I have a 1 year old Beardie named Bob who until about 2 months ago would eat a mix of around 20 to 30 crickets and Dubias everyday. Now I'm lucky to get him to eat 3 to 5 every other day. I've never had any luck with getting him to eat veggies even though provided everyday so crickets and dubias have been his main diet. He seems to be healthy (although lazy) but his appetite has become pretty much non-existant. Bob is in a 48x24x24 PVC enclosure with ceramic tile substrate. Heat source I use 2 - 50 watt halogen flood bulbs which is giving me ambient temps of around 90 degrees on hot side and around 80 degrees on cool side with basking spot temp of around 108. I use 2 halogens because I live in a basement where it stays cool. As for UVB I use a 34 inch 39 watt Arcadia 12% T5 UVB + D3 bulb. I have included a pic of his set-up. Should I be concerned about his appetite or could it just be caused with him turning the 1 year age from which I understand is typically when their appetites tend to become less.
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1 year old Beardie will hardly eat
- Thread starter BKP48
- Start date
Does your dragon have a hide? Please lower the basking temps to 95-100 as dragons get older they do not like the real hot temps --- are you using a probe to get that temp? I think I am seeing one in on the back wall - also the ambient temp is being taken by the digital on the back wall? Your ceramic tile is not a real coarse one is it- I cant tell -- you dont want a real coarse one as they can cause abrasions -- your lighting is all good -- does the dragon sit on the branches under the UVB -- it looks really high for him to climb I would lower the basking decor and the UVB so hes not having to climb so high -- distance for your UVB should be 12-15 inches directly above the basking decor piece how old is the UVB bulb? If its a year old please replace it --- now for the not eating it could be a lighting issue and temp issue -- please try and adjust see how he behaves --- it could be weather related -- is it winter where you are? If so they will slow down on eating most will brumate or semi brumate - meaning they may still eat little amounts and bask and do ALOT of sleeping be lazy --- he looks good in the pic -- as far as salads we are going to try and fix that --- first get a weight on him weigh in grams on a kitchen food scale keep track w/ him not eating we dont want him losing a lot of weight --- next how has the poop been ? Is it really smelly like real bad is it runny?
No he doesn't have a hide I used to have one for him but he never used it but can put it back in. I do use the digital thermometers on wall but also have temp gun that I use as well to get accurate temps. The tiles are a smooth surface. Rarely will he sit on the branch under the uvb and used to sit on the one under basking light all the time but really hasnt used that one either as of recently. My uvb bulb is about 10 months old and the arcadias are good for a year. It is winter here in MN and I also have a 13 year old beardie who is semi-brumating right now. His poop has always had a nasty smell to it and I would say partially runny.
ok yes put the hide back in please --- UVB should be changed out in another month please -- smooth surface is not really good -- you need some texture for traction -- I couldnt really tell it looked real coarse - I too am in MN so the weather has been off and on --- I have tile in my two tanks I will post a pic of it -- he should be sitting directly under those bulbs UVB and basking him not sitting under the basking bulb tells me the temp is too hot most likely -- I got my tile at Home Depot $13 to do the tank I will post a pic of it - this is Blazes tank the poop could be he has parasites --- what are you feeding for insects --- if he does have them it will effect the appetite I will post a website to find a reptile vet www.arav.org --- NO enemas please if you want take a fecal sample in and have them test it -- we can work on salads for him
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tiles are not totally smooth they do have some texture to them but not very coarse. He used to sit on the smaller branch under the basking bulb all the time and it's been only recently that he has stopped using it. I do have the halogen on a dimmer so I will turn it down a notch and see what happens. For feeders he was started with crickets then switched to dubias. He now wants nothing to do with the dubias at all and only eats a few crickets every other day or so
Ok well the schedule is good for the insects but the salad thing not so good - so we're gonna start w/ getting him some bsfl www.symtonbsf.com order large they are small and if he likes them that's good they are a main staple feeder he maybe just tired of dubias but we need to rule that out feed as many as you want or he will eat - are you dusting calcium d 3 on the insects? How often? Since he's not eating salads he needs vitamins w/ beta carotene 2 x per week-- you will need a glass or ceramic bowl to feed the bsfl in - I will post a website for that to they are nice bowls-- also a nutrition website- when you get the bsfl use as many as you want add them to the salads in front of him so it draws his attention to the bowl- he should be eating salads everyday- his diet should be 20% insects 80% veggies- but we have a lot of dragons that don't eat them -- does your other dragon eat them?
