Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I got a couple of questions about my bearded dragon. I got it from LLLReptile about a month or so ago. It shed 1 time sence then. And I offer it crickets every day. I also tried feeding it an assortment of greens but it didn't eat them I would put fresh greens in every morning and kept putting smaller and smaller amounts to try and get to a point that the greens I put in would be gone but turns out it was just not eating the greens. Any way my bearded is about 6 inches long. I keep my day temps around 110-115 on basking area and mid to low 80's on the cool side night tems go down to mid 70's. I am using an EXO-TERRA Day GLO 150W bulb. I also offer water but it doesn't drink from it so i also spray it and it does sometime drink off of its head. I have hides on both sides of tank and a log that lays across both hides connecting them. Now that I have gave some back ground info I will ask my questions =)

1) It stays laying around all spread out with its eyes closed almost all the time. Is this normal?

2)It only eats at the most 4 crickets when I feed it. Mostly only 1 or 2.Sometimes it doesn't eat at all. Is this normal?

3)Doesn't seem to move around a whole lot. And lets me pick it up without any trouble but if i lift it by the tail it trys to run away. Is this normal?

4) How can I get it to eating some kind of plant?? I offered Colards Mustard Kale and something else i don't remember.

5) It only runs for a hide if I mist it to much (guess it knows how to get out of the rain heh) It mostly stays laying on the log about mid ways between the warm and cool side. Is this normal?

6) Its poo is kind of a brown looking poo with usaly a little white spot on the end is this normal?

Do i have a normal healthy bearded dragon? I really like it and don't mind so much if its lazy just so long as its health and happy doing it. I have checked its toes for twitching. I have rubbed it and inspected it for any kind of bumbs or rot.(I also have a burmese python so I know about how to prevent and look for belly rot mouth rot mites and such)

Are you using a calcium supplement? Is the cage brightly lit? If not, you can use a compact flourescent(screw in type from Home Depot) in a reflector to add more light.
good luck
-----
Bill DiFabio
Azteclizard.com
Email Me

1) It stays laying around all spread out with its eyes closed almost all the time. Is this normal?
--- well this may be a sign of a problem....
hard to say for sure.

2)It only eats at the most 4 crickets when I feed it. Mostly only 1 or 2.Sometimes it doesn't eat at all. Is this normal?
@ 6" I will guess he's less than 5 months old. he should be devouring crickets like mad at this age. like a baby feed him about 3 times a day .... he may be "Lazy" due to lack of *FOOD*

3)Doesn't seem to move around a whole lot. And lets me pick it up without any trouble but if i lift it by the tail it trys to run away. Is this normal?
Many are very docile, do not pick him up by the tail!
always approach from the front never from above or behind.
in the wild somethig grabbing you from the rear is generaly the last thing you feel before you are somehtings dinner

4) How can I get it to eating some kind of plant?? I offered Colards Mustard Kale and something else i don't remember.
Time, keep offering the greens every day. put crickets on them.
many baby BD's do not eat veggies till they get past say 4-6 months and have grown to some size.
at just 2-4 monthts and 6" his instinkkt is to eat a lot of bugs to build body mass to get past the stage of beeing dinner to every other critter.

5) It only runs for a hide if I mist it to much (guess it knows how to get out of the rain heh) It mostly stays laying on the log about mid ways between the warm and cool side. Is this normal?
as above: more food. also take him to a vet for a fecal as he may have a common problem like cocidia that may be behind the small size and lack of appitite.

6) Its poo is kind of a brown looking poo with usaly a little white spot on the end is this normal?
the white stuff is part of his "Urine" so to speak.
brown and very solid and not very smelly is ok, soft and smelly often means cocidia infection, see above ... check with vet.

