Hello, a month and a week or so now ago, I bought a bearded dragon from a previous owner who claimed he was 8 months old but I feel strange about this as the dragon is only about 98 g and 11 inches, and the owner said he himself purchased the dragon in June (the petshops here sell very small baby bearded dragons only). The owner was keeping the dragon on sand and had the dual dome lighting that comes with a starter kit. I immediately bought new lighting and have the reptisun 10.0 tube that runs along the 40 gal. I also try and keep the tank within proper Temps for a younger dragon, but he doesn't move around it much anyway. He only wants to jump off his hammock to go to the hide. From day 1, the dragon has hidden in his hide and refused to eat. During the week I'll give him a drink of water which he takes to, and set him back in his basking spot, where he stays for a while before going back into the hide. He digs a lot, which made me wonder if it's brumation, but majority of the time he lays under the hide with his eyes open. It has now been over a month and a few days ago he ate one cricket and upon this morning seems to have regurgitated it. The times I've taken him out, he shows no difficulty being able to run, and after a while begins to dig at the floor, etc. I am absolutely confused by this behavior and really worried that he won't eat as he is still so small.. Please help.
He now has the proper lighting but it needs to be inside the tank not on the top mesh its blocking out a lot of the UVB rays he needs- - take the light cover off the bulb so you have just the bulb showing and put fixture inside the tank -- you will notice a different dragon-- he needs to eat at least 20-30 crickets per feeding dusted w/ calcium D3 5 x per week and vitamins 2 x per week or dubia roaches of which I recommend 1 dubia roach = 6 crickets better for him and they dont give parasites you can get them on line from Amazon and shippers offer free shipping they are easy to care for you can keep them in a plastic tote or 10 gallon aquarium feed them carrots apples sweet potato / and or dubia food w/ the vegies mentioned for water - offer him / her vegies every day like mustard green collard greens squash any kind fruit like apple mango strawberries blueberries no citrus tho-- sweet potato keeps them regular --- if its been over a month I would think the relocation stress would of gone away by now - I am thinking its the UVB thats causing the issue w/ the not eating as it plays a huge role in their digestion and preventing MBD--- I would get your UVB in your tank and watch and see what happens --
Karrie
Okay, I’ll make sure to put the uvb in the tank. Thank you very much. This is just confusing as previous owner had a compact uvb bulb above the screen and he was still out and about his tank and willing to eat with that owner.
Hi there, can you post a close up of the beardie itself ? What's his/her name BTW ? Take the hide out, he needs to see that he's O.K and to get the heat + uvb he needs. You can put it back at night if you like but def. take it out during the day.
How big was the cricket he ate, how late was it and how many watts is the heat bulb ? If he ate too late or does not have enough heat he can't digest any food. Hopefully we can get this little guy on the right track.
Hello! Thank you so much for replying, I’m so sorry I missed the notification for this. I am really lost here and appreciate you willing to help. I will take the hide out. (I have done that in the past. He seems really stressed and begins digging and trying to get his head under the branch or food dishes.) The uvb is now in the tank.
-his name is Grayson
-a small, medium cricket? He didn't eat all of it, just half. I admit I was holding it right up in his face (I was worried, he hasn't eaten in all his time with me.)
-afternoon, after I set him to bask for a few hours. I was worried about indigestion so I set him back on the hammock to bask and he did for pretty much the rest of the day before he went back to the hide.
- I don't know the wattage of the heat bulb, but I do take temps and it seems to be fine. It's definitely not too cold Previous owner said it was new when I purchased him.
Btw: when he is basking or out from his hide it's because I took him out and set him there. He'll stay for however long and then hop off and go hide. The basking light is in a dual dome fixture with a uvb coil but I don't ever use that uvb, I have the tube.
I take temps with a digital thermometer.. I think it's like an infrared one or something. You just point it to a surface and click. Cool side is around 80 usually, and the basking area is 103-110 at the hottest I believe.
Since you moved the UVB has his behavior changed? Is he eating more now? And is he sitting under the tube UVB? Digital thermometer is it a gun? Do you still have him on sand or have you gotten rid of it?
Karrie
Behavior has not changed at all, still not going for food at all. It is a gun yes. He's still on the sand which I'm not happy about but I had hesitations about removing him to get rid of the sand. He seems really distressed when taken out longer than a few minutes.
He can deal w/ it - please get rid of the sand - either non adhesive shelf liner or ceramic slated tile are what alot of people use here on the board -- it can be purchased at Home Depot or local hard ware store - that might be a alot of your issue -- sand causes impaction and its not good for them - you can scoop a lot of the sand out and then use like a shop vac to get the rest out but you will haft to put Grayson in a different room if using a shop vac since they are so loud! Is he going to the bathroom ?
Karrie