Appetite decreased suddenly

[Thyde]

i have a 1 yr old male that I have had since November. he has been a heavy eater until 3days ago. He seems nervous as he is scratching at his cage door wanting out a lot. He has also just sheed and his color has changed some- lighter and brighter.
His diet is crickets and Kale daily and fruit and super worms every other or third. Multi v's and calcium daily. His pooping has changed, it has gone from every 4-5 days to every other. Started off November-dec being watery and firm mix to just firm now
Any idea what's going on with him

 

[Thyde]

Highlight : his appetite is decreased dramatically from 8-12 crickets to maybe 1-2 and refusing greens

 

[Canicke]

hi. couple of thoughts. if he just shed - that can affect their disposition. some more so than others. firm stool is good. watery stool is not necessarily bad - it can mean that he's well hydrated or that he has an intestinal issue of some sort. interesting that his food intake has decreased but his waste output has increased. not bad - just interesting. he may be entering brumation. are you familiar with that? it's kind of like hibernation - some beardies do, some don't. some do a modified version. my first male would sleep for 3 or 4 months - wouldn't eat, come out, poop - nuthin. my current male just slows down - he sleeps a LOT more and eats a lot less, but is up most days. my female ? she's a slug bug so its hard to tell if she's brumating or just being her lazy butt self. watch his weight - if he's brumating he wont lose lots of weight. he may have picked up bugs from somewhere - watch him. you can always take a fecal sample into a vet or actually take him in. I would also like to recommend that you switch up his greens. it's not really a good idea to give him kale on a regular basis. alternatives : arugula, green beans, watercress, collard greens, dandelion, escarole, mustard greens, turnip greens. try cooked sweet potato or butternut squash. I think I would also recommend cutting back on the fruit - every other day is pretty often. I give mine fruit once every 2 to 4 weeks. its a special - not a staple. please check out the links below for some great info on beardie diets. keep us informed - ok?

 

[Thyde]

I am familiar with brumation although he has not been through it yet at my house. I'm still learning his stages of behavior so sounds like yet another learning curve.

I will change his diet as you suggest. Will canned pumpkin work as well as freshly cooked?
He pooped again yesterday: a note on that, he is pooping more often but smaller amounts depending on what he has eaten. Since he has hardly eaten the past 4 days the amount has gotten very small. Yesterday's had undigested cricket parts in it.

His weight: he visibly gained since I've had him, in fact I thought I was feeding him to much. His tummy is flatter today then it has been (seems logical since he's not eating) what is a healthy weight for a 1year old?

If he is getting ready to bromate, how will I know if there is something wrong with him? I would hate to be so ignorant that he dies before I realize there was a problem. Signs of sickness would be helpful

Thank you for your attention on this matter

 

[Hdrydr31]

What I would suggest is get him checked out by a vet, it is recommended to do if you think they are going into brummation as parasites can mimic brumation. A dragon going into brumation with a heavy load of parasites is likely not to wake up so really getting fecal done and a general check up to make sure all is well. It will at least give you a starting point. Then it's just up to seeing what he want's to eat, my 2 are not eating their greens but will eat some of their dubia/superworms/waxworms/butterworms.

 

[PatsyB]

Are you sure you have a male?