Do i have a normal healthy bearded dragon? I really like it and don't mind so much if its lazy just so long as its health and happy doing it. I have checked its toes for twitching. I have rubbed it and inspected it for any kind of bumbs or rot.(I also have a burmese python so I know about how to prevent and look for belly rot mouth rot mites and such)

a) have a vet check for cocidia or other parasites.
b) how "Bright" is the room?
c) for how many hours a day?

less than 13 hours of bright light may interfeer with his "clock" and make him stay "sleepy"

can you take him outside each day for sunlight?

I do not recall if you said what kind of UVB you have?
UVB is important for Vit. D and metabolising Calium to build bones. sun light is the best UVB you can get. if you are in a warm place an outside cage can be great. not thru a glass tank!!! that could cook him.

top of his head he has a "third eye" that needs to recive enogh light each day for at least 12 hours to make him "wake up"
also it should not be just a spot of light ... the whole cage should be lighted somehwat and even the room. if he sees a dark room it can throw them off .... hope this helps.

VET CHECK ASAP!
he does sound a bit slow and under his feed for what his age soulds like.... just as a bench mark
my BD went from 4" to 18" in 6 months and was eating 20-30 cricks a day and was sheding every week for a while.

when they get to be 18" and about 8-9 months they slow down and eat more greens.
-----
This space reserved for future use...

Thanx for the reply.
It and the snake share a room and it stays pretty bright all day and is dark at night. Its the BRAVE persons guestroom. (most don't like sleeping with a snake in the room.) I have his light running from about 8:30am to 9:00pm what is the best way to offer it food? Also is there any way to stimulate better for food? If I offer by hand sometimes he eats sometimes not. If I offer by forsips sometimes he eats sometimes not. If I offer by putting them in his tank sometimes he eats sometimes not. If I offer it to him by putting him in there tank sometimes he eats sometimes not. I also use a calcuim spray sometimes I here if you use it to often it can cause issues. Also I have noticed if his eyes are open and I offer him food then sometimes he will close them. Also do they see RED light? my snakes heat lamp is red. wonder if its keeping him up and stressing him? BTW I also have a Night GLO light that i turn on at night for him.

Thanx

It was "probably" at least 2-3 weeks old before you received it. They're usually about 5-6 inches long when they're born. If you have a 1.5-2 mo. old beardie that hasn't grown, then it probably isn't doing good.

The fact that it lays around the time is also a pretty bad sign. I'd force feed it with an oral serringe filled w/"bug juice". If you're not experienced with force feeding a reptile, SEE A VET RIGHT AWAY because you could injure the animal.

I hope the crickets have been small enough also (about as long as the distance between the dragons eyes).

I have made sure to always check for proper size of crickets when I feed him. I am aware of force feeding but have never had to do it with a reptile. With snakes it is better to wait them out and let them finally eat on there on because most times you stress them even more than they already are making the situation worse. Does this not hold true with lizards?

Thanx,

If the dragon is laying on it's stomach with it's legs out a lot of the time (not standing up on them) and only eating a couple of crickets a day, I'd either force feed it or go to a vet right away. The vet is the better option if you're not experienced w/this.

You can try making bug juice (bug juice is basically crushed crickets/pellets with multi-vitamins/calciumD3 in a paste/liquid form).

If you try bug juice, just put a drop on the beardies nose and it (hopefully) should drink several drops... if not, go to a vet. I wouldn't recommend that you try prying the mouth open because you could injure the animal. If it willingly takes the bug juice, I'd do it daily until the dragon appears to be healty.

Of course, this could be parasites or something else so that's why I'd see a vet right away rather than treating it yourself.

This morning I held it in my hand with its head laying next to my thumb and index fingure and used my other index finger to rub downward on its lips and it opened its mouth and would hold it open I then stuck a cricket in its mouth and it chewed it up and swallowed it. It took 2 with no problem then ate half of another one and the other half fell out of it mouth. then the same thing happened about 45 min later with another cricket so it got i would say 3 crickets in him this morning I plan on trying the same this afternoon when I get home. How many should I try and feed it this way a day?

