# Bearded Dragon Still not eating!!!



## Jimi

I have a BD that stopped eating about 3 weeks ago. I took him to a vet after the 6th day, and the vet said that he was dehydrated. The vet gave him hydrogenation shots and a bag of carnivore care to feed him twice a day. vet also administered deworming medicine. After the first week of care my BD had gained some weight, but wasn't eating on his own. so back to the vet with no answers. Anyone help please!!!

Now to tell you about his setup, His basking temperature was reduced to 99.7F after i found out he was dehydrated. the warm side of the tank is 84.7F and the cool side is 77.8F. I also have a water dish in there that he drinks out of everyday. Oh ya the BD is about 8-9 inches from head to tail tip. 
Again any help would be greatly appreciated:hmm:


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## darko26

*has he been having his calcium supplement powder on food?*

me and my partner took an ill treated bearded on went straight to vets had xrays had broken ribs 2 off which wasn't the problem, the problem was that where he had no uv lighting or supplement for a while he had got calcifacation sorry cant spell that, of the jaw he couldn't chew or open his mouth enough to eat the food he had lots of injections and about 6 months lter he could no longer even open his mouth sorry to say we had him put down,

i hope it isn't that but it might be worth getting some xrays done

lee


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## Mrs_SpongeBob

Our Beardies not been eating much just now either.

And she's been hiding under her basking spot.
We've been lifting her back out onto her basking spot everytime she goes hiding.

We've still been giving her a bath once a week...ish so that she doesnt get too dehydrated as she hasn't been eating many greens. 

I know a few other peoples Beardies that are like this just now too - maybe just the time of year.

Hope it's nothing serious...


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## Jimi

yes calcium powder on crickets, also has a repti sun 2.0 & 10.0 uvb fluorescent bulbs, and a sun glo tight beam basking light 75watt.


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## darko26

im not sure then sorry mate you had him from baby?


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## Jimi

yes i have had him since he was, and still is a baby! he is probably about 4-5 months old.


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## vickylolage

Some beardies do go into a winter slow down.
I understand your beardie is dehydrated but low temps may also cause him to be a bit quiet. Normally basking spots are around 110-115F and cool end in about 85F
If your giving him baths and things I would be tempted to bump your temps back up. Unless the vet said otherwise thats what I would do


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## kingoftherodeo

Yeah my beardie is exactly the same as spongebobs there! He has slowed down although seems perfectly healthy and vet said he was fine. So agree it must be the winter slow down. All temps are up where they should be and he loves sitting by his UV light.


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## mad4frogs

hey there, my beardie hadnt eaten for 6 weeks... I didnt panic n rush him to the vets. I mearly kept offering him food (on a couple of days he had a couple of waxworms) and veg but he didnt touch that for 8 weeks. every couple of days I used a pipette and dropped water onto his nose. If he licked it off I continued until he stopped. I did this cause even if I took him out for a bath he still wouldnt have water. I raised the temps and even few times a week placed him onto his heat rock... now hes back to eating fine and really active  Im assuming its just burmation. Theres a thread in the sticky bout it if that helps


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## snikaz

I managed to get my BD to eat quite a bit of veg off of me yesterday. 

That was the first the she ( gonna say she..think thats what she is ) had eaten in four days.

I was getting really worried about her, so put a thread on here about it, and got alot of good replies ( thanks to all )

She has had a couple of warm baths ( due to suspecting mild impaction ), and she has been going loo since then.

But today I rang up the reptile shop and told them everything. The guy there said that if I hadn't got the stat correctly set, that she could be brumating ( sp ). 

I told him that she is always up the hot end basking and never goes into the cool end..at that he said it sounded like a beardie trying to warm herself up.

He also told me that when they start to brumate that they store fat around the base of the tail..had a look at hers and there seems to appear to be a fat storage there.

He said that I have to get the stat set correctly and this will bring her back out from brumating and she should start to eat properly again.

Hope you don't mind me adding what I was told to your thread. Just thought that as I'm having the same problems that I could share with you what I have learnt today.

Snikaz.


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## vickylolage

mad4frogs said:


> hey there, my beardie hadnt eaten for 6 weeks... I didnt panic n rush him to the vets. I mearly kept offering him food (on a couple of days he had a couple of waxworms) and veg but he didnt touch that for 8 weeks. every couple of days I used a pipette and dropped water onto his nose. If he licked it off I continued until he stopped. I did this cause even if I took him out for a bath he still wouldnt have water. I raised the temps and even few times a week placed him onto his heat rock... now hes back to eating fine and really active  Im assuming its just burmation. Theres a thread in the sticky bout it if that helps


 
careful with your heat rock mate theyre notorious for malfunctioning, oberheating and burning reps. If you want it in I'd switch it off just incase


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## mad4frogs

its not a heat rock, its a piece of slate under the heat lamp


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## vickylolage

ahh lol good crack
I despise heat rocks I saw a snake burned off one before and it wasnt nice  poor little dear


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## Jimi

do 4-5 month old BD go into burmation? I thought that didn't happen tell after a year old!! it is winter here in Canada!!


