Newly bought juvenile beardie refuses to eat.

[riceko]

Hello everyone,
I just bought a young bearded dragon about 3 days ago (Her names Scorch. Unsure of gender but guessing female). Not exactly sure how old she is, but I know the guy I bought them from was going to introduce them to sand yesterday (I've got her on newspaper until I can afford sand, I figured it wouldn't hurt, maybe lessen chance of impaction).

Anyway, she hasn't been eating much at all. The first day I got her, it was evening time so I almost immediatly fed her and she ate about 5 crickets. I think she ate a total of 8 the next day, and some mustard greens, raspberries and grapes from what I noticed. Today she ate 2 crickets this morning and zero tonight.

I have a suspicion that its relocation stress, and missing her 4 other companions... but I'm getting worried she might become unhealthy.

Where she was, Jeff (at the Reptile Zone in Bend Oregon) was feeding her and four others about 50 crickets twice a day. So he told me she should be eating a good 10-15 crickets a feeding.

I'm almost positive that everything in her cage is the way it should be. I'm using round analog stick-on thermometers placed inside directly on her basking spot (when I set it up), it was actually pretty warm (maybe too warm) like warmer than 115 degrees, so I moved her light farther away tonight, and the temperature cooled down to about 100ish. Hoping that might help. She gaped a lot today.

I'm using a Powersun 100w UVB bulb to heat and light her 30 gallon container, which I slightly sectioned off so she can find her food easier. I dust her crickets everyday at one feeding. She has been pooping too... three times since I got her, so I know its not an impaction issue. Hopefully not a digestion one though im not sure... I was going to wait a couple weeks and let her get settled before I sent in a stool sample.

I think that's all the detail I can provide. This is my first pet (I'm 19 years old) and I'm soooo worried I'm gonna screw this up :\ I've worked with adult beardies before at the High Desert Museum and I've studied them from many, many different online sources (and real life sources, reptile experts). If anyone wants me to post pictures or give more detail, ill probably be off and on all night, heh.

Thanks everyone! I hope I can get Scorch eating again...

 

[SARBEAR]

Hi and welcome!!

-My guess is relocation stress.
-If you can post a picture that would be great, about how long is she?
-I would advise against sand, as it can cause impaction. Not to mention the sand can get very expensive, and is a waste of money. You're beardie can also get parasites from the sand. I would stick to repti carpet or tile or something.
-That's great if she's eating her greens. You can try giving her squash baby food, just to get something in her tummy.
-I would get rid of the powersun, if I remember right there's been some issues with those. I would get a basking bulb, as well as a Reptisun 10 tube for UVB. I adopted my beardie and his previous owners had all the wrong lighting in there. Once I changed the lights out to the ones I suggested It seems I have a whole new dragon.
-Adults should have AT LEAST a 40 gal tank even those are pretty small for an adult. I'm not sure how old she is, but will definitely outgrow the 30 gal.
Hope I helped a little

 

[Rachella]

MVB bulbs are about the best bulbs you can use for a reptile. I use a Megaray MVB bulb, I don't know anything about Powersun but if my resources are right it's Zoo Med and that's generally a trusted brand for reptiles. Make sure you adhere to the minimum distance of 12-14 inches, though. Any closer and the beardie may actually get sick from poisoning. I forget what kind, radiation, maybe? From being too close to the UVB output.

I do agree that the sand is an unnecessary risk at the beardie's age. Paper towels work fine, tiles also. I use sand for my big guy, but he's nearly two years old. And I have recently switched my Girl to tile and she seems to appreciate the change ((she's pancaking -all- the time now, I think she likes the way it feels on her tummy ))

Chances are your beardie is going under some relocation stress. It happens nearly all the time. My only suggestion would be to continue offering her food everyday, make sure you take out uneaten crickets as they can bite during the night and cause sores. If within a week or so her appetite hasn't picked up, I'd suggest ordering some small phoenix worms online. These worms are small and extremely wriggly, posing a tempting meal that hardly any beardie can resist. They're also loaded with calcium! Also when you offer her veggies, try taking small pieces and wriggling them on your finger. Sometimes the action entices them to eat.

Another suggestion I have is to replace your therm. Try and get a digital one, I've heard that stick-ons and the round ones can be off by as much as anywhere from 10-20 degrees. You can find a digital one for relatively cheap, about 10-15 dollars at Wal-Mart.

How long is your beardie? That might be able to help in determining her age.

