Baby Beardie Not Eating, Should I be Worried?

A little background info. I've had my baby beardie for 1 wk. He's about 6" long and seemed healthy when I bought him. He's in a 40L aquarium with a UVB light and 100w basking lamp. I spray him with water once a day and he's been eating crickets. BUT... I haven't been able to get him to eat his veggies, fruit, or baby bites. Then 2 days ago he stopped eating the crickets. All he seems to be interested in is sleeping or being held. Once in awhile he will wake up and climb around his home for a few minutes but then goes right back to sleep. Is this normal for baby BD's? I can't see anything different on his body but I'm worried that something is wrong. Please advise.

It's completely normal for one that young to disdain veggies. 2 full days without eating crickets is a bit long though unless he absolutely gorged himself on his last meal. The first thing to do is check your temps. What is your basking spot and cool spot temperatures?

You didn't mention how often you hold him but I'd also recommend not doing it at such a young age and definitely not after just getting him. Very young beardies don't enjoy being held, they are full of energy and it's easy to accidently damage them if they make a quick break for it. It may be stressing him out and stress can equal not eating.

It's interesting to know that they don't like being held because at petsmart the workers said that he was their favorite animal in the store and they carried him everywhere they went. That said, I hold him about every other day but I do transfer him into his feeder cage at least once a day.

The Petsmart employee was mistaken. Reptiles don't feel like mammals do. I like to think my adult beardies enjoy being held, but most likely they associate my presence with food, not being a predator, and probably enjoy my body heat when I hold them. Baby bearded dragons are prey for nearly every animal they encounter, including larger bearded dragons. They are skittish by nature because they are #1 on the food menu. They are also delicate so it easy to injure them by trying to stop them if they suddenly make a run for it.

My personal preference is to not use a feeder tank. If he is stressed out already, moving him to a different environment will compound it and may result in him not eating.

I would double check your temps since improper heating and cooling is often the cause for poor feeding. If he's still not eating after you're sure the temps are spot on and his stress has been reduced as much as possible, it would be time to get a fecal check for parasites if you haven't already had one done.

Everything that's been said is total on. But you need to make sure everything is correct first of all. Basking temps should be 105.f for babies and a UVB 10.0 is 100% necessary. Babies should not be held and a 2 week acclimation period is usually the best thing. Also stop transferring into a feeding cage. This is just unnecessary stress. He should be in paper towel to prevent impaction as well. I've always fed my baby beardies in there cages because I've seen that if you transfer them out then they don't feel comfortable enough to eat. He wont be eating many veggies but you should still offer and make sure they are in teeny tiny peices for him to eat. Finely diced is best. Make sure you are dusting his crickets with calcium with vitamin d3 3 times a week and dusting his veggies daily with pure calcium. A cheap and effective version of pure calcium is plain tums or fruity tums. I've been using tums with my beardies for years for pure ca dusting and they really like the fruity version.


Check out what's new on my website... www.Homegrownscales.com

Thanks to all for the advice. I will do as suggested and let you know what the outcome is. I don't want to loose him. One question though. I was told he was 3 wks old when I bought him. How old should he be before attempting to hold him again?

3 weeks is really young. It takes about 6 weeks (4-5 if they are power fed daily) to reach 6 inches long. I would wait until he's at least 10-12 inches before regularly holding him.

I think the holding thing has a lot to do with his refusal to eat. This morning I sprayed him while in cage and placed 3 crickets in there. He literally jumped off his branch and ate 1 right away. To answer your questions, however, The UVB light is 10.0, the basking light is 100w, and the temps I'm not sure about because the thermometer is grossly inadequate.

Sounds like he might be cold, he needs a basking spot of around 105+ during the day(very important) on one side of tank and cooler on the other side. Night time temps should stay in the 70's for babies and they should be eating all the time.

Beardies sleep for weeks in the winter when they brumate but babies should not be brumating but may if they are cold.

I put small worms in my bowl of greens and the movement and accidental bites of greens as they eat the worms helps them develop a taste for them.

Check temps and make sure you are giving calcium and vitamin supplements with insects as babies need it to develop proper bone structure.

How large are the crickets? He should be getting crickets that are no longer than the space between his eyes. If he's as young as you say, that means extra small crickets. Otherwise they are difficult to eat and can cause impaction. He should also be offered as many as he can eat in a 10-15 minute time frame twice a day. Beardies his age can eat 30-50 appropriately sized crickets a day.

This is the biggest reason beardies are unhealthy in pet stores. They are not fed properly. The other big reasons are lack of proper UVA/UVB lighting and the proper basking temperature.

If you don't have a digital thermometer with a probe to measure the basking surface temp where he sits under the light, run to Walmart and pick up an Accurite weather station. It's a rectangular grey unit. A few inches tall. Sold near the tools and paint section by the thermostats and thermometers.

It shows 2 temperatures and humidity. You can also use it for snake cages (highly recommended). Use the probe to see how hot the basking temp is. Then adjust the lamp until its where it needs to be.

