Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My dragon was eating like a champ crix and veggies, but didnt poop for 2 days and only ate 2 or 3 crix both days and pooped today only a quarter of what is normal. I offered him mealworms and he ate about 3 1"ers. but didn't jump start his appetite and just went to his basking spot I keep the basking spot around 110 and 90 on the hot side and 75 on the cool side. Any guesses what may have slowed him down and when should I be concerned. Is it true at the base of their tail and hips are not suppose to be boney?

The base of the tail should not be boney. Is it?

A weight scale is your best diagnostic tool with reptiles. If they don't eat and don't lose weight that's OK. If they are losing weight than that indicates a problem.

Do you know how much it weighs? Is it male or female? If it's female are you sure it's not gravid?

It's a 12" male with a boney base of the tail and hip area. I don't have a scale, so im not sure about the weight. I also think a couple of nephew my have scared the hell out of him when I wasn't watching them in my room. He just chased down 1 cricket but not anymore, I have a dish with crickets in there. He just ate 1 from the bowl but looks like he is nervous standing by the dish keeps going back to his basking rock. I'm not sure but when he leaves his rock his heads up high and tail curled up looks like he's nervous about something. I also have a smaller female in cage near him but they can not see eachother. I have the cages angled and covered with background paper so the can't see through. The female is always bumping her head on the front of the glass cage trying to climb on to the table. Is safe to skeep feedin g for a day and see if his appetite will get him raging for food?

What size crickets are you feeding him? If he's only 12" long he is to small to be eating adult crix. Can you try dripping water on his nose from an eyedropper and see if he will drink any?

I'm confused about how all this came about. How long have you had him? If his tail and hips are boney this must have been something that's been going on for a while.

I'm feeding him 3/8 to 1/2" crix. I have had a couple of months and didnt eat at first but after a week he started eating for like a week. Heeats like a champ chasing down crix. I have a feeling my nephews were doing something they shouldn't have while they were in my room without me. I don't know what but ithink he got scared it's going to be okay now I think I put crix in a rounded dish and he just ate some for dinner. Still stands there with his tail curled up and head up high looking aound. I'm wondering about his hip bone standing out. It's at the base of his tail in between his legs, Is that not normal?

A picture will be better so we can see what you mean. Normally the tail base should be plump and no bones sticking out at all around the hips.

The head up and with tail tip curled up means the dragon is in alert/hunting mode. My dragon does this all the time when I give her food or she's tromping all over her cage.

From what you said, it is possible your dragon was scared by your nephew if they were trying to catch it or banging on the side of the cage etc. It may be a good idea to lock your bedroom door when you are not around to supervise.

When your dragon was eating normally, how much crickets did he eat? How often did you offer food? Are you also providing greens? Dragons from hatching up to 4 months of age should be fed 2-4 times a day insects with salad available all day (even if they dont' touch it). After 4 months 2 feeding of crickets a day with salad available all day is good. Once they reach about 8 months one feeding insects a day and salad all day is good. After 14 months, salad every day, insects a couple times a week, or a small portion with their salad daily (2-4 adult crickets, superworms etc).

Insects should be all they can eat in about 5-10 minutes for babies up to about 8 months.

Another question, are you gut loading your crickets? Feeding them mixed greens, a commercial gut load or similar, at least 24 hours before feeding them to your dragons? If you buy the crickets from the petstore or even mail order, and feed them right away, often those crickets are starving and thus provide little 'meat' to your dragon. It is recommended to gutload 24 hours before feeding the crickets to your dragons, to ensure they are well fed and not just empty shells.

If you normally are feeding alot to your dragons and they still seem skinny nor seem to grow much or gain weight...I would take them in to see a vet and get a fecal done. Parasites can definitely rob the dragon of valuable nutrition even if it seems to be eating alot.
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PHLdyPayne

If he is alert with tail held high,that is a good sign. He probably needs more food,and gut-loaded as Ph mentioned. You can go with slightly larger crickets for a 12" dragon,and feed twice daily as many as he'll eat in a 10 min. period. You'd be surprised how many they can eat. It's a lot more than a dozen a day.

They both eat close 3o or 40 for the small one and 50 to 60 for the big one. I'm going to do a fecal exam on both of them this week to check for parasites. They both ate from a rounded dish today getting at least half of whats regular for them." damn I wish I knew how to post a picture with this message" I'm going to get someone to show me how to do it so you can see what I'm talking about. I'll see whats up and let you know

So that is a great sign,it has a good appetite. It really needs more or larger crix...a growing dragon can eat more than that...I think that if you increase the size of the crix[ 3/8" is WAY too small for a 12" dragon,that is when their growth rate is phenomenal] that he will fill out more.Even the 1/2inch,depending on where you get them as all suppliers vary on the cricket size,are way too small.He could easily eat 100 of those. Move up to at least 5/8 inch. Get some small superworms as well.Just give those 4-5 at a time at first, so he doesn't gorge and vomit. He should fill out in no time.Feed crix and greens along with the supers.If he doesn't ear greens,disable some of the crix and add them to his chopped greens..the movement should attract him.

Well I found some superworms and looked at them and decided their the same as mealworms so instead I bought some waxworms I gave him 3 by hand and thats all he would take so I put more in a dish to see if he will eat them later.

Superworms are different than mealworms,even the scientific name is different and care of them is different. Superworms[ zoophoba] mealworms [ tenebrio molitor] Waxworms are O.K. for a treat but have high fat,little nutrition. I think too that when I last had them years ago,the stuff they are kept in is kind of nasty...some type of wood shavings. Feeding larger crix will help,as well as turnip,mustard,dandelion greens.

