help with beardies that just do not seem hungry

[mttoyr]

ok i need some help, i have posted several topics before askin for some help with feeding, specifically the two beardies that i have eating enough....
it did seem to get better after i got the tube uvb bulbs compared to the circle bulbs, seemed ok for a week or so, then they started to eat less and less, the one staple they would eat consistantly was their greens, now they will barely eat even that...
tried mealworms for a while, een though i didn't want to, i was desperate at that point, and now they are barely touching those,
on an average day i usually offer food three to 4 times a day, usually trying to get them to drink about once a day (they have been drinking almost everyday) but the food is were i have been having trouble, i have heard of picky beardies, but they seem to not really like anything i'm giving them anymore.....i'm about to get liquid calcium, bc they are obviously not getting it in their diet as they were before....
and another thing, one dragon seems to still be plump, while the other is not at all, starting to seem very skinny, not to the point where i think he is in danger of starvation, but headed that way i'm afraid...
if anyone has any tips or new ideas for me that would be greatly appreciated!!

Matt

 

[Hopefulresearch]

First off, how long have you had them.
Second, what type of bulb is it
Third, google search nearby exotic pet vets near you just in case

 

[mttoyr]

ok well i've had them since about mid september i believe, so about 3 months now....not sure how old they are, the petstore told me they were 6 months old at the time i bought them, but there was no way they were that old at the time, i dont think they are almost a year old..
the bulb i have it reptisun 10.0 uvb....
and yea the vet inside petsmart near me is studyin with reptiles and starting to treat them under his practice, other than that the only exotic vet is about 20 miles away so if need be, i can always take them there

 

[xfeefeex]

Billie had a little phase where he refused his food (didnt poop as regular as he should either!) so i rang my vet and he suggested bathing him first of all (after i had checked all my tank set ups, lighting, temperature etc.)
when the bathing didnt make much of a difference he told me to stop offering him food for a full day or two and then try again with one of his favourite foods, that seemed to do the trick
obviously check with your own vet if that's advisable cos by the sounds of it yours have been fasting for longer, hope this helps.

 

[Buggsy]

Are they housed together?? I know its off topic, but when one gets bigger and the other dosnt is kinda suggests that one is dominating and hogging the food (the little that they are eating that is!)

I would get a fecal done, if your vet still has not answers i would take them to a real exotics vet 20miles away. When they start to go down hill you dont want someone studying to be a reptile vet, but someone with experience.

 

[mttoyr]

Yea if it gets any worse I will have to go see the vet, and no they are not housed together, two seperate tanks at seperate heights so they never really see each other,
ever heard of that appetite stimulator liquid? Saw it at petsmart the other day and was just wondering about it?

 

[munchkins9802]

if you are talking about jump start it is supposed to be a good product. Since they are housed separately, I would take apoop sample of both to a vet and ask for a fecal test for parasites/flagellettes.

About how long are they tip of nose to tip of tail?

 

[romanfj]

I've recently tried rescuing a clutch of calcium-deficient babies and their unbelievably calcium-deficient mother and can tell you that calcium deficiency kills their appetite. How old were they when you got them from the pet store? If they didn't see a UV bulb for the first 2-3 months of their life, they need liquid calcium supplementation.

Also, as I learned above, they can get UV exposure from day one and still have MBD if the mother was calcium depleted. Your pet store probably has no idea how the mother was cared for.

Something I've found to help besides the liquid calcium, which is far more readily metabolized than the powdered calcium, is using fast (an in my case small) feeders. Crickets, mealies, waxies, dubias all failed my sick little babies. Then I got some Blatta lateralis, aka "Turkistan" or "Red Runner" roaches, and they seemed to stimulate the predator drive in the sick babies as they zipped around the cage. Marcus Quesada sells them at AF Exotics (I'm just a hapy customer, not a paid advertiser )

Lastly, if you dust your bugs well with the calcium powder and use white paper toweling to line the cage, if the food isn't moving quickly, it may not catch your beardie's eye. I have a couple of dragons that totallly ignore dubia nymphs. They just move too slow.

Frank

 

[Sea2SJK]

Try force feed wet juvi beardie pellets.

Put few pellets in the container w/ water and wait about 10min until it'll all dissolved into the water.

Then drain the water and pick up the wet pellet by using twitter. And force feed it.

I gently pushed her skin under the mouth and putted the wet pellet between her teeth and mouth.

If she doesn't eat it at the momment just leave it. She will eventually gabble it down.

Repeat this as much as you need to. Mine got her appetite back after 7 days of hunger strikes.

Mine was losing a lot of weight and I thought she was gonna die.

Hope this helps.

 

[mom2twinsplus2]

I don't know but if you have had them for 3 months and they were say 2-3 months when you got them...they may just be of an age where they are not needing so many feedings anymore. 3-4 feeding a day is a lot IMO. I got my first beardie when she was about 6 months old (I think)..she was in the 12 inch range...and she never was interested in eating more than once a day...didn't matter what I offered or when. She ate once a day. Now, with the winter here, she is eating about every other day. My baby beardie was 2 month old and about 7 inches when I got here...she eats 2 times a day most days but sometimes she just eats once a day. If she is not interested in eating, I don't worry about it...she will make up for it later. She can eat A LOT during one feeding. Neither of my beardies have shown any sign of loosing any weight though so that is the only part of what you said that would concern me. Maybe get a scale to figure out if she is really losing weight or not and how much? Also, is she pooping regularly? If she is, I would say she just might be growing up. Older beardies are way less of a PITA to feed than the babies!

Alison

 

[mttoyr]

hello to all, and thank you for all your replies, and help....i tried several of your ideas, and a few more i got from some friends, but i am sorry to inform you that i think it was a little too late.....both of my babies died within a few days of each other....
it was tough after all the attention i put into the poor guys, but they just didn't seem to have the strength to pull through....
however, i am happy to say we rescued a year old girl, name is katy, and she is doing very well so far, eating all kinds of food, and a ton of it, i switched out the uvb bulbs to a different brand and type, just in case that was at fault? and she seems to be very happy and doing well,
but again i want to thank you for all your help, and to this site, being an inexperienced reptile owner i have learned a ton!!

matt

 

[mom2twinsplus2]

Oh no, I am so sorry for your loss. I am glad to hear that your new girl seems to be doing so much better! Enjoy her!

Alison

 

[mttoyr]

thank you! and yea shes a handful, but its nice to have a beardie with more life in her

matt