I agree with everything mentioned above, make sure his temps are on point and make sure he's close enough to the UVB that the rays are still effective. Also a baby beardie should be eating WAY MORE than 3 crix a day. Try feeding him pinheads and feed him as much as he'll eat in about 10 minutes. Mine would easily eat 25+

Yea see this is what I am worried about. He has never eaten a lot of crickets. At Petsmart I was told that they were feeding him mealworms and lettuce. I was also told that he was 3 wks old. I've had him almost 2 wks now so he would be around 5 wks old now. He's a little less then six inches long from nose to tip of tail. I work the night shift so I feed him when I get home in the morning and when I wake up in the evening. I spray him with warm water at the same time. Just now I placed a salad made of finely diced asperigus, collard greens, apple pieces, and mealworms for movement. I also gave him 6 calcium covered crickets and yes they are babies. So what's he doing... He's sitting there under the basking light watching his meal as if waiting for it to come to him. lol I will say this much. At least he doesn't seem lethargic anymore.

Here is a picture of him.

http://i1098.photobucket.com/albums/...ress62/013.jpg

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by enchantress62

Yea see this is what I am worried about. He has never eaten a lot of crickets. At Petsmart I was told that they were feeding him mealworms and lettuce. I was also told that he was 3 wks old. I've had him almost 2 wks now so he would be around 5 wks old now. He's a little less then six inches long from nose to tip of tail. I work the night shift so I feed him when I get home in the morning and when I wake up in the evening. I spray him with warm water at the same time. Just now I placed a salad made of finely diced asperigus, collard greens, apple pieces, and mealworms for movement. I also gave him 6 calcium covered crickets and yes they are babies. So what's he doing... He's sitting there under the basking light watching his meal as if waiting for it to come to him. lol I will say this much. At least he doesn't seem lethargic anymore.

---

First, no more meal worms at least until he gets bigger. I've always heard that their exoskeletion is very hard for BD's to digest and can cause impaction. Second soak him in warm water and see if maybe he poops, perhaps he's a little constipated and thus won't eat. If not check check check your temps. If he's not properly heated up he will not eat. Trust me 3 crickets is far too little.

I've always heard that beardies should never get meal worms. Ever. Not even mini meal worms.

Adults can have super worms but meal worms do have a hard exoskeleton.

I agree with giving him a warm soak. Try to get him to go to the bathroom. I bet he's eaten too much hard stuff.

Okay, I'm really confused about that. On this site I've been advised to not use meal worms then advised to use them in the salads to encourage him to eat his greens. I wont feed them to him if I shouldn't but the contradiction is confusing. By the way he ate all the crickets this morning but none of the meal worms or salad.

Like was said by the other poster, babies usually won't eat their greens. Just don't offer the mealies anymore. Too much of a risk. Keep offering plenty of extra small crickets every day. Offer a finely diced salad of greens or even try the spring mix that comes in a bag since it has more colors. It does have a decent amount of calcium in it. It's about equal to the amount in turnip greens but tastes better to babies. Offer the salad in the morning/early afternoon. Then offer the crickets in late afternoon.

This is the best way to encourage him to start eating his greens. Eventually he will have some. As he gets older he will eat more and more of it.

It's ok if he doesn't eat any right now. Babies eat mostly insects anyway. After his first year he will simply not want as many insects and will eat a bowl or 2 of salad every day.

My dragon is over 2 years old now. He hates crickets now. He only gets super worms, silk worms, or horn worms a couple times a week. He eats a big bowl of greens every day though. If I put 6 worms in a bowl for him he will only eat a few and leave the rest for the next day.

Babies eat about 90% protein (insects) but its the opposite for adults. No worries. Just fatten him up with his calcium dusted crickets. Use plain calcium too. Not the kind with D3. This is dangerous for them.

Oh and no spinach! Spinach blocks the bodies ability to absorb calcium. Just greens, spring mix, and diced fruits n veggies. No citrus.

In the summer if they grow by you pick him some yellow dandelion flowers and leaves as well. These are nutritious for them and they love them! And clover leaves and their purple and white flowers.

Okay, Got it. So out goes the mealworms. I do have Babie Bites by Nature Zone so I'll start offering him that too. The calcium I have does have D3 in it so I'll throw that out and get just calcium. FYI I've been judging his decline of condition based on what I see when I get home in the morning but today it occurs to me that he's asleep when I get home and maybe it just takes him awhile to wake up. I thought at first that he was dead because he was so still but fifteen minutes after turning his lights on he's up chasing crickets around his cage. lol

It is absolutely false that mealworms are bad for bearded dragons... they are one of the best supplemental feeders you can give. Mini mealworms are a great feeder for baby bearded dragons although your primary food source should still be dubias (preferably) or crickets. I remember years ago it was common rumor not to feed mealworms without pinching the heads off because "they can chew their way out of the dragon's stomach!"

Superworms are much harder to digest and I've witnessed and heard many first hand accounts of dragons throwing up after eating too many superworms in one sitting.

Instead of taking my word for it, I would recommend visiting the "Bearded Dragons and other creatures" website (The Dachiu's, introducer of the leatherback to the US) for further information or getting a copy of a good bearded dragon care book. There is a lot of misinformation on bearded dragon care on the internet (as I'm sure is the case with a lot of other species), especially care sheets on some breeders' websites .

That site is awesome and answered a lot of my questions and concerns. For those of you who are interested here's the link

http://www.dachiu.com/

Lex died this afternoon and I feel responsible. I did everything suggested but I wonder if it was too much change for an already weak baby.

I doubt it. If they are started right, they are quite hardy little things. I suggest getting one from a reputable breeder that is at least 8-12 weeks old and try again. It isn't anything you did. He had to already be sick and just wasn't going to thrive. You did all you could.

Thanks but I think I'll wait a little while before trying again. I take these things pretty hard.

I am sorry, you did all you could and was doing things right and the best you could.