Not sure what else to do!!

[Dovakeet]

So, I guess I have a beardie...

Sorry for this long post... but it has been a LONG week.

A little history:
I got moved to a new location for work. The first thing I was shown was a little TINY beardie that was eating nothing but Fluker's Repti Boost/Repti Aid. OK... Judging by the size, I assumed that it was a new arrival, but then I noticed on the paperwork that he had been around since April.
The room he was being kept in was COLD. Even with heat lamps/UVB lights (they WERE using a Reptisun 10.0), this guy was not doing much. The cage was super clean, because he wasn't pooping. It made me sad... and angry.
I took him/her to the vet, and after ruling out parasites, etc., I decided to bring him home.

This week:
I've been pouring over all the threads on this site getting a crash course in beardie care. The HUGE plus is most of the stuff I already have (heat lamps of various wattages, UVB light in a terrarium hood and a backup bulb, spare tanks from before the tortoise table, a wide variety of organic veggies, and some brand new digital thermometers), since I have a tortoise who is living outside in the summer. The temperatures have been ideal, the UVB bulb is new... the setup was the easy part.

The vet gave me Science Diet A/D to get this little one something "meaty". We've been soaking/basking/getting tummy rubs all in an attempt to poop. The first poop looked painful, the next few were watery, and tonight we had a solid poop. Progress. We're afraid of crickets and roaches, we have no interest in worms of any kind, pellets are for pooping in... syringes = food. When our little one had his mouth open while basking, I was able to slip a piece of dandelion green into his mouth (which he reluctantly ate) and I was able to get him to eat a little piece of prickly pear pad (cooked). He's eating about 2-4 times a day --> about 6-7 mL of A/D slurry a day + the greens. All of these things are hand or syringe fed.

My concern now is: How do we start eating things that aren't in a syringe? It's almost as if this guy doesn't recognize things that move as food. I don't think, at this point, I should just stop with the syringe and toss some crickets to him... but... he can't live off of dog food forever.

 

[Gail]

Honestly, I would keep up with the syringe feedings for now. You might try chicken baby food mixed with squash baby food or you can even puree greens and roaches.
His digestive system will take awhile getting used to food again and the soft diet will be gentle. If you haven't yet, try some small repti or phoenix worms, maybe they will interest him. No mealies or other hard bodied worms, they are difficult for babies to digest.
If you can, try putting a repti worm in his mouth when he gaps. Greens are important but for this guy, he needs to learn that insects are food.

 

[Oki05]

Also make sure that if you do feed him some live food that its not bigger than the space between his eyes

 

[Dovakeet]

I've also been trying to put a drop of the yummy A/D food on a phoenix worm... then let that flail around in his dish. It does catch his eye, but I'm not sure if that look is interest or terror. I figure if he tries to lap that stuff off of the syringe, maybe he'll try to lap it off of the worm... and accidentally eat the worm?

He doesn't open his mouth wide enough while basking for me to give him a worm... and if he sees anything coming towards his face other than a syringe, he closes up. The greens usually take a few tries before I can get it right.

I pureed some of the bigger roaches, some phoenix worms, and greens to give this guy to get his tummy used to such things.

 

[Gail]

Do you leave a small dish of phoenix in the cage with him? Maybe he would eventually get interested and go check them out. I'd use something like a plastic mayonnaise jar lid and only leave 2-3 wormies for him.

 

[Dovakeet]

Yeah, I've left a few worms in the cage with him (I call everything a "him" 'til they lay an egg :lol: ). I chose a natural colored dish, nothing bright - I don't know if it affects the beardies, but my birds won't eat out of bright colored dishes (especially not purple). I have quite a few worms, I know of a few places to get more, so I don't mind "wasting" a few while we try things out.

Since I own this guy now, I can't take him in to the store's vet. It's OK, though - I scheduled an appointment with the vet that sees all of my other critters. I think I'll worry less hearing that he's "otherwise OK" and I just need to work at feeding. It took me a year and a half to get my tortoise to eat anything besides romaine on his own, I converted birds to a mainly pelleted diet... I CAN get this guy to eat something live!! (Or that's what I keep telling myself)

We had another good, solid poop today, so I think we're making some progress. He has been inspecting every corner of his cage today, as well... which is something that I haven't seen him do. He climbed into his bath on his own, and even better - got out on his own.

Still feeling a little angry about this whole situation... I just feel like if he had been a brighter colored little guy he would have gotten more care. I think he's sweet, though - and I hate seeing ANYTHING neglected.