# My baby Bearded Dragon wont eat. PLEASE HELP!!



## Dmolloy

Hi, i recently purchased a baby beardy 4 days ago, and it ate fine on the first night, but since then it hasn't eaten anything what so ever (except a piece of lettuce). The pet store i purchased it from gave me a batch of the crickets they were feeding it, but personally i believe they are way too big for it.
But i am only used to feeding and looking after adult beardies not a baby one. 

Other info:
It seems to be lively as usual within the vivarium.
I mist the enclosure 3 times a day to keep it hydrated.
The temp in the basking spot it 88 (this is what the pet store kept the temp at).
Dont know the sex of the beardie, due to its young age.

Have tried crickets, mealworms, lettuce, raspberries, strawberries, carrot.


----------



## x-Al-x

Lettuce gives beardies bad bellies. its to watery for gives them the runs and dehydrates them. so try to stay away.
mist him for hydration, or give him a water bowl.
dont leave the water bowl in there though. can cause humidity and also in long term could cause kidney problems

Has he pooped?
mine adults didnt eat much last week coz she was bunged up coz she needed toilet?


----------



## x-Al-x

Also
if the crickets width is bigger than the gap between your beardies eyes then they are to big


----------



## Will-2k9

Its normal for a beardie not to eat properly the first week or two that it moves homes, as you should know if you have had adult beardies, as even adults do it too. Just try not to handle it for the first week or so, switch to cabbage and greens rather than lettuce, as you should know again if you have had adult beardies before too. keep trying the beardie with 2-3 crickets every couple of days until it settles in and starts eating them. And make sure you take them out afterwards, 

Remember, food shouldnt be any longer than the space between there eys.


----------



## baggylettuce

i had a similar problem but after about a weekish he settled in fine and now eats every day greens and crickets. i changed the set up slightly and removed everything over then his basking spot rocks and didn't hold him for that week which seemed to help him settle in quicker. i doubt it is anything serious he will just need to settle in to his new home. directly under my basking spot is 103F, 88 seems abit low unless you mean the area around his spot. do you have a good temp gradient aswell? try keep the cool end around 70 - 80F thats what i was told form the store i got it from.


----------



## Row'n'Bud

As above, raise the temp below his basking spot and get size 2 crickets for him. Also try to get some new born dubia roaches, our babies go nuts for these over their crickets.
Check the care sheet section on here for some great info on rearing baby dragons as well


----------



## Kat and Billy

I agree with RownBud above....raise your temperature at the basking spot to about 110-115.

I'm no expert so can only go on my experience with our little guy, but when we first got him, he didn't eat much at all, he was on edge and wouldn't let us near him. We took our time with his, and after a week or so he was happily chasing crickets and hoppers around his viv and he loves his greens.

Give your little one some time and i'm sure they'll start eating and the pooing, if they don't then time to see a vet.

Good luck


----------



## Dmolloy

Well, the cool end is roughly 80F, but the basking spot i've been told to keep at 88F from veterinary surgeons.

When i say i look after adult beardies, i do not actually own them, i share the routine of caring for them between 3 other people as part of my training, and we have a variety of many species within that routine to look after as well, so focusing on one baby is proving difficult at the moment, compared to the adult beardies.

I will try the size 2 crickets, however no matter what i put in the enclosure the dragon does not seem to have an appetite for it and 
reluctantly, if i rub the food along its mouth it will lick and possible eat it.

i contacted the veterinary clinic, and they given me an appointment for friday to overlook it, and they told me to bath it in warm water twice a day, but that has just been proven very stressful for the beardy and i am completely stumped.


----------



## Dmolloy

oh and it has had 2 poos, which i picked out on the 2nd day i had it, but since then nothing...

water dish it has, which i remove and refill everyday with water and reptisol or reptisafe, but it seems to like licking water droplets from the mist on the plantation in the enclosure.


----------



## Wrench

Firstly do not mist the enclosure mist the dragon outside of the viv otherwise it can cause respitory infections. However they usually drink water when it is moving and that may be why it licks it from the viv decor. Just put a droplet on his nose at a time and he should lick it off.

Secondly it's normal for a dragon to be stressed when you first bring it home, I wouldnt bath it twice a day at all, it will just stress him out and likely reduce the chance of it eating. I would give him some space, and let him get used to his new home and he should eat when he is ready.

lastly if there are any problems the vet should spot them so it is always good to see a vet when you get a new pet but stop feeding him lettuce, use spring greens, mustard greens, rocket, butternut squash, kale etc. If you need any references on what greens he can/can't eat let me know.


