question: I just cleaned up one of her poops that looks really different to anything I've seen her do before. It had a kind of translucent shiny look to it, (I do have a pic) not dark like it normally is. And then in shock horror I noticed that it had a bunch of orange/red on the end, but it didn't look like blood?? I don't think I've fed her anything red/orange, the only thing I can think is that the BSFL that she ate had eaten some strawberries, does that happen?

 

[KarrieRee]

Yes it can ---- you haft to remember what goes in does come out -- so if the feeder has eaten something strange and they eat it it can effect what comes out their end !! How is she getting water? Are you spraying her? Baths? Water dish? They will get moisture out of the veggies you feed her so make sure your washing / rinsing them before serving-- along w/ gut loading the staple feeder as well - that will help
Karrie