She isn't eating!! D:

[MeganAlyse]

My baby bearded dragon, Krishna (6 in, 3/16 oz [at last measurement 4 days ago], unknown age), is not eating. She seems to have lost weight since the last time I weighed her. She has been moved around very frequently the last few days, but did not stay in any one place long enough to start eating. She is now at my boyfriend's house while I am out of town, and has been there since saturday morning (it's monday evening now). I fear for her life. She has only eaten three crickets since thursday when I purchased her: two during the two days she was at my house, and one at my boyfriend's. Every morning five crickets are placed in her 10gal enclosure, and taken out before the lights go out in the evening. She is under a 150w basking light all day, and has it turned off at night. I did a large amount of research about the animal during the month before I got her. She has been supplied with everything she needs. In my home 40gal tank (that I have cut into thirds for her while she is little) I have an undertank heater, a day UVB lamp, a day UVA basking lamp (which is at my boyfriend's house right now), and a nighttime blue heat light. I closely monitor her temp and humidity levels while at home. I cover the crickets with calcium dust and offer her veggies and water.
PLEASE HELP!

 

[MBrian]

Your Beardie seems to have relocation stress from my pass experience.What kind of UVB and UVA are you using? I would get rid of the heating pad they have a bad rep with reptile owners and are known to burn and even kill reptiles.You probably would want to start handfeeding her babyfood like(squash,chicken,and turkey) Squash is known to be a good weight gainer so especially that.Dab some on your finger or water dropper(anything similar) and let her lick it off of whatever you decide to use.Might have to be patient when i had to do this it took awhile but was well worth it!Keep doing that till she gets back to eating correctly.

Also i notcied you said:

I cover the crickets with calcium dust and offer her veggies and water.

When you say "offer" do you mean put water in a water dish? I might of misread but your beardy might be a little dehydrated if you havent gaven her a bath in awhile because they dont tend to drink from water bowls,they do drink if you dab it on your finger or dropper and let them lick off the water drops you could also do that.If she eats her veggies then she gets water from that too but i wasnt sure because you said "offer"so thought id let you know anyway incase your beardy isnt eating greens yet.hope everything goes well,gooduck!

 

[TazzysMamma]

Hi,

How is Krishna doing today? There are a few things about your setup I wanted to ask you about so that we can make sure that you have everything right for her.

First off, do you know what the basking area temperature is? If so, how are you measuring it? (dial stick-on type thermometer? Heat gun? Digital Probe thermometer?)

What is the temperature on the cool side of her tank?

What brand of UVB bulb are you using? Is it a tube fluorescent? A Compact?

Do you bathe her? Babies get dehydrated very easily and really should be bathed every day or every other day for 10 minutes+

Do you mist her? Not recommended if you do so in her tank as it raises the humidity level and can cause upper respiratory infection.

What exactly is she offered to eat every day? (At this age, she should be offered as many crickets or other live feeders as she'll eat in a 15 minute period of time. At the end of that time, they should be removed to avoid her being bitten by them. Cricket should be offered 2-3 times a day while she's still a baby - only the first serving should be dusted with calcium) Also, she should have greens available to her at all times. Here is an excellent website for nutritional information for bearded dragons: http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html

What size are the crickets you are offering her? They should never be larger than the space between her eyes. If they are, she can become impacted.

When did she poo last? What did it look like? (weird question, I know but it really says alot about how she's feeling)

She should not have a under the tank heater, or any light/heat at night. Dragons need to be around 67 degrees at night in order to sleep well and it needs to be dark.

Im wondering if the 150 watt bulb might be too warm for her? She may very well be dehydrated - during the summer, I use a 40-60 watt bulb at the basking site in my tanks as it gets them to between 100-105 where they should be. I use regular fluorescent light or another low wattage bulb on the cool side just to keep the tank brightly lit enough.

Let me know the answers to the above questions, and I'll do my best to help out! I do agree she is probably suffering from relocation stress as well, but there may be underlying problems contributing to her unwillingness to eat.

HUGS

Sandi