----------



## Row'n'Bud

You could try to re hydrate it using electrolytes available from good rep suppliers or with "dioralyte" from a chemist. If using the latter get an unflavoured sachet and mix it up in mineral water, ie evian,etc.....apply this with an eye dropper or syringe around it's mouth and it should take some.
I have pulled numerous groggy and de hydrated reps around this way over the past few years....
Ps...don't know your vet but not all vets are reptile savvy and it is worth hunting out a vet that works a lot in this field as advise to keep it at 88 degrees for a baby is a little off the mark, again, check the beardy care sheet in the care sheet section on here for great advise on rearing babies


----------



## baggylettuce

Dmolloy said:


> Well, the cool end is roughly 80F, but the basking spot i've been told to keep at 88F from veterinary surgeons.
> 
> When i say i look after adult beardies, i do not actually own them, i share the routine of caring for them between 3 other people as part of my training, and we have a variety of many species within that routine to look after as well, so focusing on one baby is proving difficult at the moment, compared to the adult beardies.
> 
> I will try the size 2 crickets, however no matter what i put in the enclosure the dragon does not seem to have an appetite for it and
> reluctantly, if i rub the food along its mouth it will lick and possible eat it.
> 
> i contacted the veterinary clinic, and they given me an appointment for friday to overlook it, and they told me to bath it in warm water twice a day, but that has just been proven very stressful for the beardy and i am completely stumped.


 
i dont have that much experience with beardies manly with snakes but this is my first and he is only 4 months old now but i've never seen on any care sheet or in a shop that the basking spot should be that low, try raising the temps and see what happens over the next few days but try get it to around 105-115f ideally mine should be more its just i have the wrong bulb in at the mo going to pick another up tomorrow.

i don't think theres much need to worry and get the vet involved yet just hang over over the weekend and see what happens, just leave him to get use to his surroundings and dont try pick him up or over face him with food becuase that will just worsen it and he should be eating fine soon enough


----------



## Meko

Like others have said:

1 - they take a week or so to settle in and don't always eat in that time
2 - your basking spot is far from hot enough. aim for around 115f
3 - stop misting it; you'll raise the humidity and make it ill, it's a beardie from the desert not a cham from a rain forest. They'll get their moisture from greens and food, or you can put a small water bowl in the cool end.


----------



## Dmolloy

Ok, i will raise the temperature of the basking spot in a mo.

At the moment i have a blue spot heat lamp, with a dimming thermostat. do you think it would be better to buy a ceramic heat lamp instead??


----------



## baggylettuce

you could try the ceramic bulb or just try a normal white spot bulb, beardies are attracted to light so try that aswell, and try avoiding coloured bulbs. try misting once a day out side his viv you might be stressing it out more by doing it three times.


----------



## Tilly1988

Warm bath's are also enjoyed by your beardie, and will help him go to the loo  You could do this instead of misting him. 

Temperature the same as you would bath a baby.


----------



## Dmolloy

ok, thanks for the help, I've increased the temperature, the basking spot is on 100F and the cool end is borderlining on 86F

Have put in some greens into the enclosure for it to have a munch on if it wishes to, but until then i am off to the shops to get some smaller crickets, hoppers and waxworms (waxworms to try and intise it, to see if it will eat).

Also i just noticed that it had some skin peeling from around its head--- the store never gave me a date on shedding so hopefully this is the reason for the lack of appetite???


----------



## Dmolloy

Ok, update... Stuck in size 2 crickets, at first it seemed interested, then he went for one, not sure whether it ate the cricket or not, and i left it to get the rest, but once i stuck them in the enclosure it didnt seem interested in them.


----------



## Row'n'Bud

showing interest in the crickets is a good sign....if it sheds soon this may help it's appetite return as well....also dust the crickets with calcium once a day and dust with vitamins at least twice a week.
Try to drip water on his lips each day rather than misting as well and use mineral rich water like evian for the best results


----------



## jaf2212

Sounds like you need to correct the temps, closer to 115f basking, 80f cool end.

Leave him in the viv and only go into it to feed and to give water, this will help him settle.

Can you post a pic off the current setup


----------



## Dmolloy

*Update*

hi people,

i would like to thank you for all your help, as you can see i haven't been on here for some time- this was due to sorting and changing the beardy vivarium and social commitments. My dragon is eating daily now, but in tiny amounts, after about three size 2 crickets, it is not interested, it seems alot happier now and more lively *touch wood*. Would like to thank you for giving me advice on changing the temp, and especially the advice about the different way to give the dragon water.


