My new baby beardie wont eat

[Malibubare07]

Got hime 2 weeks ago from pet store. He is 4.5 inches from head to tip of tail same size was when we brouht home. I knew to not handle him for a while because he was under 6 inches in length and more prone to everthing bad. He has a large tank with a basking side of 110ish, the cool side is between 70 and 80. He has a repti sun 10.0 by his basking area (where he spends most of his day). I give him 14/10 hours fo light a day. Feed live crickets size of space between eyes every morning, put about 5 in his tank at a time, 2 to 3 times a day. Also has fresh ground greens daily with fresh water. Since day one he just hasnt eating mor ethan 5 in a day, so I figured let him just adjust to his new home. But two weeks in and he still will only eat maybe 2 a day is concerning because they should eat between 20 - 80 a day at his age. He has been having poo and bright white pee a few times every day so dont think its a blockge, the pet store did say they are given there and will ony eat 5 crickets a day....which is very wrong. Maybe he has to get used to having more available to him now?? I am going to store tomorrow to get silk works or other easy to digest worms as I hear beardies like them more and are more likely to eat those. Just want to get something in him. Also I hav been now administering water from a dropper and bathing once a week to keep him hydrated since not getting it from his food right now. : ( Any advise would help a lot. I have no idea how old he is the petstore said AT LEAST a few months but all the ones there were 4 inches long and I am not sure how normal this behavior is for a hatchling only 1 - 2 months or so.

 

[mark6180]

i am having same problem with 2 i brought about 48 hours ago one has eaten no more then 8 since i got him home and the other has not eaten any could i ask were you got yours??

 

[mark6180]

just hoping like you its stress from moving but i just dont think its right all my set up is defo correct ...

 

[tf2185]

How big is your large tank? How many gallons? The reason I ask is because some littler dragons get to stressed out if there tank is to big. For example, some baby dragons get stressed if they are put into a a 40 galling tank.

What are you measuring the at with? A probe, a temp gun, or one of those circular dials. If it is the circle dial, they can be off by 20 degrees. What type of substrate do you have him on also? I don't know I'd it will matter, but I'm sure the experts will ask anyways.

If you want him to eat more, try baby food. Squash or chicken, I think the chicken would be best because he is young yet and needs the protein. Just use a dropper and drip it on his nose and he should lick it right up.

Are you using anything at night time for heat? I've heard that some dragons won't eat as much if their nighttime routine is messed up. Are you using a CHE or anything? I don't know what the temperature drops to at night

 

[Malibubare07]

I know it is very normal for new beardies to sort of shut down the first 3 days or so once put into t a new home. Simply because being young they wer ejust transfered from their first home to the pet store and then right away from the stor eto your home, and this is very scary for a baby. The rule of thumb is always wait a few days, try not to handle them at all for two to three days so they can relax and adjust, then gradually handle etc.

 

[Malibubare07]

I personally have my beardie in a 10 gallon tank to start off as it is only 4.5 inches long right now. We planned to wait until he has grown and aged enough and then gradually adjust him to another new 40 gallon tank. two sides of the tank have backgrounds of dessert on them to help him feel safe also. I got him from petsmart, after viewing 6 stores in our area, they had the best price and the most playful group. I do have a circle type temp guage on the high end pf baskign area and nther in the mid other side. He always does seem happier when I get the guage to say 115 - 120, thinking maybe the actual temp when it reads 120 is really only 110 ish. I know i need to get a more advnced method. At night it drops to houshold temperature of 75 ish. Humidity is a problem I have been facing although only at night. During day it is at about 20 and at night it goes up to 60 which I know is not ok. I tried leaving a red bulb on t night thinking some heat in there would help keep humidity down but the temperatures just got too warm at night so cant use a night bulb. I just bought a dehumidifier two days ago, one of those small ones that do not need plugs or batteries, reviews says it takes a few weeks before the dehumidifier will actually start working good, I am hoping onc it does humidity at night will go down to at least 40 but preferably lower. His tank has newspaper on the bottom, a tunnel to hide in, a branch so he can climb up and bask, then his food/water dish (which I may note we tried taking out at night to help with humidity and didnt help at all) Its been an hour since I posted I think now, I just caught him n the floor of the tank he had eaten two crickets as soon as he saw me though he ran right back up his branch like he never did anything ..little sneak. : ) I am going to stay out of the room till bed time, maybe really leave him alone all togther for another week or two.

