Appetite

[dnardini]

I have seen lots of pics of everyone else’s beardies and they all seem to be chubbier than mine. How can I increase his appetite? I have only had him for a short time and he is approximately 3yrs. Old, and as far as I know he never had a great appetite. I will dust crickets for him but he will only eat a bout five aweek. It seems as if he is afraid of them or not hungry. I gave him for the first time mealworms 2 days ago and he ate about 20 of them. Now I almost have to hold him so close to them for him to only eat a few. He won’t eat any fruits or veggies. However he is just now recovering from neglect. I took him over from someone who didn’t care for him well. I thought he was going to die. He now has all the proper lighting and heat. He likes to sleep a lot while under the basking area drinks lots of water from a bowl, so I know he is hydrated, loves baths, and tries to crawl up the glass to let me know he wants out. At night his tank is too cold for him because he gets really dark in color, so I always put him in a box with a small blanket and a heating pad above the box to keep him warm, and he loves it. The next morning he is much lighter, like a tan color, he will have some water from a small plastic lid and then lay in it for a few minutes and then goes poo in it (like it’s a toilet) and then climbs to the basking area or wants to be out and about. Do you think the crickets and worms bite his mouth? How can I entice him to eat more? Or maybe he just doesn’t like the taste? He’s too skinny.
Can anyone give suggestions?
Thanks

 

[Dooter]

It can sometimes take awhile to fatten them up, especially when they are adults. His appetite may take awhile to ramp up.

I would advise getting a digital scale so that you can closely monitor his weight gain. Also, try an assortment of bugs and worms with him. Maybe try some dubia roaches, waxworms, and superworms.

This might sound crazy, but you should try feeding him outside in the sunshine. I don't know what it is about direct sunlight with beardies, but it really works wonders for giving them an overall boost, both physically and mentally!

 

[sweetiepie9]

I agree about getting him outside in the sunshine as often as possible. Real sun is so much better than UVB. Where do you have your UVB light, is it in the tank or on the top? The reason I ask if having a UVB light on the top removes about 1/2 of the light, so if you have a tube it's a good idea to get an under counter fixture so it can be in the tank. Making sure the temps are right is also a good idea & using a heating pad on top of him at night is a GREAT idea, first time I've heard of this, but what a great thing to do for him at night, so he's nice & warm.

As for eating, if you haven't had him long, relocation stress has alot to do with it. Please don't give him mealworms, they're very bad for beardies, as they don't have alot of meat, they're mainly all shell. Supers or kingworms would be much better for him & as they have some good fat in them, he'll gain weight. Just keep putting veggies/greens out for him daily, he'll eventually realize they're good food. There's a nutrition list that is great for beardies, it's at www.beautifuldragons.com. I've been using this nutrition list for 6 years with my crew (I have 5 adult males) and it's worth going through. It's also colour coded. Any squash is a good daily veggie, just cut it into strips for him. My crew love butternut squash. So check it out, it has great ideas.

I'm going to move you to the feeding area, to give you more ideas on how to get his appetite up, good luck with your beardie & thanks so much for rescueing him. Pics would be great, it would show me how he looks.
Deb

 

[dnardini]

Thank you both for the advice, to "sweetiepie" I have the UVB proped length wise at the back end of the tank with the screen open just enought to let the direct light go in and kto keep it from falling in the tank, I do not have anything to hang the light on. The heating pad i tried because a lot of people on this site said not to use a heat rock , that beardies do not have nerve ending on there bottom side therefore they wont feel if it is too hot. This kid I got my beardie from never had lights or heat and kept him outside almost all year, because we live in florida he said that was ok so i just did what he did and he told me that beardies eat iceberg lettuce and crickets, so thats what I did for a while and now I know better, Im so sick over it because I almost killed him. He is so cute i love! If I could figure how to post pics I would put them up. any way thank you.

 

[sweetiepie9]

I had a whole post done & my computer froze, so I lost it all, so I'll start again.

