My beardie isn't eating!

[PogoLover]

Mine hasn't eaten "real" food at all since August 1. No clue why. No parasites. No signs of MBD. Been to the vet. She lives on Carnivore Care mixed with baby food squash and a little water out of an eyedropper. I have only had her for about three weeks. She ate fine the first couple of days, then less and less, then nothing. I have been able to keep her weight on by feeding her 2-3 times a day with the mix. I have tried crickets, dubia, and phoenix worms. With the phoenix worms, she eyed them and looked like she was about to go for it, then turned away and closed her eyes - it's the same thing that you described yours doing. I even tried the crickets and dubia with and without calcium powder to make sure it wasn't the powder that was keeping her from eating. She actually opens her mouth to take the mix out of the eyedropper though - I don't have to force it down. I basically take her out of the cage but keep her on my leg or arm near a hot lamp, so it's not too cold. Then I put a drop of the mix on her snout. She will start licking it and then let me slowly dribble it into her mouth out of the dropper. She usually take a break for a couple of minutes and will then let me give her another dose. Then she's done and will jump off my leg or arm and start exploring. She poops every morning on her basking spot, then climbs down and waits for me to clean it - then moves back up once it's clean!

Vet says just keep on offering her the bugs and salad every day, but keep her alive with the Carnivore Care/baby food mix. She's a baby (only about 2-3 months) and very small, so I can't starve her out and wait for her to start eating again because she could die before she starts eating.

So, long story short, mine is fine, active and living just being fed the mix out of an eyedropper. If I can get her through this, she will probably be very small as an adult.

 

[jojospain]

No, a little town in NC near Raleigh. I actually force feed him a roach and a super this morning which he eventually ate and I fed him a bit if calcium in water. This afternoon I was going to do the same thing but he actually ate on his own!! 2 small cricks and a roach. Not much but vast improvement! I ordered an organic tonic called Reptaid. I heard good things about. So will give that a go when it arrives. He was a bit lathargic this evening but I figured he hasn't eaten much. Fingers crossed he eats a bit more tomorrow. Considering putting him in the spare room to get some solid peace and quiet but I'm afraid because I've read that they are creatures of habit and a change in scenery will stress him out more. Any thoughts on this?

 

[jojospain]

I read that they get lazy and will reject bugs if you feed them by hand. Maybe try to hand feed her bugs? I do that alot. I hold it so it wiggles and he'll eat it. That's how I got him to eat today. When I force him to eat I basically open his mouth by gently pressing my nails in either side of his mouth and he usually opens pretty quick and I just slip the bug in and keep my fingers on either side of his mouth to make sure the bugs don't fall out. Try hand feeding her pieces of greens and wiggle them too. Maybe coat them with the mix you've been feeding her.
She might go for it. I'll keep you posted on how it goes tomorrow morning. I'll also let you know how the reptaid works. I found it on amazon. You can look it up and read the reviews.

 

[PogoLover]

I read that they get lazy and will reject bugs if you feed them by hand. Maybe try to hand feed her bugs? I do that alot. I hold it so it wiggles and he'll eat it. That's how I got him to eat today. When I force him to eat I basically open his mouth by gently pressing my nails in either side of his mouth and he usually opens pretty quick and I just slip the bug in and keep my fingers on either side of his mouth to make sure the bugs don't fall out. Try hand feeding her pieces of greens and wiggle them too. Maybe coat them with the mix you've been feeding her.
She might go for it. I'll keep you posted on how it goes tomorrow morning. I'll also let you know how the reptaid works. I found it on amazon. You can look it up and read the reviews.

I tried by hand when she stopped eating. I tried cricket guts on the nose. I tried wiggling greens. LOL. I think I have tried almost everything. I have not tried putting the mix on greens or bugs, though! I will try that. Mine is so small that I am nervous to press too hard on her mouth to get her to open it. Originally she was semi-hunting and eating and she just got more and more prissy. She is shedding her tail, so maybe it has something to do with the shedding.

Keep us posted on yours.

 

[jojospain]

I feel you! When they're so small it's scary. She may just start eating one day. You never know. Lol I haven't checked on Drac yet this morning. Long night! But fingers crossed he eats a bit on his own.

