New owner 4 year old dragon

[newdragon17]

Hi all- any help would be appreciated.
I got a 4 year old dragon last Wednesday. He was fed a pinkie just before I picked him up (either Tuesday night or Wednesday morning). He has not really eaten much at all. Thursday he had about 3 crickets. He has been easy to handle but yesterday he seemed agitated and did not want to be picked up or held. I never could get him out of his 40 gallon home. ( we go that from the previous owner) He did eat one roach and one worm yesterday.
He has not touched his salad ever and we change it twice a day trying to find something he will like.
I think the temp is good, we do live in the mid-south so the humidity is higher than ideal. Because of that I do not want to spray him in is aquarium. We have sprayed him once and I dropped few drops on his nose once.
I was going to bath him yesterday but since he did not want out, I was unable to bath him.
I really don't know that he has pooped at all. How long should it take a pinkie to get through him? He is about 2 foot long, I would guess.
Hi lives on sand which I keep reading mixed review about.
Any ideas?

 

[AHBD]

Hi there, it sound like he's a bit stressed from the move and is probably a bit of a grouchy dragon too but that can be fixed with patience + a little time. It doesn't matter what the prey item is, some beardies may only poo every 4,5,6 days or longer at times. Don't let that worry you. If he hasn't gone in about a week you can try some baby food squash, sweet potato, prunes [ any or a combo of ] with a bit of olive oil added or a drop or 2 of honey.

Let him settle in, don;t worry too much about the sand at the moment but once he's been with you for a week or so you can decide if you want to get rid of it. Yes it's true that some dragons can become impacted but they are generally in poor health with too low temps. that make it hard to digest anything, and if they eat sand for a long period it can plug them up dangerously.

Can you post a few pics of him as well as his set up, including the lights ? Here's how :
https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload pics

 

[newdragon17]

I just put a new 10.0 uvb 24 inch reptisun bulb in today. I'm not sure what the heat lamp is but it keeps temp at 95 in the air and 87 in the sand.
Thank you for your response. I feel better. This evening he seemed a little better.

 

[PrettyinPurple]

I know you said you couldn't really soak him because he didn't want out, but soaking him and dripping water over/in front of his head could help with digestion. My 6 year old will not poo in her viv and so far has only done so in the sink! The water helps push along the food that's in their system.
A pinky is a mouse right???... I've never heard of a bearded dragon eating one of those before :shock: the bones and fur may take a little bit to digest. I think mine goes to the bathroom every 3 or so days if I'm soaking her and she's eating every day, but then again bugs are much easier to digest and she eats a lot of greens.

 

[newdragon17]

Thanks for the response. Smaug went for a soak first think this morning and made a poo. We were all very excited. He is still not eating any veggies and not moving much but we think he is starting to shed.
We have tried all kinds of veggies and fruits. Put them in bowls, on paper towels, tried hand feeding out of the cage. He shows no interest. We have places worms in the salad, still nothing.
I do feel better than I did a few days ago but I just wish he would eat more than protein.

 

[NinaAmbroshia]

Did the previous owner feed your dragons pellets? I know they aren't the best foodbsource, but i knew a 2 year old who wouldn't eat any veggie or fruits, even after months of trying to get her to eat some. All because her original owners, never fed her salad and gave her pellets instead.

 

[Drache613]

Moved by Moderator from General to Health

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Poor guy, I am sure he is a bit stressed with being rehomed at his age.
He looks good overall but probably tired.
So, putting in a new Reptisun 10 tube bulb seemed to help him out then? Be sure that the
basking light is a bright white light & not a coated "daytime" bulb with neodymium on it.
How far is the UVB light from him?
You can use paper towels, non adhesive shelf liner, felt, or slate/textured tiles. Those are
all pretty easy to keep cleaned up.
Chances are, he probably wasn't fed much of any veggies/greens previously which is going
to make it extremely hard to get him eating them now. Just keep trying to offer them to
him & eventually he may go for them more. Try putting bright colored pieces of fruit in
the greens, or maybe some phoenix/calcium worms, superworms, or silkworms for him to
pick out.
I hope he settles in soon.

Tracie