Juvenile bearded dragon not eating

[Mary]

I have a very small beardie that I bought a few weeks ago at PetSmart. He started out eating really well, but then he started shedding and it all kind of went downhill.

He has been shedding for about two weeks. I have been spraying water on him, bathing him regularly, etc., to try and help him out. He is almost done, but during this period of time he has barely eaten anything at all.

He is pretty active, but the closest he gets to his food is when he's standing in his greens bowl kicking everything out onto the carpet. He is losing weight and looks like he doesn't feel good to me.

I've been trying to get him to take repta aid but he will only lick a little bit of it off my finger. This is my first lizard so I am a bit clueless as to what to do.

His enclosure: 10 gallon tank (like I said, he's super small right now), water bowl, greens bowl, repti-carpet, basking spot of around 105 degrees. He has a heat lamp and UVB lamp. He eats turnip greens, kale, baby crickets (gut loaded and coated with calcium), and small mealworms (very rarely, I'm desperate lately to get him to eat something).

I think he may be heading to the vet soon but I am BROKE. Any suggestions?

 

[Josh]

Hi Mary,
I'm sorry to hear your little beardie isn't eating as much usual. Which UV lamp are you using? What are the ambient (non basking) temps like in your enclosure? Are you using the proper supplements, calcium dusting, etc? Can you post any photos of your setup and your beardie?

 

[Seiryu]

Well, you said you got him a few weeks ago correct? A 10 gallon for a "few weeks old dragon" is fairly small still. They grow fast. I have a feeling because you have a 10 gallon, that it is really hot in there. He needs to be able to get to 70-80 degrees on the cool end.

The other thing is. Beardeds going through sheds do tend to eat less. Mine do not eat quite as much, but they still do eat daily.

You can also try some canned baby food. Squash kind is good. It needs to be just Squash and water, no additives.

Has he pooped recently? He could be impacted if not. What kind of UVB bulb is it? The only safe UVB bulb for a 10 gallon enclosure would be a fluorescent tube Repti-SUN 10.0. The compact bulbs are bad and cause too many problems. And a mercury vapor in a 10 gallon is not good either.

The UVB light needs to directly hit him, and not be through glass, or even screen.

I would recommend getting a 20 gallon + tank, and using slate tile for a substrate. Try craigslist. I see them all the time for under $15

 

[Mary]

Okay, I'm in the process of uploading some pictures to share. As soon as my electronics start cooperating with me, I'll post them *crosses fingers*

That would make sense that maybe it is TOO hot. I recently bought him a new bulb that actually got his basking area up to around 100, and he seems more active... But, he spends a lot of time running around scratching on the sides of the enclosure, too, which makes me wonder. I have a very large tank at home that I can pick up in a week or so and start setting up for him. I was wondering, is this the kind of bulb you're talking about?

http://www.petco.com/product/102889....aspx?Ntt=Repti-SUN 10.0.&OneResultRedirect=1

Because that's definitely not what mine is. Mine has a kind of spiral looking bulb in it and is in a dome. It's sitting on top of his screen. I guess I need to fix that!

 

[Mary]

 

[Seiryu]

Yep, you have a compact bulb. Which are very bad. They cause eye problems, lethargy and many other problems associated with them. This might be why he is not eating.

Does he poop regularly? I would definitely Stop using the coiled UVB bulb ASAP. You either need to get the long tube kind like in the Link you posted, or a mercury Vapor. For the Mercury vapor you need a 20 gallon or more tank.

Also, like I said before. By putting the UVB on top of the screen, you are cutting the UVB output by half or more. Basically making the bulbs almost useless.

I would get the bigger tank you have setup, with a tube light and fixture. And hang the tube light inside. 6-10 inches from the beardy is perfect. Basking spot between 95-110 is good. 100-110 is preferred. The cool side of the tank needs to be 70-80.

 

[Seiryu]

Forgot to add. Don't buy it from that website.

http://www.petmountain.com/product/...42-504983/zoo-med-reptisun-10-0-uvb-bulb.html

Almost half the price.

 

[Josh]

Rob, what do you think it is about those coiled bulbs? They're just too intense? Too much UV?

 

[Seiryu]

Yes, for the most part, they are TOO concentrated in one spot. They have also been known to to have really bad Index's which is part of the problem as well.

 

[Bill]

Have you soaked him

 

[Fliehigh]

The coiled (CFL) bulbs actually put WAY too much UV when you first turn them on and then fade very fast to almost 1/4 of what a dragon needs. They basically cause welders flash in dragons to the point they will not open their eyes anymore. The good thing is this is easily reversable and easily corrected by using a proper linear florescant bulb.

Check this link:

http://www.uvguide.co.uk/phototherapyphosphor.htm

Mary

As for your beardy running around and "jumping" at the glass, this is COMPLETLY normal. it is called glass dancing.

Fliehigh

 

[Josh]

"glass dancing"!! i love it! we gotta get our own series of glass dancing videos on youtube!