How long is normal to not eat..

[Damkat]

Hi guys, still having problems with my girl and her eating habits. I got her 5 days ago and she eats so very little. I got her a new uvb light, dust her food and the temp is good..97 in the bask area..82 in the cool spot. She is active and poops daily. I have tried to feed her superworms, crickets, kale, dandelion leafs, squash, and baby food (1st stage apple and sweet potatoes with calcium added) and she still does not eat very much at all compared to what I read here and researched. My question is how long should I let it go. I am a little worried but she is still active and alert, but when i go and feed her she just closes her eyes and ignores me. Should I just leave the crickets in the cage? I also give her a bath 2-3 times a week and she drinks a good amount of water while in there so I doubt she is not getting enough water..she also has been pooping but it is very moist the last 2 days.

Any advice would be great. Thanks

Damkat

 

[fez09]

How old is she?? She could still be having a bit of relocation stress. Her basking temp should be a few degrees higher unless she is an adult...What type of UVB do you have and how close can she get to it?

 

[sirenique]

If she's still a young dragon, make sure you're giving her live feeders (cricks, mealworms, etc.) that are no bigger than her head. Since you got her a few days ago, relocation stress is very normal, but you have to be persistent. Feel free to leave her baby food and greens in her cage all day so that when you are not around, she can munch. My dragon for the first month would not eat if I was in the room; he was very secretive about it. :roll: Every dragon is different, though -- you can try hand feeding, etc. Sometimes I will cuddle with my beardie, and then when he's all nice and warm, he'll eat whatever right out of my hand. You can put cricks in her cage for about 10-20 min but if she still doesn't go for them, take them out so they don't attack her. If she's a juvie, you might consider raising the basking area temp a little bit. I think the excrement sounds normal considering she's drinking a lot and not eating too much -- it would make sense for it to be a little runny.

More experienced owners will have better advice about all of this. They will want to know what type of UVB light you're using (recommended is the ReptiSun 10.0).

 

[Damkat]

Thanks for the advice, she is 2 1/2 years old. I have a repti glo 10.0 uvb light. I just want out and got her some new logs so she can perch better. The old owner was using pieces of wood to create a ramp about a foot away from the lamp, but now she can get within 6 inches of the heating and uvb lamps. I hope this helps!!! I really want her to start eating. She is taking a few bites of the apple baby food (mixed with water and calcium) which I think is a good start but I have to put it on the tip of her nose and let her lick it off.

Please let me know what you think. I have done a lot of research but would rather have advice from people who own and love beardies.

I also think she might be going threw brumination but it is very hard to tell since all the research suggests that they should be inactive for long periods and sleep the day away, while other reports say you may not notice much behavior difference.

It is kind of frustrating because I do not have a lot of background on Shera (that's her name) so I do not know how much she would eat with the old owner.

 

[Damkat]

Here is a picture of her and her cage set up!! I hope this may help!!

the wet mark is from the baby food, I put it on the end of her nose to get her to lick it off.

Guys thank you for any advice. It is great to find a website that loves dragons this much!!

 

[RowenJade]

I was talking to a few people, and I'm having the same issue with my baby right now- not eating nearly enough and not eating any food I don't hand feed him. He's right now shedding around his mouth but it's not terrible where he's trying to scratch it off yet and I don't understand why he's lost appetite. So I was told he could have a high parasite count and that could be the reason why he's lost appetite?

So I'm going to take him to my friends vet in a week or so when I have the chance to get up there (its about an hour and a half away but they specialize in reptiles) and get a fecal done on him to see if maybe that's the cause. I'll post back with the results! Correct me if I'm wrong senior board members but I think it'd be a good idea to get a fecal done on your friend just to be sure

Good luck!

 

[Damkat]

while I found out she is eating, just not a lot, when cleaning her cage today I saw some 1/2 eaten bodies of superworms and crickets. I can only assume she does not feel comfy eating with us around so she waits until we leave the room. I guess in time she will get used to us. I will still try and get her to eat from my hand but until then as long as she is eating something I am happy..

 

[RowenJade]

I've learned this today with mine too..all the other times I've been trying to feed him crix in a different basin and watch him and he will not eat them. We rarely see him go after any but somehow the crix used to dissapear from the tank during the day. I know it's not reccomended to leave them in during the day now.

What I've been doing since this morning is taking out the main decor in the tank the crix can hide in, and leave the room for a little while. Come back and there's legs on the floor and the crix are gone :lol:

I think some are just shy

 

[spikeysmom]

Our Spikey has been eating a lot less since the weather has turned colder. He has lost quite a bit of weight due to his lack of appetite. I was worried about him so I took him to the vet. The vet said that reptiles go into a sort of hibernation, I guess it's called brumation and it's just normal for them to eat less this time of year. News to me. He did give him a Vitamin B something shot to help boost his appetite, probably just to make me feel better. It has seemed to help a bit. He also took a stool sample which came back fine.

 

[Ronzie]

My gal was born in March 2010 and just after halloween her eating habits changed. She hardly ate. She would eat a few greens every other day or so. She would go a few days without eating crickets.
But as of Friday, her appetite has come back to normal. I'm pretty sure she was in semi burmination, but I was trying not to let her since she is still young. She didn't lose any weight. My fear was her not getting her calcium & vitamins.

 

[Slave2Scarlett]

Thanks for the advice, she is 2 1/2 years old. I have a repti glo 10.0 uvb light. I just want out and got her some new logs so she can perch better. The old owner was using pieces of wood to create a ramp about a foot away from the lamp, but now she can get within 6 inches of the heating and uvb lamps. I hope this helps!!! I really want her to start eating. She is taking a few bites of the apple baby food (mixed with water and calcium) which I think is a good start but I have to put it on the tip of her nose and let her lick it off.

Please let me know what you think. I have done a lot of research but would rather have advice from people who own and love beardies.

I also think she might be going threw brumination but it is very hard to tell since all the research suggests that they should be inactive for long periods and sleep the day away, while other reports say you may not notice much behavior difference.

It is kind of frustrating because I do not have a lot of background on Shera (that's her name) so I do not know how much she would eat with the old owner.

My beardie Scarlett is a very picky eater.. She doesn't like crickets.. So I had to order her some Phoenix/Repti Worms and she loves those.. They can be used as a staple and they have just the right amount of calcium.. I couldn't hardly get her to eat more than 6 crickets in one feeding and she was finished.. Another thing that you will hear all over this forum is to get rid of the repti glo.. They say that there is something in that bulb that disturbs them and they won't eat.. The best kind of uvb bulb to get is the Repti Sun 10.0 from www.petmountain.com.. You can also order the reptiworms from www.reptiworms.com or www.phoenixworms.com they are the same worm just different names..