First off sorry for the long read but I am at a loss as to what's going on with my beardie. To start he is almost 7 months old (hatched May 18th 2022). 266 grams. Leatherback.
He was eating up to 60 crickets and/or Dubia per day until I upgraded his enclosure from a 40 gallon to a 120 gallon on October 27th. He hasn't eaten more than 10 feeders in a day since. But these days he only eats 1, maybe 2 bugs in a day. After about 2 weeks of this i started to syringe feed him repashy mixed with calcium and multivitamins and once a week i'll syringe feed him a smoothie out of various greens and veggies.
He has a Reptisun 10.0 Uvb mounted inside his enclosure about 13 inches away from his basking spot and a log that allows him to get up to about 9-10 inches away depending on where he lays. Basking temps are 103-109 daily connected to a thermostat. Ambient temps on the hot side range from 90-93 degrees and 75-80 on the cool side. I've also added a CHE mounted inside in order to get the temps where they are on the hot side since it has been getting colder lately.
He's been alert and awake but very lazy. He won't get up out from where he sleeps unless i physically move him over to his basking spot where he'll sit for an hour and a half at most then either lay on his log in the middle of the enclosure for the rest of the day or move back to his hammock where he sleeps at night. Light cycle is from 7am to 8pm but most days i will get home around 4pm to him either in his hide or on the hammock looking like he is trying to sleep.
What's especially weird about all this behavior is he is not losing weight. Since he stopped eating and i've been syringe feeding him he has grown slowly from 235 to 266 grams today. He seems to enjoy the repashy because he will gladly lap 1-2 full 3 ML syringes off his nose but he is not interested in live feeders at all. I've tried crickets, dubias, mealworms, wax worms, BSFL. Hornworms are the exception whereas he'll certainly eat 1 or 2 per day if i offer them.
I've taken him to the vet already and gotten a fecal test (not positive for any parasites). My vet said that what i'm doing is fine and all that they can point out is that he may be slightly dehydrated so to give him daily baths and add a little more water to what i've been feeding him which i've started doing but it's been over a week and there has been zero changes to his behavior. Him not eating on his own and being lazy is really worrying me daily and i'm not sure what i'm doing wrong. He does look a little skinny when he's standing up and he has more wrinkles than before. I've thought maybe i got him too reliant on syringe feeding but that doesn't really explain why he is going to sleep so early everyday and starving him out until he eats live feeders again is hard for me to do since he looks so skinny compared to what he was before.
If anyone has been in the same boat before any help or criticism is appreciated.
He was eating up to 60 crickets and/or Dubia per day until I upgraded his enclosure from a 40 gallon to a 120 gallon on October 27th. He hasn't eaten more than 10 feeders in a day since. But these days he only eats 1, maybe 2 bugs in a day. After about 2 weeks of this i started to syringe feed him repashy mixed with calcium and multivitamins and once a week i'll syringe feed him a smoothie out of various greens and veggies.
He has a Reptisun 10.0 Uvb mounted inside his enclosure about 13 inches away from his basking spot and a log that allows him to get up to about 9-10 inches away depending on where he lays. Basking temps are 103-109 daily connected to a thermostat. Ambient temps on the hot side range from 90-93 degrees and 75-80 on the cool side. I've also added a CHE mounted inside in order to get the temps where they are on the hot side since it has been getting colder lately.
He's been alert and awake but very lazy. He won't get up out from where he sleeps unless i physically move him over to his basking spot where he'll sit for an hour and a half at most then either lay on his log in the middle of the enclosure for the rest of the day or move back to his hammock where he sleeps at night. Light cycle is from 7am to 8pm but most days i will get home around 4pm to him either in his hide or on the hammock looking like he is trying to sleep.
What's especially weird about all this behavior is he is not losing weight. Since he stopped eating and i've been syringe feeding him he has grown slowly from 235 to 266 grams today. He seems to enjoy the repashy because he will gladly lap 1-2 full 3 ML syringes off his nose but he is not interested in live feeders at all. I've tried crickets, dubias, mealworms, wax worms, BSFL. Hornworms are the exception whereas he'll certainly eat 1 or 2 per day if i offer them.
I've taken him to the vet already and gotten a fecal test (not positive for any parasites). My vet said that what i'm doing is fine and all that they can point out is that he may be slightly dehydrated so to give him daily baths and add a little more water to what i've been feeding him which i've started doing but it's been over a week and there has been zero changes to his behavior. Him not eating on his own and being lazy is really worrying me daily and i'm not sure what i'm doing wrong. He does look a little skinny when he's standing up and he has more wrinkles than before. I've thought maybe i got him too reliant on syringe feeding but that doesn't really explain why he is going to sleep so early everyday and starving him out until he eats live feeders again is hard for me to do since he looks so skinny compared to what he was before.
If anyone has been in the same boat before any help or criticism is appreciated.
