i have a beardie, he is about a year old. when we got him he did eat veggies or fruits but he would eat meal worms, wax worms and crickets just fine so we didn't think anything of it. Now when i try to feed him he wont eat, i can put the cricket or meal worm in his mouth and he doesn't do any thing with them. I've stated giving him pedyalite and mashing up his crickets and meal worms and giving it to him threw syringe. but he still doesn't move, he's always sleeping, and really weak, like cant support his own weight or head. i dunno what to do now.
Yes, if you could review your tank setup with us, that would really help alot.
What type & brand of UVB light do you use, a flourescent tube bulb or a compact/coil light? How OLD is the UVB light?
What type of basking light do you use?
What are the temps in the tank, & what type of thermometer do you use? A stick on type, a digital probe or a temp gun?
Do you use calcium supplementation on a regular basis, several times per week?
it would still help if you posted all of that information so we could see what might have happened and it could help in the future if you get another beardie
i have a 20 gal, intended to get a bigger cage as he grew but he didn't get very big, he only shed 2 times in the 10 months we had him. I'm not sure what kind or how old the florescent light is. the basking/heat light i has is a 150 watt zoo med bulb. i had sand at the bottom because that's what they used at the pet store, but I'm seeing now that that's not the best idea. i have a temp cage at one end of the cage that the heat lamp was NoT on and it always said 90 or 95. i tried to use a calcium supplement every few days but he didn't seem to like to eat the food when it was on there so I'm guessing he wasn't getting enough calcium , and he would not eat veggies or fruits at all!
I REALLY want to get another beardie! And they has some sun fires in the paper, but i want some advice on what to do before i get one. anything that could help for the next one: what to do if he wont eat veggies or fruits? are meal worms a good idea or no? what to do if he wont take the calcium supplement? paper towels on the bottom of the cage? stuff like that. I'd be really grateful for your help! Thank you!
for younger dragons i reccomend a solid subsrtae only but i would use a solid on adults too
paper towels,reptile carpet,slate tile or NON adhesive shelf liner all make great choices
temps should be around 110-115 for basking spot and cool end should be high 70's - low 80's
reptiSUN 10(tube bulb NOT coil/compact) is the reccomended uvb bulb(alot of others have been causing helth problems) and this should be replaced every 6-8 months
dust with a pure calcium 5x a week
a calcium w/ d3 1x a week and
a multivitamin 1x a week
feed a baby 2-3 x a day as much as he will eat in a 15 minute period
can be anywhere from 40-100 crickets a day
also offer greens as well babies dont eat them as much as adults will but always offer them so they get used to eating them
http://www.beautifuldragons.com has a great food list
mustard greens/collard greens/turnup greens and any kind of squash are the staples add fruit a few times a week