I do dust bugs with plain calcium no D3 every day and use Rapashy Plus with D3 on them once a week. When he was smaller he would nibble on veggies occasionally now wants nothing to do with them. Ive tried collard turnip and mustard greens squash and carrots.
Ok well try the BSFL on top of his salads--- here is the bowl if you need one this is an example https://www.amazon.com/MACGOAL-Rept...uGQB&pd_rd_wg=tLkwE&ref_=pd_gw_ci_mcx_mr_hp_d
http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html ignore the kale thing its a good staple feeder is your other dragon eating salads ? You can also get some super worms https://flukerfarms.com/crickets-live-feeder-insects/ they have great supers - large only and they come in a tube so you would need to get a plastic container w/a lid w/holes and get some bran I have only found bran on mulberryfarms website and their shipping charges are out of sight so I have not ordered any but have been feeding mine regular oatmeal and carrots for hydration --- I do not feed my dragons carrots as I feed them to the supers and roaches -- dubiaroaches has great horn worms they are a hydrating worm-- if you get these worms the supers feed every other day or so on top of his salads 1-3 and the horn worms feed 1-2 every day they grow really fast so order like 12 or so -- I just ordered 18 of the smalls and they came as little tiny things I have had to grow them out to feed them I mean they were tiny-- and I just started feeding them here in the last day or so -- I put them on top of the dragons salads as well -- you can also try meal worms another treat worm mine will not eat them
Just ordered 200 BSFL and will give them a try. My other dragon was never a real big salad fan either but will at least eat them occasionally which is more than I can say for my little guy LOL. I also gut load my bugs using the typical greens dragons should be eating. Collard turnip and mustard greens as well as carrots
Ok good well hes getting greens then LOL --- my roaches will not eat greens - so I feed them dubia food and dubia dew along w/ carrots and squash and fruit as well -- -- they say if you dont start dragons on greens when they are baby they wont eat them when they get older and I kind agree w/ that -- I didnt really feed Hiccup salads when I got him as a baby -- when I got Blaze different story I fed him salads w/ the BSFL on top along w/ the worms and he now will eat his salads -- Hiccup hmmm not so much but I put fresh salads in there every morning w/ 2 horn worms - this morning he ate a few bites -- also another good staple feeder is silk worms they stick to everything so those are also put on top as well when I have them -- my two will eat them but they are not as hot on them as the horn worms -- you can get those from www.reptilianarts.com they will come in a cup w/ food -- if you order like 50 you will need to order the food or mulberry food for them they are leaves in powder from -- you will haft to mix it and keep it in the fridge -- I havent ordered them for a while now
Like I said I ordered bsfl and will give them a try and see what happens. If they don't go over very well I will try your other recommendations. I really appreciate your suggestions and hopefully making a few minor changes will get my little Bob eating again. By the way I also switched up enclosure decor a little. I moved the dino skeleton basking decor in my pic towards the back of tank under basking bulb and uvb light more since thats the piece he seems to enjoy sitting on the most. Like you said it's not as high and won't get as hot as his branch was. I will continue using my temp gun on that piece to get dialed in at 95-100 degrees with my dimmer. I was also going to ask you if you might suggest I move uvb light more towards the middle of tank instead of along the back ? or as long as he basks on his dino now that I moved that to the back should that be ok ?
If your distance is good w/ the UVB and he can get directly under it your good -- watch the behavior w/ the basking bulb -- see what he does w/ the lower temp-- let me know how the BSFL go w/ him -- they will turn into a fly type -- usually when they get black they are older and will turn dragons seem to love them -- feed them as well --
Did he move there or did you put him there? After looking at the tank again I think I would move the UVB our towards the center of the tank --
he went there himself. He loves sitting on that thing LOL
