Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My beardy boy is 6mo old. He doesnt eat any vegis. The person we got him from isnt a real big beardie owner or extremely knoledgeable. She got them from another breeder etc. Anyway the clutch mates and the like were eating lettus but I think he never got any or something. Anyway hes not eating that never has ( had since feb 9)
He hasnt shed since we got him ( was shedding when we got him) his clutch mates have shed 2 times since then.
He hasnt eaten in 2 days and mayhap ate a cricket or two 3 days ago.
I first really noticed the problem when i had him out with me for like 6 hours. he just chilled with me snuggled into my neck or whatever. didnt really wanna run away etc.
We have him in washed childrens play sand. I give him baths every day to every other day. to give him water. he hasnt stopped drinking yet. we calcium the crickets and meal worms and started using T-rex stuff for beardys.
he has a UVB light and we just turned off all the heat lamps because its finally warm in MN!!
He did 2 days ago lick on a peice of oarnge for like 5 minutes. but he wouldnt eat it...
Is he going to shed? is face looks more colorful than ever.
also his front left leg he sits on real funny. i posted about it a while back. vet said its fine, cuz hes young might b calsium deficient. well idk if thats causing him pain now?
Thanks
Tianna
obsolescenttears@aol.com

You turned of heat lamps? Do you keep him outside? What is his basking temp? To properly digest food his basking temp should be at least 100-105 degrees. I don't know how you could reach that without a heatlamp unless he is housed outside in very warm weather.
-----
2.1 Chavez, Lou, Lucy

I was wrong, we have the basking lamp on during the day tank from 100-110 ( we keep doors open so it is around 100) and red light on at night. UV light on for 9 hours a day. He keep licking the oarnge ( I rub it all over his nose...he tends to give me dirty looks but it gets him drinking) We just took him to the vet 2 weeks or so ago. And he got a clear record. However I was visiting my friend who we bought him from and a lady said her dragon died from what the vet said was a genetic thing. where he was eating tons of crickets and no veggis, and then stoped eating, then started eating tons of crickets and no vegis. then he stopped for good and she had to put it down because his system was shutting down? IDK if the owner had lied to my friend or not. But what can I do?

Tianna
-----
Proud mommy of Blighter ( sandfire beardie 6mo), Monster(hes yellow beardie... 6mo old) 5 dogs, 4 horses, 2 fish, and 3 legit cats...a billion strays. Obsolescenttears@aol.com

First off don't give oranges to bearded dragons, the high amount of Vitamin C isn't good for them. All citris fruits should be avoided (oranges, lemons, limes, etc). Second, did the vet do any blood work on your dragon or x-rays? These tests will determine if he is deficient in any nutrients etc. Did he do any fecals (did you bring him a recent stool (poop) sample to do a fecal with)?

In addition to having the proper basking temp you do need the light intensity to encourage dragons to bask. Also, what is the cool side temperature of the cage? If it is too hot that could be why he is drinking so much and not eating. Bearded dragons need a cool area to go to if they get too warm.

Is he active at all?

How experienced is your vet with bearded dragons and other reptiles?

You mentioned you have offered lettace, do you mean iceberg lettace or other more nutricious greens, such as dandelion etc?

You can try offering some low fat, sugarfree fruit yogurt to your dragon, to help stimulate appetite and get him eating. Make sure the yogert has an active culture (or states probiotic culture on the packaging). A teaspoon a day till he is eating normally will be helpful. If he doesn't perk up soon you will need to get him to a vet again. If no bloodwork, etc was done when you were last at the vet, go again and specifically ask for those tests.
-----
PHLdyPayne

KK no more oarnges got it... sad cuz he seemed to like them.
The vet clinic is also an exotics specialist. They seem to know an okay amount about reptiles. We didnt get poop culture done yet. We will take some in asap.

Idk what the cool side of the cage is. He seems to be in that more than the basking side. I will check to see what the temp is asap.

The only active thing he does is try to climb his plant ( which is plastic and just a tiny thing) Hes pretty much demolished it with his size. He really just lazes about. He hasnt chased crickets in at least 2 weeks. B4 he stopped eating he would just wait tell they came to him. Now he just doesnt do anything

We have offered a lot of types of lettus, carrots, peas, green beans

I will check into the yogert idea. and get bloodwork done and the like if he doesnt perk up.

Could this be genetic? I guess another dragon from this clutch had to be put to sleep cuz it was doing the same thing, I guess the vet said its system was slowly shutting down? Could this be happeneing or was the vet just full of it and didnt know what he was talking about.

thanks
-----
Proud mommy of Blighter ( sandfire beardie 6mo), Monster(hes yellow beardie... 6mo old) 5 dogs, 4 horses, 2 fish, and 3 legit cats...a billion strays. Obsolescenttears@aol.com