Baby beardie not eating please help!!!

[jsm5010]

We just bought the baby beardie a week ago today from are local pet store. We don't know the sex yet but the beardie is only about 5" long from head to tail. The beardie ate 5 crickets on monday morning so I thought he was doing fine but he has not ate since. We have tried greens and small crickets but he has no intrest at all I even put him in a small container and tried to feed him but as soon as I put the crickets in he seemed scared. I don't know what to do I have been doing everything the pet store says to do. He is in a 75 gallon tank his basking temp is 105F and the cool side is 84 F
his bedding is that crushed walnut bedding you buy at the pet store. I mist him with water twice a day I gave him a warm bath but still no intrest in food. please help I don't know what to do

 

[Judah'sHuman]

welcome to the forum!

we will try and help you as best we can and give you soem good advise. First you need to remove the crushed walnut shells, these are not for dragons and will cause impaction and I am sure this is why he is not eatting. tyr and feel the belly for any lumps or abnormalities in the tummy. if you find something abnormal or he has not pooed in a few days then please try the following below.

The only subrate that shoudl be used with a lil dragon under 6-7 months old is: papertowles, reptial carpet, tiles ie slate or ceramic, shelf liner. You can use washed play sand only on a dragon that is over 6-7 months, any other types of loose subrates can cause impaction.

Second get a baby medicine syringe at a drug store and then pick up some baby food such as squash, carrots,apple sauce, chicken veggie medley and also some pedia lite and oilve oil. I also reccomend that you get some probiotics, you can get them on line at beautiful dragons.com or retile supply it is called acidophiliz+ . you can buy probiotics in ahealth food store in capsules however they are much more expensive. Some people recomend soy yogart, myself I have mixed oppinions about this because it has not been established that dragons can processes soy, but a few have used this trick as well. NO DAIRY YOGURT please.

You will then try and get you baby to eat the babyfood mixed with a few drops of olive oil, a dash of the probiotics and you can also put a dab of calcium, this is called a slury. try driping it on the nose, if you can get his to eat it you may have to gently seperate the lips and get the syringe in there and put very small amount in the mouth. be very careful you do not want to asperate your baby. he may take to it after he tastes it. the pedia lite can e givin in small amount is the slury or alone. you will want to feed about 1cc of the slurry every few hours.

a litle while after feeding, put your baby into a warm bath no deeper the the arm pits while standing up. massage teh belly in a downward motion for about 20 min. keep up the slurry ruine untill he poos and starts eatting normally again. do not offer any crickets for a few days untill he poos.

Also, please let us know what type of lighting you have? UVB,Spot lamp Coil lighting etc.

Good luck keep us informed!
Stacey

 

[jsm5010]

thanks for the information he still has been pooping everyday even though he has not been eatting. it comes out in a white slimey ball. For are lighting I have a 48" 5.0 usb tube but just ordered the 10.0 and for basking lights I am using one white 150watt bulb and one red 100watt bulb for heat.

 

[Judah'sHuman]

ok. Did ya order the Repta Sun 10. or the Repta glo 10.? The repta glo 10. is not as good as the other, however the repta glo 8. is pretty good. Really a mercury vapor bulb is the best UVB, but if you need to save soem cash right now the Repta sun10. is good enough. You may consider the MVB (merc bulb) for future investment.

Ok so is he only pooping white (these are Urates, water) if there is no black or dark he is just pooing out his hyrdration, which is no bueno. You can still do the babayfood slurry, just skip the olive oil unless he stops pooping altogether then it will most likely be impaction.

How long have you had him?
BTW sorry for all my typos using a laptop today and not all the use to the key board and finger mouse

 

[jsm5010]

I ordered the repta sun 10.0. He is only pooing white I just took him out and felt his stomac and i din't feel any thing. We have had him for a week today I was woundering if he is still trying to get use to his new inviroment and how long will it take?

 

[Judah'sHuman]

oh good about the light. That is not good about only pooing the urates though, it coudl be because he has not been eating or it coudl be because there is a blockage.

That is a good assumption about the new environment and not wanting to eat. It varies between dragons, some only a few days, some a week or more. The baby food and the acidophiliz+ should get his appetite going and get him to eat though.

