Worried about our dragon not eating

[Hookfang]

Hello, we are new beardie parents. We adopted Hookfang on July 20th. They believe he was about 3 months old at that time. We feed him BSFL, kale, and butternut squash. We noticed he was just not eating. We initially had reptile bark in his enclosure but have since replaced it with paper towels. We thought he was eating his bugs, but they were escaping and hiding in the bark. He is really skinny and just won't eat. We are giving him Critical Care (about 3ML) a day and a soak for about 10 mins. He is reluctant to eat so we are force-feeding. Today he finally pooped but it was really watery. Can someone tell us if we are doing everything okay and/or if there is anything we should do? We're already so attached to him and we are so worried.
The first picture is when we got him in July. The second picture was taken on 8/25.

 

[KarrieRee]

Hello, we are new beardie parents. We adopted Hookfang on July 20th. They believe he was about 3 months old at that time. We feed him BSFL, kale, and butternut squash. We noticed he was just not eating. We initially had reptile bark in his enclosure but have since replaced it with paper towels. We thought he was eating his bugs, but they were escaping and hiding in the bark. He is really skinny and just won't eat. We are giving him Critical Care (about 3ML) a day and a soak for about 10 mins. He is reluctant to eat so we are force-feeding. Today he finally pooped but it was really watery. Can someone tell us if we are doing everything okay and/or if there is anything we should do? We're already so attached to him and we are so worried.
The first picture is when we got him in July. The second picture was taken on 8/25.

Please tell me the surface basking temp and how your getting it? NO stickons they are inaccurate -- digital probe thermometers please -- UVB is it a coil or long tube fixture? these are the key to a healthy dragon -- if hes not eating at all there is something wrong - relocation stress will have effect on dragon in new surroundings etc but he should be eating something -

 

[Hookfang]

Please tell me the surface basking temp and how your getting it? NO stickons they are inaccurate -- digital probe thermometers please -- UVB is it a coil or long tube fixture? these are the key to a healthy dragon -- if hes not eating at all there is something wrong - relocation stress will have effect on dragon in new surroundings etc but he should be eating something -

We have a digital probe and the basking temp is 91-95 degrees and humidity is around 30%. The light is the Zoo Med Combo Deep Dome Dual Lamp Fixture that was recommended by the shop we got him from. Here is a picture of his enclosure before we change the substrate

​

 

[ChileanTaco]

Which lamps are in the fixture? Sadly, often wrong advise is given by pet shops.
The fixture generally is fine, but what's important is what you put in. I guess you have a basking lamp (heat lamp) and a coil in that fixture? If yes: The coil must be removed, and a linear tube used instead.
For that, you would need a different fixture.
Recommended, for example:

ReptiSun® T5 HO Terrarium Hood | Zoo Med Laboratories, Inc.

zoomed.com

T5 HO ReptiSun® 10.0 UVB | Zoo Med Laboratories, Inc.

zoomed.com

(I use that one.)
Wrong light is often a cause of a dragon not eating, and it also causes other problems (calcium metabolism not working, leading to "metabolic bone disease" which affects their health in several very bad ways).

 

[xp29]

Babies need 105 to 110 basking temp, and those screw in uvb bulbs of any variety are garbage. Please get your temps up asap they need heat to digest food. Also get thst uvb replaced preferably today. That baby looks incredibly bad. If you don't get on top of the lighting asap he/she is only going to get worse.
ZooMed 24 inch 10.0 high output t5 or Arcadia pro t5 desert 12% are great options. The Arcadia can be bought at petsmart, the ZooMed at most any reptile store and some petsmarts.

 

[KarrieRee]

I agree get rid of the coil and increase the surface basking temps to 105-110- the Zoo Med listed above is one of the ones recommended on the forum there are two others if you would like links for those please ask I will post

 

[Hookfang]

Which lamps are in the fixture? Sadly, often wrong advise is given by pet shops.
The fixture generally is fine, but what's important is what you put in. I guess you have a basking lamp (heat lamp) and a coil in that fixture? If yes: The coil must be removed, and a linear tube used instead.
For that, you would need a different fixture.
Recommended, for example:

ReptiSun® T5 HO Terrarium Hood | Zoo Med Laboratories, Inc.

zoomed.com

T5 HO ReptiSun® 10.0 UVB | Zoo Med Laboratories, Inc.

zoomed.com

(I use that one.)
Wrong light is often a cause of a dragon not eating, and it also causes other problems (calcium metabolism not working, leading to "metabolic bone disease" which affects their health in several very bad ways).

