Worried about Spikes Size/Weight

[iannkt]

We have had Spike now since the end of September and he is not much bigger than when we got him. I checked tonight and he was 8 inches long and only 16 grams. I have tried feeding him roaches, crickets and reptiworms and he just doesn't seem to really be interested in eating in general. The most he has eaten on his own is about 2 small crickets in a day or 3-4 small roaches. Now he doesn't even care at all with the roaches. I thought maybe it was the lack of movement from the roaches so I got crickets and it is the same. The only way he will eat his reptiworms is if I force feed him by pulling the side of his lip down and placing the reptiworm against his teeth and he will eat them. I have tried taking him out of his tank to feed him vs leaving him in and he just doesn't eat very much, he has been like this since we got him. At first I thought it was his tank, we had him in a 10 gallon tank originally while I built him something bigger. I moved him to his new enclousre which is a crossfire tank and that didn't help. I actually had to take him out of his tank due to him climbing the rock walls and sitting at the very top of the tank 99% of the time. He is still pooping daily and seems to have energy but he is just not eating much. I am out of ideas for him.

If anyone can please help, it is greatly appreciated.

 

[Beardednoob]

How old is your dragon?
How long is your dragon from nose tip to tail tip?
Enclosure Size?
Substrate?
UV source type/brand?
How old is the UV source?
How close can your dragon get to the UV source?
What is the basking temperature?
What is the cool side temperature?
How are you measuring the temperatures?
What are the humidity levels?
What live feeders do you feed?
How small/large are they?
What greens are being fed/provided?
Do you dust the food?
If so what is you dusting schedule?
Do you provide water?
Do you bathe your dragon?
If so how often and for how long?
Do you mist your dragon?

Any other information you wish to provide?

 

[fez09]

First thing first, what type of UVB do you use and how close can her get to it? What are his basking temps?

 

[catUK]

Some beardies have a bigger appetitie than others. The only suggestion i can give to help him to grow is to feed turkey or chicken stage 1 baby food which has protein vital for their growth. Baby food is usually used to nurse ill beardies back to health. Also wax worms, which are used as treats are high in fat and can be used to help put on weight. i would advise getting a fecal check done at the vets in case he has parasites or something- this can cause a decrease in appetite. Hope he's ok, sorry i havent been much help

 

[lizardlover2012]

this is cause of brumation al bardys even babys hardly eat during winter so this is perfectly normal and stop and check out my web site i got some stuff on ther bout sustrates and stuff http://beardeddragonfacts.webs.com/

 

[iannkt]

How old is your dragon? - About 17 Weeks old
How long is your dragon from nose tip to tail tip? - 8 inches
Enclosure Size? - Currently a 10 gallon, have a 4x2x2 enclosure all ready for him but he climbs the rock walls which are liquid nailed in place so I cant remove them causing him to get out of range of the UV
Substrate? - Vinyl flooring tiles...ceramic tile in his 4x2x2 enclosure
UV source type/brand? - Reptisun 10.0
How old is the UV source? - Bought it in October
How close can your dragon get to the UV source? - 7-10 inches
What is the basking temperature? - ~100 F
What is the cool side temperature? - ~85 F
How are you measuring the temperatures? - Accutemp Digital Thermometer
What are the humidity levels? - 30%
What live feeders do you feed? - Dubia/Crickets/Reptiworms
How small/large are they? - Various sizes, ~ size of his head
What greens are being fed/provided? - turnip/mustard/collard - he does not touch greens at all
Do you dust the food? - several times a week with calcium/twice for vitamins
If so what is you dusting schedule? - see above
Do you provide water? - No
Do you bathe your dragon? - Yes
If so how often and for how long? - 2 times a week/10 mins or so
Do you mist your dragon? - No

Any other information you wish to provide?

First thing first, what type of UVB do you use and how close can her get to it? What are his basking temps?

See above.

Some beardies have a bigger appetitie than others. The only suggestion i can give to help him to grow is to feed turkey or chicken stage 1 baby food which has protein vital for their growth. Baby food is usually used to nurse ill beardies back to health. Also wax worms, which are used as treats are high in fat and can be used to help put on weight. i would advise getting a fecal check done at the vets in case he has parasites or something- this can cause a decrease in appetite. Hope he's ok, sorry i havent been much help

I will definetly try the chicken or turkey baby food and see if I can get some wax worms. Can a fecal sample be done at a normal vet? We have a herp vet in the area but he is around an hour away.

this is cause of brumation al bardys even babys hardly eat during winter so this is perfectly normal and stop and check out my web site i got some stuff on ther bout sustrates and stuff http://beardeddragonfacts.webs.com/

I know of brumation but wasn't sure if babies went through it. I will check out the link...thanks.

 

[quigleysmom]

I will be the first to admit that I am in no way an expert, but before you tell someone that their beardie is going through brumination please check to make sure the age is appropriate for the beardie to actually go through brumination. Spike is only 17 weeks old! This is a great site for information, but if the person giving the info is not carefully reading the information that is being posted by the concerned owner you could really be leading someing down a bad path. I don't want to step on any ones toes, but I thought it was important to point out.

I think you should take your beardie to get a fecal and bloodwork if the fecal is negative. The baby food would be a good idea. You could take your reptiworms, chicken or turkey, and squash and blend them up and add the vitamins that he needs to be getting and just drip some on his nose so he will lick it off. I would offer him this several times a day. Weigh him every day to make sure he is not losing weight. Good luck with your little guy.

