Little guy doesn't eat

[Alaskadeanna]

Dino doesn't like to do much of anything but sleep. I have offer super worms, mealworms, crickets, waxworms as far as feeder insects go. As far as veggies and fruits we have tried sweet potatoe( which he licked but wouldn't nibble),mustard greens, cilantro, basil, strawberries, acorn squash, red peppers, and carrots. I just can't seem to find anything he likes. He will occasionally eat a cricket or two( I think he is scared of them), he will eat a super worm or two. But from what I've read it's just not enough. His temperatures are good. 101 on the basking, 82 on the "cooler" side. He has a UVB bulb. I bathe him daily( seems to be the only way to get him to drink or poop). He also doesn't hide when he sleeps. I don't know what I'm doing wrong or how to fix it.Any ideas? He is a little guy. About 6 and 1/4 inches long.

 

[Alaskadeanna]

Here is a picture of him. Does he look to skinny?

 

[TheWerewolf]

Not extremely skinny but underweight I think. I don't know because my Nim is a fatty! but Nim was underweight like that when I got him. I'm going to ask you the usual questions.
What type UVB are you using, also, how old?
What size tank?
What substrate?
Are you using a clear white basking light?
Are you using a red night time light?
Do you know his age?
I'll be able to help you once you answer these questions. Because, light, sand ect. can cause eating problems. Cute dragon, looks like Nim.

 

[Alaskadeanna]

I'm using a coil UVB bulb which I recently found out is apparently not a good thing?
He is in a 55 gallon tank. Which I use paper towels in.
I do use a clear Light bulb for his basking side.
I use a red night time bulb.
I'm thinking he is about 7-8 weeks old.

 

[RoscoTheBeardie]

The red bulb will affect his sleeping patterns. Don't use it and if you need extra heat at night then use one of those CHE bulbs that don't create light. If your house doesn't get below 65 at night then you have no need for extra heat. Otherwise you may want to take the little guy to a vet and see if he has worms or something like that. Good luck!!

 

[Alaskadeanna]

Good to know. I will Turn it off tonight. Otherwise I have already taken him to the vet but she says that it's too hard to diagnose them when they are this small. I live in such a small town there isn't any where else to take her. I was thinking of trying reptiboost. Anybody heard anything about it or try it?

 

[Hercules]

do not use a compact coil uvb, this has been found to cause many problems in beardies. The best bulb on the market right now is the Reptisun 10.0 fluorescent bulb.

 

[TheWerewolf]

I can't help you with the reptiboost. But I'm agreeing with the others. Get rid of that coil ASAP it has been known to cause health problems. You could either get a ReptiSUN 10.0 like Hercules said, or you could get a Arcaida 12% those are the best on the market. Here is a website where you can get the ReptiSUNs for cheap. http://www.petmountain.com Ordered one from there myself. Currently waiting for it to come. Good thing you are using paper towels instead of sand or other loose substrate. Another good more permanent substrate is repticarpet or tile. Hope his eating problems doesn't mean parasites. Good luck!

 

[Alaskadeanna]

So I got him to eat a couple drops of organic sweet potato baby food. He seemed to like it a little bit.

 

[Toasty]

How long have you had Dino? If it hasn't been for very long, he may still be going through the re-adjustment period that can last for up to a week. You want to give him plenty of time to settle in, meaning disrupting him as little as possible and only handling him if absolutely necessary. The daily baths might be stressing him out and interfering with him adjusting. The tank is pretty big for his size, so if the crickets are being fed to him in there, they might be difficult for him to catch and they are probably finding places to hide as well. I would suggest trying offering the crickets in a small ceramic bowl and pulling the legs off the crickets (gross yes, but it will keep them from jumping out of the bowl--you can use tweezers or forceps to pull of the legs). No guarantees that this will work lol, but I'd definitely think it is worth a try. This way the crickets can be left in all day and are readily available if he happens to want to eat some.

 

[Alaskadeanna]

We have had him for about two weeks. I will try ripping the legs off the crickets. Yuck! Lol. But if it will get him to eat them I'm all for it. The vet said to give him baths because he didn't poop for a couple of days.

 

[Alaskadeanna]

I went and bought a repti-glo 8.0 20 watt so I'm hoping that makes a difference. Also I picked up organic sweet potato and banana baby food and blended kale and crickets and super worms and wax worms and a couple baby meal worms, i also mix in some reptile vitamins in it to feed him, because he still isn't eating enough by himself. He seems to like it. He still isn't eating nearly enough. Any other ideas?

 

[SherryInFL]

Sorry to say but you need the ReptiSUN 10 not the reptiGLO Can you exchange it?

 

[ynevar]

Have you taken his pooh into the vet to get a fecal check done on him? Your vet may not be very experienced in herps as it is one of the things they can diagnose at this age...

 

[Alaskadeanna]

He finally ate something last night all by himself!