Baby/Juvenile bearded dragon female not eating much?

[Dee7812]

Hi - so I got my dragon a few months ago now...she seems to have settled in well. She lets me handle her with no signs of fear or aggression, she had been eating both her insects and her salad, gaining weight, being active etc. I had done a faecal test for her a few weeks ago where she had low levels of coccidia which I treated with Toltrazuril and deep cleaned according to instructions. Her poops seem normal, not runny and has been regular.

However over the last week or two she really slowed down her eating...going from being a maniac to not showing any interest in anything I offer her. She hatched on July 21st so only about 3-ish months old - she weighed 151 grams last week and when I weighed her yesterday she was 150 grams. She's been pooping less frequently I'm guessing due to eating less but she still drinks water I put on her nose and does poop (she did yesterday). Some days I can get her to eat 1-3 insects (dubias, morios, or calci worms) and other days she has nothing.

If she wasn't a baby I'd wonder if she was going into Brumation due to it entering winter time here in England. So I'm just a little worried, if this behaviour is normal. I've been able to get her to eat some days and she does still spend time basking on her branch but she puts herself to bed earlier than she had been.

Her cool end (air temp) is usually in the mid 80's and the warm end's air temp is usually the mid 90's with the basking surface temp being between 105-110 degrees using a temp gun. I use a 150w basking bulb as it seemed that the 100w wasn't getting warm enough now that it's winter. I'm also using an Arcadia 24w 14% with the UV rating being between 3-5 on her branch depending on where she sits. I've tried to not change her enclosure since I got her - only adjusting it to make sure she's getting the temps and uv she needs based on the spots she ended up liking to sit on. But I've not changed any of this since the deep clean 3 weeks ago.

Any ideas? How much weight loss would be a cause for concern?

 

[KarrieRee]

Hi - so I got my dragon a few months ago now...she seems to have settled in well. She lets me handle her with no signs of fear or aggression, she had been eating both her insects and her salad, gaining weight, being active etc. I had done a faecal test for her a few weeks ago where she had low levels of coccidia which I treated with Toltrazuril and deep cleaned according to instructions. Her poops seem normal, not runny and has been regular.

However over the last week or two she really slowed down her eating...going from being a maniac to not showing any interest in anything I offer her. She hatched on July 21st so only about 3-ish months old - she weighed 151 grams last week and when I weighed her yesterday she was 150 grams. She's been pooping less frequently I'm guessing due to eating less but she still drinks water I put on her nose and does poop (she did yesterday). Some days I can get her to eat 1-3 insects (dubias, morios, or calci worms) and other days she has nothing.

If she wasn't a baby I'd wonder if she was going into Brumation due to it entering winter time here in England. So I'm just a little worried, if this behaviour is normal. I've been able to get her to eat some days and she does still spend time basking on her branch but she puts herself to bed earlier than she had been.

Her cool end (air temp) is usually in the mid 80's and the warm end's air temp is usually the mid 90's with the basking surface temp being between 105-110 degrees using a temp gun. I use a 150w basking bulb as it seemed that the 100w wasn't getting warm enough now that it's winter. I'm also using an Arcadia 24w 14% with the UV rating being between 3-5 on her branch depending on where she sits. I've tried to not change her enclosure since I got her - only adjusting it to make sure she's getting the temps and uv she needs based on the spots she ended up liking to sit on. But I've not changed any of this since the deep clean 3 weeks ago.

Any ideas? How much weight loss would be a cause for concern?

At 3 months old the dragon should be eating like a horse!! Where is the UVB top of screen --in the tank? The 14% bulb is very strong- how long does she bask for? She should be eating 10-15 dubias per feeding morio worms around 20-25 in the morning w/ the dubias as supplemented -- the surface basking temp should be taken w/ a digital probe thermometer they are the most accurate

 

[Dee7812]

At 3 months old the dragon should be eating like a horse!! Where is the UVB top of screen --in the tank? The 14% bulb is very strong- how long does she bask for? She should be eating 10-15 dubias per feeding morio worms around 20-25 in the morning w/ the dubias as supplemented -- the surface basking temp should be taken w/ a digital probe thermometer they are the most accurate

The UVB is in the tank - I have a solarmeter and changed it from 12% to 14% after measuring that her favourite spots were too low. With 14% where she sits most of the time is around a UV of 3-ish. She'll bask for a few hours then go on the cool end and sometimes hover in the middle. I tried a 100W basking bulb too but now that it's winter I don't think it gets warm enough, she seems happier when it's the 150W one right now

 

[AHBD]

Hi - so I got my dragon a few months ago now...she seems to have settled in well. She lets me handle her with no signs of fear or aggression, she had been eating both her insects and her salad, gaining weight, being active etc. I had done a faecal test for her a few weeks ago where she had low levels of coccidia which I treated with Toltrazuril and deep cleaned according to instructions. Her poops seem normal, not runny and has been regular.

However over the last week or two she really slowed down her eating...going from being a maniac to not showing any interest in anything I offer her. She hatched on July 21st so only about 3-ish months old - she weighed 151 grams last week and when I weighed her yesterday she was 150 grams. She's been pooping less frequently I'm guessing due to eating less but she still drinks water I put on her nose and does poop (she did yesterday). Some days I can get her to eat 1-3 insects (dubias, morios, or calci worms) and other days she has nothing.

