Adult Male Beardie not eating

[Muze]

At a year old he maybe starting signs of brumation, so going off feed and sleeping or big reduction in activity is not uncommon. Though they generally do this in the winter I have had beardies brumate all year round in the spring, summer and fall. I have even woken up a male from brumation in springtime when females were long done and ready to breed.

Beardies naturally do live with certain amounts of coccidia(parasite) in the digestive systems with no negative side effects, but I am not sure about pinworms, never dealt with that.

The vets take on it maybe if it is not an infestaion it is something it will naturally overcome or keep in check. Once again I have heard this from vets regarding coccidia not pinworms unless they happen to be the same thing with different terms? That i am not sure of. This is also the reason you dont keep different species together because what may be a common parasite to a beardie could be traumatic to a tortoise or other type of lizard. Many times these parasites are found in the crikets they eat and are easily controled by their own imune systems.

Finding a good reptile vet is important. I took a beardie to a vet once for a check up and while talking to him about certain behaviors he told me they dont brumate and we should perform all kinds of tests because of illness. I didnt argue with him just realized he either didnt know, was dishonest and I had just wasted my $. I have also shown vets how to pop and sex BP's so there are many that dont know much about reptiles and probably go check a book in another room and come back in the exam room with their prognosis.

The lack of eating or inactivity in a one year old dosent bother me as long as ther is no weight loss and fecal looks normal. I have had beardies brumate at 9 months and breed at 11 months, although this was a fast grower, it is not unheard of.

Just keep an eye on him and if you are worried about deydration a soak once a week should suffice. One good way to tell if a beardie is suffering from malnutrition is to look at the tail right where it comes off the body. It should get a bit larger right after the intial transition or the stalk lets say. Like leos, thats where they store reserves.

Hope this was helpful

Thank you so much! I hadn't seen this reply for some reason.

The vet explained that he had intially not wanted to deworm because there should be a certain # of parasites visible upon exam in order for deworming to be warranted. He is against preemptive deworming, etc. He especially does not like to treat for Coccidia unless it is a massive infestation or they are showing clinical signs (diarrhea, etc.). I totally agree with him about Coccidia because Albon can wreak havoc on their digestive system.

However, since I was very worried about his not eating, I asked the vet to deworm him & he did. Yet, he is still not eating. & he looks to me as if he is brumating. He is alert, but prefers to lie in the cooler side most of the day. He will eat baby food (I was worried so I gave him some organic squash, green beans, etc. w/ Dragon Dust & he'll lap it up), but nothing else. No greens, no insects. Seems to not be motivated to eat. Hasn't lost any weight either.

I've been soaking him and giving him the baby food w/ Dragon Dust every other day. But maybe I should not be feeding him???

His tail is nice & thick. I've been keeping an eye on that too.