How do I gutload mealworms? He won't chase crickets around anymore.

Keep them in oatmeal/oatbran and mix herptivite vitamin powder right in with them...about a teaspoon sprinkled in. Put a piece of carrot and a small collard or mustard green leaf in with them. Some of them will eat at all times. Keep them in a small sterilite or Rubbermaid bin with no lid...otherwise mold will grow due to humidity heat they and the veggies generate.Wash the veggies and then pat them dry so they don't get moldy...check at least every few days to see there;s no mold. The worms can't climb out,not even a 6 inch high container. Then,when you feed them,coat them with the same vitamin powder,also Rep-cal calcium supplement. Sometimes it sticks well,sometimes not...just use a LIGHT coating about every 4 days.Your dragon will get some of the vit. powder and some of what the superworms ate.

can I just toss in oatmeal and a leaf of greens and a shred of carrots into the whatever it is in the container I bought them in? What is that stuff anyways? I've a million and 1 questions about bearded dragons, I have the Bearded Dragons manual but still have questions.

Depends how big it is...if it's just a tiny plastic container lid from the pet store,they won't last long. Also,regular mealworms need to be in fridge to make them last,or they turn to beetles. Superworms should be kept room temp.or warmer. They need to be in a bigger container ....the veggies not shredded,put a whole leaf and a whole large piece of carrot.

I wouldn't bother with mealworms...they have far less 'meat' in them than small crickets. Superworms are far better to go and though they look like mealworms, they are a completely different species of insect.

If you want to try other varieties of insects, medium to large phoenix worms, silkworms worms, butterworms, and hornworms (not wild caught hornsworms as they are toxic because of what they eat in the wild. Farmed/captive bred hornworms are fed a special diet which doesn't contain any toxins so they are safe to feed.) You will need to order the small to medium hornworms, as they can quickly get way to big for a 12" dragon (these worms can go from an inch long to 4 inches in a single day, if they have access to a steady supply of food).

Waxworms i wouldn't bother with...or at least I have never seen healthy looking waxworms..they always look sickly to me. That and they tend to be too fattening and dragons often reject everything except those worms, if given too often.
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PHLdyPayne

Man that sounds like a stressful situation for both you, and your beardie. How did the Vet appointment go if you have already brought in a stool sample???

After all of the proffessional advice given to you, I agree with all of it.... In addition, I would continue with a "Lazy Dragon" diet to allow him to regain his body mass and not to feed him crickets as often to avoid stress (ie. Him having to use energy to chase them, and uneaten crix to crawl on him, making them an annoyance rather than grub).

Wax worms, Butter worm (high in calcium), Goliath Worms, Super Worms area ll good. Try:

www.MulberryFarms.com For some elite & Premium Fuel for your Beardie.

It will get better if you perservere and monitor the situation well. Sometimes Males tend to go on hunger strikes during growth suprts but it is rare. Best of Luck!
www.AtlantaBeardedDragons.com

Well when I was cleaning out his cage under the basking rock had like 50 plus crickets with terds all under the rock. I thought covoring the edges of the rock with 2" of sand would prevent that, I guess not. Clean cage tonight for Rage without a cricket in the cage. I've got a variety of worms to feed with, phoenix, super, mealworms, waxworms. Damn I think the crickets have been stressing him out lately causing him not to eat. Simple [bleep] I just cleaned the rock last friday. They sometimes hide under the veggie dish and I would clean those out everynight. He took 3 phoenix worms today from my hand but wouldn't even bother with the dish of them. Any tips to get him eating again might help. I'm just going to try a full dish of worms then try a couple of crickets a day.Thanks

I think well gutloaded crickets are the best insect for growing and underweight dragons. That being said here's what I do.

I make the dragons cage as simple as possible. Generally only a basking surface. I don't use particulate substrate. I mostly use non-stick shelf liner. I don't like paper towels or newspaper because crickets can hide in and under.

Then when it's feeding time I remove the basking spot and everything else. Put in some crickets and give about 15 minutes or so to eat them. Then I recollect uneaten crickets and return the cage furniture.

At each feeding time I repeat the process.

Leaving crickets in is a bad idea. Crickets will eat anything including dragon feces before your dragon eats it. Or they don't eat anything at all and are not nutritous. Also crickets come out at night will pester at best, injure at worst, your dragon.

I never feed small or unhealthy dragons on sand. Some will be ingested when eating and this could cause an issue.

I would remove the sand and give him set feeding times at least twice a day and collect all the uneaten crickets after each feeding.

OK I'm going to simplify the cage to just the basics. The only thing I'm worried about is he won't chase the crickets. He feels a litle light and his belly is flat and his tail bone shows. I think he needs to be force fed rather then wait any longer to eat a full meal. I just don't know if he's going to chase any food. I'll try it today 2 or 3 times.

You really should bring him to the vet. It sounds like you're really worried and without seeing the animal it is very hard to give good advise.

Anytime you change anything there will be stress for the animal. Perhaps you should consider just taking the sand out and leaving everything else the same, then just recollect the crickets after each meal.

I just feed crickets in a shadow bowl.

A trick you can use is put the crickets in a bag, then put it in the fridge for a few minutes. This will chill the crickets and they will be slow for awhile, giving your dragon time to gobble them up.
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PHLdyPayne

It's alright I think. Stool is clean. Changed the habitat to paper towels a water bowl a rounded glass dish for worms and counting crickets for 2 to 3 feedings for 15 minutes. Also changed how I gutload crickets to avoid getting pinworms. Cleaner routine little bit more work but hopefully it will work.