Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I got my bearded dragon about a week ago and he is 6.5 inches. The basking temps are at 104 and ambient is anywhere from 80-90. I'll give you a synopsis of his stay so far:

Day 1: He ate two crickets for me and drank.
Day 2: He did not touch the crickets, but when offered mealworms he gladly ate 3 (I stopped offering cause I hear they are bad for babies) and he drank
Day 3: He ate nothing and drank nothing
Day 4: Offered veggies in a small pool of water by adding a tiny shred of carrot and blowing the water so the carrot would move around floating. He ate a cricket and three pieces of carrot this way.
Day 5: Tried my technique again and failed. Offered crickets/hibiscus flower/romaine lettuce/carrots/hibiscus leaves and he didn't touch it or drink.
Day 6: Bought waxworms and he ate two, I offered 2 more and he didn't touch it. I gave him a mealworm that was freshly molted and was "white" and he ate it real fast! Then I offered a regular mealworm that had not been recently molted and it was ignored. I offered water via syringe and he didn't drink it so I offered berry juice and he drank.
Day 7: Changed his tank to a much bigger one. Offered waxwroms/mealworms/crickets/vegetables/bearded dragon pellet food (soaked in berry juice) and didn't touch any. I found 2 more freshly molted mealworms and he ate both. He only drank the berry juice.
Today: Silkworms came in today! Offered them and he didnt touch it. Looked through my mealies and found none that molted so I offered a regular one. Denied. He drank some water diluted with berry juice.

Recently he has been thrashing his head around and jumping against the aqarium (dimensions are LWH - 30 X 16 X 20 approx). If I try to pick him up to get him to eat he thrashes around and then closes his eyes. He never use to do this it was a recent development. He poops once or twice a day, and just today he pooped out a monster, maybe an inch long! He has white urinates. It seems the only thing he will eat are freshly molted mealworms. I'm running out of feeders here!

Possibilities:
Parasite overload due to stress - Vet confirmed parasitic level to be stable and nothing to worry about from a fresh fecal examination.
Accilimation? (Original breeder had him on play sand)
Picky feeder?!

P.S. he has a repti-glo 8.0 for UVB that is fresh.

the care sheet I have from the breeders I purchased my beardies from (Dachui) says the basking temp should be 110-120 for babies...105-115 for adults...the other side of tank should be 80-85...how do you offer drink to your beardie??

Via syringe and a dish of water which he never uses, do you think its the temperatures? Can anyone else agree?

about a month and half ago, I noticed my beardie wasn't eating quite as much as he used to...we checked his temps with a temp gun and they were slightly lower, apparently the bulb was near the end...we replaced the bulb and he began to eat his normal amount...if the temps aren't correct they won't digest or digest very slowly...so that could be the problem...and yes, he could be suffering from stress from the move...

most do not drink from a dish...so most people use a syringe or spray them with water...

Yea he drinks sometimes via the syringe and I spray him and bathed him twice so far. I'm going to Publix right now and changing his 60 WATT to a 100WATT. Then test the temperatures. Thanks for the input!

One more thing, when I place him under the basking site he stays there and a few minutes later he thrashes his head and leaps from the spot. Isn't that a sign of overheating? So are you sure I should increase temps?

well, I'm new to this myself so know how upsetting not knowing can be...from all I've heard the breeders I purchased from are good and I've never had a medical problem with my guy...it could be he is just stressed, especially if you've handled him alot at the beginning...also, you said you moved him to a new enclosure? well, if so, the added moving could cause more stress...I recently moved mine to a larger tank and it took him a week to adjust...by all means ask many more opinions, the best way to learn...

I'm new to this myself so I know how upsetting not knowing can be...I'd ask as many opinions as you can, it's often the best way to learn...did you purchase yours from a breeder? if so, you ould try contacting them, if they are good breeders they should be happy to answer your questions...

Bearded Dragons need a basking spot of 105 to 110F. Dragons have been known to suffer heat stroke at temps over 113F so it sounds like your temps are good and so is cage sizing.

I am a bit curious, you say he is not eating, yet he is pooping twice a day? If he is pooping, it must be coming from somewhere. How large are the food items you are feeding him?

And don't worry if he doesn't drink EVERY day. They are arid to semi arid dwelling reptiles so they can go one day without water.

Wendy
Scales

The fecal matter is generally really tiny. Except for today, it was huge it must have came from the mealworms. I try to feed him prey that does not exceed 1 inch in length and has a width less then 1/8th an inch. Your right though, from the amount he ates, perhaps a worm a day on average he does poop alot. Also, he doesnt move very much he just stays in one place alert and eventually closes his eyes. He has the frantic outburst where he'll start jumping on everything and running around. He will move to the basking site occasionally. He came from a breeder that used sand, perhaps he is not accustomed to hunting on paper towel? I may have to risk him being compacted if it means he will eat.

His activity sounds pretty normal for a dragon.

I think part of it is internal parasites, pinworms and possibly coccidia.

At 6 1/2 inches, you really want to stay away from mealworms if you can as they can impact the dragon at that age.

I doubt the papertowel has anything to do with it. I also doubt that there is any impaction seeing as how he just "took a big one".

How long do you leave your lights on and what time of day do you feed him?

Wendy
Scales

I leave the lights on for 12 hours 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM, and feed him once in the morning at 9:00 and then I keep trying throughout the day about 5-6 times offering everything I possibly can.

You can increase your photo period to 16 hours. This is more like summertime and will increase his metabolism and activity level as well as his appetite.

Wendy
Scales

Your setup for the size of dragon is fine, as is the temperatures. I would stop feeding mealworms completely and the waxworms. Stick with silkworms and crickets plus greens.

Your dragon will take 1-2 weeks to setting into his new home and it's perfectly normal for them not to eat much. He is eating something pretty much every day so that's a good thing. Offer silks 2-3 times a day as he is quite young, dusting them once or twice a feeding per day. Keep offering greens as well. Mist him several times a day as well, but not heavily, just spraying the glass will often be all that's needed to get him to lick the droplets.

Your dragon has been moved twice in a week, this will put some stress on him. Leave him alone as much as possible for the next couple weeks till he is eating regularly. Don't try and hold him, or bathe him (unless he stops pooping and/or is looking dehydrated). Also, keep traffic outside his cage to a minimum till he adjusts to his new surroundings.

use a digital thermometer or temp gun to measure his basking temp and cool end temperature, unless you are already doing that. The 100 watt bulb you mentioned buying, don't. That would be way to hot for the size of cage your dragon is in. a 60-75 Watt should be more than enough adn since you already have basking temps over a 100 F, you don't need to up the wattage at all. You could increase the temps just by raising the basking spot a few inches but I think the temp is fine. pretty much anything between 95-115F with the higher end for babies, is fine.
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PHLdyPayne

He is ignoring all foods now. Its not getting better, but its getting worse. He is eating less and less. Offered a freshly molted mealworm and he didn't touch it. Still hasn't touched the silkworm either.