Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi, i recently purchased a juvenile male bearded dragon and he will not eat any of the food i give him, only drink from a syrenge. Yesterday I noticed his front paws were white, a different colour from the rest of him. Today, after a bath, i noticed his back paws and nose had also turned white and seemed to be a lower layer than rest of his skin. When i purchased him he was a nice orange colour but has now turned brown. Is he shedding? Could this be why he will not eat? If so, he is my first beardie, so i would like advice on what to do when he is shedding. When i first got him i thought he was stressed and that is why he would not eat but he is not nervous of me and he moves around his tank. When i take him out he always explores a bit of the room. I have a closet door painted lime green and he always looks at the door and scrathes the glass on that side of the tank. When he explores he always runs towards that door. When I open it he loses interest goes somewhere else. But when it is closed, he is always attracted to it and trys to climb it. Are beardies attracted to lime green? I found it kind of weird the way he is so fascinated by it. There is nothing in the closet he wants so it must be the colour. I am not sure beardies can see colour though...

he is most likely shedding.Beardies can see colors,there favorites are hot pink,lime green,and orange.

Thanks, but could because he is shedding be why he is not eating?

No. Sounds like two different problems. Shedding is nothing to worry about but not eating is.

How long have you had him? How big is he? What size prey are you offering? Have you had him checked for parasites?
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Amanda
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2.0 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)
0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)

I have had him a week. He is a nine month old juvenile male. when we picked him him out he was fine but when i brought him home he wont eat solid foods (i blend crickets, fruit etc and feed him from a syrenge). He will only eat a tiny bit of riddicio nothing else. The other day i bought a bunch of meal worms but they turned out to have been dead not "frozen" as the lady who sold them said. There was one alive and he ate it instantly but wouldnt touch the dead ones. after that is when he ate the riddicio. Maybe he doesnt like the type of crickets im feeding. The breeder who sold him said she fed him wax worms and silk worms as a staple diet. Maybe he's not used to eating crix. Maybe he needs to eat his live food first before feeling an appetite for greens since thats when he ate them after the meal worms? As for parasites i dont think so since he was healthy a week ago when i got him but he wont eat at my house. How do i check for parasites?

I would try feeding him silkworms, those are very nutritious. Wax worms and mealworms should be fed sparingly. They are good for stimulating his appetite if that's all he'll go for right now but get some silkies ASAP. Too many mealies at once can cause impaction, and waxworms are too fatty.

As for parasites, I know you want to trust your breeder and that fine, but it's ALWAYS a good idea to get a new lizard checked. I got my first beardie from a well known breeder but he still came down with parasites a week or so later. Sometimes they may already have a small amount in their system with no symptoms, but stress can trigger it. Sometimes parasites can come from their food, even if you wash their greens one batch of contaminated food can do it. It's just so easy to get and even if you think he was healthy when you got him you just never know for sure until you get him checked out yourself.

The way to do this is with a fecal check. You can take him in and they'll get one from him, or if you can get a fresh one to the vet pretty quick they can do it without him present.

Have you spoken to the breeder you got him from about the way he's behaving? They may have some good suggests for you as well.
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Amanda
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2.0 bearded dragons (Ocho / Domo-kun)
0.1 kingsnake (Rio)
1.0 ferret (Playstation)
1.0 cat (Wally)
0.1 dog (Tima)