BrightStar
Hatchling Member
My dragon, Rygel, is three years old and has always been a bit of a picky eater. Up until about nine months ago, I wasn’t too concerned about him as we seemed to have come to a sort of understanding. Hw would eat his veggies, but only if I don’t watch, and he would eat his bugs, but only if I hand fed them to him.
Around December of last year, he went off his food completely. I didn’t worry at first - I thought he was just going through another one of his awkward phases, but after about ten days of no interest in anything I fed him, I began to worry. Then the weirdest thing happened - even though he hadn’t eaten in about ten days, he did a pretty large , normal looking poop. This odd routine of barely eating but still pooping has continued since then.
So, here we are now at the end of July, and I seriously don’t know what to do with him. He’s not losing weight, and he seems bright and alert, but he won’t touch his veggies or his worms. I’ve tried every trick suggested here, and offered him pretty much every feeder I can find (except crickets and mealworms) and they just end up dying or pupating because he won’t touch a single one of them. Yet, he continues to poop once or twice a month (and sometimes two or three times a week). I suspect he’s living off of wild bugs that are getting into his cage. I’m really not happy about that, but I can’t figure out how to stop them. He has a mesh lid on the cage but they still get in.
He is in a 6’ x 4’ x 4’ enclosure with a very wide heat range from 85 on cool side, to 107 on hot side. He can also move to pretty much any temperature within that range. I checked his UV light with a solarmeter, and his levels are about 08.3 - 11.9. His lights are on an automatic timer, set to come in at 9am and off at 11pm. Rygel typically never bothers to get himself up out of his bed/blanket unless I actually get him up, which tends to be around 11am.
Any suggestions? I don’t like that he seems to be living off of wild caught bugs. I know some can be poisonous to beardies. We don’t spray for bugs as we have other animals that could be harmed, and I worry Rygel could eat a bug that’s been sprayed and get sick. But , please, anyone —- what can I do ? I’m worried that as well as wild bugs not being safe for him, I’ve no idea whether he’s getting the nutrition he needs.
Around December of last year, he went off his food completely. I didn’t worry at first - I thought he was just going through another one of his awkward phases, but after about ten days of no interest in anything I fed him, I began to worry. Then the weirdest thing happened - even though he hadn’t eaten in about ten days, he did a pretty large , normal looking poop. This odd routine of barely eating but still pooping has continued since then.
So, here we are now at the end of July, and I seriously don’t know what to do with him. He’s not losing weight, and he seems bright and alert, but he won’t touch his veggies or his worms. I’ve tried every trick suggested here, and offered him pretty much every feeder I can find (except crickets and mealworms) and they just end up dying or pupating because he won’t touch a single one of them. Yet, he continues to poop once or twice a month (and sometimes two or three times a week). I suspect he’s living off of wild bugs that are getting into his cage. I’m really not happy about that, but I can’t figure out how to stop them. He has a mesh lid on the cage but they still get in.
He is in a 6’ x 4’ x 4’ enclosure with a very wide heat range from 85 on cool side, to 107 on hot side. He can also move to pretty much any temperature within that range. I checked his UV light with a solarmeter, and his levels are about 08.3 - 11.9. His lights are on an automatic timer, set to come in at 9am and off at 11pm. Rygel typically never bothers to get himself up out of his bed/blanket unless I actually get him up, which tends to be around 11am.
Any suggestions? I don’t like that he seems to be living off of wild caught bugs. I know some can be poisonous to beardies. We don’t spray for bugs as we have other animals that could be harmed, and I worry Rygel could eat a bug that’s been sprayed and get sick. But , please, anyone —- what can I do ? I’m worried that as well as wild bugs not being safe for him, I’ve no idea whether he’s getting the nutrition he needs.