Kaiser
Juvie Member
EDIT 1: For anyone who has been experiencing similar conditions, please take a look at my second post, as there is a link provided that outlines the conditions, as well as a potential reason for why one's bearded dragon may be acting as such. However, please make sure you consider and/or attempt to solve all other possible problems before simply writing off one's bearded dragon's conditions as simply a seasonal/hormonal phase.
First of all, this has been going on for a little while now, and I have done a bit of research to try to figure out what could be the problem. I have heard that some of the other forum members have had their bearded dragons go through some thing like this around this time, and I'm wondering if it's something I should be worried about. Excuse me for the long post, but hopefully it'll help you help me better. Thank you for your time and consideration.
My bearded dragon, Kaiser, is about seven and a half months old, and is relatively large for his age (though appropriate weight for his length) at approximately 19 inches and 471 grams. I have had him for almost six and a half months now. Just about three weeks ago, Kaiser suddenly stopped eating and started to hide more often (and sleep in later, go to sleep earlier). He used to eat twice a day, anywhere from 50-150 large Reptiworms per feeding. He is also provided with a fresh salad every morning, consisting of dandelion greens, collard greens, endive, green beans, and occasionally butternut squash. Now, he eats about once every three to four days, and has a bowel movement shortly after (he used to have a bowel movement every morning). He is housed in a 40 gallon breeder terrarium, on non-adhesive shelf liner (with a reptile carpet underneath), with two 18" Reptisun 10.0 tube type UVB bulbs (one approximately three months old, one just put in two weeks ago), and a flood light and some household bulbs for heat. The temperatures are as follows: cool side (80-85 degrees Fahrenheit), warm side (85-90 degrees Fahrenheit), and the basking area (100-110 degrees Fahrenheit, depending on the time of day). I am measuring each of these sites with two different types of digital thermometers, as well as two stick-on dial thermometers for convenience (however, the digital thermometers are in the terrarium tracking the temperature throughout the day and night as well). The humidity ranges from 36-40%, depending on the time of day. I bathe him once every other day, and clean his terrarium weekly (spot clean daily), and extremely thoroughly with pressurized hot water and steam, as well as diluted bleach, at least once a month.
First, to address the eating/defeation problem: I was worried it could have been an impaction, even though I couldn't think of anyway he could have been impacted (no particulate substrate, no unacceptable feeders, no food larger than the space between his eyes), so I upped his bathing schedule to once everyday. It didn't help. I took him to a veterinarian recently, and upon review, they couldn't find anything obstructing his digestive tract, or anything unusual in his belly. We agreed that impaction was improbable. The next potential problem could have been parasites; therefore, I also had a fecal examination done at that time. It came back clean.
To address the hiding/sleeping problem: He used to wake up each morning and move onto his basking spot within thirty minutes of the lights being turned on; nowadays, I have seen him go as long as two hours without moving up to his basking spot (I have not seen him wait much longer, as I move him to his basking spot every morning now, as I don't want to see how long it will take for him to get up to his basking spot...). Additionally, he seems to hide throughout the day, trying to go to sleep as early as one in the afternoon (lights go on at 7:30 AM on the dot, every morning, and go off at 8:30 PM every night) at times. I have since then blocked any of the hide areas with tissue paper, and he has therefore not hid anymore. However, he still avoids his basking area, and for a majority of the day, attempts to escape to the cool side of his terrarium. I thought it might have been a temperature problem, but all of my temperatures were in range. Additionally, for the six and a half months that I have had him, he has basked in the same temperature set-up I have had and used to spend most of his time on the warm side/basking area. Nonetheless, I figured I would try dropping the temperatures, as I know that older bearded dragons tend to like lower temperatures (though, I am not sure seven and a half months is considered very old...). I dropped it from approximately 105 degrees Fahrenheit to about 100 degrees Fahrenheit. He still moved away from his basking area and spent most of his time on the cool side. I dropped it to 95 degrees Fahrenheit, and he is still acting the same way. The veterinarian, in all of her years working, said she had never recommended actually dropping the temperature in a reptile's enclosure (as, in most of her cases, the problem has been too low temperatures), but has asked me to try dropping it another five degrees to see if there are any changes. I would prefer not to, but the veterinarian and I can't seem to think of any other possible explanation.
