suddenly not eating?

[milkthedragon]

so my beardie who’s probably just around 18 months now has suddenly stopped eating. this has been going on for about 2 weeks. he has no interest in his crickets or his salad. nothing in his tank has changed recently so that ruled out stress for me. i thought that it could be brumation but he still has a lot of energy and runs around every day. he was having normal bowel movements once a week until he stopped eating. when i put him in the bath to soak he will try to poo but there’s nothing that comes out. thought maybe impaction? but there’s no bumps on his belly or anything and he has no problem moving around. any idea on what could be going on and what i should try? his basking temps are 95F and he’s in a 75 gallon tank. he’s been having 10 crickets a day until he stopped eating them and gets greens and vegetables every day.

 

[KarrieRee]

You mentioned NO UVB--- this is crucial to a dragons health -- please NO coils for a UVB -- you need a long tube fixture like a Zoo Med or Sunblaster or Arcadia

 

[milkthedragon]

You mentioned NO UVB--- this is crucial to a dragons health -- please NO coils for a UVB -- you need a long tube fixture like a Zoo Med or Sunblaster or Arcadia

sorry i just forgot to mention it. he has 2 18” long uvb lights. the T8 10.0 from reptisun.

 

[KarrieRee]

Where are they placed and you only need one in the tank ---- is it on top of the screen or inside the tank ? T 8 's need to be inside the tank they are not strong enough to go thru screen and how old is the bulb ? They need to be replaced every 6 months I recommend a month prior to also the distance should be directly over the basking decor piece 6-8 inches --- NO cover over the bulb it needs to be exposed - if the cover is on the fixture take it off

 

[milkthedragon]

Where are they placed and you only need one in the tank ---- is it on top of the screen or inside the tank ? T 8 's need to be inside the tank they are not strong enough to go thru screen and how old is the bulb ? They need to be replaced every 6 months I recommend a month prior to also the distance should be directly over the basking decor piece 6-8 inches --- NO cover over the bulb it needs to be exposed - if the cover is on the fixture take it off

they are mounted inside and the plastic covering that was on the fixtures has been taken off. they were replaced about 2 months ago. i only have 2 because they are so much shorter than the length of his tank and there weren’t any longer ones available at the time i bought them. but they are in the same spots they have been for as long as i’ve had him so i don’t think they would be the issue.

 

[KarrieRee]

Shut one off-- watch his behavior-- how long does he sit under those uvb's?

 

[milkthedragon]

Shut one off-- watch his behavior-- how long does he sit under those uvb's?

ok i shut one off and i’ll update later if anything changes. he usually sits directly under the uvb for a couple hours a day but i’ll see if it changes now.

 

[KarrieRee]

Iam wondering if it's too strong w/ both in the same spot- trial and error - let's see if his behavior changes

 

[milkthedragon]

Iam wondering if it's too strong w/ both in the same spot- trial and error - let's see if his behavior changes

still no change in his behavior and he still isn’t eating anything. any other ideas?

 

[KarrieRee]

Possible parasites ? Try getting him to eat some canned pumpkin thats going to make him go to the bathroom--- then I would try some different insect like dubia roaches www.dubiaroaches.com - his behavior ? Is he basking? How old is the UVB bulb? Keep track of his weight kitchen food scale weigh in grams-- need to keep track to see if hes losing weight-- could be hes just not hungry and could be the weather as well - we all stress when they dont eat --I have learned to just go w/ it and feed them everyday and if they dont eat they dont eat -- I do watch their behavior and watch the weight as well - cuz mine do not eat every day either -- as long as they are moving around the tank basking and such and they have opportune to eat they are good -- w/ them not eating as much there wont be much to poop out -- its the lethargic behavior and beard color if its black something is going on -- as long as basking temps are good and UVB just keep offering the food - he may be burned out on crickets and the only way to know is to offer something else - what about super worms or any worms have you offered those?