Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I recently purchased 2 4 month old beardies male and female and they are not eating anything....we have tried to hand feed them veggies and they wont touch the crickets in their cage....they are in a 40 gallon tank with reptile carpet as substrate...any advice would be helpful...

I can't help you with your problem cause I am new. But people are going to ask you what your temp. and humidity are in the tank. I sure hope you get them eating. Mine the male when he is shedding tends not to eat.

Your basking temp should be 110F or so, and on the other side of the tank it should be in the 80F's. I believe 86F is the comfort temp for them. If you have all that. Then soak your beardie in clean warm water. Want you want them to do is drink that water, don't force it but maybe splash a little, when you are filling up the tub or whatever. Mine like it to rain on them which makes them drink the water. Sometimes dragons are too dehydrated to eat. This will also make them poop which will feel better to them. Another problem i had was the pin heads i was buying were too big, so i started breeding my own crix, which isnt hard at all. I started out extremely small and them eventually they took to the bigger pin heads and then finally the medium crix. Young dragons need their protein and calories. To get small dragons to eat out of the food bowl, have many colors in it so they become interested and make sure they can see into the bowl from the ground. A food bowl i had was just a tad bit too small so i gave into the very expensive zoo med dishes that are striped to make it look they are made out of stone... it is now their favorite dish and they are garanteed to eat everything out of that bowl because it is easy to get to and they can eat from all directions. Dont feed them with a bowl that has 90 degree angels for sides. I have more tips but try these tips and if they still dont eat you can message me personally but im sure someone else will give you more help. Oh! and dont drown your bd's! Just enough water for them to float on.
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*~*Erin*~*
0.2 Tiki and Tahlie -Bearded Dragons- July 18, 2004 -high oranges-
0.2 Bailey and Mia -Degus- June 1, 2005

Give them a warm bath, and hope that they drink a little water.

Then raise the temperature in their tank a small level. Dragons don't digest food easily when their bodies are too cold.

Try Iceburg lettuce if you havent. It's not as nutritious, byut they like it more than roman Lettuce generally.

I too have a dragon that I rarely see eat. She looks emacipated almost. I hope she eats soon. Good luck.

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1.1 Bearded Dragons
1.2 Maroantsetra Panther Chameleons
1.0 Long Tailed Grass Lizard
500 Escaped Crickets

In the last post an owner said to feed lettuce. My advice would be not to do so because iceburg lettuce especially causes diarrhea!!! This will make your problem worse. Do you feel like eating when you have the runs? Exactly...

For great information on what to feed your bearded dragon go to www.beautifuldragons.com and look under nutrition. They have a very indepth study going on what to feed your beardie. These people have brains.
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*~*Erin*~*
0.2 Tiki and Tahlie -Bearded Dragons- July 18, 2004 -high oranges-
0.2 Bailey and Mia -Degus- June 1, 2005

First thing you want to do is put them in separate cages. From your post it sounds like you have both in a 40 gal tank. Separate them into smaller tanks with papertowel as the substrate. Make su re each has a basking temp ranging between 95-115F. A broad wide branch or stone is best, with different areas they can bask in with varing temperatures. The cool end of the tank should be in the mid to low 80's.

If you had them only for a week or two, they are still adjusting to their new homes and may not feel secure enough to eat. Make sure they have plenty of hides and if the tanks are in a high traffic area of the house, cover all but one side of the tank, to make them feel more secure. Get a fecal to a vet as soon as possible to make sure they are not suffering from parasites. Make sure they are well hydrated. I know some posters have suggested baths, but t his could add more stress to them right now. Try leaving a small dish of water in the cage, too small for them to crawl into but sturdy enough so it won't tip over if the dragon decides to run across it. Misting 2 - 3 times a day would be best.

For food, offer small crickets in a ceramic dish that is low enough the dragons can see inside and can get into the dish. You could put it near the basking spot so the dragon can easily see in. Crickets offered should be no bigger than the space between the dragons' eyes. Offer crickets 2-3 times a day. Fresh finely chopped greens (like those recommended at beautiful dragons) should be offered as well but it isn't unusual for young dragons not to take much interest in greens. Once the food is in the cage, leave the room to give the dragons privacy. They may eat better if there are no distractions.

If the dragons are showing noticable signs of loosing weight (indentation on the head, behind the eyes, hip bones showing or thin tail base), it may be necessary to force feed them. I recommend talking to a qualified reptile vet as force feeding can be stressful. A small bottle cap size amount of diluted gateraid may encourage the dragons to drink and the minerals/vitamines in gateraid will help stimulate appetite.
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PHLdyPayne