Freddie my beardie is not eating. I got him in spring , his age is unknown. I didn't know much about beardie until I got him. The previous owner gave me a tank top and light. I asked her if this light is all he needed. She said it was the only light he needed. He wasn't fed properly so we got info on what he needed to eat and calcium. Just recently found out he needed a uv light. I don't know how long he was living without a uv light. Everytime I went to the pet store nobody knew anything about bearded dragon. Freddie was a good eater all summer. He was raised on freeze dried bugs:crickets , meal worms. He gets veggies and fruits everyday. We started on live crickets from our pet store and he wasn't good at hunting. He eventually got the hang of it. My issue now is he's started to sleep more during the day and slowed down his eating at the end of November. A week before Christmas he barely ate at all. Now stopped eating completely. He had his last bowel movement a few days after he ate silk worms he had as a Christmas treat. He had eaten just one. Hasn't eaten since his last Bowel movement. Is he brumating? We bought a UV light around Christmas time when I finally talked to someone at the pet shop who seemed to know more about Beardies.. I feel so bad. He is a little more awake since he got the UV light. He is a little less sleepy than last week. He is usually very active little man. Is he brumating?His hot zone is between 102 to 105 and cold zone is 75 to 80. He has a 30 inch single tube light strip which has his long uv light in. I took him on as a rescue. Should I bring him to the vet? Traveling with a Beardie in winter months at minus temps would be a challenge. how do I attach pictures on this site?
My dragon is not eating.
- Thread starter jessiepa
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Brumation is a possibility but given the lack of UVB light a health problem is more likely. How far is the UVB tube from his basking area? If it's a T8 then it should sit about 6-8'' above the basking area for best output. Your temperature gradient is just right so that's good. Some photos of him would be helpful. You can upload photos here https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ and then post them to your thread using the XIMG button when you reply.
Bought him a 24 in 17 watt dessert fluorescent 50 UVB bulb. I believe it's a T8. I Have two basking light in the basking zone one basking and a red one which I keep the red one on all the time the tank gets cold at night. The uvb is right beside the basking lights sitting on top of his meshed top enclosure approx . His tank is 18 1/2 inches high by 4 ft. And 13 inches wide. His basking zone is 15 inches away from the top. I bought him a Hammock and he hates it. If his UVB requires to be lower closer to him it would be hard to put this long 30 inch UVB light underneath the top mesh. Would it be ok under the heat lamps? It would get pretty hot under those lamps. His color is very light and he lost weight. We will see if we can find a reptile vet here. He is very responsive when we pick him up. He even climbs up to be picked up. He slept most of the day but is wide awake now. You can tell he is not ok. His Freddie suit is loose on him. :*( He may be 5+ years old.
I was told it was coconut shells...But I know nothing of this. It came with him and his tank. I notice him licking this. What shall I put instead? Is this base bad cause at the pet shops they are saying it is better. I am so not liking this pet shop. What can I use instead? Poor Freddie hope he recovers from what is ailing him.
Hello,
I would think it is more likely calcium issues, or just lethargic behavior due to improper care before you got him. Though, it is completely normal for them to slow down some during this time of year.
Freddie looks pretty good though, based on the pictures. His jaw is not misaligned which is great.
That particular light is Zilla brand I believe. You can have it at a 6-8 inch distance.
So, if you would like, you can definitely mount it on the underneath side of the screen top, & place the basking light right beside it & it shouldn't get the light fixture too hot.
The red light isn't really necessary. What do the temperatures get just using the regular white basking light?
You can try getting some chicken or turkey baby food, with sweet potatoes or squash baby food to feed to him using a plastic dropper or syringe since he isn't eating much.
If he is 5 or older, he will still need calcium several times per week, 3 should be sufficient.
Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie
I would think it is more likely calcium issues, or just lethargic behavior due to improper care before you got him. Though, it is completely normal for them to slow down some during this time of year.
Freddie looks pretty good though, based on the pictures. His jaw is not misaligned which is great.
That particular light is Zilla brand I believe. You can have it at a 6-8 inch distance.
So, if you would like, you can definitely mount it on the underneath side of the screen top, & place the basking light right beside it & it shouldn't get the light fixture too hot.
The red light isn't really necessary. What do the temperatures get just using the regular white basking light?
You can try getting some chicken or turkey baby food, with sweet potatoes or squash baby food to feed to him using a plastic dropper or syringe since he isn't eating much.
If he is 5 or older, he will still need calcium several times per week, 3 should be sufficient.
Let us know how he is doing.
Tracie
Decided I'm going to type a bit more and put off other stuff for awhile 
That's likely walnut shell substrate. Its a horrible substrate, I wish it was taken off the market. It can cause impaction, I would recommend tiles, but I use sand for older dragons. I'm probably going to try tile though. Your dragon looks really healthy....so maybe this is brumation.
That's likely walnut shell substrate. Its a horrible substrate, I wish it was taken off the market. It can cause impaction, I would recommend tiles, but I use sand for older dragons. I'm probably going to try tile though. Your dragon looks really healthy....so maybe this is brumation.
What do I replace the crushed walnut with? Will try the baby food and I will figure out a way to raise his basking or bring down his UVB. How about multi vitamins? If I take out the red light hHis basking will be colder. I added the red one cause his basking wasn't hot enough. His basking light is a 150 and the red one is a 50. Do they make a 200? I didn't see them?