Otherwise, he is relatively active outside of his terrarium, and has not lost any weight. However, he has not grown during this time. He had shed about halfway into this ordeal, but he has never acted out of the ordinary while shedding (he has always maintained his appetite, docile and friendly demeanor, and normal behavior during all of his previous sheddings), and had finished shedding for some time now. The veterinarian said he looked perfectly healthy and was well-taken care of; his fecal examination came back negative on all parasite tests.
I am just worried because of the sudden, drastic change (I mean, from 100-300 Reptiworms a day to about 100 or so once every four days?), and I know my bearded dragon is still young and growing. I want him to grow to his full potential, and I would be sad if he didn't because I couldn't find a solution sooner. If anyone has any ideas, suggestions, or anything helpful to say, I would greatly appreciate it. I am at such a loss.
EDIT 2: Also, I forgot to mention earlier, but I have also researched and have heard that it is mating season for bearded dragons. Apparently, some will lose their appetite for some reason or another due to the mating season. However, I'm not sure if this helps explain anything to do with the light/heat avoidance? I would think that if it were mating season, they would be up and ready every morning to find a mate.
Additionally, I am also aware that some bearded dragons may get sick of being fed the same type of food over and over again. I have tried varying his diet, providing ReptiWorms, crickets, and super worms. Before the ordeal, he used to love ReptiWorms, was okay with crickets, and showed initial interest in the super worms (but soon became disinterested in them afterwards). He now shows little to no interest for any of them. And note that I do not normally feed him crickets or super worms; crickets were fed rarely when my shipment of ReptiWorms would be delayed, and super worms were just introduced about a week before the ordeal. I suppose I could try other feeders, but they are relatively expensive, and all of my other feeders are just dying without being eaten. Additionally, this would only resolve the eating problem, and still leaves the light/heat avoidance unattended to (though I understand that they could be caused by two separate problems, though they occurred concurrently).
First of all, this has been going on for a little while now, and I have done a bit of research to try to figure out what could be the problem. I have heard that some of the other forum members have had their bearded dragons go through some thing like this around this time, and I'm wondering if it's something I should be worried about. Excuse me for the long post, but hopefully it'll help you help me better. Thank you for your time and consideration.
My bearded dragon, Kaiser, is about seven and a half months old, and is relatively large for his age (though appropriate weight for his length) at approximately 19 inches and 471 grams. I have had him for almost six and a half months now. Just about three weeks ago, Kaiser suddenly stopped eating and started to hide more often (and sleep in later, go to sleep earlier). He used to eat twice a day, anywhere from 50-150 large Reptiworms per feeding. He is also provided with a fresh salad every morning, consisting of dandelion greens, collard greens, endive, green beans, and occasionally butternut squash. Now, he eats about once every three to four days, and has a bowel movement shortly after (he used to have a bowel movement every morning). He is housed in a 40 gallon breeder terrarium, on non-adhesive shelf liner (with a reptile carpet underneath), with two 18" Reptisun 10.0 tube type UVB bulbs (one approximately three months old, one just put in two weeks ago), and a flood light and some household bulbs for heat. The temperatures are as follows: cool side (80-85 degrees Fahrenheit), warm side (85-90 degrees Fahrenheit), and the basking area (100-110 degrees Fahrenheit, depending on the time of day). I am measuring each of these sites with two different types of digital thermometers, as well as two stick-on dial thermometers for convenience (however, the digital thermometers are in the terrarium tracking the temperature throughout the day and night as well). The humidity ranges from 36-40%, depending on the time of day. I bathe him once every other day, and clean his terrarium weekly (spot clean daily), and extremely thoroughly with pressurized hot water and steam, as well as diluted bleach, at least once a month.
