beardie won't eat salad anymore

[simpsara8]

hi, this is my first post on here. My bearded dragon Albus (a bit over 1 year) has not been into eating her salad (a mixture of romaine lett. collard, mustard, kale, bok choy greens) lately but, she loves dusted superworms, crickets and an ocassional wax worm or two as a treat. She is just getting back her appetite as she went about a month without using the bathroom and refusing alot of food, I thought maybe she was ovulating for the first time, she was healthy, active and did not lose any weight during that time. Now her appetite is back for the protein (3 super worms, 2 crickets and 1-2 wax worms on a good day..seems like alot, perhaps to much?) I just can't get an interest in the salad again and I know they really need the nutrients from it. Lately, I have been setting the dusted protein on top of her salad to get her into it more, she got a few pieces of green by accident one day, but showed no sign of wanting more as she scratched around for more superworms. I am also concerned because, she is not using the bathroom like she use to before the month she went with out doing so. She use to go to the bathroom every 3-4 days regular. I give her regular baths (3-4 times per week) which she seems to enjoy, drinks the water sometimes. In her tanks she moves around decently and seems to be healthy, her back legs are fine, she stands and sprints sometimes, especially when she is out on the floor...just not sure if she's going through some change thing. I have calcuim sand substrate in there for now, but I want to get rid of it, maybe put paper towels in there instead..any sugestions? My set up is a 40 gal breeder tank with a CHE hooked up to a thermostat and an Exo Terra brand MVB, which recently replaced a CFL style UVB and a basking lamp. The warm side is 101 and the cool is 85. Albus and I would be very appreciative of any advice on the set up and food. This is my first beardie and I'm trying to do the best for her, but there is so much I continue to learn everyday and I know there is alot I'm probablly not aware of yet. thanks in advance

[Action Reptiles]

Hi there, A couple of things, 1st get rid of the calci sand and I would go with either non adhesive shelf liner, tile, paper towel or if you really wanted sand I would use washed play sand. 2nd have you had a vet check up or fecal sample tested recently? I would be a little concerned with possible impaction from the calci sand(especially since you said he hasn't been going to the bathroom regularly like before). I would get him checked by vet to eliminate impaction as it could be fatal if he is impacted. If the vet gives him clean bill of health you could try varying his salad trying different greens. Here is a great food list give you ideas on different things you can feed him http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtrem...Nutrition.html. While dragons are still growing they do tend to eat more protien and less veggies. Once they reach full size(usually at about 2 years old) they will start eating more greens and less protien. I do not feel your over feeding by any means from what you said he eats. My sub adults eat 8-12 supers a feeding or 20-40 crickets depending. Everything else seems to be good you could up his hot spot (105-110) but other that that and getting rid of the calci sand your husbandry seems good. I hope this helps any other questions feel free to ask, but I would probably get him checked especially if it has been awhile since he has been to the vet.

[jfreels]

I'm agreeing with Pat. I would have said nearly the exact same thing. My dragons are under a year old, but they poop at least once, if not twice a day. I don't know if that changes when they get older, but it amazes me when people tell me that their beardie hasn't pooped in over a week. After two days I would think something is wrong with my guys.

Also make sure you're properly dusting the food. I recently found out that my calcium supplement wasn't actually calcium. So I thought I had everything perfect, and I'll admit that I didn't. I even told the vet what supplements I was giving him because I was sure in my mind they were the correct things.

[Action Reptiles]

Once they get around 2 years + they do stop pooping as often my adults poo once a week or about 7-10 days on average. They poo more when they eat more protien once their diet starts to become more veggie oriented they wont poop as much....

[simpsara8]

thanks for the advice it was a huge help! I'm getting Albus to the vet this week to get the fecal. I also gave her some olive oil on her super worms and she used the bathroom, from what I've read it looked like a minor compation, dark and hard. I'm changing out the sand all together and switching to the vinyl liner, the sand is just not worth it. Thanks Pat for the website for the food, I'll be varying up her diet soon. I also felt relieved to hear it's ok she can still eat more protein then vegs right now in her life stage, I think I will offer her more crickets/super worms till she shows her full on them. thanks again

[BPelizabeth]

You can also to tile or my favorite laminate. Super easy to clean. The fecal is a very good idea. I would continue to offer greens everyday and maybe she will get back on the right track. Also I am currently going through this and Bob (girl) had a bit of a cloacal infection which sometimes happens when they start to build an egg sac for the first time. Now she will not be breeding and the vet told me that she will just absorb that. She is about 9-10 months old. She is also going into early brumation so she is sleeping a lot right now, not eating as much and therefore not pooing as much either. Oye the joys of adolescents...lol

[AkHerps]

Yeah that doesn't seem like a lot of food, my 1 1/2 year old Beardie gets a very large salad in the morning, and eats about 15-20 adult dubia roaches every day or so and is a very healthy weight. I agree with the above advice, bump up the heat and get rid of the sand. My beardie is also not a fan of salad that much, but I still offer it and sometimes he will gobble it, other times he won't touch it.

[BPelizabeth]

keep in mind they are crazy smart and will "train YOU"to do what they want. Typically...it works....Crazy little creatures they are!!