HELP!!Newb to Beardies. six weeks not eating on her own.

[lurch666]

Hi,
I'm from the UK. About two months ago I bought a bd from a local pet shop. I went in there and made sure at first they were at least all lively and able to move their heads. All checked over and seemed fine. Picked her out. I already had a viv, so I only bought (woodchip like) substrate (am now using newspaper), a ceramic heater bulb ( which I didn't have the correct fitting for so am not using), A rock, food bowl, water bowl, some greenery, a wooden hidey for her and a repti-glo 5.0 14w tube uvb.
The temps are: Basking area- 100f
cooler area- 92f
viv dimensions: 23'x22'x15'...h,w,l ..inches.

Am using a standard housebulb for lighting and extra heating. She can get up to 6 inches from the bulb the same for the uvb.
Her diet consisted of hoppers, mealworms and greens. She didn't seem to get on with the crix so haven't bought any in a while.

HER length is 5.5 inches tip to tip. and was said to be about six weeks when I got her

Right down to the problem.
From about the second day, she hasn't really eaten properly herself. I thought that it may be stress of moving, so let her calm down whilst still offering her food. However this has basically continued from the 2nd day. she basically stopped eating for days, it got to a point where I'm feeding her myself. She won't even go near her food. All she seems to do is want to sleep and laze around totally ignoring the worms. Today I've given her baby food incase the worms were giving her impaction. Incase she has been dehydrated I've bathed her twice a day for the past few days. some sign of life, but still no eating. However I did think she had eaten earlier, but the worms had just escaped and hid under the paper ¬_¬.
Any advice, she's looking dangerously thin, she poops fine, every now and again her poop just contains worms, so I don't know if she's having trouble digesting or not... surface temp should be fine so I'm confused =/. I'm getting really worried. Can someone please help.

Thanks,
Daryl and Ed<<<Bd xD

 

[lurch666]

Forgot to Add!!
She has a calcium and vitamin suppliment brand name nutrobal.

Thanks,
Daryl and Ed<<<<Bd xD

 

[dechainechel]

Hi! I'll try and give you some help. Meal worms are not a good staple for bearded dragons. They aren't nutritious, and can cause impaction. You should stick with crickets, never larger than the space between the beardie's eyes. If crickets don't work, then you could order phoenix worms or silkworms, they are great staples for a young beardie.
Your temps are to high on the cool side of the tank. They should be around 80*F. Your dragon has no where to go if it needs to cool down. You may want to re-think your uvb bulb. Repti-sun 10.0 is a safer and better brand.
What are you using to take the temps in her viv? I'm worried that it may be way too hot in there. Your basking temp. is fine if you are using a didgital thermometer w/a probe, but if not, they may be too high.
You can lose the water dish. They are pretty pointless to keep in the viv because your beardie most likely won't use it, and it will just cause the humidity to get too high. Do you have a humidity gauge? Too high humidity can cause respitory infections and fungus. The humidity should be at about 30-40%.
Keep up the baths! She will get most of her hydration through bathing and eating her greens.
Relocation stress can last from anywhere between 2 days to 2 weeks, so she may still be adjusting.
If you are still worried about her, and really need help, answering these questions being very specific, will help me and others help you better:

Do you use UVB lights?
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb?
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)?
How old is your UVB bulb?
How close can your dragon get to the UVB?
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage?
What are the basking temps?
What is the cool side temp?
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun?
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps?
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad?
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)?
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc?
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them?

 

[dna14]

Hi Daryl and Ed, welcome!

You have been given excellent advice so far! And I see you have taken some great steps before even posting, i.e. changing substrate... keep us posted, and yes the more info you can give us, the more advice we can give in return!

 

[lurch666]

I'm afraid to say Ed passes away last night.
I found her under her hidey this morning stiff as a twig.
This came as a shock and has made me extremely upset.
I loved her for the time I had her.can any body help me find the reason for her deathor point me in the right direction.
I love beardies and would love to carry on getting them, but it'll be a while before I do get another.
Thanks,
Daryl.
RIP Ed =[

 

[pedrosis]

Hi Daryl

Sorry to hear she passed away
Im from the UK too & find that some pet shops are useless at keeping reptiles & there is every chance she was ill from the moment you got her.
I would phone them & expect to get a refund or replacement from them as it sounds like you were housing her well.
Sorry I dont know a great deal so cant help other than that
Pete

 

[katherine]

hi my name is katherine and im new to this site.
ive had my baby boy for a yr now and i named him dagon.
im sorry to hear about ed.
this is my first beardie and i love him to death.
he is a very happy and health.
again im sorry to hear about ed

 

[Buggsy]

I too am from the UK and ive got to say there are few pets shops i would trust. Where abouts are you??

Anyway, here in the UK is an excellent UVB bulb, the arcadia 12% which you can get from livefoods.co.uk. It is actually a little better than the Reptisun that they have in america. What wattage bulb were you using? it may have been that she had parasites when you got her and got a little dehydrated but just couldnt take it.

As long as the hoppers were smaller than the space between her eyes they would not have been the problem, i used to use them as a staple when Gizmo was little.

So when you were feeding her, was it live food, or babyfood? Either way she should have been pooping, she may have been impacted.

Im sorry for your loss, these babies are soo fragile when they are young, but im sure you have done everything you could. I would perhaps get another baby, or get it from a breeder, as it sounds like you realy loved and took care of her.

 

[dechainechel]

I am so incredibly sorry to hear about Ed. Sometimes these things are out of our hands You tried your best, there most likely was something wrong with him from the start. So sorry.

 

[lurch666]

I'm from Northamptonshire.
I'm getting Ed replaced.
I took her back to the pet shop and they said that they'll send her off for a post mortem.
But I've already spotted the possible next one .
And to just add to people asking if bd's can be housed together, even babies fight.. there was a stubby one in the local shop.
it was really cute.. looked happy though xD.
Hopefully everything will e ok and this one will eat..
Decided I'm going to get a bd tattoo now =] of Ed

Thanks,
Daryl

 

[Buggsy]

Ah thats sweet.

Just make sure you give the new baby a proper check before bringing him home! He should be bright and alert, and hopefully if you ask you can see him feed, just to put your mind at rest. I hope the pet shop gives you some answers, just to put your mind at rest!

Oh, was it a chain store, or a little shop? just out of interest?

Buggsy

 

[lurch666]

It's a little shop tbh, I think I might go for the one I spotted the other day.. it had a stubby tail though but was lively as anything, it was soo coool . I'll do the usual checks, don't worry I've done research gallore lol.

 

[H31d1]

ive just been reading your thread and im sorry to hear about your loss.

im glad to hear your looking for a new beardy, they are such amazing creatures! have you got any pictures of your tank?

Remember we are all here to help, no question is a silly question so if you need more advice just ask

i wish you the best of luck finding a new beardy!
Heidi x