Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Well...I purchased my 3rd beardie at the show in Tampa April 9th. He's absolutely beautiful but I can not get him to eat on his own. I know from past experience they don't always eat when they get home. To make him feel more comfortable I covered his tank with paper. He is currently in a 10 gal (he's tiny)I offer him greens daily and small crickets daily and he is not interested. After I had him home, he went a week and no food (that I could see, it is poss he picked at some greens)finally I was able to pop four crix in his mouth when he got excited enough seeing the crix in the keeper through the glass, but he still wouldn't chase any crix...he'll let them crawl right on him. Since he went 9 days with only taking water off my finger I started feeding him turkey baby food with a syringe. He eats pretty well when I do this..but is he going to get too spoiled and always expect me to feed him like this??? He seems to be active (I find him in diff places)but this is really starting to bum me out. Any advice would be great!

TIA!
Marilee
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1.2 Bearded Dragons (Dezirae, Artimis & Papi)
0.2 Dogs (Timex & Brady)
1.0 Sulcata (Speedy)
1.1 Hamsters
1.2 Horses (Joey, Joi & Crystal)
0.2 Beta Fish

>>Hey girlfriend!

Have you tried parazap tea with a syringe once to twicw a day for a week? I would give that a shot and also it wouldn't hurt to get an appetite enhancing liquid b vitamin supplement and give a few drops of that a day as well. If that doesn't help you really should go and have a fecal done at the vet. Does he want to hide alot too?

I've heard that feeding through a syringe can spoil a beardie but I've actually had several that I had to do this way and they always went right back to live food and salad when I removed them from the "special care unit" LOL. Just make sure your mixing the supps in with the baby food so he gets all his vitamins and calcium and D3..... I use this recipe for mine... about a tablespoon of juvie repcal pellets soaked in two drops of electrodize with D3 and water. It takes more water than you think it will to be able to make them blend well. Then when I get those smushed up good I add about a teaspoon of baby food and two or three pinches of calcium/D3 powder. This should feed one 6-9" lizard for about two days just make sure to refrigerate it.

Later,
Robert Wood
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Great spirits have always been recieved with violent opposition by mediocre minds. Albert Einstein

Thanks for the info...I'll deff try that. He does hide along side his little piece of wood sometimes but not always. I'll try to find the parazap too. I just needed that little pep talk!

Marilee
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1.2 Bearded Dragons (Dezirae, Artimis & Papi)
0.2 Dogs (Timex & Brady)
1.0 Sulcata (Speedy)
1.1 Hamsters
1.2 Horses (Joey, Joi & Crystal)
0.2 Beta Fish