Beardie wont eat

[sfx606]

Okay so my beardie is about maybe 9 months and 19 inches. around december he started showing signs of what might have been brumation. He just slept and didnt eat much for about a month. Well he's come out of that but he doesnt eat much of anything at all still. He may occasionally pick at his greens and take the occasional super worm but thats it =/ I've been force feeding him baby food and repta-aid to keep him hydrated and at least have something in his belly. I give him baths about once a week as well. He will poo maybe every two weeks. His energy level is perfectly fine now. He'll run around and is quite active but he just wont eat on his own. His basking spot is 97-100F and cool spot is 81-84F. I take his temps with a digital thermometer with probe and those are taken directly on basking spot and cool spot. I have a repti-sun 10.0 uvb and this one is pretty new I got it about a month ago so it should still be good. I've taken him to a vet and they said he was fine and healthy. (I did not have a fecal done just a regular check up cause He wasnt eating) She said he is at a pretty good weight at about 1 pound or 453 grams. If anyone has any advice or suggestions PLEASE feel free to tell me. Thank you!!
-Mike

 

[GoFast]

you may try raising the temps a bit and how close to the reptisun can he get??

 

[sfx606]

He can get about six inches. And I've tried raising the temps but then he doesn't seem to want to bask =/ Ill try again but when I raise them, he'll stop going up to his basking spot and just chill on the floor around it which is somewhat shady. Thank you though, Ill try this.

 

[GoFast]

it is actually a good thing that he has that temperature gradient. They will position themselves to be the most comfortable as long as you offer that range. For a little he may want the hotter spot then move a bit to go to the cooler spot. like us, he likes variation.

 

[sfx606]

Just wondering but what temperature would you suggest I try getting his basking spot too?

 

[GoFast]

105-110 at the hottest. you want the cool side to be about 80-85

 

[sfx606]

Okay, thank you!!

 

[GoFast]

one more question just popped into my head...what kind of substraight do you have??

 

[sfx606]

I have him on tile

 

[GoFast]

perfect. I guess in addition to the temp increase i would just say try feeding some live bugs now. crickets, roaches, etc...just not meal worms!

 

[ChamNW]

You might check into using Reptaid to stimulate appetite. Lots of dragon breeders and owners on this forum are using it for that as well as infections and parasites. You can learn all about it under the ForSale section of this forum. There is a very long thread about Reptaid there.

 

[sfx606]

Okay I've been giving him repta-aid and he'll lick that a little by himself but I still have to somewhat force him to take it. He is showing no interest in eating superworms or his greens and just ignores them. His energy level seems fine to me, hes running around alot and seems active but he just shows no interest in his food. What should I do?

 

[pscaulkins]

Since your vet has seen your beardie, you should be able to bring a fecal in when he/she poops without bringing the beardie in. I just went through this myself with my 9 month old. She was in brumation and I was feeding her a slurry of greens and feeders blended. Well, the only thing wrong with that is their digestive system slows down. She was only pooping every couple of days and was plugged up. If your beardie has a clean fecal then semi brumation could be the cause. Forcing them to eat could cause issues. As long as they are hydrated and not losing weight, I would not worry if the fecal is clean.

 

[ChamNW]

I wonder if you are giving him Repta-aid from Flukers which is a nutritional supplement or are you giving him Reptaid from Amber Technology? Big difference. It is the herbal health supplement I was suggesting that a lot of people are using for their dragons very well.

 

[sfx606]

I checked out the repa-aid in the forsale section you said and I am using flukers. I wasnt sure if there was a difference like if this was just a powdered form or something. Do you by any chance know where I can get the other repta-aid?