baby beardie not eating or drinking for days, please help

[spiderjoey93]

Hello, I bought a baby bearded dragon a couple days ago, with a 25w heat light, a 20w uvb light, a reptile carpet, and a ABOUT 10 GALLON GLASS TANK, the light fixture I use is not the professional reptile ones but the ones from regulare stores. when I first got him, he ate pretty good, but the second day, he stopped eating vegetables(I ve tried all kinds of vegetable, he just didn't eat them.), and the following days, he only ate 3-4 cricket a day, and he never drinks water, and he ALWAYS sit under the light during the day, not moving around nor go the the cool side of the tank. I called the pet store which I got him from, they told me the 10 gallon tank is too small and may cause the beardie stressed, but I m not sure about that, cuz my beardie is kind small. now i m really worried about him, could anyone help me and my beardie please?

 

[Spikey07]

A 10 gallon tank is small. You should have a 20gallon long as a minimum. It is hard to get the correct temperature gradient in such a small tank.

If you could answer some questions it may help us figure out what the problem may be:

What type of UVB do you have? Is it a coil or tube bulb?
What brand and strength is the UVB bulb? (this should be printed on the bulb)
What temperature is the basking spot?
What temperature is the cool side of the tank?
What type of thermometer are you using to measure the temps? (Is it a infared temperature gun, digital thermometer or a dial stick on type?)
Prior to him stopping eating did you supplement with calcium/vitamins?

Beardies often dont drink from a water bowl. You should keep him hydrated by offering water from a dropper or syringe and give him baths a few times a week in luke warm water.

 

[Bwalter]

it could be stress from being relocated, sometimes it takes up to 2 weeks before they eat in a new home. I think my girl ate the first day then nothing for about 4-5 days, then she started eating again.

 

[spiderjoey93]

thank you for reply.

my uvb is a FLUKER'S SUN-GLOW COIL LANTERN 10.0
it said "provides significant quantities of UVB(290-310nm)"
basking spot is around 95-110
cool side is 85
the thermometer I use is the kind that use by the apartments, you put it out side, and the digital clock inside your house will recieve the signal of the thermometer then display the temperature.
yes, I supplimented him with calcium powder for reptiles.

 

[spiderjoey93]

and my bearded dragon is scratching the glasses sometimes.

 

[BeardieMommy3991]

thank you for reply.

my uvb is a FLUKER'S SUN-GLOW COIL LANTERN 10.0
it said "provides significant quantities of UVB(290-310nm)"
basking spot is around 95-110
cool side is 85
the thermometer I use is the kind that use by the apartments, you put it out side, and the digital clock inside your house will recieve the signal of the thermometer then display the temperature.
yes, I supplimented him with calcium powder for reptiles.

Your temps are great, but the UVB bulb you have can cause problems in beardies. Coil is bad for their eyes. Insufficient UVB can also put them off their food. You really need to get the ReptiSUN 10.0 Tube bulb. You can buy it for about 20$ at petmountain.com. This may be what is making him not eat.

Also, make sure you don't have him on sand or wood chips. He needs to be on a solid substrate, such as tile, newspaper, paper towels, or repticarpet. Pet stores suck at giving the right information for beardies.

I hope your little one perks up soon

Ps. Scratching at the glass is normal, and is called "glass dancing". Enjoy it- it's cute :wink:

 

[spiderjoey93]

thank you very much!!!! I will replace the light immediately, but do I have to replace the 10 gallon tank to 20? the store said I can't change it, I can only buy a new one for 80 bucks, so if not nessassary I will just put him in the 10 gallon tank.

 

[BeardieMommy3991]

If you need a bigger tank for cheap, ask if they have any leaking fishtanks they will sell for cheap. Craigslist and ebay are also great places to get cheap tanks.

 

[spiderjoey93]

alright, thank you very much i already placed my order on petmountian, it's a really good site thank you!