Beardie not eating!

[chrismnc]

Zig is 7 months old and 19". His growing has slowed way down now and so has his eating. He will eat some salad still but not even daily. He has refused everything but supers and now is refusing them too. I thought brumation, but his acvtivity has not changed. He still wants out daily and runs around, basks... just doesn't eat! He will drink water from a dropper daily though. His weight has not dropped. He is at 405g.

Zig had a stool parasite check in August. New UVB in August also. I use ReptiSun 10.0 tube. Basking temps are right on. He has tiles in his viv which is 40X22X20 plexiglass with chick wire top.

I PM'd his breeder but thought I'd post for further advise. Thanks

 

[spurlee01]

You know, they all brumate differently. If he's not losing weight that would be my best guess :? .

 

[chrismnc]

Thanks for the reply. This is my first dragon so I just wanted to be sure. He sure doesn't seem sick so maybe it is brumation.
He has had very small poops lately too. ???

 

[spurlee01]

That's probably because he hasn't been eating much.

 

[Twobeardieguy]

Chris, yes brumation can affect beardies in different ways. Since your husbandry issues sound ok then I would assume it could be that! The poops are small because he is not taking in much food. As long as the poop is not really smelly then I would not worry to much about parasites. How is his fat pads?

 

[chrismnc]

Thanks again. To be clear, his fat pads are on his head and at the base of his tail? These areas are nice and chubby. I have been thinking of getting some hornwormsto try to get him to eat but if he's brumating he won't want them either. I have a batch of roaches and he won't even look at them so I don't want to be stuck with a bunch of hornworms too!

I should just keep offering supers and the salad daily?

 

[spurlee01]

Yes, sounds good. Although I will say Lilly ate hornworms while she was brumating.

 

[Goonie]

[Moved from General to Health]

 

[chrismnc]

I'll try hornworms. Can't be worse than having a tub or roaches that he won't touch huh?

 

[spurlee01]

Lol, although roaches do last a lot longer!

 

[chrismnc]

Thankfully! If he doesn't want the roaches after he finishes this brumation or whatever, I'm gonna need to find a new home for them! Fingers crossed for liking roaches soon!

 

[chrismnc]

He ate 4 hornworms! They were only 1" each, but he ATE!!!!!!!! Hurray! We are so happy!

 

[spurlee01]

Congratulations!! Hornworms always seem to do the trick (and I have VERY picky eaters)!

 

[chrismnc]

Yeah I was/am thrilled!!! Zig is so picky! I hate giving him the same foods all the time but he will not vary much. If I dont give him collards one day, he has actually eaten a little dried piece that he found on the viv floor! so I give him collards every day and just add other things to it. Any suggestions of foods that your picky eaters like?

 

[RolandKyramere]

Mine love mango and kiwi, and I've heard of people whose beardies really like raspberries. I just can't find any cuz they're out of season... also, some seem to really like strawberries as a treat.
As far as staples go, mine love squash. Kana loves it to the point of attacking the newspaper that is the same color as her squash... She is such a goofball.