Reptile & Amphibian Forums

my 7 /12 bearded dragon witch i got a week and day ago didnt eat anything till saturday then didnt eat till today and i put some crickets in and he wouldnt chase them sun. monday or today so today i stuck them in the corner of his mouth till he got the taste then he ate them but he still wont chase them. He also will not eat any greens what can i do and how should i go about this problem?

How old is he? How much does he weigh?

What is his setup? Tank size, light types, temps

Any chance of brumation?

Any chance he has parasites?
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Derek Affonce
DeKeAff Exotics
dekeaffexotics.com

2-3 months / not sure on weight not even a pound

10 gallon soon to 55, high 90's to 110 basking and 82-86 cool end

what is brumation i dont understand it ? can you explain to me and how do i tell?

no parasites i always check

i use a 5 1/2 dome light with a 60 wat basking bulb that keeps the temp up and a flurescent light that is 15" bulb by repti sun 5.0

How do you check for parasites?

The brumation is a type of hibernation. He is a little young for it. Have you had a fecal done?
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Derek Affonce
DeKeAff Exotics
dekeaffexotics.com

i check his body and around the eyes and mouth and no i havent had one done yet.

oh you are a snake person. i can tell, when i say parasites I do not mean mites. I understand what you mean they are like the plague. parasites in beardies mean internal parasite flagylytes, protozoans, pinworms, hookworms, and the such. This is why a fecal is needed. To check these most dragons have them sometimes when stressed they get out of check.
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Derek Affonce
DeKeAff Exotics
dekeaffexotics.com

Thanks, And yeah I'am a snake person Anything else you want to check about and also when do they usually brumate and what age and how do you tell? I completly dont understand it when i have read the sheets about it

brumation sometimes occurs over the first winter. sometimes not until the second winter. beardies will just go into it. they just sleep do not bask and do not eat. it lasts several months. it can be a pain in the butt. I would get the fecal done pretty soon that would be my prime suspect if it were one of my dragons 2-3 month old dragon is very young to brumate but not unheard of. Oh and maybe pic up a gram scale if you have a chance ($30 at office max) then u can monitor his/her weight.
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Derek Affonce
DeKeAff Exotics
dekeaffexotics.com

Shes awake and is very active

so not brumation. when did you get her? how often you handling her? i would not try to force any food on her. offer veggies in the mornign and crickets at night. Have you been soaking her? and get the fecal you might be able to find a vet to do it for $15 or so. i still think that is it. or could be stress in which case give her a day or two with no handling and just try to feed her. if she is new they can take a week to get going. She have any cagemates? See any other dragons or other herps that could be stressign her out. I don't know if this is stuff I have asked been going on two different threads at once.
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Derek Affonce
DeKeAff Exotics
dekeaffexotics.com

The 29th of December. I handel her every day 1 or 2 times for about the max 30 mins each. Yes i soak her usually everyday or every other day. And no she does not have any cage mates. She might see plenty of things in my reptile room one being my ball pythong and maybe my mice. I dought she can see my Burmese python considering the side she is on has a towl on that side of the cage and part of the front.

Should i feed outside the cage in a seprate containter could this be why also?

Thanks Lee

1.0 Burmese Python
0.1 Ball Python
0.1 Bearded Dragon
0.1 Green Iguana
1.4 Mice
2.2 Rabbits

What i meant by the last thing i said was that right now i feed the crickets outside the cage should i feed them inside?

Thanks, Lee

1.0 Burmese Python
0.1 Ball Python
0.1 Bearded Dragon
0.1 Green Iguana
1.4 Mice
2.2 Rabbits

I would cut back handling her. She may not be used to it. No home now being handled all the time. very stressful. What I would do is not handle her for a day, just put salad in in the morning and put crickets in at night (I do this at 7pm have 9 pm lights out what size crics do you offer?). The second day no handling besides to give her a half hour soak. Salad in morning crickets at night. I would keep that up (soak every other day) and no handling besides bear necesary until she starts to eat better.
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Derek Affonce
DeKeAff Exotics
dekeaffexotics.com

About 1/4 and some are bigger so like 1/4 and 1/2

Thanks, Lee

1.0 Burmese Python
0.1 Ball Python
0.1 Bearded Dragon
0.1 Green Iguana
1.4 Mice
2.2 Rabbits

The only thing I would add is to get a semi-deep ceramic bowl (1-1 1/2" deep) and shake your crickets vigorously when you dust them (this kind of disorients them, I use a ziploc bag and REALLY shake 'em up!) then dump them into the bowl. This way most of the crickets will stay in the bowl and try to climb out so they move, but they are contained and easy for the beardie to catch. She may be stressed by being put in yet a nother new enclosure to eat try feeding her this way in her cage. The only down side is that you need to catch any escapee crickets that she does not eat, as you do not want them munching on her at night.

This helped with my beardie when he was new. He was a little stressed and did not feel comfortable running around. The deep bowl he crickets can't get out of was rec. by someone on this forum and it worked well.
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Stacey