Bearded Dragon lost her will to eat

[argodzilla]

Hi Guys,
I suspect my 6 year old sons Dragon is in Brumation, but I'm a novice. The dragon is about 6 months old. She was eating me out of house and home (700 crickets a week), then about 2 weeks ago it just stopped. She is no longer eating her Salads, and she refuses the dubai roaches, the feeder crickets, super worms and silkworms that I attempt to feed her. She is no longer basking and she is intentionally seeking out private cooler places in her enclosure. I keep her water full, and put greens in her cage daily, but she hardly eats anything. She just mostly stays still with her eyes mostly closed.

I am concerned.

Thanks!

 

[Broly]

Hey, the beardie won’t be brumating age 6 months. Could you go over your set up so we can offer some advice? What UVA/UVB you have, enclosure size, how you’re measuring your temps and what temps you’re getting etc. Pics would help too - x

 

[argodzilla]

Hey, the beardie won’t be brumating age 6 months. Could you go over your set up so we can offer some advice? What UVA/UVB you have, enclosure size, how you’re measuring your temps and what temps you’re getting etc. Pics would help too - x

Sure - thanks for the help.
Our beardie had a ravenous appetite and had been growing but then significantly reduced her food intake, not eating much. She appeared restless and was growing out of her enclosure, so we upgraded her from her original enclosure to a Zen Habitat which is larger - 48x24x24.

Temps are measured with internal probe on right side of wall and a thermometer on the opposite wall. We have a laser thermometer to measure directly on her basking area.
Basking spot is about 100 degrees F. Opposite side of the enclosure is 78 degrees F.
UVA/UVB bulb is a 10 and is about 15 inches above the bottom and is 22 inches long. The humidity is 36-38 degrees.
There are heat lamps that kick on if temp drops below 80 degrees. We live in ME, so it's cold right now. I've attached pictures as well. Thank you in advance for your thoughts!

 

[argodzilla]

The UVA/UVB is a Reptilisun 22 inch with a T5 HO 10 watt bulb*

 

[Sadie]

The UVA/UVB is a Reptilisun 22 inch with a T5 HO 10 watt bulb*

Please get a piece of decor directly under the UVB approx 12-15 inches then watch her behavior

 

[Broly]

Your beardie may be going through relocation stress, this may cause them to go off their food. They sometimes also go off their food when shedding.

In regards to your probe thermometer on the ‘hot side’ please rest the probe directly under the heat bulb (basking spot) so you can read the accurate temperatures there in the hottest spot. They could be a little higher than 100 (100-105). During the night you probably won’t need additional heat unless the viv drops below 65. If it does, make sure the heat being offered is from a CHE (ceramic heat emitter) and no coloured bulbs / heat rocks etc. You should also make sure the beardie is the correct distance from the UVA/UVB.

There’s a lot to remember and learn, it can be overwhelming but once it’s figured out your beardie should be much happier. I know it’s probably alarmed you because he was eating fine before but sometimes things can be a little wrong and you won’t know at first and then their behaviour suddenly changes. It’s best to ensure you have everything correct sooner rather than later, that’s for sure!

You could try offering BSFL (black soldier fly larvae) in place of the other worms and they’re really good and don’t need to be calcium-dusted as they contain sufficient amounts. Always offer the fresh salads each day even if they’re being refused. Try not to over handle or add any additional stress if you’re beardie isn’t feeling very great at the mo - x

 

[Broly]

Sorry, I forgot you said you’ve got the IR heat gun too.

In regards to the UVB, it’s generally recommended you have a tube length that’s 70% of the enclosure and placed over to one side with the heat bulb, so yours may be a little on the short end. Im not a beardie pro by any means so I wouldn’t want to say yours being shorter and placed centrally is deffo the cause of the loss of appetite but it may be worth considering upgrading to a longer UVB and reflector fixture x

 

[argodzilla]

Your beardie may be going through relocation stress, this may cause them to go off their food. They sometimes also go off their food when shedding.

In regards to your probe thermometer on the ‘hot side’ please rest the probe directly under the heat bulb (basking spot) so you can read the accurate temperatures there in the hottest spot. They could be a little higher than 100 (100-105). During the night you probably won’t need additional heat unless the viv drops below 65. If it does, make sure the heat being offered is from a CHE (ceramic heat emitter) and no coloured bulbs / heat rocks etc. You should also make sure the beardie is the correct distance from the UVA/UVB.

There’s a lot to remember and learn, it can be overwhelming but once it’s figured out your beardie should be much happier. I know it’s probably alarmed you because he was eating fine before but sometimes things can be a little wrong and you won’t know at first and then their behaviour suddenly changes. It’s best to ensure you have everything correct sooner rather than later, that’s for sure!

You could try offering BSFL (black soldier fly larvae) in place of the other worms and they’re really good and don’t need to be calcium-dusted as they contain sufficient amounts. Always offer the fresh salads each day even if they’re being refused. Try not to over handle or add any additional stress if you’re beardie isn’t feeling very great at the mo - x

Thanks for the reply, i was talking about relocation stress last night with my wife. The beardie went from eating to not eating before the new enclosure. So, it still could be stressed, but we noted the loss of appetite before the move. We live in Maine and our house has drafts, but we keep the heat set to 70 because of the Bearded Dragon. At night we use a 150 CHE and (2) 50 CHE all located in the cage thermostat controlled to try to keep the night heating consistent. The enclosure is on the floor (waiting on arrival of stand) and one morning I picked her up and noticed how cold her belly was. I then made her an 18x18 raised ceramic tile decor so she could get up on it for basking and be closer to the CHE's at night. She chooses to go under it instead.
The concerning part was the Beardie was super happy and somehow it all changed. I moved things around this morning.