----------



## wez130

Hi, how many times are you feeding him?

I would try to feed him twice just so he's eating more that 2-3 crickets a day, i feed my babies at about 9am then again at about 5pm, lights don't go out till about 9pm so it leaves them 3-4 hours to digest their food - don't feed them within 2 hours of lights out though as they cannot digest their food without heat from basking. Also, do you turn your basking light off over night? You may already do this, but incase, try and get a day / night routine going and keep to roughly the same times daily for feeding, lights out and over night, set your thermostat lower so it cools down - as it would in the wild, temps can be set to mid to low 60's on a night with no issues.

You don't mention UV, have you got one, i assume so lol, what strength is it and how long do you have it on for a day? You need 10-12% UV, and your beardie should be getting around 14 hours a day, reduced to 10-12 over winter. Do you also have a humidity sensor in your viv? What is it reading, alarm bells were ringing for me when you spray your viv 3 x a day, this is the ultimate no no! Beardies hate humidity and maybe that is where the problem might lie. 

Finally, how big is your viv?, babies don't really like a large viv, it can stress them out, not only that, it can make it difficult for them to catch their food, if it's big, try to partition it and remove any hiding places. I hope he above can help you, and help us to help you too


----------



## Dmolloy

wez130 said:


> Hi, how many times are you feeding him?
> 
> I would try to feed him twice just so he's eating more that 2-3 crickets a day, i feed my babies at about 9am then again at about 5pm, lights don't go out till about 9pm so it leaves them 3-4 hours to digest their food - don't feed them within 2 hours of lights out though as they cannot digest their food without heat from basking. Also, do you turn your basking light off over night? You may already do this, but incase, try and get a day / night routine going and keep to roughly the same times daily for feeding, lights out and over night, set your thermostat lower so it cools down - as it would in the wild, temps can be set to mid to low 60's on a night with no issues.
> 
> You don't mention UV, have you got one, i assume so lol, what strength is it and how long do you have it on for a day? You need 10-12% UV, and your beardie should be getting around 14 hours a day, reduced to 10-12 over winter. Do you also have a humidity sensor in your viv? What is it reading, alarm bells were ringing for me when you spray your viv 3 x a day, this is the ultimate no no! Beardies hate humidity and maybe that is where the problem might lie.


 
Hi, erm i do feed him twice a day, i place 3 crickets in the morning (about 8am) then i feed him again around 7pm. However, he only seems to be interested in the evening feed, because the morning crickets are still there after about an hour. but he eats crickets in the evening absolutely fine. I've tried pulling the crickets legs off to slow them down.
The current routine i have is UV light on at 8am and i increase the temp up to 100F, then 11pm lights off and the temp down to 85F. I also place a blanket over the viv glass (as i tend to stay up alot later than 11pm). As far as misting goes- i no longer mist, however i do water the plantation within the viv, so that he can lick the water off the leaves, i was also given critical care feed by the vet (just in case he wasnt eating after a week) that i have to feed using a plastic tip syringe. I had a humidty sensor in the vivarium and it was reading "mild", but has been removed temporarily, all his crickets have nutrobal feed to them on lettuce to increase the nutritional value of them, and i also coat them in cricket dust before each feed. He also has dandelion leaves to have a munch on daily.
Also within his water i include a vitamin supplement such as reptisafe or reptibol.

Where his vivarium is, its in full view of my TV (but not at a close distance), everytime the TV is on, he tends to sit on the log facing it, especially when my brother plays that Guitar hero game, the dragon seems very interested in the TV when all the colours go whizzing past on the screen.


----------



## Dmolloy

*continued..*

OH and yes i do have a 10-12% UVB/UVA bulb


----------



## Dmolloy

*All is well*

hey everyone, just to let you know that my dragon is doing perfectly fine now, i think it was just the settling in, however i increased the temperature to the recomment 100F+ and the dragon seem to stay in the cool end of about 88 so i decreased the temp back down to 88.F and it seems to run around lively, digest food properly, no signs of constipation and eating well. i left him with a friend of mine who is also well informed about bearded dragons and he was fine during the entire week i was away. Thanks for all your help


----------



## Chrisuk33

Row'n'Bud said:


> As above, raise the temp below his basking spot and get size 2 crickets for him. Also try to get some new born dubia roaches, our babies go nuts for these over their crickets.
> Check the care sheet section on here for some great info on rearing baby dragons as well


 i think rouches are not a money wise option because if it gets hooked on them your going to be in trouble because they cost in the shops about 6-7 pounds for about 30 and if it likes em it will prolly eat them in 1 day soo. if you want to pay £50+ pounds a week on food alone well you must be well off.

i beleive roaches are good for when the beardie is adult because they eat 70% veg and then they might eat rouaches every other day so in that case it might balance out


----------



## nicnet

I've had some bad experiences with some vets in our area, and I think HORIZON on the tv covered this also at some point.

