Feeling down today...

[apaprikao]

I'm feeling a little sad today. I just bought Jayne on Monday, so I know he's still in an adjustment period but I feel like he isn't happy here or doesn't like me. He's not eating well and that worries me since he's so skinny. He *needs* to eat and almost nothing I do is working. He'll eat a couple bites here and there but it's definitely not a lot. He seems to like my husband more than me and all in all I can't tell if he's happy or not.

Just bumming out a little that things aren't going as smoothly as I hoped. I needed to vent and I knew all of you would understand. Any words of encouragement you could offer me? Thanks.

 

[babyelvissocute]

Dont worry, almost every beardie has this phase when somebody first gets him. Think of it his way, your a giant stranger who took him into a new home. Once he begins to trust you over the next few days he'll be fine, and the day you walk into the room where his tank is and he starts glass dancing because he wants you to take him out, it will be well worth this wait

 

[apaprikao]

Thank you babyelvisissocute. I hope he comes around soon.

I gave him a bath this morning and he seemed to really enjoy it! He even drank a whole bunch so he must have been thirsty. He didn't seem to mind being held by me today though. Maybe he's warming up to me. Let's hope he eats some crickets today.

 

[apaprikao]

Hmm, some other thoughts that are going through my mind after exploring the board today:

*Could be possible he's getting ready to shed.
*Should get his poop checked...reading around it sounds like he may have parasites. His poop is *stinky* (not sure what a normal BD poop smells like) and a little watery. Could be another reason why he's so skinny.

Anyone know how much a fecal test and some meds would cost me??

 

[AHBD]

I would wait a bit before dosing him with anything, meds. in themselves can cause more stress and put him off his food. Can you post a pic so we can see if he's really " skinny "? Give him a little time to adjust, don't hold him too often, hand feed now and then and let your hand linger in the cage with him so he sees it as friend instead of foe. Try Reptiworms , they often jump start appetites on reluctant eaters. Or just give it time with the crickets. If you disable the crix a bit and drop them by his face, he may start gobbling them up.

 

[apaprikao]

Thanks AHBD! I probably have been holding him a little too much and that could be the issue as well. I will take your advice and stop handling him for a couple days except to take care of him. We have to feed him crickets outside his cage because there are too many places for crix to hide in his tank. That could be putting him off a bit too. We have a big tupperware that we put him in to eat so we can clearly count how many he eats and not have any lingering in his home. He will take a couple bites of food from our hands, which I think does help the relationship.

I plan on putting an order in for worms at some point, but probably not until next paycheck (next week).

Here are some pictures. My instinct tells me he's skinny and a lot of people on here have mentioned it to me as well.

 

[AHBD]

Yes, he's thin, and hopefully just letting him get comfortable in his new home he will feel secure and begin to eat. To offer crickets that are semi-stunned, put some in a jar or canister along with a pinch of calcium powder and shake until the crix are woozy. Try a few at a time and drop them in his cage, near him after he is warmed up.If he starts eating them, do more. He is big enough to eat superworms, too. But if you go with them, offer 3-4 at a time early in the day, and another 2-3 around 5-6:00. Dragons usually love them....but I would try the crix first. Reptiworms are greart, but he will need a WHOLE bunch to make a meal for him. Try mixing any of the above mentioned bugs in a salad once he is eating...the bugs moving in the salad may attract him and get him to eat.

 

[apaprikao]

Well, that stunning the crix advice worked! He ate 15 of them! Might pick up a small cup of supers next week or so and see if I can get him to eat those. Thanks again!

 

[AHBD]

Great !! Glad to hear it ! Keep offering those, and get the supers only if he quits the crickets. Once they taste supers, they at times won't go back to the crix, and crix are better in the long run because you can gut-load them before feeding to the dragon.

 

[Bummblebee]

Keep at it your doing what u can I FEEL JUST LIKE YOU RIGHT NOWgot three new beardies and I have found if I drop the crickits in they thud on the tile in his cage and he eats them I do one at a time I found if I put to many and they go crawling around silently my dragons just are not interested but if I drop them with a thud it gets tthere attention

 

[LaPrice]

what substrate is or was he on? his feet are red :shock:
random i know

 

[apaprikao]

He was on sand but I have him on non-adhesive shelf liner. I guess the red will come off when he sheds.

 

[LaPrice]

ah ok, was just wondering. It might take a few sheds for that to come off, but its just on his feet from what i can tell. Keep feeding your new baby and post pics when he's nice and fat

 

[apaprikao]

Thanks everyone. We didn't handle him hardly at all yesterday (except for his bath and my husband moved him to his bed) and today will be another day of minimal to no handling. I actually didn't even offer him any veggies by hand this morning either because I'm really trying to get him to eat from his bowl. I have a 4 year old and I'm having another baby in two weeks so I just won't have the time to hand feed him every morning. It would be nice if he could just eat from a bowl.

UPDATE: I offered him a spoonful of squash baby food. He took a few licks but not much. Then he ran down to to his veggie bowl, almost ate a piece of carrot and then promptly pooped then ran right back up to his platform. *sigh* I got so excited that he was going to eat. It's encouraging that he knows his veggies are in that bowl though, right??