 

[catUK]

Im not sure if a fecal can be done at a normal vet, sorry. You can always ring up before you go to check

 

[alkemisten3]

this is cause of brumation al bardys even babys hardly eat during winter so this is perfectly normal and stop and check out my web site i got some stuff on ther bout sustrates and stuff http://beardeddragonfacts.webs.com/

Hi,
sorry, but this is not true...
Beardies under 8 months do not brumate, and it is very uncommon until they are around 1 year old.

 

[fez09]

OK, let's rule out brumation (he's too young) You could try raising his basking temp to 105. and get him and inch closer to his UVB. Also, they feeders shouldn't be the size of his head, they should be smaller than the space between his eyes. If he's eating large prey items that could be the problem. There's nothing wrong with getting some babyfood (I always keep it on hand) BUT let's try and figure out the problem first...Also, try adding an extra bath. Since babies bask at higher temps, they can dehydrate easier than adults. Good luck!

 

[alkemisten3]

OK, let's rule out brumation (he's too young) You could try raising his basking temp to 105. and get him and inch closer to his UVB. Also, they feeders shouldn't be the size of his head, they should be smaller than the space between his eyes. If he's eating large prey items that could be the problem. There's nothing wrong with getting some babyfood (I always keep it on hand) BUT let's try and figure out the problem first...Also, try adding an extra bath. Since babies bask at higher temps, they can dehydrate easier than adults. Good luck!

Agree with this post.
Earlier post was suggesting waxworms. This is a good suggestion to gain some fat, but in this case, it will not really solve the problem. Remember not to give too many per week, 5 or so max per week I would suggest.


Body temperature also plays an important role in feeding your bearded dragon. For instance, if your bearded dragon does not have the right body temperature, its appetite could be affected. One of the factor which affects the body temperature of a bearded dragon is the temperature of the environment it is in. If the temperature of the enclosure is too extreme the appetite of a bearded dragon is discouraged. There is indigestion therefore the bodily functions of your pet bearded dragon is affected.


Checklist:
How long have you had him? If less than 2 weeks, it is almost definetely because of relocation stress.
Keep an eye every day on his weight
As the NO1 (!) reason why young beardies die is dehydration, Try to see if he is dehydrated. You can read very good and important information here: http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Dehydration.html
(This website is an extremely good source, very accurate, comparing to getting advices from sometimes not so updated forum members)
Do you use any night time lights for your dragon which might disturb it during sleep?

Good luck!

 

[iannkt]

OK, let's rule out brumation (he's too young) You could try raising his basking temp to 105. and get him and inch closer to his UVB. Also, they feeders shouldn't be the size of his head, they should be smaller than the space between his eyes. If he's eating large prey items that could be the problem. There's nothing wrong with getting some babyfood (I always keep it on hand) BUT let's try and figure out the problem first...Also, try adding an extra bath. Since babies bask at higher temps, they can dehydrate easier than adults. Good luck!

Thanks for the info. I am going to move him back into his new 4x2x2 enclosure tomorrow where I can get a better handle on temps. I put cardboard all around the tank to keep him off the walls and under the UV light. I will be getting babyfood tomorrow and will keep the size down on the roaches/crickets. I will also add another bath.

OK, let's rule out brumation (he's too young) You could try raising his basking temp to 105. and get him and inch closer to his UVB. Also, they feeders shouldn't be the size of his head, they should be smaller than the space between his eyes. If he's eating large prey items that could be the problem. There's nothing wrong with getting some babyfood (I always keep it on hand) BUT let's try and figure out the problem first...Also, try adding an extra bath. Since babies bask at higher temps, they can dehydrate easier than adults. Good luck!

Agree with this post.
Earlier post was suggesting waxworms. This is a good suggestion to gain some fat, but in this case, it will not really solve the problem. Remember not to give too many per week, 5 or so max per week I would suggest. - I will try to pick up some small waxworms tomorrow from petsmart if they have any


Body temperature also plays an important role in feeding your bearded dragon. For instance, if your bearded dragon does not have the right body temperature, its appetite could be affected. One of the factor which affects the body temperature of a bearded dragon is the temperature of the environment it is in. If the temperature of the enclosure is too extreme the appetite of a bearded dragon is discouraged. There is indigestion therefore the bodily functions of your pet bearded dragon is affected.


Checklist:
How long have you had him? If less than 2 weeks, it is almost definetely because of relocation stress. - We have had him since the last week of September or so.
Keep an eye every day on his weight
As the NO1 (!) reason why young beardies die is dehydration, Try to see if he is dehydrated. You can read very good and important information here: http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Dehydration.html
(This website is an extremely good source, very accurate, comparing to getting advices from sometimes not so updated forum members)
Do you use any night time lights for your dragon which might disturb it during sleep?

Good luck!

I will check out that site...thanks.

Also, what is a good distance to the UV? I will measure tomorrow but I think he will be roughly 10-12" away at the highest point.

 

[Beardednoob]

from a Reptisun 10.0 is 6-8 inches away

 

[iannkt]

from a Reptisun 10.0 is 6-8 inches away

Thanks. How about the mvb bulbs? Maybe it would be better to switch to one of these for my setup. It will be difficult to get the 6-8" distance with my current setup unless I make something and change the setup in the tank. Any thoughts? If so what is a good bulb?

 

[alkemisten3]

from a Reptisun 10.0 is 6-8 inches away

Does this include a half-decent reflector, or with no reflector? Thanks