My baby beardie won't eat or drink!!!

[pclay1]

I need help my little girl peachy wont eat or drink I think she is around 1-2 months old and I have all the proper lighting and I have been offering her crickets,Mealworms,romain lettuce,carrots,juvienile bearded dragon food but she just refuses to eat and she just sleeps all day and I give her baths once a day trying to keep her hydrated but I need help!

 

[destiny1998]

Hi. How long have you had her? Can you go over your set up? Also do not heed mealworms or lettuce of any kind and carrots once in a while. Here is a site that lists food ok for your beardie to eat beautifuldragons.org.

 

[pclay1]

I have had her for 2 days now and she has a 29 gallon tank and she has a basking rock/cave a medium habba hut a repti hammock food and water bowls a 100 wat basking bulb 5.0 uvb bulb and a night time ifared bulb because I live in Colorado and zoo med pet carpet

 

[destiny1998]

Ok first she probably has relocation stress may take a week or two to get over it. Second they dont drink from standing water she needs baths evey day while she is a baby as babies get dehydrated fast. Third nix the red light beardies need complete darkness to sleep and they like to cool down at night. As long as your house does not get below 65 at night she'll be fine. And finally you need at Reptisun 10.0 tube for the uvb the one you have is not good for them. Also what are your temps? A 100 watt seems like it would be to hot for her. Also do you dust her food with calcium or vitamins?

 

[pclay1]

I will dust her cricket with calcium 5 times a week and with vitamins 2 tmes a week once I get her to eat and her hot side gets about a 100-105f during the day and her cool side stays about 80-85f and at night the red bulb keeps the tank around 70f-80f and just asking why isn't the 5.0 bulb okay and thank you for your help and what if my house gets below 65 should I keep the red bulb when I look at her she sems to sleep fine? and once again thank you so much for responding

 

[destiny1998]

Hi. The 5.0 does not give off the proper amount of rays. I don't know if you have a coil/compct but those burn their eyes and the tube is not good either. If your house does get below 65 the get a ceramic heat emitter. They give off heat and no light. You need to start dusting here feeders now! Even if she only its one cricket a day so she at least gets some of what she needs and hopefully wont get metabolic bone disease. Thats why its important she also have the proper lighting. Remember reptisun 10.0 tube gor uvb. Also how are you taking her temps?

 

[pclay1]

shew ont eat so I cant dust her crickets and I will get a ceramic heater and the 5.0 came with the zoo med bearded dragon kit and I am taking her temps with a thermometer on the hot side and I have one on the cool side thank you for responding your the only one

 

[pclay1]

should I get the compact or the tube reptisun 10.0?

 

[destiny1998]

Hi. Get the Tube. Most pet stores don't carry it so I got mine from amazon and petmountain.com carry it. What kind of thermometer? Digital, stick on , gauge or temp gun?

 

[pclay1]

I went to scales and tails and they sais they have never heard of the 5.0 being bad they said it is perfectly fine and the 10.0 is even more powerful and the 5.0 is fine so idk and I use a guage for measuring temps

 

[destiny1998]

If you want to listen to pet stores go ahead. They are notorious for giving bad information. Go to the care sheet on the top of this page and you'll get the information you need. Also those gauge thermometers are crap they are usually off by 20 degrees.

 

[nursejones813]

I understand your frustration. When I 1st got my dragon, I got the "bearded dragon kit". Spent a good deal of money on it too! The only thing I ended up keeping was the 20 gal tank. And that is to keep my crickets in! Destiny1998 is right. The compact bulbs and the 5.0 are not good. It has to do with the wavelength of the UV. Pet stores are not the best for advice. It's mostly because they don't know. But, to the matter at hand. Babies are very sensitive to lighting and temps. It aids their digestion. First thing, get rid of the night light. Then, it's essential to get accurate temps.Babies need a basking spot of 105-110. You can pick up a temp gun at Home Depot for $20. After that, your UV. Reptisun 10.0 is the way to go. I think petmountain.com has the bulbs for under $20. To mount it inside your tank,(yep, inside) get an under the cabinet light fixture. You can pick them up for like $8 at Walmart. Then, attach it (inside) with Velcro, or command hooks. Frustrating, I know. Keep us posted on how he's doing!

 

[pclay1]

I spent all last night doing research and I am going tonight to get a 10.0 tube and I got her some smaller crickets to see if she would eat them but still not as of today I did not use the uvb bulb so I took her out in the real sun today for about half an hour but thanks for all of your advise.

 

[pclay1]

I just got the reptisun 10.0 tube and we took peachy to petsmart and sadly we had to force feed her but she ate 3 mealworms and 1 waxworm but at least she ate

 

[destiny1998]

Hi. Don't feed mealworms they can cause her to become impacted. Wax worms are way fatty give only once in a while. Good feeders are dubia roaches, crickets, hornworms and silk worms along with Phoenix/reptiworms. Glad you got the reptisun.