Help Juvenile bearded stopped eating and pooping

[phillycyclocross]

Hi, I'm new to this and I've only had my 4 month old bearded dragon for a few days. 3 days ago I got her and on the drive home she pooped. That morning I gave her about 15 medium crickets which she hunted down like a boss and devoured. Did the same thing again in the evening. Next morning it was the same deal. She ate a bunch of crickets (always dusted) but then stopped eating. It's now been 2 days and she has only eaten one super worm. I have greens in a dish but she won't touch it. She hasn't had a bowel movement since the morning I brought her home. I tried giving her a warm bath last night while I gently massaged her belly. That didn't help.

Her take setup:
55 gal tank
First 2 days I had to use a blue heat bulb from a previous reptile until yesterday afternoon when the 75w basking lamp came in. She seems to love her new basking light
Still no UVB lamp as the lamp had a delay in shipping. I've had the Reptisun T5 10.0 bulb here waiting. It will go in tonight as long as the lamp gets here.
Warm side is at 95f with a hammock 7" away from the basking light. Cool side is 65f which she never goes to.

She basically just stays in her hammock and doesn't explore her Terrarium. She's not lethargic. I take her out of the cage and she will dart all over the room and is quite difficult to catch.

 

[phillycyclocross]

 

[SpacialCoogs]

A beardie may go off food for a few days after moving to a new home due to a bit of relocation stress. No eating = no pooping.

3 days isn't too concerning, I'd let him/her get used to the new place. Keep handling to a minimum for the first week, introduce yourself gradually and let the little guy settle in. Keep offering food and water and it'll eventually partake.

Without proper uv she's not going to properly digest her food so that may also delay her bowel movements.

Babies need a little more heat and at 4 months old I'd put her in the baby category for a little bit. I'd up the heat by a few degrees, 65f is a bit low for the cold end.

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

Greetings!
To me it sounds like she is still settling in. This is totally normal, and a lack of a UVB will affect their appetite as well. It may take a bit but she looks very healthy and beautiful, so she should be fine They also have random poop schedules.

It took my most recent dragon nearly 2 weeks to start eating after getting him home, and after he settled in he's been eating like crazy to this day!

I did want to address your temps though.
How are you taking temps? Is the warm side 95 degrees or is the basking spot 95 degrees? Basking should be at around 105-110. Too low of temps will also affect appetite as they cannot properly digest.
The cool side of the enclosure is also very cold. 65 degrees is when we start recommending a ceramic heat emitter at night to keep temps up, so I am concerned how cold the enclosure gets overnight. Are you able to confirm your temperatures?

 

[phillycyclocross]

Thanks for the replies!

As far as temps I have thermometers stuck to the side of the enclosure about midway up/down. The warm side is below the basking area so it may be warmer up in her hammock. The tank is quite large and since the uvb lamp has yet to come in I think that is contributing to the cool side being so low. Also, the temps in our area have been pretty cold as of late., Today is mild which should help. She is not on an exterior wall so that's good.

I just got concerned as she seemed to have a ravenous appetite on day 1 and part of day 2 but then just shut down.

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

Perfectly understandable to get concerned. I have a baby pacman frog in the house that refuses to eat but it's only day 3. As long as they are alert, active, and responsive (pacmans aren't too active :lol: ) they'll be ok for a while.

If it's a stick on dial type, I want to warn you these tend to be very inaccurate. I had a dial one that came with a kit I had purchased and it was off by nearly 20 degrees. I kept upping my bulb wattage to get it ideal, turns out it was at 130 degrees! Poor dragon was being cooked (he was smart enough not to be directly under it.)
The UVB light won't put off any heat so I wouldn't count on it helping heat things up a bit.

I'd recommend getting a temp gun for peace of mind. I worried about temps for so long, finally got a temp gun, and now I can stop questioning it. I also use it for my other pets, around the house, and on bath water for the dragons so it really was worth the money. Here's the one I use
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00837ZGRY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[phillycyclocross]

Perfectly understandable to get concerned. I have a baby pacman frog in the house that refuses to eat but it's only day 3. As long as they are alert, active, and responsive (pacmans aren't too active :lol: ) they'll be ok for a while.

If it's a stick on dial type, I want to warn you these tend to be very inaccurate. I had a dial one that came with a kit I had purchased and it was off by nearly 20 degrees. I kept upping my bulb wattage to get it ideal, turns out it was at 130 degrees! Poor dragon was being cooked (he was smart enough not to be directly under it.)
The UVB light won't put off any heat so I wouldn't count on it helping heat things up a bit.

I'd recommend getting a temp gun for peace of mind. I worried about temps for so long, finally got a temp gun, and now I can stop questioning it. I also use it for my other pets, around the house, and on bath water for the dragons so it really was worth the money. Here's the one I use
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00837ZGRY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Thanks for the info! I actually have a temp gun that I use for my beehives. I hadn't thought about using it here but I definitely will when I get home.

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

No problem!
You may be surprised with what the actual temps are.

Other than that, relocation stress and no UVB yet are likely the main contributors to the lack of appetite and should resolve itself in time. Just keep offering a variety of nums for when she comes around and she'll be fine

 

[phillycyclocross]

So she finally pooped! Although I'm not sure if this is a healthy looking feces. Sorry in advance for the gross picture

 

[SpacialCoogs]

It looks like she was unable to properly digest her worms and might need some water. You want to see a white part attached to the poop that is her urates and I don't see that here.

You want to get the uv set up as soon as possible so she can digest what she's eating. Also is she isn't drinking from a water bowl you can drip water on her snout to get her to drink.

 

[phillycyclocross]

And she popped again! Does this one look better?

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

Second looks better :lol:
The first looked like a pile of undigested worms as SpacialCoogs had mentioned. I'd personally slow her down or stop on the worms until she's older.

The hard chitin of worms will never fully digest and usually passes flattened like a deflated balloon, but they still look.. plump.. in her stool as though her stomach did not break it down. This could be from lack of basking or UV to process it properly, or just that it's rough on her tummy right now.

 

[phillycyclocross]

Thanks all for the advice! I will setup the UV light in an hour when I get home and let you know how she progresses in the next couple days.

 

[diamc]

She is very cute. Good that the hood for the Repti-Sun came in, hopefully that will help make a difference.

It's good that you have a temp gun. Will be interesting to see what the basking SURFACE temp is when you hold the gun 2" from that area. Be sure to check the bottom of the cool side with the gun too and if it's is colder than 78 to 82, you could put a low wattage household lightbulb on that side to help raise it a little, may only need a 25 or 40 watt and it does help.