It doesn't sound as if your beardie had a lack of sun, being outside all the time, so I don't think MDB (metabolic bone disease) is an issue, but I do think he may have parasites in his gut & that can cause a very severe lack of appetite. It also won't go away, so you need a vet visit. I'm not sure of your $ situation, but if there is an herp vet close by, see if you can take a sample of your beardie's poop in to be analyzed, then if he does have parasites, you'll be given medication to treat him. I'm not sure what it would cost, but it's important this be done. If you can afford it, it would also be a good idea that he have a visit, too. Let me know how that goes.

I'm not sure what else to say about appetite, but there is something I do when I have trouble with appetite with one of mine. I got a new little guy last week, he'd been left at my pet shop & was really little. I've had him a week, but did take him to my vet last Thursday when I brought him home & he did have parasites (you can usually tell, their poops stink and you can smell them across the room. Normal beardie poops don't smell much. So I gave Gabriel his first med on Sunday & he stopped eating. So I got his some babyfood: Heintz chicken with 5 veggies (called chicken with vegetables) and Heintz organic butternut squash. You feed it to him thru an oral syringe (you can get these at any pharmacy or vet office) and put drops on his nose, he'll lick it off & that's one way to get him to eat if he won't eat much else. Give that a try, too. It's good that he's drinking, but don't leave water in his tank, you have alot of humidity in Florida & beardies need low humidity, so make sure the water gets out of his tank. It can bring on a respiratory infection which is hard & expensive to treat.

I hope this further info helps. I'm glad you got the UVB light to shine into his tank. See if you can get an undercounter fixture (Walmart or Lowes have them, they cost less than $10) as that will put the tube right into the tank at the top & you won't have to be concerned about keeping that part of the lid open, unless for your guy it doesn't matter. Adults aren't as active as young babies, so the way you're doing it is fine. And that idea of keeping him warm at night is excellent. I'll have to look into that when it gets really cold over here.

I just wanted to know what you have at the bottom of his tank? Sand & other loose substrates aren't good. I use newspaper as it's easy to remove when they poop and the ink doesn't transfer to the dragon. So let me know about that, too. Otherwise it's just a matter of time for him to get used to being inside, having never done that before, and getting his appetite going again. So please look into checking his poop, it's important.

Let me know how things are going.
Deb

I've decided to move this to Health, see if there are other opinions on what you should do.

 

[dnardini]

well his poop does stink but what poop doesnt? It's not really a foul smell, he usually has this gross looking sac and a brown terd with a really white fluff at the end of it. I notice the days that he drinks a lot of water it is a little watery but the days he doesnt drink as much its pretty solid. I dont have a herb vet aroubd so is a regular ver ok? I hope it doesnt cost too much, my huddy said to just get rid of it! But i wont. I will go check out velcro and hooks to see about putting the uvb inside. So it would go at the back of the tank just lower? and how much lower? I took the water out, and with it in the humidity gage saye 15(deesert). When I put food or water on his nose he will leave it there or try to rub his face on what ever is near him. I got him some superworms and he ate 3 but no vegies again today. So maybe your right about the parasites. I will call a vet tody! Thank you for your help.

 

[sweetiepie9]

I think a regular vet for a fecal would be ok. Just take the poop in & explain that it's stinky & you think he has parasites. They'll be able to do the test & give you the meds, shouldn't cost very much. Just tell them he has a lack of appetite & as they're not herp vets you'll just bring in a fresh sample of poop. Sorry your hubby feels like that, but once your dragon is eating, I'm sure he'll see that he's a nice pet to have. As for the light, just put it at the top of the tank, it reaches down to 16", but as long as you have something your dragon can sit on that he's about 8" away, he'll be ok. As for the eating off the snout, you have to be patient, it takes awhile for him to get the drift, it might also be that his gut doesn't feel well.

I'll wish you good luck & let me know how you're doing with him.
Take care
Deb