 

[Broly]

This seems to be relatively common with the nature of beardies, one day loving life and the next appear totally miserable. The hard part is figuring out what the problem is because the problem doesn’t always come immediately before the mood change. Quite often they carry on like everything is fine when it’s not and by the time it shows or we realise that they’re not ok we as their loving owners are overwhelmed and confused! Often trying too many things at once and probably adding to the stress! (Sorry I know that’s not very helpful - most important things are to ensure you’ve got correct basking temps, somewhere to cool down, and sufficient UVB). When it comes to feeding, don’t feed them too late, they need a good few hours to digest their food with lights on before ‘bed time’). Are you supplementing with calcium powder and multivitamins?

And yes, it’s deffo best the viv isn’t on the floor so it’s great you’ve got a stand coming. This might help remove some stressors

 

[Broly]

Also, that raised ceramic tile platform looks great. I’d quite like to make something similar for mine!

 

[Broly]

Her appetite may hopefully improve now she is closer to the UVB. And it’s good she’s got those plants too, hopefully they’ll make her feel a little shielded but she won’t have to hide in the shade completely. My beardie loves her similar plant and uses it for some privacy whilst still being warm and in UVB ‘range’. If you’re satisfied with how things are now and other members haven’t got additional suggestions which may help, I’d suggest not moving too much about for a while to let her settle down, because her viv will also soon have the move up from the floor!

 

[Skybug]

Can we get a weight and length of your bd? She looks like a young adult? Definitely doesn’t look 6 months old to me, you say she eats loads of crickets? Unfortunately crickets are kinda a dirty feeder :/ im not a fan of them but I understand if the wife wont allow roaches (if you want to revisit the conversation with her there are roach species that cant climb smooth surfaces) and roaches dont stink or die randomly either, it sounds like a number of things can be contributing to the behavior we’re seeing, in the meantime id find out where your nearest lizard specialist vet is located just in case, moniter her weight , watch for black bearding, its okay if she doesn’t eat every day lizards dont need food daily (unless they’re babies)

 

[argodzilla]

We got her on September 12, 2021 and she was so small they were delaying selling her. Her voracious appetite was what convinced them to sell her. So she is probably 5 1/2 months. She is 21 inches long and is 1lbs 6 ounces. For feeders we have gone from crickets, to silk worms, to dubais, back to crickets. 80% of the feeding involved calcium dusting the feeders. Maybe 20% involved vitamin dusting the feeders. This latest run on crickets was 700 per week and it almost completely stopped about 2-3 weeks ago. We have had issues getting her to eat any green other than Kale. We mix them with turnip greens but it is clear she is picking out just the kale. Todays salad is Kale, carrot and parsnip shavings with a little pear. We hardly give her fruit. The only thing she is eating now are those terrible canned silkworm pupae. She will no longer eat from my hand or from forceps. I have to put a dubai in and let it run around and she will eat it if it walks close to her sometimes. The cage change has spruced her up this morning. The platform is now direct under the UVB and she has been on top of the platform all morning exploring the space and getting high for basking heat. She wouldn't take crickets, dubais or medium/small supers. She ate a few silkworm pupae which i hate to give her. I have about 500 crickets, 200 dubais and about 50 super worms on hand.

 

[argodzilla]

I also have a large pure bred Maine Coon cat. He likes to hang out in front of the cage. In the beginning Lena the Bearded Dragon would go over to him and they would look at each other for hours. Any chance that the cat is stressing her out?

 

[Broly]

Wow! That’s a big dragon! Could you upload another pic of her when you get a chance pls.. and the cat could possibly be stressing her, if it’s possible to keep the cat away for a while, it shouldn’t hurt to try it x

 

[Skybug]

Yea you definitely either got a huge dragon or shes super fat, Cats love the smell of beardies so that may be difficult to keep kiitty away, if u can put tin foil over the area the cat sits on it’ll really freak ur cat out.

 

[argodzilla]

She is thin. When she walks there isn't anything dragging aside from her tail. She is on her tile here, which is 18 inches. When we got her she was about 4 inches.

 

[argodzilla]

I added a brick next to the platform. Now I am wondering if the surface was too smooth for her to climb up. She has spend the whole morning on the platform. Seems happy for the first time in a bit. Hopefully she is hungry later.
I have only seen a black beard on her once. After a bath, cool air. I got her back into the enclosure and she was back to normal.

 

[Sadie]

She is thin. When she walks there isn't anything dragging aside from her tail. She is on her tile here, which is 18 inches. When we got her she was about 4 inches. View attachment 25674

She looks good please get a piece of decor directly under the UVB 12-15 inches -- she needs access to those rays for the best UVB effect

 

[Skybug]

I added a brick next to the platform. Now I am wondering if the surface was too smooth for her to climb up. She has spend the whole morning on the platform. Seems happy for the first time in a bit. Hopefully she is hungry later.
I have only seen a black beard on her once. After a bath, cool air. I got her back into the enclosure and she was back to normal.

Shes definitely a bigger beardie! A German giant? , whered u get her? And her tummy does look a lil thin but her tail legs and face look like nice and plump, if she rejects all food for 3 days then id say it’s abnormal