not eating much

[dracoowner]

hi guys, for last few weeks ive noticed draco is eating less and less. im lucky if i can gte him to eat more than a few crickets a day, and sometimes he'll only fedd if i hand feed them to him. but this morning he hasnt had any and wont even have them if i hand feed him. he looks a little skinnier and his skin seems dry, his last bath was wednesday or thursday. also, whenever anyone goes by his cage he puffs up and hangs on the side of his log almost hiding. i have filled up his water in his viv and put fresh veg in this morning but he doesnt seem interested. could he be dehydrated, and if he is would that slow his eating down? ive done the info thing incase it helps. thanks

How old is your dragon? 9 months next week
How long have you had your dragon? nearly 5 months
How long is your dragon? around 19 inches
What is the sex of your dragon? male
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in? 3 foot
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank? repti carpet
Do you use UVB lights? Yes
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb? not sure, all i can see is 12% UVB
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)? not sure, im going to get some more crickets now so ill check.
How old is your UVB bulb? around 8 months
How close can your dragon get to the UVB? is this the 6-8 inches.
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? ye, 100 W
What are the basking temps? around 90
What is the cool side temp? 80
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun? digital with wire and probe
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps? the probe is on the wall of the viv near the log.
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad? no
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific. crickets and veg
How often do you feed? once a day
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc? yes
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them? yes every feed
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)?had once yesterday but there were a couple days before that.
Do you bath your dragon? How often? every few days. last bath was thrusday or wednesday.
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath? yes, he has a bowl he drinks from.
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon?no
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done?no

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

Hello,

I'll see what I can do to help you out.

First of all if you could find out what brand UVB you have, it would help. You said something about 12%, could it possibly be an Arcadia 12% uvb you have? If it is a fluorescent tube UVB light, it is reccomended that those be changed every 6 months due to them losing their UV potency.
Your beardie could be dehydrated or it could be some other health issue. Is he gaping alot? Do you here any noises when you get close to him ex:crackling, popping or any sound of congestion? You said he has water in his viv...does he actually drink it? You might want to try bathing him daily at least until you figure out if it is dehydration. You mentioned the basking spot is 90 degrees. His basking temp should be higher than 90 for proper digestion, between 100-105 would be better. Have you tried putting the probe on his basking spot? That is what you need to do to get an accurate basking temp. Put it on his basking spot(log) and leave the probe there for at least 45 min. to get most accurate reading.
As far as feeding goes...you should be feeding him at his age at least twice a day. If you are using crickets, feed him all the crickets he can eat in a 10-15 min period of time.
You probably do not need to dust the crickets every feeding with the calcium, 5 x a week(one feeding a day) should be plenty. Are you dusting at all with a multivitamin? He should also have a multivitamin 2-3 x a week(one feeding a day).

If you could answer these questions...maybe we can figure out your problem.

Dawn

 

[dracoowner]

ye its the arcadia. the pet store said they had tried it out and that it would last 9-12 months. he isnt gaping and theres no sound when i go near him. he drinks the water usually as soon as i put it in, and ill start the daily baths today. ive upped his temps today and he seems more sociable but hasnt eaten more than 5 crickets. im going to get him out now so ill do the basking spot reading while he's out of his viv.

and i started feeding him once a day because he wasnt eating them for his second feeding so i thought i might be giving him too many and that if he was eating some throught he night he might not be hungry the next morning. i dont dust with a multivitamin because ive never seen them sold. how much are they?

thanks for the help

 

[LJean]

I would try giving him a warm bath daily. I think he should be having a bowel movement daily. Maybe he just needs to go more and won't eat until then. Can't hurt to try.

 

[dracoowner]

ye i will do, thanks for the advice. i think he's had about 4 this morning but he wasnt interested in his veg. i gave him a 15 minute bath last night and he fell asleep, is that normal? also, would it be worth trying him out with some hoppers?

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

Hello,

Did you get the temps? What were they in basking and cool side?

When you say he fell asleep, do you mean in the bath or right after the bath?

About his skin looking dry..could he be ready to shed? Shedding can cause them to act funny also and not want to eat. Keep giving him those baths daily. Has he pooped?

As for the multivitamins, there is one called Rep-Cal Herptivite that is real good. Would you be in the UK by any chance? I know that's where they have the Arcadia uvb's, that's why I asked. We have some members here in the UK, I know one of them orders online through Kimbo's Reptile website(not sure of the web address). You could see what kind of multivitamins they have.

Also the answer to your previous question about 6-8" from UVB is correct. Your beardie also needs to be 10-12" from the basking bulb.

See if you can answer these questions and let us know how Draco is doing today.

Dawn

 

[dracoowner]

i put the thermometer on his basking spot and it just displayed an X, what does that mean? but befor eit got to the X it was around 115-120. is that too hot?

ye, he fell asleep in the bath yesterday. ive just given him another 15-20 minute bath in our bathtub (i usually do it in the sink) and he seemed a bit better in there. he just sat there but he was more alert than yesterday.

he could be ready too shed, he hasnt for around 4 weeks so i presume he will soon.

and yes im in the UK and ill definately look into some multivitamins.

he has had some veg today and when i came home he was drinking some water.

 

[beardielovers]

i put the thermometer on his basking spot and it just displayed an X, what does that mean? but befor eit got to the X it was around 115-120. is that too hot?

My guess is that your thermometer will not read higher than the 120. Your basking temp should never get higher than 110. I would work on getting it a bit lower. You can use a lower wattage household bulb (of a similar style) to save some money.

One other thing I noticed from reading through the posts. It sounds like you are leaving crickets in his tank overnight. You should be removing any uneaten crickets - they could bite your beardie and can leave some nasty marks. All food should be removed from the tank at least 2 hours before his "lights out." They need to be able to bask for a couple hours after they eat to help them digest their food properly.

I've read that shedding can cause him to be irritable and not want to eat as much either. The baths will help with the shedding and help get it done with a bit quicker. Also, if you keep the humidity up around the 50% area I've heard that will help too. From a few differents sources, I've read that regular humidity levels should be around 25-40%.

Hopefully something will help and he'll start eating more again.

 

[dracoowner]

ill try and get his temps sorted. last time i checked it was around 95. ill start removing his crickets a couple of hours before i turn his lights out as well. i was giving him a drink earlier and he chased down a cricket for the first time in a while, looking like a real hunter

but i noticed this morning when he had a poo it was quite runny (might be because he'd just had it as id only been gone 5 minutes) and there was what looked like a little bit of blood in it but when i looked closer it was some crickets wings. would this be because his temps arent high enough?

his skins gone a bit duller so i think he could be ready to shed.

 

[dracoowner]

good news, i went out today and bought some smallish hoppers to see if a change in food would help stimulate his eating and he's glass crawling and seems much better. he spent most of this morning in a corner so i went out to buy them and put three in to begin with, came back 15 minutes later and he'd had them. ive just put 3 more in as well as 4 crickets and he had all of them. hopefully this has sorted him out but ill make sure to keep checking how much he's eating every day. thanks for the help