Pet Information > ASK Experts > Exotic Pets > Reptiles > Baby bearded dragon wont eat.

Baby bearded dragon wont eat.

22 13:26:20

Question
Hello, I'm having problems with my baby bearded dragon. He is 4 months old and only weighs 5 grams. I got him Jan 22, 2011, he ate great that day, he had crickets and his greens. The next day, he didn't lift his head and he didn't eat. The third day we had him, he ate 20 crickets. After that, it went downhill. We took him to the vet Jan 27, 2011, she dewormed him, and gave him Baytrill. She wasn't sure what was wrong with him, and didn't think he would have made it through the weekend. We started feeding him Ensure and bathing him in Pedialyte. He started looking a little better. Now, he is only eating baby food (chicken, turkey, squash), he wants nothing to do with his crickets, or greens. I tried worms but he didn't want them either. Any ideas on how to get him to eat? Here's some information about him.
How old is your dragon? 4 months
How long is your dragon from nose tip to tail tip? about 5-6 inches
How much does your dragon weigh? he'5 grams
Enclosure Size? approx 25 gallon
Substrate? shelf paper
UV source type/brand? Repti-sun 10.0 ubv
How old is the UV source? brand new
How close can your dragon get to the UV source? with in 6-8 inches
What is the basking temperature? 100-110 degress
What is the cool side temperature? 90-95 degress
How are you measuring the temperatures? Digital thermometer
What are the humidity levels? not sure
What live feeders do you feed? crickets
How small/large are they? small about 1/2 or smaller
What greens are being fed/provided? Collard greens, turnip greens, dandellion greens.
Do you dust the food? dusted the crickets, and now his baby food
If so what is you dusting schedule? Once in the morning
Do you provide water? Yes
Do you bathe your dragon? Yes
If so how often and for how long? daily for about 10 minutes
Do you mist your dragon? Yes

Thanks for your time,
Nikki

Answer
Hi Nikki,
Wow!! thank you for providing a ton of care info!!  Saves time on my reply...
The first thing that pops out is that he isn't getting a cool enough area in his tank..
Your basking area can drop a bit..95-105 is a good range..
The ambient temperature range in the mid 80's during the day.   Cool daytime range of normal room temperature of low to mid 70's.  Nighttime temperatures in the  mid to upper 60's is fine. They need to have the temperature ranges to regulate their bodies.
Dusting foods should only be done about 3-4 times a week on calcium.  make sure the calcium has no added phosphrous.
Your greens you are offering are good..I would try cutting them up super fine..
You do want a bit more distance on the uvb light..8-10 inches..if this is one of the compact types, let me know as I can offer some info on that.
The other thing that is jumping out is the medications and worming meds..
most times any medications destroy the needed gut bacteria(same as with humans) and we need to give the bacteria a boost to get the levels where needed.
in captivity most use products such as:
bene bac...labeled for birds, approved for reptiles.
nutri bac
acidolophliz+
or plain, human grade Acidophilus......   one capsule will dose for at least 3 days in a row.
BeneBac ..most larger pet stores should carry it...especially if they have birds...
Acidophiliz+  I think  PetsMart carries it..if not....on line at www.reptilesupply.com
He is pretty tiny... on your crickets, are you gut loading them prior to feeding them to your beardie?  Those gel foods they sell aren't enough for good nutrition..if the insects aren't nutritious, your beardie doesn't get the needed nutrition.  You can use grain mixes made for feeding the crickets, the stems from the greens, fruits, whole grain cereals, breads, etc..
His tank is small..but..so is he so its fine for now...
I would change his temperatures and give his gut bacteria a boost...
Also, many times they do become spoiled on the baby foods..Try super fine(food processed) some greens(and insects if you can handle it) and mix it with the baby food he is eating..that may get him eating the proper diet.  You may have to start with a small amt of the greens and more of the babyfood, but increase the greens each day.
The sad thing is, there are so many genetic problems that come from poor breeding practices that sometimes the offspring have so many health issues that the owners suffer and go broke trying to figure out what the problem is, only to find that we can't fix them :(