As for what substrate to you should use, as previously mentioned....some people use tiles, I use sand for older dragons. If your having a hard time maintaining temps you can use a ceramic heat emmiter along with the basking light. Just turn the light off at night and keep the ceramic heater on. Raising stuff in the tank to allow better UV rays is a good idea...or lower the light.
I was going to suggest that he may be a bit impacted from the walnut shell substrate, but I was beaten to it... It's horrible stuff that kills beardies every day...And you said he was licking it? Bad news! They eat it but they can't break it down to digest it, so it causes an impaction in their digestive tract, haults bowel movements, bloats them, stops them from eating, etc.
Freddie does look quite healthy, BUT THE FACT THST HE HAS LOST WEIGHT AND HAS NOT EATEN OR HAD A BOWEL MOVEMENT FOR OVER A WEEK OR TWO INDICATES SOMETHING IS UP!
Get rid of the walnut shells right now and buy either reptile carpet, tiling, or reptile sand since he is an adult. That's #1. How often do you bath/soak him? He needs to be well hydrated to try and help with the impaction. As mentioned you need to buy a feeding syringe and baby food, i would first buy baby food applesauce, the sugar free kind, and some unflavored Pedialyte. You need to make a slurry of the applesauce, Pedialyte, and calcium powder or a reptile vitamin and calcium combo like Reptical. Mix it all up to a consistency like applesauce (add as much Pedialyte as needed to accomplish this with the recommended amount of vitamin/calcium powder) and see how much you can get him to eat. Try using the tip of the syringe to get under his lip and get him to open his mouth, then push some of the slurry into his mouth. You can also try putting some on top of his snout and see if he kicks it off. He needs to be soaked every day in warm water for 15-30 minutes, and try to get him to swim a bit, like in the tub. The movement, heat, and hydration will help the impaction if he has one. Do this every day plus the slurry as much as he'll eat until he has a bowel movement. You can can also try gently rubbing his belly, start under his right armpit and use gentle circular rubbing motions down to his vent. I'd also see if you can feel anything hard in his digestive tract. Usually an impaction feels like a really hard, tube shaped rock.
He may be brumating, but the very sudden weight loss, lethargy, and no eating or bowel movement plus him licking/eating the walnut shells points very much to an impaction. He he needs the UVB mounted underneath his lid 6" away from his basking spot with the basking light next to it, and he needs his insects and salad dusted in calcium powder at least 3+ times a week from now on.
Freddie does look quite healthy, BUT THE FACT THST HE HAS LOST WEIGHT AND HAS NOT EATEN OR HAD A BOWEL MOVEMENT FOR OVER A WEEK OR TWO INDICATES SOMETHING IS UP!
Get rid of the walnut shells right now and buy either reptile carpet, tiling, or reptile sand since he is an adult. That's #1. How often do you bath/soak him? He needs to be well hydrated to try and help with the impaction. As mentioned you need to buy a feeding syringe and baby food, i would first buy baby food applesauce, the sugar free kind, and some unflavored Pedialyte. You need to make a slurry of the applesauce, Pedialyte, and calcium powder or a reptile vitamin and calcium combo like Reptical. Mix it all up to a consistency like applesauce (add as much Pedialyte as needed to accomplish this with the recommended amount of vitamin/calcium powder) and see how much you can get him to eat. Try using the tip of the syringe to get under his lip and get him to open his mouth, then push some of the slurry into his mouth. You can also try putting some on top of his snout and see if he kicks it off. He needs to be soaked every day in warm water for 15-30 minutes, and try to get him to swim a bit, like in the tub. The movement, heat, and hydration will help the impaction if he has one. Do this every day plus the slurry as much as he'll eat until he has a bowel movement. You can can also try gently rubbing his belly, start under his right armpit and use gentle circular rubbing motions down to his vent. I'd also see if you can feel anything hard in his digestive tract. Usually an impaction feels like a really hard, tube shaped rock.
He may be brumating, but the very sudden weight loss, lethargy, and no eating or bowel movement plus him licking/eating the walnut shells points very much to an impaction. He he needs the UVB mounted underneath his lid 6" away from his basking spot with the basking light next to it, and he needs his insects and salad dusted in calcium powder at least 3+ times a week from now on.
Tail weight looks pretty good to me...so if he's lost weight it doesn't look like a significant amount. Not eating and not having a bowel movement are not too big of a deal if this is an adult dragons attempt at brumation.
Like I said though, sometimes its hard to tell if its brumation or illness.
No need to type in capitals, yelling isn't very nice
(Edit: forgot to say welcome to the group EllenD!! Looks like this was your first or second post!! Sounds like you have a lot of valuable things to contribute )
Like I said though, sometimes its hard to tell if its brumation or illness.
No need to type in capitals, yelling isn't very nice
(Edit: forgot to say welcome to the group EllenD!! Looks like this was your first or second post!! Sounds like you have a lot of valuable things to contribute
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Mirage came out of brumation on April 26. He was doing great. On May 2 he started acting funny. We just redid his tank, and he keeps going into one of his hides. He just lays there. He shows no intrest in food. HELP!
