Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I got a Bearded Dragon a two weeks ago. I waited four days and he still wouldn't eat. Finally, I have to stick the greens and crickets between his lips in order for him to chew them then eat them. As soon as I stick it in his mouth and let him have a taste of it. He's fine. I stuck some fresh parsley and crickets in his cage yesterday but he wouldn't eat any of it. Am I doing the right thing? Should I see a vet? If so what could be wrong?

Is this a baby? What are the basking and cool temps and are they abient or surface measured? How large are the food items? Sorry about the question with a question thing but there is more info needed to consider possible causes.

Sean
Heart Mountain Herps

Yes, we need to know a lot of information before we can give you an educated guess as to what may be wrong.

Basking temps (Surface)
Cool side temps
Feeding schedule
Supliments used and how often
Food items used
size of foods, etc
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Lisa
Cricket free babies!
LIVE hatchling web cam 8 - 8 EST
www.beginnersbasics.com

I was under the impression that parsley wasn't good for animals. I know it's not supposed to be fed to cats and dogs. Is it okay for beardies?

Parsley 2.4:1 3.0% .8% 3.3% 88% High oxalates (14:1 ox:ca), high vit. C (13%), high vit. A (51 IU/g)

According to Veronica's site (which I almost always refer to for food questions) it can be fed but should be rarely, most likely due to the high oxalate level.

Sean
Heart Mountain Herps

>>I was under the impression that parsley wasn't good for animals. I know it's not supposed to be fed to cats and dogs. Is it okay for beardies?

Good catch! I missed that part of the post.

Parsley has high oxalates (Binds calcium) and is also high in Vitamin A. It should only be fed as a rare treat.

I have a list of dragon safe foods listed on my site. Also, Veronica at www.beautifuldragons.com has a great food list with nutrient content, etc.
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Lisa
Cricket free babies!
LIVE hatchling web cam 8 - 8 EST
www.beginnersbasics.com

Basking temps (Surface) -95 degrees farenheit
Cool side temps -67 degrees farenheit
Feeding schedule -Once a day
Supliments used and how often -Reptical,
Food items used -parsley mealworms cricets (waxworms rarely)
size of foods, etc - 3/4 inch parsley and crickets

Age: the pet store said 8 months

Try kicking your temps up about 10 degrees on each side and see if that helps. In the meentime, he needs to eat something. Try this, grind some repcal up and add some pedialite to make a soup. Suck it up in a 3cc syrenge and put a drop on his nose, he should start lapping it up. Don't doo this too often or it's all he'll want, but it's good for getting them through times like this. If the increase in temps don't help in a couple days or if he starts to get worse get him to a vet. I'd also up feedings to twice a day, like fresh salad (loose the parsly) with repcal and some worms or crickets in it in the am and maybe the hand feeding later in the day/evening. I'd say if you don't see improvement in the first 24-48 hours get him to a vet friday so you don't have to wait the weekend.

Sean
Heart Mountain Herps