Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I got a beardie for my daughter and it's cage seems set up right (30gal) with about 95-100deg basking area, but the beardie seems very lethargic. She spends most of her time with her eyes closed. She will go after small crickets but eat one and then that is it...she is very small, only about 3" long. We offer hear meal worms and greens and a cricket or two twice a day...she has only been eating about 1 cricket or mealworm each day. We've had her about 2.5 weeks and in the last week she has definitely become less active. I was worried that she wasn't getting enough water so in the last two days I have been putting water droplets in my hand or on her snout and she has been drinking...she doesn't appear skinny...any advice?

Has your beardie been going potty? Do you have a uvb bulb?

yeah its weird mine are doing that to for some reason even my biger ones but their not even eating their vegies a week a go they would jump on the dish now they just stare at it its aquard you think their sick but their fine

I do have a UV bulb and his has been going to the bathroom but I don't know how recently...

get a bowl that is deep enough that the little bugger cannot jump out of. Place about 1/4 inch of lukewarm water in the bowl. Put the BD in the bowl and let her soak in the water for 20 minutes or more. Try to leave her in peace, so she will relax enough to drink some of the water. I place a towel over the top of the bowl to keep them in and give them some privacy.

I had a hatchling that would not drink from a dish, so she had to be soaked or she would dehydrate and become lethargic and floppy.
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1.0 Husband who puts up with all my critters.

I'd actually bump the temps up to 110-115 in the basking spot. It's a young dragon, so it needs a bit warmer temps. Try that, and make sure he's staying hydrated with mistings, and soaks. Make sure he drinks.. The first sign of dehydration in them is lack of appetite. Give him the option for warmer temps as long as he has a good gradient in his cage, and the cool side gets down to about 75. I actually stack patio stones in the basking spots giving them different levels and temps to bask at. as high as 120 on the top. measured with a digital indoor/outdoor thermometer with the probe fastened right to the patio stone. you want the surface reading. When they have access to higher temps, and cooler temps they can control their bodies a lot more efficiently. They can digest their food quickly, making them hungrier. they can digest better and make use of nutrients more efficiently. Just got to make sure you offer a nice healthy nutrient/vitamin rich variety diet to support the growth at this age..

I get all my babies eating greens at about the first week. I start them off on crickets first which I shake and drop into their cages from above from a cup. I then start giving green feedings by tearing them up in small pieces and tossing them down into a flat dish, or the paper towel bottom. they bounce shake and get the dragons attention. Once one goes for it they all catch on, and after a while of feeding like this you can just put it into a dish. I moisten juvenile repcal pellets, and do the same. Soon they are pretty much trained to the cup. I shake the cup and they all come running and try to catch the first few before they hit the cage LOL. give it a try it may work for you. good luck

I had a similar problem with my Red Phase. I bumped the temps up a few degrees and now leave a bowl of water in the viv (from which it drinks regularly) and took it to the vet for a parasite check. He gave a shot of some anti parasite medicine (sorry have the name written down somewhere but cannot remember now) and within a couple of hours the BD had improved and now eats a lot better. She is eating veggies, crickets and meal worms (I used newley shedded meal worms to help get her eating properly). Dont know if she had parasites as the vet said if the shot does not improve things he would then do a fecal but no need as things are now ok!!

Good luck!!
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AndyD

0.0.1 Mexican Kingsnake
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0.1.0 Bearded Dragon (Hypo Red X Purple Tiger)
1.0.0 Egyptian Uromastyx
0.0.1 Frilled Dragon

You can't have any pudding if you don't eat your meat!!

Very few baby dragons drink from a bowl; there are no bowls in the Aussie desert. In the desert, most of the moisture is from morning dew or an occasional rain. Young Dragons need to be misted with water or they become dehydrated, stop eating, and die. We mist our babies everyday, it is not until they are older that they start learning to drink from a dish (there are exceptions of course). When you mist them, you will notice they drop their heads down to drink; part of their head shape channels water to the corners of their mouths, it is more natural for them to drink this way than from a bowl (this response can be used to “train” them to drink from a dish too).
Too many people think if there is a water bowl in the cage that their little dragon is getting water, they need misted with water. Also, the smaller the dragon, the quicker they become dehydrated and the higher the temps, the quicker they become dehydrated. Make sure you mist them with water along with all the other pertinent care.
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Rick
Never Enough
Reptiles

Deffinitely increase the temps to 115F with cooler areas available on the basking sight. It's good to have a range of basking temps so your dragon can move to whatever temp is ideal for it. They always seem to for the hottest spot first thing in the morning and right after eating.

When you say your dragon is only three inches, is that head to tail tip? or Head to vent length? Bearded dragons tend to be 3-4" long head to tail tip straight out of the egg and if yours is only 3" from nose to tail tip, then it must have been a real runt out of the egg or a Rankin's Bearded dragon (which are smaller than the common bearded dragons, Inland Bearded Dragons). With a dragon this small, you need to mist it 2-3 times a day to ensure it doesn't dehydrate, soaking is useful as well, just make sure the water isn't any higher than the dragon's 'armpits'. A stone or rolled up clean washcloth in the water gives them something to hang onto so they do not become tired and risk drowning.

I would not feed mealworms at all, especially to such a small dragon. Mealworms are noctoriously hard to digest, especailly for baby dragons. Their exoskeleton is very tough and can cause impactions. Instead feed 1/8th to 1/4" crickets (often called 'pinheads') no bigger than the space between the dragon's eyes. These should be dusted once daily with a multivitamin and calcium D3 powder. A pinch of each in a ziplock or other small bag, then add crickets and shake till the crickets are lightly dusted. Then feed immediately to your dragon. Make sure the crickets and other insect foods are well gutloaded 24 hrs before you feed them to your dragon, this ensures they are full of good nutrients etc. Gutloads for crickets can be commercially bought, or better yet, provided by yourself. Best foods to feed crickets, is the same assortment of wholesome greens and vegetables fed to dragons (collard greens, dandelion greens etc). A slice of orange, potato, carrot or squash can be giving to teh crickets as a moisture source.

Bearded dragon babies should be fed 2-3 times a day, all they can eat in a 5-10 minute period.

You mentioned you are not sure if your dragon is pooping? You should see fresh poop in the cage at least daily. All poop should be cleaned out daily as well, with papertowel (newspaper etc) changed daily to keep your dragon as clean as possible. It wouldn't hurt to take a fresh poop sample to a qualified reptile vet (in this case, any vet can do, but best to find one experienced with reptiles) for a fecal, to test for internal parasites.

Finally, since you only had him for a couple weeks, there still is a possibility he is still adjusting to his new home.

Another thing you can try is give him a bit of diluted gateraid, to help encourage him to drink and rehydrate him and replace any lost electrolites, if he is in fact not eating well. It could also help stimulate appetite.
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PHLdyPayne

She is only about 3-4" long nose to tip of tail...she is small...she did fine the first week, and we were misting her but I think she got dehydrated. The last three days I have been getting her to drink droplets off my finger of by putting droplets on the tip of her snout. I noticed today everytime I checked on her she was hiding in a cool spot. I finally took her out of there and she was so limp I thought she was dead. I put her in a shallow pool of luke warm water but she didn't seem to like it at all, her eyes opened but all she could do was wriggle and flop on her back...she ate a cricket yesterday, but nothing today....she is so lethargic I don't know how she could eat. I've been trying to get more water into her. She doesn't seem able to support her own weight. Though she was misted at least twice daily I really feel terrible that she apparently didn't get enough water somehow. She has definitely not been pooping every day.