my beardie wont drink

[momohobobobo]

i have had my beardie for about 3 months, he's about 5 months old, and he still cant figure out how to drink from his water bowl. i've tried the method where you put him near the water and drip some on his mouth so he can lick it off and also tried splashing in the water right in front of him to show him where it is. If i drip the water on his mouth he'll drink it, but he never will drink from the bowl. he even runs around in his water sometimes but wont drink. I still use the mister to get him to drink and i'll drip water on his mouth until he wont drink anymore. Im worried because every time i give him a bath he drinks the water like he's never seen water before. once he drank continuously for almost 2 minutes, he does this almost every time. so obviously he's thirsty but he cant figure out how to get water on his own. I dont know what else to try or how to get him to drink. any help would be appreciated.

 

[ClydesGirl]

The VAST majority of bearded dragons won't drink from a water dish. Most of us around here don't even bother putting one in the viv, since all it really does is raise the humidity. Bearded dragons get most of their hydration from their food. Keep your feeder insects well hydrated and you can always add a little water to his salad as well. Other than that, give him 2-3 baths a week and he should stay plenty hydrated.

 

[Nikki1292]

I stopped keeping a water bowl in my beardies tank about two weeks after I bought him (a little over a year ago). He was about 6 months old and the pet store insisted that I keep a water bowl in his tank. I honestly don't put much stock in what pet stores say (they told me to use crushed walnut shells or something as substrate but I didn't). Anyways, he never went near it and the humidity was getting too high so I just took the bowl out. Instead, I mist him lightly every other day or so (not the whole tank, just him) and he gets a bath once a week. Most of the water he gets is from his salad that he gets everyday because I fill the dish with a little water. I use to bath him 2 times a week but after I started adding more water to his salad I noticed that he rarely drinks from his bath anymore so I cut it down to once week.

The fact that he isn't drinking from a dish is NORMAL. Don't worry at all. I recommend taking the bowl out if he pays little to no attention to it and just bath him regularly (no more that 3 times a week in my opinion) and add a little water to his salads.

Let me know how everything goes for you and your beardie!

 

[momohobobobo]

yeah that will work. I never thought about adding water to his veggies, sounds good. And the humidity actually is a problem, i finally got a thermometer with the humidity meter built in and found that his tank is constantly 30%, which i know isnt good at all. And since i live in vegas where the humidity is only 10% on a "humid" day, it has to be the water dish. i decided to take it out for good, thanks for the help.

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

Every viv I have (and I have 50) all have water bowls. Even tho I almost never see them drink in them, the poopers will tend to soak themselves in the bowl.

 

[Nikki1292]

This is a bit off topic, but a humidity level of 30% isn't that bad at all, actually, it's pretty good. Most websites, breeders, and my vet informed me that as long as the level is under 50% it should be fine. Going over 50% is when its far too high. My beardies tank is always between 30% and 40% and he's perfectly healthy.

 

[momohobobobo]

This is a bit off topic, but a humidity level of 30% isn't that bad at all, actually, it's pretty good. Most websites, breeders, and my vet informed me that as long as the level is under 50% it should be fine. Going over 50% is when its far too high. My beardies tank is always between 30% and 40% and he's perfectly healthy.

Oh ok. i just thought that it was supposed to be around 15% or so. i thought it caused respiratory problems

 

[Meginsanity]

30% sounds good! Wish I could get mine down to 30, but it's been humid here lately.

I keep a water bowl in my viv just because Loki likes to run through it occasionally and hang out on the side sometimes watching reflections in it. She hates to be misted and so far just looks at me crazy when I put her in water, so I just got a squirt bottle and spray her vegetables (and the crickets-in-a-can she has in her veggies) when I put them in. That seems to get her enough moisture.