Not eating baby bella and it's not the lights.

[Crl52689]

Hi guys. I h

ave a baby female (I believe) that I haven't seen eat in at least 4 days. She soaked and pooper though like 2 days ago... but look at her this morning...I also have pics of warm, and cool side. And the thermometer that's in middle of tank is for humidity. Pics of all. The warm side it's a strip thermometer up at the top in the back. It shows it's about 100 degrees pretty consistently.

 

[Crl52689]

And anytime i try to get her to eat, she closes her eyes and pretends to be asleep. And she kind of puffs up in neck area.. just slightly. Almost as if she is swallowing. She drinks great! She loves her water. Every once in while I mist her log and it pools up and she puts her face right in it and gulps a couple times. But food seems to gross her out.

 

[VenusAndSaturn]

Looks like the lights are the problem to me, as in the picture i see a coil or compact bulb rather than a preferred tube light. And unless that bulb is a exo terra 25 watt 200UVB or that heat bulb you have is a powersun or megaray MVB then it's probably the lighting.

For lighting you want a T5 HO 10.0 UVB TUBE LIGHT WITH A REFLECTIVE FITTING FIXTURE. This will produce enough UVB even while on top of the screen so that your beardie will start eating, wont get a calcium deficiency, or MBD.

You could go with a powersun or megaray MVB however they have a very very narrow intense UVB path so some beardies may not feel comfortable at all with one on them from how intense and narrow it is.
Tube lights have a wider UVB path of sorts making it more natural in a sense as UVB wouldn't just be in one spot along with being so narrow.

 

[EllenD]

Welcome to the forum...I'm sorry that your baby isn't eating, she's quite small and definitely needs nutrition, and she does look quite weak.

I have 2 questions for you that are extremely important, the first one is going to be EXACTLY what UVB light do you have, meaning the Brand, the Wattage, and the Type, meaning is it a Compact, and Coil, an MVB, or a long tube. I too see a Compact/Coil light next to another Compact light, so this looks like you have a regular Basking Bulb and then your UVB light is also either a Compact or a Coil UVB bulb, which is most likely inadequate, and it's also sitting on top of the mesh lid, which is blocking about 40% of the already far too weak compact/coil UVB bulb, if that's the case. We may be wrong, but the #1 reason that young babies do not eat and become lethargic is inadequate and/or incorrectly mounted UVB light.

The second question is about your temperature readings...you said that you have a "Strip Thermometer" on the back of the tank on the Hot Side that is reading 100 degrees...I'm assuming that by "Strip Thermometer" you mean one that is a stick-on? If so, then this is a HUGE problem, as it is NOT reading his Basking Spot Temperature, because if it a SURFACE Temperature that can only be read by a Probe or a Gun. If you have a stick-on strip thermometer on the Hot Side of the tank, stuck to the glass, and it's reading 100 degrees, that is actually the Hot Side Ambient/Air Temperature, which is WAY TOO HOT, it should only be between 88-93 degrees F maximum.

So regardless of how you measure the Basking Spot Surface Temperature, which should be between 105-110 degrees F maximum for a young baby, the fact that you have a stick-on Strip Thermometer on the Glass in the back of the Hot Side of the tank that is reading 100 degrees F is absolutely the Air/Ambient Temperature on the Hot Side of the tank...This is most likely making him extremely dehydrated, and will also certainly make him tired, have no energy at all, and have no appetite at all. And the other issue is that if the Hot Side Air/Ambient Temperature is reading 100 degrees, then the actual Surface Temperature of any solid basking spot/platform located within that Hot Side of the tank is going to be much higher than the surrounding Air/Ambient Temperature....