Oh BTW the Beautifuldragons web site also has a great list of items to feed, so check that out. I bet he'll go for the apple sauce though. Judah loved the babyfood carrots he woudl grab the syring and start to shake the crap out of it like it needed to be killed. :lol:

Also Im not sure if you buy your crickets on line, but if you are in the states you can use reptilefood.com I have had really good luck with them. I have tired a few other popular places, and these guys are the best quailty and they check them for parasites etc. every few months. Soon you will be feeding yur baby upwards of 50+ crickets so to buy them bulk at 500-1000 at a time online for a reputable place and keeping in aplastic bin will save you money.

 

[Judah'sHuman]

oh also I just noticed, you will want to get a colorless heat emitter called a Ceramic Heat Emitter. The red lamps will keep them awake at night, make their vision out of focus and the infared waves do not penitrat to the bones like the CHE do. I too had a red heater for the first few months I had Judah untill I could afford a CHE, but he became much more active, he didn't wake up all night and it kept the tank at a more even temp.

 

[jsm5010]

so do you still think it is impaction since he only ate once in the tank and I don't feel anything in his belly. How long can a beardie go with out food and will they starve themselves to death? It It has been six days since he ate the pet store said he ate five crickes sunday just before I bought him and I feed five more monday morning before he quite eating.

 

[Judah'sHuman]

Untill you get some food into him and he then atually stops pooping, it will be hard to say whether he is impacted. He may not be and is prolly just not eatting because of the new location. Did you feed him the crickets in the viv with the shells? If so it is possable that he may have eatin soem of the subrate, but like I say untill you get some food into him and he stops pooping then it is hard to tell.

The babyfood food shoudl get him to eat, they love that stuff an if he is hungery enough he'll eat it. You can also delut pure fruit juices, like apple juice or grape juice make sure they are no sugar added and dilute it quit a bit. The acidophiliz also helps bild the immune system and may incurage them to eat. another one to try is repta aid it is specifically for lizzards under stress ie moving to a new enclosure. You can et both of these at retilesupply.com and they are both under $10

Unless he is severaly ill and there is some sort of underlying problem then he will begin to eat something, I hae never heard of a dragon starving themselves to death. If he is just stressed and you offer him a food that he will like then he will eventully start to eat. The really important part is to keep him hydrated.

 

[jsm5010]

changed bedding today to nature bark reptile bedding and got him to eat 1cc of fluker's repta aid I hope we are on the right track. I was just so glad to see him eat.

 

[Ethelia]

The only subrate that shoudl be used with a lil dragon under 6-7 months old is: papertowles, reptial carpet, tiles ie slate or ceramic, shelf liner. You can use washed play sand only on a dragon that is over 6-7 months, any other types of loose subrates can cause impaction.

As already stated this is the substrate you need.
Unfortunatly nature bark is no good for dragons.

 

[Judah'sHuman]

yes please. Even if it says "MADE FOR BEARDED DRAGONS" it is most likely no good. They make all types of products like Calci Sand that will impact your dragon. Please take our advise and only use the above mention.

Oh and I really glade he is starting to eat something. Have you tried baby food? The repta aid is just fluids he will need some acctual food.

 

[jsm5010]

ok so I changed his substrate to outdoor carpet and I have been feeding him baby food through a syringe everything has been going good till yesterday I started feeding him chicken baby food now today he is having trouble pooping he lifts both his back legs and hes trying to push it out please help what should I do he looks like hes in pain?

 

[dreshany]

changed bedding today to nature bark reptile bedding and got him to eat 1cc of fluker's repta aid I hope we are on the right track. I was just so glad to see him eat.

I am glad you changed his substrate to repticarpet. Just an FYI, any type of bark substrate is a big no no for bearded dragons because it holds moisture that can cause serious problems with mold, fungus and bacteria; some of which are deadly to BD's.
My advice is to stop listening to that pet store guy, he obviously has no clue about beardies.

I am so glad you found this site, people on here really know what they are talking about. They helped save my baby twice.
good luck and keep us posted

 

[dreshany]

Just a few more thoughts. I would continue treating for impaction simply because it does no harm to treat them for it but can be quite serious if it is left untreated. The babyfood, applesauce, probiotics and olive oil are all great suggestions.
I would also give your beardie at least one bath a day. This helps keep them hydrated and will help them poop. When my baby was having trouble pooping I gave him a bath and left him in there until he went. Just warm the bath as it cools. One time it took an hour, but he did go.
Are you supplementing with multi vitamins and calcium? How often and what brand are you using?