Beardie eating less?

[Cassyd]

Hello everyone

I read more often than post however would like to clarify with someone if my beardie is acting normal for his age/time of year or if I need to be worried something is wrong.

My beardie fury is only 7 months old so I don’t think it’s start of brumation but he does seem to have slowed down a lot with his food.

His set up is below not sure of tank size in gallons but measurements might help.

Enclosure - 54 * 16 * 16 inches
Lighting - Arcadia 10% uvb 30 watt @ 36 inches long & Arcadia 75 watt uva solar basking spotlight
Both approx 7 - 11 inches away from dragon depending on where he sits on logs.
His lights are on timer from 8am to 9pm is this long enough or too long for this time of the year?
Substrate - reptile carpet he sometimes tries digging into it?
Ambient Temps - cool end current reading 25.7 & hot end 38.4
Basking spot is 41.2 but he can get closer if he climbs on to the top end of his log.
Humidity is 25%

I’m using digital probes and a zoo med infra red gauge for temps.

He’s 7 months and weighs 306g and measures 16.5 inches snout to tail tip. He’s not losing weight but not gaining a lot either.

Can anyone offer any advice on why he’s not eating bugs? When they move he backs away from them like he’s scared?

His poops are fine just small given he’s not eating much, Urates white not chalky. Nothing in his poop undigested either.

Is my tank and lighting set up accurate for his age? I was slightly worried his tank might not be high enough and the bulbs were too close?

He’s moving around the tank fine and he will climb his log or go into his hide. He doesn't seem overly stressed.

 

[CooperDragon]

Your setup sounds great. He is also at a pretty good weight and it's a good sign that it's stable. I'll bet he is just slowing down a bit with the season. He may not go into full brumation, but sometimes they just slow their appetite and activity a bit for a while. Keep monitoring his weight but if it remains pretty stable and he is acting OK otherwise, I wouldn't worry about it too much. His activity and appetite should pick up again eventually.

 

[Cassyd]

Thank you for the response. I will continue to monitor him. I’m saying him but I’ve still yet to see an clear sign of gender yet.

I am glad however my set up does seem to be okay and not anything jumping out that is clearly wrong.

I’ve been sprinkling his greens with calcium powder as he’s not eating as many dusted bugs as usual but it’s hard to monitor how much of his greens he is actually eating but not a lot by the looks of it when I clear it out every night.

 

[Drache613]

Moved by Moderator from General to Health

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Your tank setup looks fine & the UVB lighting should be perfect for him.
They usually will slow down this time of year, some more than others. Our male
had his first brumation at only 6 months of age. He was well over 500 grams & very
healthy at that time. I tried to keep him out of it because I thought he was too young
but he started to get stressed so I decided to let him sleep. He slept relatively hard
but was up & down a little bit, but for 5 or so months.
He was great when he came out, lost virtually zero weight & finished growing when
he came out.
Just monitor his weight & behavior & since he is healthy he will most likely be just fine.

Tracie

 

[Cassyd]

Thank you tracie.

It’s so worrying when they go all quiet on you. I found him today perched up against his wooden cave at 10am still snuggles in his blanket. Ive been picking him up daily just to check he’s still okay and he will move around for a bit when I put him back down but finds a spot and lies down to go back to sleep. He ate a few roaches today about 9 or 10 and climbed for a little bit after onto his baskin spot.

I thought given his age and size he would be a lot heavier/ bigger. He doesn’t seem to have grown much at all the past month.