New beardie, not hungry, always black bearding at me

[momo4]

I'm wondering if he's depressed maybe? I've heard of "relocation stress" but this is getting me worried.

We got him a few weeks ago now, he's supposedly 18mos old. We added proper lights and a proper basking area so all his temps are bang on what they should be. He's a picky eater so I was told and only likes dandelion and apples, along with his crickets, superworms and silkworms were his fave treat but only found this important info out last night as the old owner took forever getting back to me.

Since we've got him I've offered him a variety of greens, veggies and fruit including what he's supposed to like, he won't touch any of it. He's had a few crickets and superworms, a few hornworms, three butterworms in the past 2 weeks, and just two silkworms yesterday but that's it in almost 3 weeks... He's had 2 baths now and drank both times, so that's a good thing.

He twitches, his muscles twitch a lot and I was told it's calcium deficiency so everything I've offered him I've dusted but he won't touch it if it's dusted, so I offer one dusted, one not - he eats the undusted ones every time but only a couple then he seems full. His hip bones are starting to show now too which I know is BAD! I don't want him dying on me, but I can see that he's just wasting away.

He loves to watch out the window, so in the mornings he dances at the glass in the back of his tank until I open the curtains, then he sits there in his basking area just watching out the window. When it gets hotter in the afternoon I close the curtains as it heats up in his tank a bit too much, and then he's all mopey again. He wants out but if I take him out he just wants to get away and we don't have a "dragon-proofed" room to let him run around in just yet.
If I pick him up he black beards at me, if I look at him his beard darkens. He's happy to come out & sometimes hang out nicely with me but he's giving me the black beard and after five minutes he's done & wants back in his tank.

Is he depressed and misses his old family? I talk to him daily, his lights are on timers, everything is the way it should be but he seems very unhappy.

The reptile store here sells a calcium supplement & appetite stimulant, I can't remember the name, it comes in a bottle of liquid. I was told I could give this to him but wanted some opinions on this first... is he just depressed and can I help him out of this funk or is his calcium deficiency caught up with him too much now? The guy at the store said this stimulant has saved a ton of lizards for him - helping other customers, not necessarily his own animals. He seems knowledgeable, he owns the reptile store, but still, do I try it? How dangerous can it be? Could it kill my baby? Could it work?

Any info would be helpful, I haven't known my little man long but he's in my heart already and I'd hate to lose him.

 

[bayoupig5]

I have heard liquid calcium can be given. This can also be purchased at any pharmacy. You can also get a great form of liquid calcium through beautiful dragons.com

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

If he has been diagnosed with low calcium, then liquid calcium would be the way to go for awhile until he catches up with his levels.
The best one you can get is here:

http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Meds.html#CalciumGluconate

They love the taste & it is very very easy to dose. I highly recommend getting that right now.
Just so I know, which UVB light are you using?

Tracie

 

[utahrapture]

Hi. If you have the money, a mercury vapor lamp can do wonders. They are anywhere from $40-60, look up ZooMed Powersun and see what you can find. I've tried them in the past, they get super hot, and would always seem to conk out after a few months, but they have a year warranty. But they can really make a turnaround if your tank is big enough, wouldn't recommend them for anything smaller then a 40 gallon. You could also look up Carnivore Critical Care, not sure if they sell it online, I get it at the vet, but haven't met a beardie that doesn't like it. Your story reminds me of when my first guy was a baby, he wouldn't let me touch him for three months, and would do crazy stuff like dig up all the greens and eat the corn i hid in the bottom of the dish. One thing he really liked was his water dripper, really kept him amused. Just take a gallon bucket or something and punch a little hole in the bottom, then put a bowl in the tank for the drips to land in. He would watch the drips fall in the most comical fashion, head up....head down. head up....head down. Still to this day to get him to eat greens i coat them in various fruit and/or vegetable baby foods to entice the flavor when it comes to his picky habits. I think dragons are pretty sensitive to there caretaker's attention, whenever i get overly concerned or maybe affectionate like he's a cat, he squeezes his eyes because he's had enough. But he likes the right kind of attention, and is as sweet as can be. Wish I could give you more advice then just some whimsical tales, but I wonder if you have one of those dragons who's got a little more of the wild left in him? I don't know, I've been wondering about the bearded dragon personality for awhile, they have so many universal traits I've seen, but there own individual spark in each one.

 

[utahrapture]

I think beardies are receptive to music sometimes...if he's bored easily he might like the radio or something who knows.

 

[momo4]

I wonder if he's bored, since he used to be in the computer room/office at his old home where someone was always in & out of there all day & now he's up in my bedroom where there is very little traffic... although it's not like I've left him alone, I go up five to six times a day to check his temps, his water, his food (see if he ate anything) and to just say hi.. Maybe I'm in his face too much? We changed his tank the 2nd day he was here, then I rearranged it last week because of the way his house was compared to the heat - moved it so he could cool off in it, then I added a new climbing rock yesterday... could I have stressed him out by doing all this too?
My husband tells me to just leave him be for 3 days, don't worry about putting the fresh greens or worms in for him since the worms are just dying and the greens are all drying up, we're throwing money away and he doesn't care... but I'm worried if I don't offer it to him it'll stress him out more seeing that there's no food at all...

As for his UVB light - my husband bought it, I'm not sure what it is, but the tank is on my dresser, right in the window so he gets about 4 hours of good afternoon sun every day too (when it's sunny that is,) and I close the curtains at night to keep the warmth in his tank.

His lights come on around 5:30am (since that's when he seems to wake up & start looking for heat) and they go off at 7:30pm since that's when he goes to bed.
Should I be offering him his salad at 6:30am since that's an hour after he's up, since I don't offer it to him until about 9am usually - could this be half his problem too? late breakfasts?
I don't know, maybe I'm over worrying and he just needs some adjustment time that I'm not giving him because I'm giving him too much attention?

Thanks for the ideas & help!! He's just too cute not to talk to, so if that's his issue, that's going to be hard for me to just leave him be, lol

 

[Freeie]

Do you take him out and play with him? Sit on the couch pet him talk to him. I know all of mine love their out of the viv time. They get grumpy when they dont get it. After bath time wrap him up in a beardie burrito and veg with him I know from experance they dont like change. Ive made Zero so mad at me from changing his viv around evey few days after we got him but it was for his own good. Have you tried hand feeding him some veggies or worms some are spoiled this way. I really hope he comes around for you soon. I have to feed them their salads first thing in the morning before they get the live food. If they are hungry they will eat it.(7 am) then i give them their live food around 9 to 10 am. If their salad bowl gets empty i add a little bit more through out the day.