Thank you! We will definitely change his lights today.

 

[Hookfang]

I agree get rid of the coil and increase the surface basking temps to 105-110- the Zoo Med listed above is one of the ones recommended on the forum there are two others if you would like links for those please ask I will post

Thank you! Yes please provide the links.

 

[Hookfang]

I agree get rid of the coil and increase the surface basking temps to 105-110- the Zoo Med listed above is one of the ones recommended on the forum there are two others if you would like links for those please ask I will post

Which lamps are in the fixture? Sadly, often wrong advise is given by pet shops.
The fixture generally is fine, but what's important is what you put in. I guess you have a basking lamp (heat lamp) and a coil in that fixture? If yes: The coil must be removed, and a linear tube used instead.
For that, you would need a different fixture.
Recommended, for example:

ReptiSun® T5 HO Terrarium Hood | Zoo Med Laboratories, Inc.

zoomed.com

T5 HO ReptiSun® 10.0 UVB | Zoo Med Laboratories, Inc.

zoomed.com

(I use that one.)
Wrong light is often a cause of a dragon not eating, and it also causes other problems (calcium metabolism not working, leading to "metabolic bone disease" which affects their health in several very bad ways).

Thank you! We will definitely change his lights ASAP

 

[KarrieRee]

Thank you! We will definitely change his lights ASAP

When you get the UVB please post back on here so we can help get them set up for your tank / screen on the tank -- it will determine where the UVB needs to be placed and distanced

 

[Hookfang]

I agree get rid of the coil and increase the surface basking temps to 105-110- the Zoo Med listed above is one of the ones recommended on the forum there are two others if you would like links for those please ask I will post

Which lamps are in the fixture? Sadly, often wrong advise is given by pet shops.
The fixture generally is fine, but what's important is what you put in. I guess you have a basking lamp (heat lamp) and a coil in that fixture? If yes: The coil must be removed, and a linear tube used instead.
For that, you would need a different fixture.
Recommended, for example:

ReptiSun® T5 HO Terrarium Hood | Zoo Med Laboratories, Inc.

zoomed.com

T5 HO ReptiSun® 10.0 UVB | Zoo Med Laboratories, Inc.

zoomed.com

(I use that one.)
Wrong light is often a cause of a dragon not eating, and it also causes other problems (calcium metabolism not working, leading to "metabolic bone disease" which affects their health in several very bad ways).

Thank you! We will definitely change his lights ASAP

When you get the UVB please post back on here so we can help get them set up for your tank / screen on the tank -- it will determine where the UVB needs to be placed and distanced

here is what I got. The bulb is a 10.0 uvb. This is the size of the uvb light, how do I get the heat lamp to also fit?

 

[xp29]

Thank you! We will definitely change his lights ASAP

here is what I got. The bulb is a 10.0 uvb. This is the size of the uvb light, how do I get the heat lamp to also fit?

The bulb in that package is a t5 5.0. Its better than the coil but it really should be replaced with the 10.0.
Your on the right track though

 

[ChileanTaco]

how do I get the heat lamp to also fit?

The 150 W heat lamp is likely increasing the temperature enough, but you will have to measure it.
It is not a problem that the heat lamp is positioned behind the UVB light. I do the same: towards the front is the UVB, behind is the heat lamp (I have two heat lamps as I have already an adult bearded dragon with a larger sized tank).

For the tube: The fixture comes with a 5.0. This has lower UV and is more for e.g. rainforest species. For desert species like the bearded dragon, a 10.0 is strongly recommended. If it's not available at the pet store, you can use the 5.0 for now and order the 10.0. It's easy to distinguish as the package shows a bearded dragon and it says "10.0 Desert".

 

[KarrieRee]

Distance and placement is different from the 5.0 vs 10.0

 

[Hookfang]

The bulb in that package is a t5 5.0. Its better than the coil but it really should be replaced with the 10.0.
Your on the right track though

yes the bulb was replaced with 10.0