Hello, I read the other threads here about dragons not eating / pooping but not sure if the situations are the same so please excuse this new thread.
We got Twitch on 12/1/08. For this discussion I will refer to Twitch as 'she' though we are not sure, that is a gut feeling based on her characteristics and talks with pet store employees. She was 6 inches long when we got her from PetCo, and we have no idea of her age. She is now 15 inches from nose to tail tip. From the day we got her she was a very hungry pet, eating 20-35 crickets a day. She has not shown much interest in veggies & fruits, has eaten a bit of blueberries, tomatoes and apples but not much else though we serve her a fresh and varied salad including spinach and romaine daily. We did feed her waxworms regularly and have since learned they are not so healthy. She pooped daily on schedule every morning before her morning crickets.
Last Sunday we upgraded her tank to 18x18x36. We also changed the substrate from calci-sand to crushed walnut shells. We have noticed her tasting the sand a lot since. On Monday she ate 4 crickets and no more. She has not pooped since Sunday. (that was in her new tank) She will eat a phoenix worm or 2 per day but no more(since we got them on Thurs), and still no interest in salad. We found the phoenix worms through a friend and ordered from Mulberry Farms online, they are supposed to be very nutricious and full of calcium, but we just got them on Thursday. Her tank averages 80 degrees, about 90-95 in the basking spot and 70 on the cooler side. She has a 12" UVB strip light centered over the tank and a 150 watt UVA spotlight over her basking rock and driftwood. Other than the eating and pooping, she has not changed her habits- still basking much of the day and traveling her tank.
After reading the threads here, my plan is to 1) go give Twitch a bath (we have not bathed her regularly as she spends time in her water bowl though we never see her drink) 2) go get Calci-Sand and change the substrate back as she seems to like to eat the walnuts too much and that may be part of the problem 3) remove crickets from the tank (we have let them stay since last Sunday, but they have bred and there are now baby crickets in the tank though they stay in the driftwood and do not seem to bother Twitch but seems like if she eats them now they may not help her poop issue)
I would greatly appreciate any advice!!! Are we on the right track or should we consult a vet? A family friend with a dragon states her dragon poops only once a week and that since Twitch is 15" long she may be full-grown and just not need as much food... but the fact that she is eating next to nothing concerns us. I should add, that she has not lost any weight and when basking, is propped up on her forearms, not lying down lethargically. So we are not sure if this is a typical winter shutdown or something else... Thanks in advance for any advice you can provide!
We got Twitch on 12/1/08. For this discussion I will refer to Twitch as 'she' though we are not sure, that is a gut feeling based on her characteristics and talks with pet store employees. She was 6 inches long when we got her from PetCo, and we have no idea of her age. She is now 15 inches from nose to tail tip. From the day we got her she was a very hungry pet, eating 20-35 crickets a day. She has not shown much interest in veggies & fruits, has eaten a bit of blueberries, tomatoes and apples but not much else though we serve her a fresh and varied salad including spinach and romaine daily. We did feed her waxworms regularly and have since learned they are not so healthy. She pooped daily on schedule every morning before her morning crickets.
Last Sunday we upgraded her tank to 18x18x36. We also changed the substrate from calci-sand to crushed walnut shells. We have noticed her tasting the sand a lot since. On Monday she ate 4 crickets and no more. She has not pooped since Sunday. (that was in her new tank) She will eat a phoenix worm or 2 per day but no more(since we got them on Thurs), and still no interest in salad. We found the phoenix worms through a friend and ordered from Mulberry Farms online, they are supposed to be very nutricious and full of calcium, but we just got them on Thursday. Her tank averages 80 degrees, about 90-95 in the basking spot and 70 on the cooler side. She has a 12" UVB strip light centered over the tank and a 150 watt UVA spotlight over her basking rock and driftwood. Other than the eating and pooping, she has not changed her habits- still basking much of the day and traveling her tank.
After reading the threads here, my plan is to 1) go give Twitch a bath (we have not bathed her regularly as she spends time in her water bowl though we never see her drink) 2) go get Calci-Sand and change the substrate back as she seems to like to eat the walnuts too much and that may be part of the problem 3) remove crickets from the tank (we have let them stay since last Sunday, but they have bred and there are now baby crickets in the tank though they stay in the driftwood and do not seem to bother Twitch but seems like if she eats them now they may not help her poop issue)
I would greatly appreciate any advice!!! Are we on the right track or should we consult a vet? A family friend with a dragon states her dragon poops only once a week and that since Twitch is 15" long she may be full-grown and just not need as much food... but the fact that she is eating next to nothing concerns us. I should add, that she has not lost any weight and when basking, is propped up on her forearms, not lying down lethargically. So we are not sure if this is a typical winter shutdown or something else... Thanks in advance for any advice you can provide!
It's best to use a solid substrate like non-adhesive shelf liner, reptile carpet, slate tiles or even paper towels. If you really want to use sand, children's sifted playsand could be used but since your beardie licks a lot, I would recommend a solid substrate instead. I would give him a nice warm 
we have poop! It's so funny how our family celebrated this stinky dragon poo but it'd been a week. It was really liquid-y but I'm guessing that's because she drank so much water yesterday...
