Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I Bought my first ever lizard (a bearded dragon) on Monday. It is now Friday, and it hasn't yet had a bowel movement, I can't seem to get it to drink, and It has only eaten on Wednesday. What can I do!? Is this normal? please, someone who has experiance with bearded dragons message me back ASAP!!!

We need more info than that. What are the temps and what are you measureing them with (what kind of thermometer)? What's the substrate? How old? How big? Where did you get it from and what did they have it on? What have you been feeding and how large (and what were the people doing before you had it)? Lights? Dusts?

Sean
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Heart Mountain Herps

Thanks for the speedy reply.
Like I said before, this is the first time I have ever had a reptile before. I bought my little guy from a pet store, and before taking him home, I asked the "expert" there what types of things I would need in the tank, so all that I have is what he reccommended to me. I'm using a mercury thermometer made for aquariums, and I have one attached to the glass at the hot end, one at the cool end. The warm end is at around 100 F, and the cooler end, 80 F. I have Exo-Terra sand substrate ( half black, half reddish colour) and its really, really fine. The guy at the pet sotre figures my dragon is about 4-5 months old, and its just over 9 inches long. I have been feeding it medium sized crickets, as well as romane lettuce chopped up, and a few pellets sprinkled in as well. I'm using a UVB light and a 150 watt light bulb. I bought two different kinds of vitamin dust, to be honest, not totally sure what they are, but the man at the store said they were the best. I think thats all the questions answered. Thanks so much for taking the time to help me and my unexperianced self.

> Exo-Terra sand substrate ( half black, half reddish colour) and it

I would get rid of the sand substrate and use newspaper/paper towels for now.

> just over 9 inches long.

You lizard is large enought that you should now be worried about him dying of starvation after 1 week.

I would do the following:

Take him into the shower with you. My beardies almost always poop in the shower, they are hydrated and enjoy the warm water. Though your guy may try to get out of the spray. I plug up the drain with a wash cloth so that their is 1/2" - 1/4" of water. Then place him on the floor in the water and out of most of the spray. He should pop after 5-10 minutes. He also will puff himself up like a football when in the water.

Get 5-10 meal worms or 5 king worms and feed him these. They are like candy for beardies. He should eat them.

Also, contact the lady who sold him to you.

Make sure that you have something in the cage for him to climb on and place it under the UVB light. Beardies like to climb.

Conrad
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Peace through Strength
War through Weakness
Defeat through Kerry (like Johnson)

I would also make sure that you hold him as much as possible and feed him by hand with tweezers.
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Peace through Strength
War through Weakness
Defeat through Kerry (like Johnson)

Thanks so much for the advice, I will try the shower thing. I tried to gently place the little guy in wamr water in the sink, and well, he didnt like it much at all, totally freaked out on me and ran up my arm. I'll get rid of the sand asap, and try the thing with the worms. i appreciate all the help.

Ok, a couple things. The thermometers are the wrong kind, they can be up to 20 degrees off. Infrared ones are the best but for now a little $10 digital indoor/outdoor from walmart will do ya, put the probe right on the basking spot and the base on the cool end. Temps should be about 105 (give or take 5 degrees) on the basking spot and about 85 on the cool end. 9" is more like a 2-3 month old dragon and would still be considered a baby. Baby's eat primarily bugs, small to medium crix are fine, be sure to dust them with a good calcium dust before you feed them. Small lobster roaches or silworms would be good also but avoid mealworms. For salad good dark greens like collard, turnip, mustard, etc. are all good. Check www.beautifuldragons.com for a real good food list. Babies should be fed 3-5 times a day as much as they will eat in 10 minutes, most will put down 50-100 crix per day. Sounds like you got the lights alright, a uvb bulb and a basking spotlight. You need to lose the substrate, that sand is about the worst thing for them. Papertowels, newspaper, or shelfliner will work much better for a baby. I'd start reading as much as you can about them, digging through past posts on here is a good place, you can also check my website (links in my sig) and others websites from around here and that will get you started. A soak in lukewarm water for 10 minutes or so will usually get them to poop and helps keep them hydrated also. Good luck with your little guy.

Sean
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Heart Mountain Herps

Hi
bath him shoulder deep and feel with youre wrist if its not to hot.
then 15-20 minuts in.
ad warm water when its getting to cool.
stay with him all the time like you do with a human babie bath.
masage his belly if he realy not poop can help some times.
stroke very centle under his belly while he is in the water.
then with youre finger drop some water on his nose and ofthend they start to drink.
answhere the quistions the other poster asked!!!
byeeeee
www.dragoncave.nl

what size tank did they sell you?

Those stick on thermometers only measure the temperature of the glass where they are...if one says 100 then your basking area is probably too hot...

An inexpensive alternative that is reliable is a digital indoor-outdoor thermometer. I got mine for $10 at our local grocery--WalMart and other like stores also carry them (garden center).

Our male beardie does not like to be soaked--but he gets several a week. Not many beardies drink/see standing water--in our case he only used his water dish as a toilet! (NO more water dish for him)

It is normal for them to take a week or so to adapt to their new home.

I disagree with the other poster about the meal worms--they have a hard outer shell that can impact (clog up) your baby. They should only be given occasionally and it is better if you wait unitl your guy is a little bigger to reduce risk. It would also benifit you to take your baby to the vet for a check--or at least when he poos take the 'sample' (fecal) in for a parasite check--under $20. The stress of a new home can cause parasite levels to rise dramatically.

Most pet store "experts" have NEVER owned their own beardie...they will try to sell you as much stuff from their store as possible even if it is BAD for your animal!

Romaine is not that great either...you need to offer dark leafy greens--the better ones being Mustard, Collard, and Turnip. Go to www.beautifuldragons.com and carefully read their caresheets. Also read read read lots of the old posts from this board. You will easily get the feeling of who really knows what they are talking about.

It is not that hard to keep a beardie alive--but it takes time and knowledge to keep them HEALTHY and happy.

Just a few ramblings...welcome to the wonderful world of Bearded Dragons. When we got our first one 2 years ago we were as nervous as you!

DM

I agree with most of the above posts, with the exceptions of the mealworms. Mealies should probably be given to your beardie only after you have him pooping regularly. Try small crickets, silkworms, butter worms, or waxworms to intice her appetite. (although wax worms are very fattening, so after you get her eating i would only use them as an occasional treat)

I also disagree that you should hold her as much as possible. If she is new to you she is stressed, and if she isn;t eating then that proves she is maybe more stressed than usual, holding her a lot will only stress her more. Leave her alone for a few days until she starts eating and pooping regularly.

It is also normal for reptiles to go off food during times of stress and its very likely she will start eating on her own soon. Keep offering her food, at this age she should be eating mostly bugs (dusted with calcium/vitimin powder. Make sure that the calcium powder you are giving her is made of mostly calcium carbonate, and also contains D3) as she gets older her diet will rotate, and as an adult she will eat mostly veggies and a few bugs. My adult female gets salads every day, and bugs once every week or two, with a day of no food here and there so she can digest and flush her system.

Soaking beardies is a good way to make them poop, as stated above, and also a good way to keep them hydrated. Beardies come from the deserts and get most of their needed water from their veggies and crix, but studies have shown that kidney failure due to not enough water in their system is more common than was thought before. Because of this i like to mist my beardies that wont drink from a water dish. Not often, maybe once or twice a week lightly, they usually open their mouths and gulp down the water.

Do lots of research, and DO NOT depend on people at pet stores to give you good advice. There are lots of credible websites online, many of them are linked to on this website, and there are many good books available as well.

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