I also don't think for a second she's missing the other beardies she was caged with, if I read that right. If anything, she'll be better off without them. Just give her time to get used to her new surroundings and you and with some proper care she'll be right as rain in no time. You're off to a great start!

 

[riceko]

Thanks everybody for replying! I really appreciate the help

I'm going to go and talk to Jeff tomorrow about the bulb. Although I'm pretty sure Powersuns are fine.. from everything ive read. I think its very possible that she could be sick from being too close to the bulb. I had a log in there that she could crawl up on and be within 6 inches of the bulb. Since then, I've gotten a small habba hut and she likes basking on that. Its at least 12 inches from the bulb.

I will measure and take pictures of her and her enclosure in the morning. I would hate to disturb her sleep right now.

I really hope I have enough money for some better thermometers next week! I had a feeling I wasn't fully prepared.

Thanks again everyone!

 

[riceko]

By the way... I was feeding her in her terrarium, but the crickets crawl under the newspaper and she seems to have a hard time with that, so I am feeding her in a large plastic reptile container with a black lid.
But it may just be the fact that she has a general lack of interest in eating the crickets and they have time to hide.

 

[riceko]

Good Morning everyone!

Well Scorch ate 5 dusted crickets this morning! Woo! Most she's eaten since I got her
I took lots of pictures of her and her terrarium today.
I'm a little worried... she keeps randomly closing her right eye and she has what looks like a puffy, purple patch under her eye when she closes it. Although its invisible when she has it open.
Is this normal? See below for a picture of the eye.

This is Scorch! The green on her head is marker from when I claimed her.

Here are two pictures of her right eye (the one that closes randomly).

Her setup:

The light setup:

Also, my dad had a digital therm I am borrowing:

Analog one I was using:

Two different sizes of crickets with her head for comparison (kind of bad pics, sorry):

A picture of her poo (I'm worried it might be a bit too watery, maybe she has a touch of diarrhea):

I hope all these pics help!
I'm going to measure her later on today (I forgot to this morning T_T)

Thanks guys! I really hope her eye is okay! ; _ ;

 

[Rachella]

Wow, great pics! Those are extremely helpful! And gyah, she's so cute!! :love5:

Regarding her eye, it -might- be a bruise? I can't say for sure but that would be my first guess. I'm unable to tell you exactly what to do for it, except to keep a close eye on it. The randomly closing thing isn't -too- big of a worry, my two beardies always randomly close one or both of their eyes when they're looking at things. The best I can suggest for you is just to keep a close eye on it, make sure it doesn't get puffy or swollen or any worse than that.

Regarding runny poo, it is a little runny. This may be a result of the vegetables she's eating. Are you feeding her lettuce or romaine ((or anything in the lettuce family))? Those have little nutritional value and are mostly water, which may explain it. She looks very well hydrated, though. If it's not the vegetables then it may be a sign of internal parasites, in which case a fecal check by a vet would be able to confirm it and if that's the case she'd need some meds. But it may also just be her veggies. I don't know if you already have this or not but here's a link to a wonderful site about beardie vegetable nutrition. I printed it out and take it with me when I go to get veggies for my beloved beardies:: http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html

The cricket size looks fine to me, personally. I don't think those will be causing any problems for her.

From -her- size, I'd place a wild guess in saying she's about a year old if she's been properly cared for before you got her. Maybe a little less, but that would be my wager.

The light setup looks fine, if it's a MVB bulb you're doing great with that. It's far enough now she should be fine. I'm also really glad to see you got a digital therm. Now, with the MVB, make sure the calcium and vitamin powder you use does -not- have D3 in it. MVB bulbs are potent enough to let the beardie produce their own naturally so they wouldn't need it and too much D3 can lead to poisoning.

Hmm, I think that about covers it... Everything else looks fine, I don't see anything raising a red flag. If anything, I'm extremely happy to see you're off to such a good start already!

 

[riceko]

Yay! I'm happy you think she looks fine

Ill definitely keep a close watch on her eye. It does look a little strange although does not seem to be causing her pain or discomfort of any kind.

Yea I had heard that lettuce is best to avoid. The only greens I've been able to buy are mustard greens... hoping I can find some collard greens or turnip greens around town somewhere. Other than that she's been given celery, red cabbage, carrot peels and spearmint (although she spat it out. Don't think she likes spearmint ~-~). I mixed a couple raspberries in with her veggies the other day to entice her to eat them, but her poo wasn't runny after that. Maybe its just cause she got a bath

Thanks everyone for the wonderful advice! This is a great community and I'm very compelled to stick around

I wish everyone and their beardies health and happiness!