No clue

[KittyLovesDragons]

Bodhi has hardly eaten all summer. She only ate when I forced food into her mouth. She probably pooped less than once a week, and stayed on the cold side of her cage unless I moved her. I thought it was brumation at first, but then it got worse. Is she trying to hibernate or can beardies get depressed?

 

[AHBD]

Hi there, how long did you wait when she was not eating until you assist feed her ? And what + how much are you feeding her by hand ? Can you post the latest pics of her [ full body ] as well as the exact type + brand lights and the exact temps. in her tank ?

 

[EllenD]

Chances are your lights and your temperatures are inadequate and improper, and without adequate UVB light they lose all appetites, cannot manufacture vitamin D3, and cannot absorb any nutrition at all, including calcium, which will start metabolic bone disease (MBD). And without proper temperatures she cannot digest or process any food and will become very lethargic.

Please post photos of her and her complete enclosure and lighting, and list what brand/model/type of UVB light you have, along with her Basking g light, and her basking spot, hot side, and cool side temperatures, and what type of thermometer you're using...This is very, very important, as if she's had no proper UVB light or temperatures all summer (or longer) she's most likely very sick. How old is she, and how long have you had her?

 

[KittyLovesDragons]

She started be really lethargic about three weeks ago, and I noticed the feeding issue two weeks ago. She will only eat little bits out of my hand. after a few bites she'll just spit it out. We put food on her plate today to see how she would do while we were gone but she didn't touch anything. She only gets live mealworms.
Her heat bulb is about 6 months old, and registering around 93F at the basking spot. Her uvb is about 8 months. I don't remember the heat bulb brand but the uvb is zoomed. Cold side is about 70-75degrees (we couldn't get an accurate reading). We have an analog thermometer in the middle of the cage but we can move it around.
Update: She decided to move around a little and dug up her sand box (you can see in the picture).
Every time I pick her up, her color lightens a little and she likes being outside. I took her out a lot but school started again so I can't as much.

 

[AHBD]

Is the uvb a coil, compact or long tube ? How high is it from her basking spot ? And does the heat bulb have it written on the end of the bulb what the wattage is / It may be lack of enough heat + proper uvb. The uvb is probably due to be changed if it's 8 months old.

 

[kingofnobbys]

This will help you work out why she's off the food

I'm betting your have a 13W 5%UVB or 13W 10%UVB compact mounted ontop of mesh screen top which came as part of kit and this is resulting in insufficient UVA and UVB reaching her.
Even if it's a good 26W 10%UVB bulb properly positioned , the bulb is more than 6 months old and will not be producing very much UVA & UVB as the phosphors decay and are very inactive after 6 months of daily use. The UVB compact MUST BE REPLACED .
I have a solarmeter microW UVB / sq.cm meter and regularly test all my UV lights (currently using 26W UVB150 compacts for my skinks and 26W UVB200 compacts for my dragons) and I have found at 6 months old the UVB output drops to about 40% the new bulb output.

I strongly suggest upgrading to a t5ho 10-12% UVB tube mounted in a reflector hood , I suggest mounting the UVB tube UNDER THE LID.

I'm also suspicious the temperatures are not right and the lights are not on long enough each day.

 

[kingofnobbys]

She started be really lethargic about three weeks ago, and I noticed the feeding issue two weeks ago. She will only eat little bits out of my hand. after a few bites she'll just spit it out. We put food on her plate today to see how she would do while we were gone but she didn't touch anything. She only gets live mealworms.
Her heat bulb is about 6 months old, and registering around 93F at the basking spot. Her uvb is about 8 months. I don't remember the heat bulb brand but the uvb is zoomed. Cold side is about 70-75degrees (we couldn't get an accurate reading). We have an analog thermometer in the middle of the cage but we can move it around.
Update: She decided to move around a little and dug up her sand box (you can see in the picture).
Every time I pick her up, her color lightens a little and she likes being outside. I took her out a lot but school started again so I can't as much.

She's a lovely girl and looks healthy.

I would reserve the mealworms for treats only , better feeders listed here viewtopic.php?f=76&t=234999&p=1807834#p1807834

I suggest
large size BSF maggots/calcigents/calciworms/phoenix worms
medium silkworms (about 1.5-2 inches long)
crickets or roaches or locusts (these need to be dusted and gut loaded with calcium rich greens).

She's too young to be allowed to brumate (this will be her first winter).

She looks about 6 months - 8 months old, so two meals of live insects per day.
If it takes handfeeding, so be it, it's a great way to create a fabulous bond with a lizard.

 

[AHBD]

Yes, the lighting needs to be upgraded to a better uvb bulb as mentioned, go for the Arcadia 12%D3 or you can try a Megaray uvb which will also bump the temps. up because it's heat AND uvb. Just Google " Megaray uvb bulb 100 watt ". Josh's frogs has them on their site.

 

[KittyLovesDragons]

The uvb is a long bulb and about 9 inches away from the basking log. We're going to try cutting a hole in the mesh for the light. We remeasured the temp and it's actually 110F. Her lights are on from about 4:30(I have to wake up early) to about 6:30-7:00. She constantly dug around today, scratching at the glass, then curled up in the basking corner where she is currently. She didn't eat at all today.

 

[kingofnobbys]

have you tried hand feeding her ?

If this is what it takes to get insects and other sources of nutrition into her - so be it.