my baby is confused and not eating like normal

[allisonm]

So, I've had Ally for about 2 1/2 months when we first got her she could put away the crickets but she was always a slow eater. She doesn't seem to have gained a lot of weight in that time either. So her symptoms are: when I dump about 10 crickets in her feeder tank its like she can't decide which one to hunt like there is too much going on. When she does focus on one she misses the cricket and her aim is off by a lot. This also happens with wax worms that I give her as a treat. I can only put in 2 at a time. I am starting a colony of dubias but I can't feed from it daily but even when I do its the same problem. She has a reptisun 10.0 TUBE and her temps are 105-109 under basking spot, and 97 on hot side, 78 on cool side. She will also not go over to the hot side as soon as she wakes up like she used to. I have to move her cause even after an hour she is still on the cool side and her belly will be cold. She get her food dusted once a day with calcium and 1-2x weekly with multi vitamin. She also gets collard, mustard greens everyday and sometimes cilantro. She will eat a little but she has always been like that. It doesn't look like she is losing weight but she isn't growing like she should be either. Please help! I'm very worried!
Thank you for any advice.

 

[Lenewen]

I find the easiest way to get them to eat more is to put the live feeders in a shallow dish and teach her to get her food from there. It does take time to get them to use the dish sometimes; don't be discouraged. Just keep trying different foods. For example, I bought hornworms and silkworms to fatten up my beardeds but they don't like to eat them every day. If I give them the same thing a few days in a row, they seem to lose interest (Picky little suckers :lol:.) Feeding roaches and superworms in a dish is ideal as an alternating staple. Perhaps while you are getting your roach colony going you can order some dubia to feed them and alternate that with phoenixworms, superworms, hornworms and silkworms. As for the greens, not sure how old she is but many young dragons don't eat that many. They eat way more feeders while young and then switch to mostly vegetables when they are older.

As for crix, I find some lizards have a harder time with them. I personally do not feed them to my reptiles. None of the species I own, save a couple of my leopard geckos, seem to really enjoy them all that much. With so many options out there, why bother?

 

[allisonm]

Thank you for the advice. Ally is only 5months old or a little younger. When I got her I had another baby, Rooftop, that was only a little bigger than her. Now he is so much bigger and she doesn't shed a lot. If she does its only a little here and there, and its been awhile since she has shed at all. I'm more concerned with her activity level. And the fact that she would stay on the cool side for more than half the day. Today she did bask a lot more than usual. But I'm also concerned about her not being able to aim and catch her food like she can't quite gauge how close/far away it is. She also can't seem to focus if there are 10 crickets in her feeding tank. She will watch one, then another, then another and she will stand there in her hunting stance. Its like she can't decide which one she wants to go after. She has never been like this. She has always been a slow eater but this is new. She does eat some greens just not a lot which I know is normal. Does anyone know why she is acting confused/can't focus on moving food? And why she can't aim when she tries to catch her food? Is it a vitamin deficiency? If so, whcih vitamin is she lacking? I got some baby food and I will do that once a day and just give her a variety of dubia, phoenix, waxworms, and butterworms.

 

[kittenmaster1234]

Are you keeping them in the same tank?

The vast majority of the time when baby beardies are cohabited, one will be bullying the other, getting all the good food and all the best spots. The other one is scared and stressed all the time and grows much slower. The smaller one is also in danger of being attacked and wounded/killed. Have you noticed her doing any odd behaviour? (Keeping head to one side etc) does the bigger one sit on top of her? Does the bigger one like sleeping on top of her?

It sounds like you are feeding them separately. It could simply be that she is even then scared of retaliation from the bigger one. Where do you feed the bigger one?

Which vitamin supplement are you using?

If you are keeping them in the same tank, separating them should show an incredible improvement.

If you are already housing them alone then I hope someone can figure out what's wrong cause she sounds like a sweetheart

 

[allisonm]

No, they aren't housed together. They are in the same room but that's about it and they do go out on the floor together to run. I use zoo med repti-calcium w/D3 and sticky tongue farms indoor miner-all. Thank you

 

[kittenmaster1234]

Can they still see each other?

You may also want to check if your vitamins are using synthetic vitamin A or beta carotene. If the vitamin is using synthetic vitamin A and not beta carotene, it is possible that she is suffering from a vitamin deficiency. How much greens/fruits does she eat?

 

[allisonm]

On the miner-all there is NO vitamin a at all. I also have a repashy superfoods bearded dragon calcium plus vitamin. It has vitamin A at 400,000 IU/Kg. In the ingredients the only thing I could find was vitamin premix and vitamin a acetate. Should I get a differenct multi vitamin? I switched from repashy because it has calcium and D3 and I didn't want to overdose them. It seems like it only has: crude protein, crude fat, crude fiber, moisture, ash, calcium min and max, vitamin a, and vitamin D3. The Miner-All had more actual vitamins. Can I somehow give all 3 temporarily til I can get the rep-cal multi vitamin. I heard that was the best, right?

 

[Lenewen]

Yes, I'd recommend the rep-cal multivitamin 1-2x a week and just plain ole calcium the rest of the time.

 

[allisonm]

The calcium should have D3 right?

 

[Lenewen]

No, they make D3 using UVB light. You can give them D3 on occasion but they are not like geckos and other nocturnal animals that need D3 supplementation.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I thought I would check in with you & see how things were going.
Did you order Baytril?
The calcium with D3 can be used a few times a week then regular calcium a couple. You can just break it up & as long as there is UVB lighting being used, she should make enough D3 with exposure to the UVB.
The vitamins can be used 1-2 times per week for babies/juvies. You are right, giving too much D3 & vitamin A can overdose them, I agree & it does happen somewhat often, too. A little bit goes a long way with them.
Also, have you tried feeding her in a large plastic bin instead of her tank, for ease?

Tracie

 

[allisonm]

Tracie- I have a 10 gal that I feed her in. So I have calcium with and without D3 so ill rotate using those. But what about the multi vitamin. The Miner-All has no vitamin A and the repashy has vitamin A but also Calcium and D. I sent you a PM asking you what you thought of the organic multi vitamin available at beardeddragon.co. anything else I can do? I'm worried since she hasn't shed, isn't growing, can't tell where her food is ( can't gauge how close/far away), as well as her confusion and not being able to focus to catch her food. Thanks everyonr for all the advice.

 

[Drache613]

Hello Allison,

Great, that sounds good with rotating the calciums, between D3 & without.
As far as I know, the organic vitamins should be fine from beardeddragon.co so you can try those. It is hard finding a vitamin without synthetic vitamin A in it.
How long has it been since she has shed?
Let us know how she is doing.

Tracie