Some vets have been caught giving deliberately misleading advice so that you are forced in the end to take them in for treatment.

Case in point is our border collie bitch, she had a broken tooth when we rescued her, so took her in to have it looked at. After 6 month of antibiotics they finally took it out as she developed a hole in her gum. 12 MONTH later she was still on antibiotics which was costing us around £150 a month. By this time I was fully disabled and my OH was my carer so we ended up having to take her to the PDSA (who I swear by). They took xrays, and promptly told me which vet I had been seeing and that they had deliberatly left the root of the tooth in to keep the infection going so as to cream off the cost of them. Yips I told my solicitor etc, and got full refund in the end after much hassles.

Long and short, do not always trust a vets advice 100%, take it on board and then research it. Not all vets are as knowledgeable as they might think they are and some of them are just down right wrong.


As for the other advice on this thread, spot on as far as I can see with my newbie eyes. Up the temp, let him settle, skip the baths unless he is obviously impacted. If he is then seek further advice on here.


(edit)

Just noticed you said his morning feed is still there after an hour or so. He's not eating it maybe as he is still cold, your putting his lights on and feeding at the same time. 8am.

Give him an hour or so to warm up and wake up before breakfast maybe.

You can also put your crix in the fridge in a bag for 10 mins to slow them down for him. I put mine in a bag with some dust in, shake it up gently then into fridge for 10. Saves having them scatter when they go into the viv. I throw a couple of none cooled ones in for them to chase around later in the day but if they dont catch them its like a campsite all night with crix noises. I dont mind that though as I was brought up in Africa so its 'normal' noises for me lol.


----------



## Chrisuk33

Dmolloy said:


> hey everyone, just to let you know that my dragon is doing perfectly fine now, i think it was just the settling in, however i increased the temperature to the recomment 100F+ and the dragon seem to stay in the cool end of about 88 so i decreased the temp back down to 88.F and it seems to run around lively, digest food properly, no signs of constipation and eating well. i left him with a friend of mine who is also well informed about bearded dragons and he was fine during the entire week i was away. Thanks for all your help


maybe the bulb is to close because the recomended temp is between 105f and 110f for babies


----------



## nicnet

Just a question. Where is your sensor for you basking temp. is it directly under the light or is it to the side.

Reason I'm asking is that if its off to the side, when you turn it up it may be picking up the abient temperature instead of the basking temp. Which would mean your basking temp would by reallllly high.

That would maybe explain why when its set at 88F the ambient temp is 88 but the basking temp could be right.

Not sure if I'm explaining this rightly, been a long day lol. I'm sure one of the more experience keepers could explain it better.

When the vet said 88F. He/she was possibly meaning ambient temp and not basking temp.


----------



## Meko

you do realise the OP's last reply to this thread was July 2010.


----------



## nicnet

:lol2:

Chrisuk. Wherever did you dredge up this old thread from haha.


----------



## Dmolloy

nicnet said:


> Just a question. Where is your sensor for you basking temp. is it directly under the light or is it to the side.
> 
> Reason I'm asking is that if its off to the side, when you turn it up it may be picking up the abient temperature instead of the basking temp. Which would mean your basking temp would by reallllly high.
> 
> That would maybe explain why when its set at 88F the ambient temp is 88 but the basking temp could be right.
> 
> Not sure if I'm explaining this rightly, been a long day lol. I'm sure one of the more experience keepers could explain it better.
> 
> When the vet said 88F. He/she was possibly meaning ambient temp and not basking temp.


Hi, just going through the thread as it stopped sending me notifications, so sorry for the long reply, the sensor for the thermostat is directly in the centre of the vivarium. 

recently i've changed his heat source to a black ceramic heat bulb instead of a spot one. However it's only getting the maximum of 92F in the basking spot, is there anyway of increasing this temperature, (thermostat only goes up to 92F, but i have managed to get it higher however not succeeding since installing the ceramic)


----------

