Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a couple beardeds that are just not acting right, at least it seems to me.

I got them both just about a week ago. They are both about 10 inches or so, but the male is pretty girthy at this point already. He's actually probably closer to 12". They both still seem active, but the female has not eaten much at all. Maybe a dozen mealworms the whole week, and some greens (not a lot of greens either).

Is this enough for her to be eating, or shouldn't she be eating al ot more at this size? She WON"T eat crickets - and this is why I've been offereing mealies.

The male was eating well, but now today he seems to be completely uninterested in the crickets or mealworms. He ate about 4 mealworms, and a few crickets yesterday late afternoon, and today, he is non interested. It is my experience that a male this size, should still be voraciously eating today after such a small course. He is not too interested in veggies. He likes peellets ok if I dangle them on fishing line.

I have the hot spots right, misting them etc. The female has just been stressed from the get go.

DOes this amount of food seem normal? what did/do yours at this size eat a day, and how long did they take breaks between meals? Days? or just hours.

Thanks

Im curios to what your setup is for them. Are they seperated? Are the temps correct/what are they? What kind of enclosure are they in and what is in the enclosure? What kind of lighting do you have? What were they feeding on before you got them? Are their colors remaining dark including their belly or have they been "fired up" at all with a nice white belly?

Sometimes some beardies will take a little while to adjust. I would have a fecal done, describe your exact setup and give info as asked above.

Well I'll do this one step at a time.

They were first in a 40 breeder together, but I realized (once they arrived) the female was quite a bit smaller than expected in comparison. So I seperated him out first into a 20 gallon. After getting suggestion from the breeder, I put her in the smaller one instead, and put paper towels around it, to "minimize the variables" and stress.

I have a large basking stone, and paper towels in the small one (the females current cage). A 60 watt bulb is the hot spot on both of them, and the male in the big cage stays on teh fringe of the hot spot (so it is warm enough I would say). The female basks on the rock and holds there with her mouth open (but then goes running around digging to get out later) and then returns to the rock. The males cage has a couple large pieces of driftwood that get him close to the spot. I'll include a pic.

They are both showing good colors, and white bellies. That is the weird thing, they look good. They just are not eating, and she's acting very streseed (running to the corners digging, not eating etc).

They aren't skinny, but it does seem they've lost a little thickness since arriving (more so the female, but she still doesn't look bad).

I'm not sure what they were eating exactly, but they said crickets mealworms and veggies. they both had good poops after they got here (the female via a warm bath)

Thank you

here...

np

cool setup. How big is the enclosure?

Lance
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1 male bearded dragon named Lenny
1 femal bearded dragon named Jewels
1 male or female mali uro named Milo or molly (not sure anymore)

Just as important and making sure they are eating, is making sure they are pooping and what the poop looks like.

Also take a fecal to the vet and perhaps set up a checkup for them too. Never hurts, especially with new "babies".

Everytime I get a new animal I save a fresh poop and swing by my vet's office and get a fecal done (well not really anymore, I take them into school and do fecals myself. But not everyone is in vet school or is a vet so you don't really have that option). That way you know what parasites they do and don't have.

It is also a good idea for new dragons to actually have a wellness check too at the vet's (and bring a fecal). I'd probably even if you do figure out what's wrong and correct it yourself get them an appointment if you haven't already.

And to say it again, bring a fecal. Everytime any herp goes to the vet you should ALWAYS bring a fresh fecal sample.

TIP: To keep it fresh until you go to the vet, put it in a sealed container in the fridge, not the freezer. There it will be good for several days even.

Good luck and I hope you figure things out.

So is it a normal amount of food, or way off?

Thanks

I'd avoid the mealies, they're hard to digest and can cause problems. That being said, they should be eating more than that IMO. It may be that they are just not settled yet, could also be parasitic or any number of things. Best bet is to see what your vet says when you take them in.

Sean
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Heart Mountain Herps

I wouldn't be feeding them mealworms. Mealworms have very hard shells(harder then anything on a cricket) and are harder for a small bearded to digest.

There's a chemical in the mealworms shell, I believe it is called creten and that also is not good for young dragons (even if they are 12 inches they are still young).

I read on a couple sites that superworms are ok for beardeds over a year, so I got some after I had Hades for a year and fed him 3, and he got sick and almost died because of it.

So now I never feed any of the animals super or meal worms.

Just a thought. Maybe try more greens (green peas and green beans are good for beardeds, fresh or frozen, Draco and Hades both love them, and peas are a great way to get your bearded to gain weight also).
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2 Mali Uromastyx-Ares & Apollo
2 Bearded Dragons- Draco & Hades
1 Saharan Uromastyx-Iris
1 Leopard Gecko-Kalypso
1 Tokay Gecko-Sid Vicious
1 Tarantula-Peter Parker
1 Amazon Red Head Parrot-Pancho
1 African Gray Parrot-Keya
1 Dog-Cheeka
3 Fish-no names
1 Beta Fish-also no name
1 Zebra Finch-Beeps