beardie not eating ;/

[babiiqirlxx]

our beardie seems to not be eating this week! we took out the newspaper on tuesday and replaced it with papertowels and then he seemed as if he was going to begin shedding ( his face started peeling a bit). then we got 100 crickets on Wednesday and he hasnt eaten ANY! and he LOVED his crickets!! most of them had died now tho but hes still not eating! and he hasnt pooped since Tuesday. he just sits on his rock and basks in the sun. so im wondering whats wrong with him!?! could he be stressed?? right now hes in a 55 gallon and we dont have a background so i think he just looks at himself all day. im pretty worried about him!!

 

[renich]

Hmm...they do tend to slow down eating when shedding, but not eating for a whole week is not good.

Definitely start him on daily baths to try and get him to poo. Message his tummy gently while in the bath.

Now for the basics, I can't remember if we went over this or not
1. What make and model of UV lighting do you have?
2. What is the temp on the hot side?
3. What is the temp on the cool side?
4. What are you using to measure the temps?

 

[babiiqirlxx]

1. im unsure we got the tank & light from my boyfriends uncle
2. hot side about 100F
3. cool side idk
4. right now im using the stick on ones because i havent had money to get the digital one ;/

 

[renich]

Ok. Temperatures and lighting are very critical for bearded dragon's care.

The stick on thermometers can be off by 20 degrees. Consider getting a digital probe thermometer. You can pick them up at WalMart for a couple of bucks. They are pretty accurate. You can move it to the various points in the viv - cool side, hot side & basking spot.

Can you look on the UV light and see what it says. Most will be stamped with the kind and who made it. How old do you think the light is? Depending on the model, they should be replaced about every 6 months.

 

[babiiqirlxx]

Perfect a lamp 15 watt 18 inch < thats what it says on it ;/ i dont think its the right one ..
im unsure how old the light is but the fixture says it was made Nov 00 so im wondering if i should upgrade that as well?
im getting a digital thermomerter this sunday or monday.
should the basking spot be different from the hot spot?

 

[renich]

I would say that it is safe to say replace your UV light. I'm partial to the ReptiSun 10.0 tube. It is the best UV on the market. It is hard to find in stores and can be ordered online:

ReptiSun 10.0

Make sure it is the ReptiSun and NOT ReptiGLO.

The basking spot tends to be about 5-15 degrees hotter than the hot side. It depends what you have for your beardie to climb up to bask.

 

[babiiqirlxx]

okay i will be getting the new light this week. he has a rock that he lays on and a rock cave type thing thats mainly for decoration. i have them close together because i had no idea how/where to set it up at. i was looking into getting this hood http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2752661&lmdn=Reptile unless you can reccomend something cheaper. ive searched but i can never find the right one that seems to look like it would work ;/

 

[renich]

That's pretty pricey. I can't remember what we paid for ours. You can try something like Craig's List or Home Depot. Let me find the post about that...

http://mybeardie.com/bearded-dragon-forum/index.php/topic,683.15.html

 

[babiiqirlxx]

i looked on homedepots website but i have no clue which one would do! lol they all look like they are the ones you hang from the celing

 

[zebraflavencs]

Any of them will do.. You can just place over the screen top of the viv, if it is an aquarium, or you can fix it to the top of a wooden viv with screws.
Janie.
I've done both

 

[babiiqirlxx]

so something like this? http://www.homedepot.com/Lighting-F...splay?langId=-1&storeId=10051&catalogId=10053

 

[beardielover]

i've never used one. but looking at the link you have, what about a basking light? where would that go?

 

[babiiqirlxx]

i have a basking light lol. its one of them clamp ones. but yeah i think bubba is doing better!! he ate crix on sunday & i noticed he pooped FINALLY on saturday!! and it was normal looking.& hes moving around and being active!! im so thankful!! & i ordered him a new UVB bulb the Reptisun 10 ( thnx Renee for letting me know whats the best ) so that should be here soon!!

thanks everyone for your help!! bubba thanks you too! ;D

 

[renich]

You are quite welcome. That is why we are here.

Glad to hear that Bubba is getting back to normal. It's amazing how excited we get about poops. ;D

As far as the hood, I guess it is a matter of personal preference. We had Bernie's viv as part of our home decour. So, we were happy to get rid of all the sci-fi lanterns hanging about. We opted for a hood that had outlets for UV, basking and heat emitter. It was a cleaner look for us. We bought ours second hand from a reptile store's customer. It was in great condition and it worked!

So, I guess your hood is a matter of preference and what is affordable.

 

[babiiqirlxx]

yeah i dont know what i would do if i had not found this forum!! everyone here is so helpful !! and yeah i probally will end up getting the combo hood just to make sure he has all the right things to get big and strong & healthy

but thank you all so much!! <3 Stacey & Bubba

 

[renich]

Any time....