not eating...

[silverblade760]

hey everyone,

my dragons a little more then 6 months old and he's rather small for his age(at most 10 inches, probably closer to 9).. i used to feed him twice a day and he would eat close to 25 crickets at a time... when i fed him phoenix worms he ate about 15-20 at a time... he was also shedding pretty normally; once or twice a month...

over the last 5 weeks he barely eats. i started to feed him more phoenix worms than crickets about 3-4 weeks ago. In the beginning he would eat them without a problem, but after about the first week he barely touched them anymore. He went from pooping everyday to every other or third day. So i tried changing his diet back to crickets, but it didnt have much of an affect. i gave him close to 30, but he only ate about 10-15. He also stopped eating his fruits and veggies too (romaine lettuce, kale, mustard greens, carrots, bananas, and apples).

i dont believe the change to worms caused this because he was showing this behavior before the diet change... Any ideas for whats going on???

the tanks a 30 L for now
heat temps are around 102
cool temps are around 77
night temps are about 67
i use a reptisun 10.0

the tank

Jake

 

[NegativeCreep]

Have you had your beardie for most of the 6 months you say he is? How old is your reptisun light? You should replace your reptisun every 5-6 months. Its likely time for a new one.

When you upgrade to a larger tank, you may consider getting a MVB.

 

[silverblade760]

i've had my beardie since september so thats about 4 months now.. and i replaced the UVB that i got with the tank sometime in october.. so the reptisun is about 3 months old..

 

[jmcoghla]

Mine is actually doing the exact same thing, but she's a little older. When she was a baby, she had no problem eating greens and veggies, and up until about 2-3 months ago, she would eat like a pig. Now, she barely eats (hasn't eaten in 2-3 days) and doesn't poop unless I give her a lot of baths. She is somewhere around 10-12 months. From what i've read, these symptoms can be a sign of brumating. However, it also seems like 6 months is way too early to brumate because I think 10-12 months is even a little early. You may want to get him checked...

 

[silverblade760]

yeah i considered brumation but personally i think he's too young for it.. as far as vets go, the only one i can find for reptiles with a decent repuatation is in a bordering state... about 2-3 hours away

 

[MALIBUSMOM]

maybe hes just entering the teen years of the beardie world.If your lighting is not old i would just bath him dailey so hes hydrated & if you are giving him the proper amount of vitamins & he should be eating greens
more at this age.malibu slowed her eating at this age too.Since i switched to the megaray shes back to 10
supers or 15-20 crickets....some days she just isn't hungry & doesn't want to poop & will climb out of her bath.
i guess you got to go with the flow unless you see signs that something is seriously wrong...like maybe not pooping for 5or6 days w/ warm baths . total hunger strikes are some times common.You can always try the babyfood trick.

 

[silverblade760]

i think i'll switch to a MVB and see what happens... whats the baby food trick??

 

[MALIBUSMOM]

If they refuse to eat for a long period of time &you are worried that hes not getting the proper nutriants
try chicken baby food Or squash. he might like it might not you can dust calcium on it too.maybe about 1 or 2
teaspoons of food.If he doesn't lick it up put a dab on his chin.