Sabrina is not gaining weight..

[rockstarsarah]

hi! My 10 month old beardie, Sabrina, is not eating very much. I have had her since she was about 3 or 4 months old and she use to be a little piggy but for the past few months or so she hasn't been eating as much, she won't eat salads anymore and barely eats her crickets, i tried worms and she seems to like them but i don't want to feed them frequently. I have these what i call beardie meatie bites haha the pinkishh red square soft bites and she still loves them. Ive been getting worried because she seems to be skinny and doesnt have a fat pack or even a buldge, just kind of flat. She poops about once every 4 days or so lately and she doesnt seem sick in any way, just doesnt seem to eat as much. I have been feeding her all natural baby food just the squash mixed with water kind for two days and she likes it but will only lick a little bit. Is anyone else having this problem and is there any way i can make sure she gains some weight? thank you!

 

[Beardednoob]

You could try a Horn Worm, they are used to supplement feeding instead of pinkies. They have a higher fat content. But, if she has something else underlying why she is loosing or not gaining weight then this won't fix the issue. have you had her fecal examined? I am not familiar with brumation, so I am unsure if I would suggest this may be it either.
Bump for someone who knows about brumation. Is this a trait of brumation?

 

[rockstarsarah]

Hey! I've never heard of horn worms lol! & she hasn't lost any weight, just doesn't seem to gain weight. I heard they slow down with eating during brumation but I'm not familiar with it either, thanks for your reply!!

 

[Beardednoob]

Hey! I've never heard of horn worms lol! & she hasn't lost any weight, just doesn't seem to gain weight. I heard they slow down with eating during brumation but I'm not familiar with it either, thanks for your reply!!

No problem, I hope everything works out.

 

[rockstarsarah]

I moved Sabrina into a 20 gallon long tank again because i had bought her a 40 gallon but im going to wait to use that, someone at my work told me she probably needs more heat and the bigger tank isn't cutting it & it's too big and not supplying enough heat. I'm hoping this was the problem & i bought Repti Aid which is a supplement you feed with a syringe and its for reptiles including beardies who are not eating and who need to gain weight so hopefully that helps. I also got some collard greens and fresh green beans thanks and ill keep you updated, hopefully she will start eating regularly again, she is so skinny ;(

 

[Beardednoob]

Any recent pictures?

 

[rockstarsarah]

 

[kylesaurus]

My beardie grew really quick until about 5 months, he stopped growing for almost 2 months.. Got a fecal done and it was Coccidia. Basically stops growth, makes them dehydrated and some other things, but beardies can hide it. I would have never known until i noticed that he stopped growing. It's treatable and isn't necessarily harmful, unless of course you don't take care of it.

Hope that helps

 

[rockstarsarah]

thank you so much for your reply! within the past 3 weeks she has been slower and losing weight. i took her to the vet today and the vet says she had a bone disease or however she said it lol and a calcium deficiency, they gave me meds to force feed her for the next week which should get her energy back to to eat on her own. until then i have to force feed her baby food and add calcium powder with a syringe. im really hoping everything turns out okay because she's my baby and i would be devistated if anything happened ;(

 

[Beardednoob]

thank you so much for your reply! within the past 3 weeks she has been slower and losing weight. i took her to the vet today and the vet says she had a bone disease or however she said it lol and a calcium deficiency, they gave me meds to force feed her for the next week which should get her energy back to to eat on her own. until then i have to force feed her baby food and add calcium powder with a syringe. im really hoping everything turns out okay because she's my baby and i would be devistated if anything happened ;(

Would this happen to be Metabolic Bone Disease?

 

[kylesaurus]

What beardednoob said. Are you powder coating your crickets with d3/calcium dust? Also, if you arent using a uvb lamp, this could be the problem, but if you didn't have one your beardie would be.. well yea..

In small 10gallon-20 gallon tanks, a exo terra or reptisun 5.0 uvb bulb works fine. In my 40 gallon I have a repti sun 10.0 uvb light strip. (5.0 and 10.0 are 5% and 10%). If you knew all this already, sorry, just posting it in case.

Just never buy zilla products, injuried 2 other beardies of mine. their cages are fine, but thats it.

 

[rockstarsarah]

i hadn't been dusting them as much as i should have because i didnt realize how much i was suppose too. Thank you so much for letting me know about the lighting. tomorrow after work i am going to get the reptisun 10.0 for her 40 gal tank and also i have a baby beardie in a 20 gal long which i will buy the 5.0 for. this will be expensive to buy the lights and the fixtures, but they need it and i want them to grow healthy! as of now i just have the basking lamps and the heating lamps. im really looking forward to my Sabrina getting healthy! Im just not sure why i never knew to buy the UVB lighting as well. I could have sworn the bulbs i have for basking had UVB but i guess i was wrong. Thank you again!! I'll keep everyone posted as she gets better

 

[kylesaurus]

Glad to help, and I hope your beardy grows big and healthy.

-one last thing. The reason for the different percentages is because you dont want to use a 10.0 uvb in a small tank or this can cause blindness in the beardy. Change the bulbs every 5-6 months (not just when they go out) because they will stop giving off uvb around that time. You wont notice until there is a behavior change in the beardy (usually a bad change).

Good Luck.

Kyle & Spike

 

[rockstarsarah]

Thank you again!!

 

[Beardednoob]

Thank you again!!

I posted on your other thread.. :wink: