Approx 1 year old not eating or drinking

[Waterlily]

Tank is 55 g aquarium.
Lighting is heat lamp for basking, reptisun 10 uvb T8.
Humidity is 30%
Baths are daily in reptisafe treated warm water
Temp is 95 basking, 85 cool side - digital thermometer has corded temp monitor on hammock and corded humidity monitor in cent of habitat.
Substrate is packing paper, solid
Diet is Kale with D3 powder, sprayed with reptisafe treated water. Crickets have been unavailable here lately, super worms.

I have had this Beardie almost a year. She came to me from a petstore where she had been injured by her tankmates, losing all but 1 toe on one of her back feet. Nursed that and it healed. She then got a nail on one of her front feet caught in her hammock and bit the ends off of 2 of her toes... Covered the hammock, Nursed that and it healed. That was around August of last year...

Now, it is May, shes no longer eating or drinking. It has been close to a week. She isnt shedding atm, she is still active and roams around her tank, she also roams around my couch when I take her out and hold her. She attempts to dig under her hammock but I have been reluctant to put any loose substrate in her enclosure for fear of impaction (so very much conflicting information that I just dont know who to listen to on the subject.). She isnt lethargic but without the daily baths she would be very dehydrated. She wont even drink the bath water. She hasnt had any BMs, hopefully just because she hasnt eaten much. I have made her eat about 5 super worms total in the last 7 days... Still nothing. I wouldnt even care if she bit me right now as long as I could get her to drink... She wont. She did attempt to eat some of her kale 3 days ago but like 1 bite...

I have called all local vets and no one can see her til Friday... Its now Tuesday. Because of covid they only have 1 doctor and that doctor is booked solid. I really dont know what else to do for her... When its warm enough we go outside, she hangs out on my hammock with me for a bit. Sometimes we take her on her little leash we bought her and she walks around in the grass, we dont use any pesticides or chemicals in my yard... I really didnt know what to make of her at first but she has become my friend and Im really worried for her. Any help on this issue would be appreciated.

 

[KarrieRee]

First where is the UVB? For a T 8 it needs to be inside the tank approx 8-10 inches from basking decor w/ NO plastic cover over the bulb---- next you need to raise basking temps to 95-110- it is nice to offer them a gradient heat - a good piece of decor w/ different places to sit would offer that gradient heat - petsmart has some nice decor pieces that offer that and are easy to clean --- you need to keep her hydrated if she is not drinking from the bath water and you think she is dehydrated then syringe feed water 2 times per week --- her poop will tell you if shes dehydrated --- if the urate is white and chalky or dried out ---- but my guess shes not eating because of the UVB placement and basking temps need to be a little higher she also will not eat if shes dehydrated -- shes digging you said under the hammock - does she have eggs possibly---- please take a pic of her and post it -- can you feel eggs? they would be infertile if you have not bred her -- usually constantly digging is a sign of eggs ---
https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ click on XIMG at top of message box then click on the pic it should post
Karrie

 

[Waterlily]

Just bought her a new bulb and installed it just now... Petsmart had crickets so I bought a bunch, brought them home and dusted them, put them in the tank and I have never seen her move so fast. Rofl! She ate 10 so far and will be feeding her more in a bit. Her t8 fixture is about 1 foot away from her. No cover over the bulb and the other decor we have put in there she never bothers with. She generally stays on her hammock or the log that leads to the hammock. Personally, It seems like shes fine now... Maybe shes just a diva and really wanted crickets? She gobbled them up like crazy so... Any more problems and I will open another thread. Thank you.

 

[Waterlily]

Whenever I make her basking temp higher she opens her mouth for a bit then crawls under her hammock. Can you tell me, based on the second photo, when she will start trying to lay eggs? Is she small for a 1 year old?

 

[KarrieRee]

The T 8 needs to be closer to her you have it set up for a T 5 --- it needs to be 8-10 inches for proper UVB --- you need to lower it -- or raise basking decor --
Karrie

 

[KarrieRee]

Her opening her mouth while basking is thermoglating - shes adjusting her body temp and that is normal --- as far as laying eggs she will start trying to dig like theres no tomorrow - her behavior will become like a wild woman -- digging all the time - sometimes you can feel for eggs --- other than that thats all I can tell you-- No she doesnt look small for her age
Karrie

 

[Waterlily]

Thanks, I will move some stuff around.

 

[WinFam01]

What a pretty girl!

Sounds like she really wanted some crickets, lol. If you get tired of the crickets or have trouble finding them again, I recommend trying dubia roaches. We used to feed crickets and dubia are so much better! I ordered from dubiaroachdepot. We also started on bsfl which I ordered from Sympton.
Some veggies ours likes besides kale and mustard greens are fresh green beans, any colored bell pepper, and acorn squash. There are a ton listed on http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html if you want even more variety.

 

[Waterlily]

What a pretty girl!

Sounds like she really wanted some crickets, lol. If you get tired of the crickets or have trouble finding them again, I recommend trying dubia roaches. We used to feed crickets and dubia are so much better! I ordered from dubiaroachdepot. We also started on bsfl which I ordered from Sympton.
Some veggies ours likes besides kale and mustard greens are fresh green beans, any colored bell pepper, and acorn squash. There are a ton listed on http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html if you want even more variety.

Thank you! My biggest problem with the kale is we have to buy such a big bunch and she doesnt eat much of it. I may try some other smaller veggies just because kale is cheap but we waste a lot of it. I would like to try the roaches but Im a bit afraid of raising them in my house... Its a little scary thinking about them getting out lol.

 

[KarrieRee]

Believe me we all thought that way at first but if they do get out they die off quickly --- they dont last long --- I had the same problem w/ my greens at first--- what you need to do is when you get home take them out of the bag they came in and I separate mine into bags for days of feeding like I will mix turnips and collards or kale and collard etc --- make sure they are not real wet -if you haft to leave them on the counter for awhile so they dry out-- I put them in 1 gallon zip loc bags and get as much air out as possible --- they wont get all yucky -- I had like 6-8 bags in one of my fresh veggie drawers and they lasted for 3 weeks in there --- as I was using the last bag it was just starting to get yucky try that and see how it works
Karrie

 

[loljelloclowdz]

About the kale, you can grow a lot of kale really fast in just about anything - even a little flower pot on the windowsill will work. Next time you need to order something off of amazon, you should buy a packet of seeds and you’ll have infinite salad