Beardie brumating or sick?!

[Alannalou]

My beardie, Nova, used to be the best little beardie ever!! He would eat LOADSSS of food every day. Just recently (in the past week) he’s stopped eating. It’s early November here so I don’t know if he’s going into brumation or what. I did the 1000 mealworm challenge with him. He didn’t eat too many. Maybe about 25-30. He’s become tired now too. He doesn’t want to move and just kind of lays on him branch. I don’t know what to do or where to start.

 

[AHBD]

Hi there, how old is he and how big ? Some beardies go in to a slow down phase in the fall even if they're not full grown but you should always check to be sure that the uvb bulb isn't past 6-8 months + no longer producing uvb . They can produce light for several years but stop producing uvb.

BTW, what is the 1,000 mealworm challenge ? I know you weren't trying to feed him 1,000 mealies....I hope ? Has he poo'd since he ate the 35 mealies ? Did his lethargy start after ? Because a big amount of mealies in 1 sitting can be hard to digest, sometimes cause impaction or constipation at the least.

Can you post pics of him + separate ones of his tank + lights ?

 

[EllenD]

I'm guessing what you mean is you put him in a box of 1,000 mealworms you had shipped to you (mealworms shouldn't be a staple feeder insect for bearded dragons by the way) to see how many he would eat...if he ate 25 to 30 mealworms in one sitting he is most likely impacted or severely constipated, they have trouble digesting the hard chitlin shells to begin with, so letting him eat that many at one time is not a good idea. They also have a pretty high fat content, and combined with the mostly chitlin shells are not a good source of live protein for dragons. So if his lethargy and his appetite issues started after you let him eat that many at one time, he's most likely got an impaction and you need to get some prune baby food mixed with some plain, raw, canned pumpkin and some unflavored pedialyte or water and a drop or two of vegetable oil, and syringe feed him some, because he is most likely going to have trouble passing all of those shells.