 

[Malibubare07]

Ok guys, I just tried baby food, squash. I happened to have 50 or so jars in the panty on account that we have a baby. Surprisingly the beardie gobbled it all up!!! I put a gob on the tip of my finger and hand fed him, just placed his mouth by my finger and he started eating. He ate about a whole spoonfull and wanted to keep eating it but I deciding to stop him in fear of over indulgance. So I will try feeding him some babyfood chicken (gross stuff for anyone) so he gets the protein the crickets would have given him. Will keep adding live crickets daily also. Hopefully after some meals into his belly he will have the energy to hunt some crickets again. Who knew baby food would get him to eat. : )

 

[BeardieMommy3991]

Glad to hear he is eating baby food for you! Another tip, to see if he might eat, is to feed him in a seperate bin. (I just used a plastic bin) While he can stay in his 40 gallon tank, the plastic bin will make it easier to chase and catch the crickets in a smaller area.

But it is good to hear he is eating something! It is likely just some relocation stress, and hopefully he will eat some live prey for you soon.

 

[tf2185]

It's great that he ate the baby food! If she continues not eating that much and you keep up the baby food, try some chicken. The reason is because it will help her grow faster because of the amount of protein in it compared tomsay squash. The 10 gallon should be fine for now, but be prepared to switch it because they grow very quickly. We only waited a few months to switch ours to the forty gallon because she grew that fast.

At night time, as long as it doesn't drop below sixty five, you will fine. I wouldn't use the red light anyways because it can disturb there sleep cycle. The beardies need complete darkness in order to sleep.

Also, does your dragon ever actually use the water dish? The reason I ask is because bearded dragon can't recognize still water. It could actually be raising your humidity in there more than you think because like I said, the circle dials aren't that reliable. Plus, in my opinion at least, the risk of bacteria is probably greater although I can't swear to it.

 

[Malibubare07]

So we decided to return the little guy to the pet store on account that after that one time I got him to eat, he wouldnt eat again and wouldnt wake up at all. I felt so bad knowing that I would not be able to know how he is doing anymore, but I think he just wasnt healthy from the begining. He seemed to have enough fat on him still hopefully the store took him to a vet right away. : (
On another note, they let up pick out a new one, they had a new shipment in so their were different ones than before. We got one that had red (our last one had blue spots) the new one was nice a fat which told me he was eating well and active he is 5 inches and very alert. His first day home he ate 12 crickets and 4 tiny wax worms in like 10 minutes (like he was starving to death) his second day he refused to eat anything at all, not even one and his second day is when I noticed he was starting to shed, by the end of the day his whole tail had shed. I am hoping that his refusal to eat is because of his shedding and not because he realized he hated his new hoem and is scared to death.

Thank you guys for your help.

 

[Malibubare07]

In regards to your previous response. I just dont use anythign at night, in FL our home is always right around 75. This new beardie actually was in the water dish his first day but not to drink, just to poop in it . I am going to try to leave it out for a week and see if we get any results. What would you say is safe humidity level at night, I mean could they get infections from it only being humid at night? This darm dehumidifier I got on amazon the other day has like 5 starts from hundreads of people saying it works some of which said they ise it in their bearded dragons cage. I have had ours in the tank for over a week now and MAYBE humidity has dropped by 5%. I am confused why it isnt working. It is supposed to be able to dehumidify a whole room, and all it has to do is a tiny tank. Aside from trying those two methods I am unsure of what else to do to bring down humidity.
I plan to get a bigger tank asap. It is our 9 year old sons and we have been making him pay for everything (mean parents I know, on account we already have 2 dogs 3 cats 3 guinea pigs, a hermit crab..figured any more pets from here on out is the kids responsibilty!) Although the bearded dragon is now my obsession since I am home with him all day long eery day so I sort of want him to be all mine now. It is so easy to fall in love with them, in fact I love this lizard more than all of my other animals lol. So our son has been doing yardwork for the neighbors etc to earn money. Obviously we will pitch in if he hasnt earned enough when it is needed. We plan to get a big huge tank and make it a beardie paradise.