Not sure if shedding or a mistake/bad husbandry on my end

[MHannaman]

I recently bought a bearded dragon from Pet Supplies Plus (It's been roughly a week). It's a translucent and 5.5 inches. I built a custom enclosure for it that is 4'x2'x18" along with a 65watt halogen flood light for basking, which gets too about 109, a 24" reptisun 10.0 that sits right alongside the basking spot and a 75 watt household bulb on the "cool side" which gets it to about 80. Now my concern is that it's not eating! I have tried waxworms, won't touch em, I bought small crickets and the first time he went after them like a lion hunting a gazelle, but after that feeding he hasn't eaten. I have even ordered phoenix worms and small dubia's with no luck. All it does is bask! I have caught it a couple times rubbing its head against the basking log and it is looking a little darker than when I bought him. Another thing, after he ate the crickets, about an hour later i witnessed a ton of runny white liquid coming from him but no poop. Please help to calm my nerves lol

 

[CooperDragon]

It sounds like your lighting and temperatures are good. The head rubbing makes me think that he's about to shed/ is shedding and that can definitely affect appetite and mood. I would keep offering food on your regular schedule. Maybe provide some warm baths to help with the shed and he'll likely come around and start eating again on his own once the shed is done.

 

[MHannaman]

Can it effect appetite that much? And what about the really runny urate with no poop? Sorry to be a bother, I just want to make sure it's ok!

 

[CooperDragon]

Yeah they can go off of eating for several days if something is bugging them (shedding often bugs them). The runny poop can mean different things. It's likely just good hydration from the crickets. You may be able to get him to poop again in the bath. If it keeps coming out as runny and it smells really bad, it may be worth getting a sample checked by a vet, but my guess is that it's a temporary hydration/digestion issue that will sort itself.

 

[MHannaman]

Ok. Thank you so much! I'll keep updating the progress.

 

[CooperDragon]

OK great. If he doesn't start eating again in a few days or something else seems off, please let me know.

 

[MHannaman]

Will do. And if that does happen, chances are I'll just take it back to the pet store and hoping that they can get him into a vet. And I only say that because It'd still be under the 2 week return policy. I don't want to just give up on it, but on the other hand, if something else does happen chances are it was a previous underlying issue. Again, thank you

 

[MHannaman]

Finally! After a week of preshed and not eating, it's finally pulling away . Now I just hope it go's as fast and smooth as possible because I've yet to see a 20+ phoenix worm feeding. Lol I'm excited to see that!

 

[CooperDragon]

I'm glad to hear of the progress. Hopefully the shed will go smoothly and you'll see your little guy go to town on the worms soon =)

 

[MHannaman]

Ok, my beardie is near the end of his/her shed and hasn't touched any food for, I believe, 4 days now. Last time Chappie ate, it was a single dubia and that's it. I've been soaking him/her everyday along with misting once a day. Chappie's still shedding on his head, but the rest of the body shed is gone. I turn the lights on at 8:30 every morning before I leave for work, and I also leave 10 phoenix worms and 3 dubias dusted with calcium +D3. Everytime I come home (which is around 5-5:30), there's the same amount of food that I've left. It's still very active and alert. Always running around his cage. I even caught him "swimming" in his water bowl multiple times. It' just won't eat. I'm starting to get nervous.

 

[MHannaman]

here is an updated pic. Does it look a little thin? On worried it's losing weight. And does this look like impaction or shed

I personally think it's shed. Only because it pooped yesterday and it was a decent size.

 

[CooperDragon]

I'd try monitoring his weight on a kitchen scale. As long as it remains relatively stable, I'd just keep offering food and wait it out. The fact that his energy level is up is a good sign.

 

[MHannaman]

And what about all that junk by the vent? Impaction or shed?

 

[CooperDragon]

It looks like the area is shedding to me. It should fall off on its own in the near future. Impaction isn't so much visible as it is an internal blockage preventing their digestive system to work properly.

 

[MHannaman]

Awesome! Thank you CooperDragon. You've been so helpful!