Beardie Stopped Eating and Black Bearding

[NicoleR]

Hi guys,

I have a 2-3 month old beardie that has been thriving for the first month now that we have had her. Yesterday though, she suddenly stopped eating. She did not eat a single cricket/worm/veg yesterday and it has me extremely worried. She normally has a pretty good appetite, but tends to get lazy and we end up having to place crickets one by one in front of her, where she will immediately gobble them up. But yesterday, she finished shedding (which went well, no issues) and after that was when she stopped eating.

When we did try to feed her, we placed a couple crickets in front of her and she gets extremely irritated, running about trying to escaping and darkening substantially. She also seems rather lethargic, not wanting to move around much.

Any help would be great, I just need to know if I should end up taking her to a vet or just wait it out.

Her setup:
- 20 gallon long viv
- 100w basking bulb on hot side
- 36" UVB hood and bulb, Zilla desert series
- reptile carpet
- crickets dusted daily, gets about 3 feedings a day
- baths about every other day, or as needed
- veggies always available
- we handle her about once a day, she enjoys exploring and napping with us

Thank you!

 

[CooperDragon]

It's possible she's still bothered by the shed cycle. Can you post some photos of her? My first reaction would be to give her a bit of space but continue offering food and keeping an eye on her weight to ensure that doesn't start to drop.

 

[NicoleR]

Thanks for the reply
We left her alone for awhile and tried feeding her again yesterday night, and she gobbled up at least 10 crickets! I am so relieved. I was probably overreacting, but I can never be too careful with her health.

 

[NicoleR]

UPDATE!

I am at work, but my boyfriend sent me a photo of her poop from this morning, and now I am concerned all over again. It is basically a compacted lump of fully undigested cricket bodies covered in what seems to be some sort of clear, thin, slime.

I will try to get a picture on here, I'm just not sure how yet.

Was/is she impacted? Or could this be a parasite? I don't think there is a problem with the lighting or temps. She has a 100w basking bulb during the day and her basking area is usually around 105-110.

Last night though, just under an hour before her light shut off for the night, she ate many mature crickets in about a 10 min time span. Could this just be poor digestion from the amount of food and the fact that she had no light all night to help with the digestion?

Help please! I'm worried, and I'm not sure if this warrants a vet visit or not. Money isn't an issue.. I just want her to be okay!

 

[AHBD]

Hi there....it was probably vomit, not poo, and yes she ate waaaaaaay too late at night !! Not enough time to digest, and the crickets MUST be no longer than the space between her eyes. They may have been too large. The good news is her appetite was back, but now she has an upset tummy which should only last a day or two. She'll be dehydrated, so offer water with a syringe or spray bottle directly on her nose or a short warm bath if she drinks when you soak her. She should bounce back.

 

[NicoleR]

Hi there....it was probably vomit, not poo, and yes she ate waaaaaaay too late at night !! Not enough time to digest, and the crickets MUST be no longer than the space between her eyes. They may have been too large. The good news is her appetite was back, but now she has an upset tummy which should only last a day or two. She'll be dehydrated, so offer water with a syringe or spray bottle directly on her nose or a short warm bath if she drinks when you soak her. She should bounce back.

I don't think the crickets were too big.. we are pretty good about making sure they are a suitable size for her. But yes, it was much too late! It's hard to coordinate her feedings with our schedules, as I am at work everyday from 7a-9p. I will make sure my boyfriend doesn't feed her past about 5-6 o'clock (if she goes to bed at 9:30p every night, is 5-6 okay to give her her last feeding?)

Thanks so much for the advice! I'll make sure she stays hydrated and hopefully she gets back to her normal self soon

 

[AHBD]

O.K., in one of your posts it said you fed him a lot of mature ? crickets an hour before lights went out, so I thought mature meant adult. Those would be too large for a 2-3 month old.

But yes, there should be 3 hours for the beardie to digest a large meal in the evening before the lights go out, so a 5-6 o'clock feeding would be fine. It's always better to feed the largest meal earlier in the day, and to skip a late meal if you get home late.

 

[NicoleR]

Sorry that was my fault, poor choice of words. By mature I meant they had very hard shells and were darker, so obviously they hadn't shed recently. I thought maybe that had to do with her having problems digesting the chitin.

But okay, I will definitely start doing that. Thanks so much for your help!

 

[jajeapierre]

If I am at all worried about growth/appetite, I take a stool sample in to the vet. Parasites are the first place I look with an animal that is not doing as well as I expect.

 

[NicoleR]

If I am at all worried about growth/appetite, I take a stool sample in to the vet. Parasites are the first place I look with an animal that is not doing as well as I expect.

I was actually considering paying the vet a visit. I have a pretty good exotics vet that I used to take my guniea pigs to so I might take a sample there. She still isn't eating like she should be.. but she did eat 1 cricket and 3 worms yesterday. I think she picked at her salad too. I'm still kind of worried though