Any UVB light and/or Calcium with D3 oral (powder or liquid) or vitmans? The spray vitamins are basically worthless.

I see you have basking light and night light (which the beardie would really be better off without)They do best with no light at night, if they need heat because your home gets cooler than low 70's then a ceramic heat emitter is better. Can yo cover him at night to block out the snake's light?

He is not taking enough food in to grow. You need to meet several needs in him for him to eat, grow and be healthy. IF he has been without any UVB(either sunlight regularly or UVB light) and also not have calcium with D3, this could be a lot of the problem with him. Also since he has not had them, he probably also should have a fecal test done to check for parasites and worms. If he does have any, that also will affect his eating.

Normal baby dragons 2-3 months old are aggressive eaters unless something is wrong, eating 20-100 crickets a day plus salad and pellets. Parasites and lack of Calcium, D3 or lack of proper lights also are probably a factor in his not thriving.

He needs a fecal, see what that says and treat it, along with changing some of the husbandry he is under and at minimum start getting some Calcium with D3 into him by dusting his crickets or mixing some with gatorade or pedialyte and giving to him with an eye dropper.

He is closing his eyes when you bring food to him as he is ill and does not desire food, if he continues this way, you will loss him. He is probably going to need hand feeding with strained baby foods like chicken and squashes or sweet potatoes until whatever is affecting his appetite is corrected.

What state/city are you in?
-----
www.reptilerooms.com

I am in Calhoun Georgia also I will try and do away with the night light and I can also turn off the snakes light at night because he has a Under Tank Heater to keep him warm. If you read my above post I had some success with feeding this morning. Does my light not provide proper lighting??? Its an 150w EXO-TERRA DAY GLO bulb. Also i have a calcuim spray that I use off and on. I will look into geting some vitiam dust today.

Thanx,

getting no UVB, all that is providing him with is heat and bright light intensity, no UVB. Same as a plain houshold bulb at $1.99 provides. They need D3 to survive and the only way you can duplicate that closely is from natural sun a few hours a day, or UVB light (like the Mercury Vapors or 5.0 or 8.0 Reptisun's)over their enclouse during waking hours. They need the UVB so their bodies can made pre D3 which then makes D3 and allows them to absord calcium either through their diet or supplements. Some people feel that they can get adequate amounts of D3 through supplements without the UVB, but we DO NOT recommend this for actively growing babies or being the best option for them.

He is not getting any calcium, the spray is worthless for that and with only 2-3 crickets a day he is starving for both calcium, vitamins and nutrition.

Also, with an overhead 150w EXO-TERRA DAY GLO bulb,undertank heater and the night light..... he is probably dehydrating out from too much steady heat source.

Give him some nice soaks, get him out in the sun if it is warm enough, start getting some calcium with D3 in him ASAP (try it in water, diluted gatorade or pedialyte)These are things he needs right away. Get some baby food chicken, squash, sweet potatoe and give it to him with an eye dropper at room temp.

Continue with him out in the sun as much as possible and the Calcium with D3. Also the baby food until he is eating crickets on his own.

Since he has had no calcium or D3 or exposure to UVB to make it himself, you might want to get him to a vet ASAP to and discuss this with one, and get a fecal checked down. I would be very surprised if he has a clear fecal at this point. They may feel that he will need some vitamins and calcium injections to replace it quickly.

Think about getting him a steady UVB light source for inside.
-----
www.reptilerooms.com

He doens't have an Under the tank heater thats my snakes I was saying I could turn off the snakes light cause he has the UTH to keep warm I will take him out in the sun today it is about 73 ish also i will get some baby food and mix some vitiams in with water and get him going on that I don't think there is a vet with in 50 miles of me that will do reptiles so i doubt I can take him to a vet but I do have a friend that works down at the poo-poo station here that has a degree for looking at things that live in poo.

Thanx,

Also if i take him out side during day how much is enough time outside??