Stuffed beardie?

[boxers]

He basks all day and doesn't eat- is he cold? Or not getting enough UV maybe? :?
I'm no expert, but these are the things I was told to check on when my beardie was lethargic.

 

[NegativeCreep]

He basks all day and doesn't eat- is he cold? Or not getting enough UV maybe? :?
I'm no expert, but these are the things I was told to check on when my beardie was lethargic.

What are his temps? How do you measure them?

 

[BrownEyes87]

He basks all day and doesn't eat- is he cold? Or not getting enough UV maybe? :?
I'm no expert, but these are the things I was told to check on when my beardie was lethargic.

What are his temps? How do you measure them?

I use a digital thermometer - his basking temp is 110...and 80 something on the cool side.

I went out to get some more mealworms ( he seemed to take to those very well) and i cut one up, rubbed some of the gut juices on his mouth so he could lick and get hungry. You know what he in turn did? Wiped his mouth on the paper towel!! :x I couldnt believe it.

I just dont understand him.

 

[NegativeCreep]

I use a digital thermometer - his basking temp is 110...and 80 something on the cool side.

I went out to get some more mealworms ( he seemed to take to those very well) and i cut one up, rubbed some of the gut juices on his mouth so he could lick and get hungry. You know what he in turn did? Wiped his mouth on the paper towel!! :x I couldnt believe it.

I just dont understand him.

Hehe, they can be jerks sometimes. My Blazey is being one today, actually. Puffed up at me and all I was trying to do was entice her to eat greens and give her some PWs... No PWs for her, right now, I guess.

Have you tried the phoenix worms yet?

Your thermometer, does it measure surface temps or ambient temps?

 

[BrownEyes87]

I use a digital thermometer - his basking temp is 110...and 80 something on the cool side.

I went out to get some more mealworms ( he seemed to take to those very well) and i cut one up, rubbed some of the gut juices on his mouth so he could lick and get hungry. You know what he in turn did? Wiped his mouth on the paper towel!! :x I couldnt believe it.

I just dont understand him.

Hehe, they can be jerks sometimes. My Blazey is being one today, actually. Puffed up at me and all I was trying to do was entice her to eat greens and give her some PWs... No PWs for her, right now, I guess.

Have you tried the phoenix worms yet?

Your thermometer, does it measure surface temps or ambient temps?

I dont think so...Its an exco terra one..I set it to tell me the temps in DF.
As for the phoenix works - id love to. Trouble is, they only ship to ontario on $100 minimal orders

At this rate, if he cant be enticed to eat a meal worm...im not so sure he'd put my money to good digestive use lol

 

[BrownEyes87]

Just another update:

Ive just given Brian a nice 15-20 min soak in warm water and guess what? He pooped! And quite a bit. But i mean quite a bit. Which perplexes me because hed hardly had anything to eat!!

Whats really weird is that he lost all his orangy yellow colors to him, he was a dark pukey brown all morn until i gave him a nice bath and put him back under his light.

I completely washed out his tank today and replaced all the paper towel and removed any small crickets.

Hes managed to eat a SMALL cricket (pin head) and taken a couple bites of his salad so far today. Still dismal, but ill take it.

I am beginning to suspect the uv lamp ive got...First thing tomorrow im going to the mall and buying those 10.0 repti sun lamps. Ive read there after some owners have replaced their uv lights that they had a complete turn around with their beardies appetites and behaviours. The current one ive got is a Zilla 20W 50 desert (whatever that means)

Wish me luck. If this continues after the new lamp, im going to be forced to bring him to the vet because this is all taking an enormous toll on me emotionally...

 

[h0ndap0w3r]

a little eating is a start

 

[BrownEyes87]

a little eating is a start

It is, and im grateful.

 

[h0ndap0w3r]

any more progress for today?

 

[BrownEyes87]

any more progress for today?

Not a chance. Ive cut up mealworms and sqeezed out the guts and put some on his lips to try and further coax him into it but...The most i get is a couple licks and thats it.

