Worried About My Beardie

[icedancer1892]

Hi all,
Jasper is about 8 months now and for the past 6th months has had quite an appetite for her greens, worms, crickets, and pellets. Now though she just doesn't eat much at all. She spends most her day just sitting in the cooler section of her 40 Gallon tank. The temps and humidity in her tank is normal. Is she maybe just not growing as much but she barely eats anymore. I am very worried about her. She acts normal otherwise. She is a little bit more lazy and doesn't move around as much but, she will still jump around her tank occasionally. One thing is her UV bulb has been a little funky lately. Sometimes it will shut off and come back on, could this be the reason. It's a new bulb and is the fault of the holder. If anyone has any comments or suggestions they would be very much appreciated.
Thank you,
Andi

 

[DJADHD]

have you had the same UVB light the whole time that you have had her? (8 months). most uvb lights need to be changed every 6 months or so because they stop producing UVB long before they stop producing light. so if you have had the same light i would highly recomend changing it.. also is it a tube light, a reg light or a coil light? and what is the kind and brand?

 

[icedancer1892]

It's a new one, maybe a month old. It is a 10.0 tube light by zoo med. I have it and two heat lights in a hood. I think the hood may be at fault. I have had it for 6th months. I am considering switching over to the heat bulb and UVB in one. Would anyone recommend it? Also she does not defecate as nearly as much as she used to. She did poop today and looked a bit better. If she is not better in a week or so and I will take her to the vet.
Thanks,
Andi

 

[DJADHD]

its not the reptiglow 10.0 is it? if it is you need to turn it off ASAP and replace it with the reptisun 10.0, the reptiglow have been known for causing issues with the beardies because they recently changed the company they get their glass from.

 

[icedancer1892]

No it's the reptisun. I am playing around with the bulb and hood to see if can fix it. The thing is though she really started acting weird when we switched her tank to a larger one. Also, do they not eat as much when they are not growing as much? She is my first beardie that is "normal" my first one was sick when we first got her and never grew, she really didn't ever do anything.

 

[DrDave2014]

Is it possible that your beardie is brumating?

I'm definitely not an expert, but this sounds a lot like what happened / is still happening with out beardie. Ours is approximately the same age and it all started with a move to a new enclosure. He slowed down his eating gradually over a period of about 3 or 4 weeks, and now eats next to nothing. Sleeps a lot in the coolest part of the enclosure. We took him to the vet and he had parasites which we gave medication for.

Once we got that all better, he perked up for a couple days until he had a bowel movement and went right back to sleep. He has been completely zonked for the last 2 days straight (hasn't even moved). I am about 90% sure that ours is brumating. I read that they shouldn't be allowed to brumate when they are less than a year old, but I don't know of any way to stop it. We're just monitoring his weight every couple days before his bath to make sure he isn't losing weight.

 

[icedancer1892]

It's a possibility but she doesn't sleep a whole lot. She just kind of sits there. I know after being a domesticated pet their burmating habits have changed. Have others at this stage in a Beardies life have they had a major decrease in appetite. I swear I couldn't keep up with feeding her, she was always hungry and wanting to eat. She was the greatest little eater but now I am lucky if she will eat one worm.
Thanks
Andi

 

[kcheeks4]

I am having the same situation with my beardy. He is a 8 mo old male. I heard that they don't brumate (winter shut down) until it is winter time, or a year old? We live in Tx, so the temp is always at 78 in the house, obviously his cage is a lot hotter than that. 80-85
He is also in a 40 gallon tank. All he will eat are crickets, no worms, lettuce, or carrotts. Also, he used to be a voracious eater, and now... 8 crickets a day. He hasn't pooped in 3 weeks!! Since he is acting normally otherwise, I've just been watching him. Any advice?

 

[icedancer1892]

My goodness thats Jasper exactly except she won't eat anything. Try soaking your beardie in water, that sometimes helps them to poop. I don't know what else to do for her except to take her to the vet. I will let you know if I figure out what her problem is and if you find something out please tell me. Good luck!
Andi

 

[kcheeks4]

thanks for the quick reply! I will try that and let you know how it goes. Do you bathe your beardy regularly?

 

[kcheeks4]

Andie
I gave my beardy, Ozzy (Aussie) a bath today for about 15-20 mins, then had him outside in the sun for a while. He was "gaping" so we brought him back in. We even massaged his stomach for a while. So he never poo'd, and now he has been sleeping all day under his log. I'm praying that this is brumation and he isn't sick. Tried to get him a vet appt today, but alot of the offices were closed due to the holiday. So.... hope your pet doesn't get sick on a holiday!

 

[icedancer1892]

I soaked Jasper and she drank a ton of water, even though she soaks in her lagoon. After that she ran around a ton ate some lettuce and pooped! I am very happy but she is still not totally herself but it's an improvement. I hope you got a vet appointment for Ozzie. Let me know how it went.