 

[PogoLover]

I feel you! When they're so small it's scary. She may just start eating one day. You never know. Lol I haven't checked on Drac yet this morning. Long night! But fingers crossed he eats a bit on his own.

I have said on these forums before - this is my first beardie and I am already getting prepared to be bottle feeding a geriatric lizard in 10 years!

 

[jojospain]

Today wasn't very good. He looks thin and dehydrated. I soaked him and I force fed him 4 cricks with calcium. And then a bit of pedialyte. He looks super weak. Tomorrow I receive the Reptaid. I'm hoping that helps. I'm losing hope he's going to pull out of this. I moved him to the spare room in hopes a bit of quiet and a bit of a warmer of a room. Fingers crossed he's better in the morning. But not keeping my hopes up. He didn't even fight when I opened his mouth. He opened and I stuck the bugs in there and he'd chew. The pedialyte was another story. He wouldn't swallow. It just sat in his throat/pouchy area. It even came out his nose! I panicked but thankfully he swallowed. My heart hurts tonight.

 

[PogoLover]

Today wasn't very good. He looks thin and dehydrated. I soaked him and I force fed him 4 cricks with calcium. And then a bit of pedialyte. He looks super weak. Tomorrow I receive the Reptaid. I'm hoping that helps. I'm losing hope he's going to pull out of this. I moved him to the spare room in hopes a bit of quiet and a bit of a warmer of a room. Fingers crossed he's better in the morning. But not keeping my hopes up. He didn't even fight when I opened his mouth. He opened and I stuck the bugs in there and he'd chew. The pedialyte was another story. He wouldn't swallow. It just sat in his throat/pouchy area. It even came out his nose! I panicked but thankfully he swallowed. My heart hurts tonight.

I am so sorry. That sucks. Don't give up hope - Pogo went through a period where I thought she was going to die too - but she is still alive and more active now. Have you tried plain baby food? Mine does baby food squash with Carnivore Care, but I have heard you can do baby food squash mixed with baby food chicken (for the protein). You might be able to get some additional hydration in that way PLUS nutrients, and baby food is available at all supermarkets so its easy and not that expensive. Pogo used to drink water, but now she gets all of her hydration through the mix and baths, and her poo/urate are fine.

 

[PogoLover]

Also - is it possible that he is (1) going through teenage stage? or (2) starting to brumate? I am not anywhere near either of those (Pogo is 3 months at most), but I think that Draco is at the right age for either. A lot of people say that they don't brumate until after a year, but some say they can do it as young as 7 months and many of them may do it in late August/September when the seasons start to change. I am not an expert, just sharing things that I have heard. Good luck - I will send good thoughts to Draco!

 

[jojospain]

So this morning he looked a tad bit better. We soaked him in warm water with pedialyte. He's turning orange from it. At first I freak3d and then I realized it was from the soaking. Lol I gave him baby food, chicken. He ate some if thst on his own but hardly any. I forced 2 baby roaches in his mouth and he ate those. I'll try some more later. I also moved him to the spare room for some quiet time. It's also a bit warmer and not close to the air vent. His temp has been good but just in case. I received the reptaid today and will give him some this afternoon. I also bought some benebac. I'm hoping between both things he gets his apetite back. Not sure what else to do. Will keep you all posted.

 

[jojospain]

I haven't hear of anything about the teenage stage. I'll have to research. I thought about brumate but seemed too early. And he just looks too thin. I'll research that more as well. Could be. He keeps hiding which isn't normal for him.

 

[jojospain]

So, I just read the article about brumation. I think he may be brumating. But he isn't a year old that I know of and he seems thin and dehydrated to me. But he's showing all the other symptoms! Should I stop forcing him to eat and just let him sleep? I'm afraid he may waste away!

Update from this evening. I got the reptaid and the bene-bac and gave him a dose of each after I soaked him. This evening he looked much better and I figured I'd try to feed him some cricks and see what he does. He actually ate on his own and with gusto! I got him to eat about 5 cricks and a superworm. That's all he'd eat but he ate alone and it was enough to give me some hope. Fingers crossed he'll eat in the morning. I think the spare room being warmer might have helped too.