OK so first off, I'm a very new beardie owner so forgive me if I'm being overly paranoid, but I just don't want to overlook a health issue that could be dealt with or avoided.
This is going to be long because I want to provide everything I know about the situation so you know what I'm working with.
OK, so I brought Ripley home just over 2 weeks ago. By my best guess, he's somewhere between 1 and 2 months old. As of a couple days ago, 21 cm long and 21 grams. I should have been weighing him since I brought him home, but I didn't. Purchased from PetCo, and selected because he looked plump and healthy and seemed more alert than the others in the store. I say "he" but I do not actually know his sex.
When I first brought him home, he did remarkably well when I put him into his terrarium. I got him home about the time his lights went off so I just put him in and left him alone. The first day he ate probably 10 small dubia roaches and even ate some greens. For the first 5 or 6 days he did AMAZINGLY well compared to what I've read of beardies when they first get adopted. He was also pooping regularly each day at least once.
During those first days he ate maybe 15 to 20 crickets a day and some mealworms for a couple of days when every store was out of crickets and I couldn't get any. He also at some greens every day or two. During this time, I was putting a few crickets into the terrarium with him and letting him chase and catch them as he pleased and he had no trouble catching them in the large space. I know now that leaving crickets loose in the terrarium is not a good idea so I have stopped doing this. At some point during that time, he also looked like he was starting to shed. The end of his nose started to shed, but that was all.
Then, a little over week ago, his tail started to look sort of faded and he suddenly seemed to lose his appetite. I assumed he was going to shed, but he just never did. He shows little interest in either crickets or mealworms when I put them in his dish or put him in a smaller terrarium with them so he can chase them. He just ignores them. He also hasn't shed yet and its been about a week of his tail still looking faded but no actual shed besides that little bit on the end of his nose at the beginning. Most days over the last week I've been lucky to get maybe 5 bugs into him a day, sometimes crickets, sometimes mealworms. I have to feed them with tweezers as that's suddenly the only way he will eat.
He still basks most of the day. He rarely goes in his hide and spends almost the entire day moving around his basking spots so I don't imagine there's any issue with his lighting. His poops are still regular. Starting yesterday they got a little watery but I think he may be overhydrated. He drinks water when dropped on the end of his nose but maybe I gave him too much. But until yesterday, his poops were the correct consistency and everything.
He is still very alert and energetic, bright eyed and moving around. I'm probably overly worried but I just want to check and see if I should be concerned about the not eating much and not shedding. From what I understand online, babies his age will shed every week or two so I would have expected him to have shed by now, especially since he's looked like he's going to shed for almost a week now. And I understand that babies are usually very ravenous eaters (and he was at first too) but then suddenly stopped.
Is there any need for concern here? Or is he just taking a while to shed and that's also the reason for the loss of appetite? It just seems odd that it's been over a week and he doesn't seem to have made any progress on it. A few times a day, he will rub his head on the woven hammock where he basks, as if he's trying to shed but doesn't seem to get anywhere. I've also been giving him baths every other day or so during this time. He doesn't seem to particularly enjoy that but I hoped it would help with the shed but it doesn't seem to be.
Can anyone reassure me that everything is OK, or if not, tell me what might be going on? Or even if there's no cause for concern right now, when should I start to worry?
All the information about his terrarium should be in my profile, and if you have any other questions about the setup just ask!
Thanks!
This is going to be long because I want to provide everything I know about the situation so you know what I'm working with.
OK, so I brought Ripley home just over 2 weeks ago. By my best guess, he's somewhere between 1 and 2 months old. As of a couple days ago, 21 cm long and 21 grams. I should have been weighing him since I brought him home, but I didn't. Purchased from PetCo, and selected because he looked plump and healthy and seemed more alert than the others in the store. I say "he" but I do not actually know his sex.
When I first brought him home, he did remarkably well when I put him into his terrarium. I got him home about the time his lights went off so I just put him in and left him alone. The first day he ate probably 10 small dubia roaches and even ate some greens. For the first 5 or 6 days he did AMAZINGLY well compared to what I've read of beardies when they first get adopted. He was also pooping regularly each day at least once.
During those first days he ate maybe 15 to 20 crickets a day and some mealworms for a couple of days when every store was out of crickets and I couldn't get any. He also at some greens every day or two. During this time, I was putting a few crickets into the terrarium with him and letting him chase and catch them as he pleased and he had no trouble catching them in the large space. I know now that leaving crickets loose in the terrarium is not a good idea so I have stopped doing this. At some point during that time, he also looked like he was starting to shed. The end of his nose started to shed, but that was all.
Then, a little over week ago, his tail started to look sort of faded and he suddenly seemed to lose his appetite. I assumed he was going to shed, but he just never did. He shows little interest in either crickets or mealworms when I put them in his dish or put him in a smaller terrarium with them so he can chase them. He just ignores them. He also hasn't shed yet and its been about a week of his tail still looking faded but no actual shed besides that little bit on the end of his nose at the beginning. Most days over the last week I've been lucky to get maybe 5 bugs into him a day, sometimes crickets, sometimes mealworms. I have to feed them with tweezers as that's suddenly the only way he will eat.
He still basks most of the day. He rarely goes in his hide and spends almost the entire day moving around his basking spots so I don't imagine there's any issue with his lighting. His poops are still regular. Starting yesterday they got a little watery but I think he may be overhydrated. He drinks water when dropped on the end of his nose but maybe I gave him too much. But until yesterday, his poops were the correct consistency and everything.
He is still very alert and energetic, bright eyed and moving around. I'm probably overly worried but I just want to check and see if I should be concerned about the not eating much and not shedding. From what I understand online, babies his age will shed every week or two so I would have expected him to have shed by now, especially since he's looked like he's going to shed for almost a week now. And I understand that babies are usually very ravenous eaters (and he was at first too) but then suddenly stopped.
Is there any need for concern here? Or is he just taking a while to shed and that's also the reason for the loss of appetite? It just seems odd that it's been over a week and he doesn't seem to have made any progress on it. A few times a day, he will rub his head on the woven hammock where he basks, as if he's trying to shed but doesn't seem to get anywhere. I've also been giving him baths every other day or so during this time. He doesn't seem to particularly enjoy that but I hoped it would help with the shed but it doesn't seem to be.
Can anyone reassure me that everything is OK, or if not, tell me what might be going on? Or even if there's no cause for concern right now, when should I start to worry?
All the information about his terrarium should be in my profile, and if you have any other questions about the setup just ask!
Thanks!
Don't hesitate to ask about anything at all, it's always better to ask than to guess. 
