not eating enough

[yellowsnow]

hi can anyone help im a bit worried that my little man is not eating enough
he only eats between 2 or 3 locusts and 1 piece ov salad a day.
he also hides away alot and doesnt bask much are they meant 2 bask
alot i get worried and put him under the light then he warms up and gets
more lively and runs round . i have pics ov him on here under our young man
his name is ozzy thanks for your time look forwards 2 here from you

 

[squral]

hey so how old is he :?:

 

[yellowsnow]

hi ty for replying
he is approximately 8 months old and he is 11 inchs long

this is him

 

[yellowsnow]

he ate 4 crickets today,,,which is a first
we,re not sure now whether he is 7 months old now
is there some way we can tell??
thanks again

 

[squral]

he might be impacted the sand in your viv can sometimes cause impaction. when ever Jauk isn't pooping i soak him in warm (not hot) water and rub his stomach from top to bottom. is he pooping regularly :?:

 

[yellowsnow]

we've now removed the sand and replaced it with slate.
he went yesterday and it looked normal,,according to some places on the internet,,for his size he could be only about 4 months old,not 7 as we were informed.
he's gonna have a bath tonight so we will see,,if it helps with him going a toilet.
thankyou once again

 

[yellowsnow]

we gave him a bath and he done a poo ty for your help
im well pleased and since we changed 2 slate hes been
so much better we see more ov him now.
ty

 

[squral]

sweet glad i could help

 

[Embee]

Hi :wave:

Being that he's not eating well:

What is the type (coil, compact, tube) and brand (ReptiGlo, ReptiSun) of UVB you are using? Also, how old is the bulb?

Thanks,
Em

 

[yellowsnow]

hi
its a repti-glo 10 but we have ordered an arcadia 12%,,just waiting for it to arrive.
i'm starting to wonder whether it's too high as it is about 15 inches above the bottom of the tank.
it's 30 inches long with a reflector.

 

[Embee]

hi
its a repti-glo 10 but we have ordered an arcadia 12%,,just waiting for it to arrive.
i'm starting to wonder whether it's too high as it is about 15 inches above the bottom of the tank.
it's 30 inches long with a reflector.

Actually, with the ReptiGlo, better that's it's further away (10 inches min). See this post for more information on why the ReptiGlo 10.0 has been troublesome: viewtopic.php?f=34&t=101703&p=793076&hilit=ReptiGlo+10.0#p793076.

When you get the Arcadia 12% (an excellent bulb!), you will want beardie to be able to get to within 6-8 inches of the tube at the basking area and you will want to couple it with the basking light as follows:

_________________UVB
0 basking bulb

...so that beardie has benefit of both bulbs while basking for optimum calcium absorption and thorough digestion, simultaneously. Also, the bright white light of the basking bulb will guard beardie's eyes from the UVB rays. Replace Arcadia 12% every 5-6 months.

In general, the ReptiGlo 10.0 is not a significant source of UVB and this is likely the reason that your dragon's appetite is waning, as UVB is responsible for stimulating appetite. After a few days under the Arcadia, you will likely see the appetite start to rise.

Best of luck!

Em

 

[yellowsnow]

well,,,we changed the bulb to an arcadia 12%uvb flourescent tube.
basking area is between 103-108 and other end of tank is between 80-90.
he hasn't grown any in the last month,,,still 11 inches long and not got much fatter,,,just a bit.
he eats about 5 locusts a day and some salad,,is going to the toilet regularly,,but still concerned that he's not eating enough or growing much.
definately looks healthy,,just bothered about the amount he eats,,,especially when you read about they should be eating something like 30 locusts a day.
we put about 8 in there a day and he eats some when he feels like it,,,tried hand feeding him for the usual 15 minutes but he just wont eat anything in that time. so we leave them and salad in there for the day and take it out at night.
the uvb bulb is about 6 inches from him if he's under it and the basking light is about 10 inches away from him.
he prefers to sit at the cooler end most of the time but he will sit bolt upright under the basking light.
so i dont think it's too hot for him.
we have removed the sand that is in the pic and put slate in there.
thanks all once again

 

[yellowsnow]

was just wondering whether it was worth changing his locusts for crickets instead and see if he eats them better,,,any suggestions???

 

[Embee]

It sounds like you've got everything in place there. I'd say give him some more time and see how things go.

was just wondering whether it was worth changing his locusts for crickets instead and see if he eats them better,,,any suggestions???

Yes, a change of feeder can sometimes be a VERY useful thing in stimulating appetite. We found phoenix worms to be of great help when our dragon wasn't readily accepting crickets. Within a few weeks, he liked not only the PWs but the crickets as well (I believe a few weeks under a proper UVB helped too). I would definitely suggest trying something new!

Best of luck!

Em

 

[yellowsnow]

thankyou
we will certainly give that a go,,,we've only had the arcadia bulb for 5 days,,so a bit more time may be needed