First, to address the eating/defeation problem: I was worried it could have been an impaction, even though I couldn't think of anyway he could have been impacted (no particulate substrate, no unacceptable feeders, no food larger than the space between his eyes), so I upped his bathing schedule to once everyday. It didn't help. I took him to a veterinarian recently, and upon review, they couldn't find anything obstructing his digestive tract, or anything unusual in his belly. We agreed that impaction was improbable. The next potential problem could have been parasites; therefore, I also had a fecal examination done at that time. It came back clean.
To address the hiding/sleeping problem: He used to wake up each morning and move onto his basking spot within thirty minutes of the lights being turned on; nowadays, I have seen him go as long as two hours without moving up to his basking spot (I have not seen him wait much longer, as I move him to his basking spot every morning now, as I don't want to see how long it will take for him to get up to his basking spot...). Additionally, he seems to hide throughout the day, trying to go to sleep as early as one in the afternoon (lights go on at 7:30 AM on the dot, every morning, and go off at 8:30 PM every night) at times. I have since then blocked any of the hide areas with tissue paper, and he has therefore not hid anymore. However, he still avoids his basking area, and for a majority of the day, attempts to escape to the cool side of his terrarium. I thought it might have been a temperature problem, but all of my temperatures were in range. Additionally, for the six and a half months that I have had him, he has basked in the same temperature set-up I have had and used to spend most of his time on the warm side/basking area. Nonetheless, I figured I would try dropping the temperatures, as I know that older bearded dragons tend to like lower temperatures (though, I am not sure seven and a half months is considered very old...). I dropped it from approximately 105 degrees Fahrenheit to about 100 degrees Fahrenheit. He still moved away from his basking area and spent most of his time on the cool side. I dropped it to 95 degrees Fahrenheit, and he is still acting the same way. The veterinarian, in all of her years working, said she had never recommended actually dropping the temperature in a reptile's enclosure (as, in most of her cases, the problem has been too low temperatures), but has asked me to try dropping it another five degrees to see if there are any changes. I would prefer not to, but the veterinarian and I can't seem to think of any other possible explanation.
Otherwise, he is relatively active outside of his terrarium, and has not lost any weight. However, he has not grown during this time. He had shed about halfway into this ordeal, but he has never acted out of the ordinary while shedding (he has always maintained his appetite, docile and friendly demeanor, and normal behavior during all of his previous sheddings), and had finished shedding for some time now. The veterinarian said he looked perfectly healthy and was well-taken care of; his fecal examination came back negative on all parasite tests.
I am just worried because of the sudden, drastic change (I mean, from 100-300 Reptiworms a day to about 100 or so once every four days?), and I know my bearded dragon is still young and growing. I want him to grow to his full potential, and I would be sad if he didn't because I couldn't find a solution sooner. If anyone has any ideas, suggestions, or anything helpful to say, I would greatly appreciate it. I am at such a loss.
EDIT 2: Also, I forgot to mention earlier, but I have also researched and have heard that it is mating season for bearded dragons. Apparently, some will lose their appetite for some reason or another due to the mating season. However, I'm not sure if this helps explain anything to do with the light/heat avoidance? I would think that if it were mating season, they would be up and ready every morning to find a mate.
Additionally, I am also aware that some bearded dragons may get sick of being fed the same type of food over and over again. I have tried varying his diet, providing ReptiWorms, crickets, and super worms. Before the ordeal, he used to love ReptiWorms, was okay with crickets, and showed initial interest in the super worms (but soon became disinterested in them afterwards). He now shows little to no interest for any of them. And note that I do not normally feed him crickets or super worms; crickets were fed rarely when my shipment of ReptiWorms would be delayed, and super worms were just introduced about a week before the ordeal. I suppose I could try other feeders, but they are relatively expensive, and all of my other feeders are just dying without being eaten. Additionally, this would only resolve the eating problem, and still leaves the light/heat avoidance unattended to (though I understand that they could be caused by two separate problems, though they occurred concurrently).