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## Jude

Yes I believe some do still try to brumate even when young... I also believe it's advised mostly that you try to stop them if they are younger than a year or so, or are underweight/poorly etc.

My house is normally like a sauna all year round but this latest cold snap has sent a few of mine quiet and off of their food - I've boosted all temps and am handling them extra to try and keep them active therefore eating and digesting food properly. (I read a while ago that someone had handled a non eating gecko and made her be more active to try and encourage her apetite and it had worked well for her and the gecko so I've given that a go and it seems to work!) So far my efforts with this and added heat are paying off and all of my reps are active and eating well again.

I'd definitely put your temps back up and try getting her active to see if it'll make any difference for her.


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## Jimi

So if i boost my temps what should i have them for a 4-5 month dragon. I have done my research and have come up with conflicting answers!! Some say 110 - 115F others say 100 - 105F, also heard 105 - 110F. What is the correct temp for young dragons? please give me feed back for temps you use for your dragons. 
Also will a dragon burmate sitting on their basking spot? 
How do i tell if my dragon is still dehydrated? 
Thank you for input


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## vickylolage

What are your temps now? Whatever they are just boost it from there for example its its say 100F put it up to 110F that should help.

As for dehydration if your worried about that you can give your beardie a bath. Just run some luke warm water into the sink or a bowl or whatever and put the beardie in making sure the water isnt to deep. Your little one will probably have a drink and possibly a poop. They get a lot of their water from their salad so you could wet the salad you feed it just before you pop it in which is what I do with my baby beardies who seem to lick the water off the tray and it also gets them to eat their salad.


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## Bosscat

Jimi said:


> So if i boost my temps what should i have them for a 4-5 month dragon. I have done my research and have come up with conflicting answers!! Some say 110 - 115F others say 100 - 105F, also heard 105 - 110F. What is the correct temp for young dragons? please give me feed back for temps you use for your dragons.
> Also will a dragon burmate sitting on their basking spot?
> How do i tell if my dragon is still dehydrated?
> Thank you for input


For BD's, the best temps are between 105-115, going up to 120 if you have a BD that is ill....

A young or ill BD should not be encouraged to brumate, and no, if they are sitting on their basking spot, they are not brumating

If the urate (the white part) of the stools is hard/small, this would usually signify that the BD may be slightly de-hydrated - try offering water from a syringe or pipette dripped onto his nose, spraying him OUT of the viv every couple of days, or as has been said a bath once or twice a week with electrolytes added to the water...

If he's still not eating after you have raised the temps, then the vet really needs to do a fecal sample to check for parasites.


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## Caboose

ask a question... is the beardy crappin?

sure it hasn't got constipation?

all reps when hibernating will occasionally pop out for a sun bath, but this methord of warming up is totally different to being handled.


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## Jimi

no he is having good bowel movements, and i have to force feed him his crickets. How do i add electrolytes to the bath water?
thanks


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## charlie-love-apollo

*is your beardie digging in her sand?*

hi ive literally just made my acount heres a bit of experience ive got to share.
my beardie is 1 year and 3 months old and 50 cm long (head to tail) .
if your beardie isnt eating it maybey because it could be a she. not all beardies stop eating because of this but it is quite a common case. what happens is she will stop eating and after a while (even if there is no male) will lay eggs.
if this is your case i suggest that after she lays eggs you feed her with meal worms and crickets (less crickets than usual) for a few weeks then go back to crickets. some beardies do this more often than others so if she does this she might do it again.i hope you find this useful.:thumb:


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## gilla

*please do not take for granted the possibility of getting ready to lay eggs.*

I came across this this thread a few days ago when we got a little concerned about Wilma, our youngest (approx 12-14 months) not eating, digging in the corners and generally not being herself. after reading the last post on here i felt that maybe it was normal sometimes and just tried to monitor her, bathed her 20-30 mins at a time (ensuring she took on water) to ensure she didnt dehydrate. Woke up this morning devastastated to find she had passed away. Am now feeling so bad that I didnt err on the side of caution and have her seen by a vet. Please let this be a lesson and dont take for granted anything you read without seeking professional help. RIP Wilma


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