Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a post further down where i am worried about my beardies being ver lazy. I noticed the females eyes are closed all the time, not sleeping just closed. I am waiting for them to poop so i can take it to the vet, but until then any ideas or suggestions.

Here is what you had posted in response to someone else earlier ....

"i generally feed my adult beardie every other day and once in a while as long as four days in between, usually waiting for crickets, my reasoning is that they will not always have a large supply of bugs or even plantlife in the wild and yeah i don't know that for sure but they do fine, plus it keeps em from gettin fat and lazy"

Maybe they should be fed daily and this past feeding schedule you have had them on is finally taking it's toll.

What you have to remember about "wild" versus "captive born" is that they are raised on food daily and several times daily when younger. In the wild, yeah they have to search for their food and may miss a meal here and there, but they also have a higher mortality rate!

Then again, maybe they are going into brumation.

Just my opinion, please don't take offense.

>>I have a post further down where i am worried about my beardies being ver lazy. I noticed the females eyes are closed all the time, not sleeping just closed. I am waiting for them to poop so i can take it to the vet, but until then any ideas or suggestions.
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Lisa
www.beginnersbasics.com

Cricket FREE babies!

trust me i spoil them as much as any of you...they won't eat every day, they generally fill themselves up one day and won't eat the next, which is the main reason for every other day feeding, and then i justify that occurance being as in the wild they will not eat every day. And yes they are captive bred but still a wild animal

I think the point moreso is that in 'the wild' they aren't as likely to live 8-10 years, and there is definite possibility that feeding could have something to do with that.

Cavemen used to live on twigs and berries and whatever they could catch in the wild too, but they only lived to be 25 years old.

It is not normal for dragons to just eat every other day. This indicates something isn't right. Are your basking temps high enough? Is there enough light intensity? (ie 12-14 hours of light, 12-10 hours dark?) If the tempertures in teh tank are low and not enough light, he could be going into burmation (hybernation)

Most healthy dragons will eat greens every day, crickets (or other insects) 2-3 times a week for adults. Younger dragons need more frequent feedings of insects, babies being 3-4 times a day, juveniles 2 times a day.

Getting a fecal done is a good ideal as it is also possible your dragon has parasites that are zapping his appetite. Also, if he was recently treated for parasites or infections, he could need a probiotic to boost his naturally occuring gut flora back to healthy populations, which would also increase his appetite.

yeah i am waiting for them to poop to take it to the vet. I think it may be that they are going into burmation becuase now that i think of it their eating tapered off slowly. Everything is fine as far as temps, etc....well see how the fecal goes