Im starting to get awful feelings about this...I dont know if this dragon is going to make it to adulthood in my care.

This is making me so sad.

 

[auntylolo]

The repti-sun 10.0 will make a huge difference, unfortunatly the Zilla uvbs do not have a high output.
As it has been mentioned before, mealworms are not the best thing to be feeding your dragon. Whether they have hard shells or not, they are still fatty and some dragons will not touch anything else once they've been getting mealies. Also, even if you cut them up, if they have the exoskeleton then it makes no difference as it would end up being chewed up anyway, and it can still cause problems.

 

[BrownEyes87]

The repti-sun 10.0 will make a huge difference, unfortunatly the Zilla uvbs do not have a high output.
As it has been mentioned before, mealworms are not the best thing to be feeding your dragon. Whether they have hard shells or not, they are still fatty and some dragons will not touch anything else once they've been getting mealies. Also, even if you cut them up, if they have the exoskeleton then it makes no difference as it would end up being chewed up anyway, and it can still cause problems.

Will do ! Ill just cut and squeeze out the guts for any nutritional value and try to feed them that way, no more shells it is. Not until hes much older, though, right?

Brian has eaten a total of 6-7 crickets today. 3 in the morn, and 3-4 just now wich happens to be 8pm. Still dismal, but ill take it. What choice have i got? lol

 

[maxattack]

A quick update everyone :

Brian is STILL not eating. He did however, have another bowl movement that looked just fine.

He will be a day and a half soon without eating...Sons really are put on this earth to torture their moms...

He just lays on his log and basks all day - head pointing to the light as if all is well.

Hidey ho. Buttercup went through a spat of not eating for about 2 weeks. I had to change her basking bulb to a higher wattage and move some of her furniture around so she could get closer to her UVB. With the weather getting cooler outside the ambient temperature in her viv might be off by a few degrees. Check her temps with a digital probe or thermal gun and see if they have dropped any. Mine had only gone down about 5 degrees but it put her off her food for a while. She is eating like a pig now that I upped the heat in her viv and got her closer to her UVB.

 

[Laurmann2000]

When I got Tank he did the same thing. Hate almost nothing (2 to 3 crickets a day) for about 3 weeks. It was making me crazy. I also changed his UV bulb to a Mega Ray and that seemed to make a difference. After about 2 to 3 days of having the Mega Ray he started eating like a pig. So I don't know if it was the poor UV light that I had or if it was his relocation stress that took him so long to start eating but now, 2 months later, I can't stop him from eating. So hang in there. The UV will make a difference but also it may just take time. BTW I used to put a bin with small crickets into his enclosure and leave it in there with him. This way he could eat at his own pace without someone watching him. Here is a picture of him just before he jumped into the bin:

Once he started eating regularly with the bin, I changed to and larger bin putting him in it myself and then taking it out in 5 to 10 minutes. Then I moved the bin to outside his enclosure and that is how I now feed him. It worked great.

 

[BrownEyes87]

A quick update everyone :

Brian is STILL not eating. He did however, have another bowl movement that looked just fine.

He will be a day and a half soon without eating...Sons really are put on this earth to torture their moms...

He just lays on his log and basks all day - head pointing to the light as if all is well.

Hidey ho. Buttercup went through a spat of not eating for about 2 weeks. I had to change her basking bulb to a higher wattage and move some of her furniture around so she could get closer to her UVB. With the weather getting cooler outside the ambient temperature in her viv might be off by a few degrees. Check her temps with a digital probe or thermal gun and see if they have dropped any. Mine had only gone down about 5 degrees but it put her off her food for a while. She is eating like a pig now that I upped the heat in her viv and got her closer to her UVB.

Ive just ordered a mega ray from reptileuv a couple of days ago, im confident it will improve the situation. Im going to see my breeder later on today and see if hes got any silk worms - see if Brian takes to them. I actually hope he does because ive read they are rich in protein and other vital nutrients - i wouldnt mind making them his #1 food.