Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a five year old male beardie who's having eating issues lately. Originally in december I brought him down to my apartment with me since I had room and had missed him with college. He was put into a new cage but adjusted well and was eating great. However, I left for break and put my friend in charge of feeding him. He fed him, and he ate. The house was turned down a little bit (around 5 degrees) and every since I got back, he hasn't wanted to eat well. He's still active, but is digging a lot, flaring whenever he sees me and seems to only eat every week at most. Any ideas? he's never done this before and it concerns me.

You need to check all your husbandry issues. Temps., cage size, UVB etc. It certainly sounds like stress if he's threatening you when you come near.

it's same size cage, 40 breeder. the only difference is he went from an all glass to a melanie with sliding front doors. the weird thing is he was fine until break. if the temps dipped a little then, could this be a brumation attempt? His temps now have been constantly 100-105 in hot spot, 85 on hot end and 80 on cooler end. at night its 70-75. he's still pooping, but i have noticed its smaller and more frequent than normal. i bathe him once a week which he likes. UBV is a 24" Reptiglo 10.0 flour. bulb, a month old. what other info maybe useful? Would putting his back in the glass enclosure be better?

I wouldn't change back and forth.

Here's a similar story. At the beginning of Sept. I took in an adult rescue (20", he weighed 269 and was injured. He was very afraid of people and bit me twice the first week.

All my hospital enclosures are glass terrariums. He spent 3 months in one on shelf liner and is healed and 450 now. He calmed down and became no problem to handle. A few weeks ago I moved him into a melamine enclosure with sliding doors. It is about the same size 4' x 2.5'.

Now he seems scared when I open the doors or reach in. This is a change. His eating is normal but of course he is still underweight. I think maybe they get used to seeing in every direction and then feel restricted with only a forward view. You also now just appear in his line of sight when he used to see you coming. I'd stay the course with the enclosure he is in. But, in my opinion a 36" x 18" enclosure is really to small for an adult dragon. He really should be in one at least 2' x 4'.

As far as brumation, put a hide on the cool side and see if he uses it. It seems awfully late in the season for a dragon to start brumation.

Since your only symptom is that he's not eating much, I recommend you get a weight scale. Sometimes they just eat less. If they eat less or little and don't lose weight then I wouldn't be concerned about it. If he is losing weight then a vet visit is likely in order.

I know he's 5 years old but I wonder...are you completely sure he's a he? Constant digging, lack of appetite and moodiness can be a sign of egg laying as well. Though I really don't think this is likely...I would think if it was a she, then she would have had infertile eggs before and not just start at 5 years of age.

How long was he in the new cage before his behavior changed?
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PHLdyPayne

i will put the hide in the cool end and will weight and watch him. As for the sexing, i can be sure he's a male. despite the tail (the vents and bulging) features he does all classic male behaviors. it is weird behavior. I will keep the same cage then for now. he was in there for about 3 weeks and aclimated almost immediately before this started.