If she wasn't a baby I'd wonder if she was going into Brumation due to it entering winter time here in England. So I'm just a little worried, if this behaviour is normal. I've been able to get her to eat some days and she does still spend time basking on her branch but she puts herself to bed earlier than she had been.

Her cool end (air temp) is usually in the mid 80's and the warm end's air temp is usually the mid 90's with the basking surface temp being between 105-110 degrees using a temp gun. I use a 150w basking bulb as it seemed that the 100w wasn't getting warm enough now that it's winter. I'm also using an Arcadia 24w 14% with the UV rating being between 3-5 on her branch depending on where she sits. I've tried to not change her enclosure since I got her - only adjusting it to make sure she's getting the temps and uv she needs based on the spots she ended up liking to sit on. But I've not changed any of this since the deep clean 3 weeks ago.

Any ideas? How much weight loss would be a cause for concern?

She actually hasn't lost any weight so she may be going through a phase from the change of season and temps. Can you post a few pics of her to show body condition ? Also of the enclosure + lights ?

 

[Dee7812]

She actually hasn't lost any weight so she may be going through a phase from the change of season and temps. Can you post a few pics of her to show body condition ? Also of the enclosure + lights ?

Sure thing - it's night time now so in the morning once she comes out to bask I'll get some photos and post. Hopefully it's just a phase...she did have a nibble of her salad this evening but just a little bit after snubbing dubias a few hours earlier. Thank you in advance - I'm new to this despite having done loads of research beforehand...research and reality are two different things.

Anyway till tomorrow's photos - thank you!

 

[AHBD]

O.K, in the mean time try not to worry. They are very hardy lizards and can go off food for a variety of reasons not always known to us but once they are well established in size and health they can handle it.

 

[Dee7812]

O.K, in the mean time try not to worry. They are very hardy lizards and can go off food for a variety of reasons not always known to us but once they are well established in size and health they can handle it.

I do have these photos from Sunday (the photo of her on a branch) and Monday (her pancaked on my lap) but yeah I'll get more recent photos of her in the morning along with images of the enclosure. I'll weigh her tomorrow too. Thanks!

 

[AHBD]

Thanks for the pics ! I thought she'd be super plump. She is actually a bit overweight for her age/length and sometimes they actually go off food as they are gaining too fast. How many insects was she eating per day ? It's fine if you already cut back to insects every other day, a reduced amount, and offering salads [ mostly greens like collards, kale, turnip, arugula,dandelion grated squash, a little green bean. Keeping her from getting too big too fast will be healthier for her liver + kidneys which otherwise may have to work over time . You want your beautiful girl to be healthy and live a long life.

 

[Dee7812]

Yeah I thought so! The breeder was feeding her 3x times a day as much as she could eat in 10 minutes (she was bigger than her siblings too) but I had already started cutting her back as you said - gradually. It was usually between 5-10 insects (usually closer to 5) total per day plus salad/veggies offered every day. Just yeah the last week and a half she's just stopped being interested. So perhaps she is self regulating then!

 

[AHBD]

Yes she may be doing just that, her body may be saying she can slow down for a bit . Of course it can be other things but this is normal behavior if it's for a short period . The breeders used to power feed them like 20-30 insects 3X a day but no animal needs that huge amount.

 

[Dee7812]

Yes she may be doing just that, her body may be saying she can slow down for a bit . Of course it can be other things but this is normal behavior if it's for a short period . The breeders used to power feed them like 20-30 insects 3X a day but no animal needs that huge amount.

Here are said photos! She just came out from sleeping in her cork hide on the cool end so she was a bit dark. Weighed her again and she's still at 150 grams

 

[AHBD]

That's a very nice enclosure ! She looks good, just a bit too chunky. If she refuses food for the next week or 2 try to get a fecal test done by a qualified reptile vet to take care of any potential parasites if she has them.

 

[Dee7812]

That's a very nice enclosure ! She looks good, just a bit too chunky. If she refuses food for the next week or 2 try to get a fecal test done by a qualified reptile vet to take care of any potential parasites if she has them.

Thank you! She's been quite active today and ate a little - she ran over to the dubias I put in very enthusiastically and had one then wandered off to climb on her branch. So she's not totally refusing...I'll keep an eye on it and her weight. Thank you

 

[AHBD]

O.K, that's kind of what we were leaning to, it's possible that she has grown just a little too fast with far more food that she needs and is self regulating her in take. So just offer fewer insects per feeding and just 2-3 X a week. There are many overweight dragons and people get used to seeing the supet thick tail, legs and sagging dtomach. It generally starts when young because of over feeding.

 

[AHBD]

O.K, that's kind of what we were leaning to, it's possible that she has grown just a little too fast with far more food that she needs and is self regulating her in take. So just offer fewer insects per feeding and just 2-3 X a week. There are many overweight dragons and people get used to seeing the supet thick tail, legs and sagging dtomach. It generally starts when young because of over feeding.

Wow, I better proof read my comments. Pretty pathetic.