New to the site but need some serious help please..

[Spikeithard]

Hey, my name is chris and I got my first dragon on August 30th or 31st. It is about 8 weeks old and is roughly 7-8 inches in length nose to tail. It ate fine almost right away. dropped in a few crickets and came off the branch and scooped them up in no time. Then I researched that sand is not the best for them so I after about a week I changed to repti carpet. That didnt fit well and I didnt like it so the next day I tried stick on tile. My little guy hated that because it couldnt get any traction on it. stayed on the branch all the time and basked. left the crickets alone. I then put in some shelf liner for a bit better traction. Still didnt like it still. So I did more research and learned the sand isnt all that bad from many knowledgeable BD owners. So .. between about 5 habitat changes it had to endure (being taking out and put into a box while changing it all up) and trying a seperate feeding box I think it's really stressed out now and hasnt ate a think in about 2-3 days and is actually appearing skinnier. all it wants to do is bask and lay low. Every once in a while it will do a glass dance on the front of the tank,

I have noticed the tail is shedding since yesterday. Not sure if the loss of appetite is the shedding or the stress of the moving and changing of the scenery constantly over the last week. I have had the same set up now with the sand for the last 4 days and the only thing it ate a few days ago was 2 worms force fed to its mouth while holding it. ( I use 'it' because I am not sure of it's gender yet)

I dont want it to starve to death but at the same time I am trying to leave it alone to de-stress.

I am very worried. the same 4 or 5 crickets have been cruising along inside the tank now for 3 days and I am sure they wont last much longer. It seems fine and not in pain other than lack of interest in the crickets, veggies or pellets. Seems to be sleeping well once the lights go off.

Please give me some insight on what I could do.

Thanks

PS. in case your wondering. the crickets cant reach the dragon while sleeping. I made a plateau the basking branch is on that the crickets cant get up to it.

 

[Angela Shook Hays]

the thing with the sand. it can stop them up. Has he gone potty in this time period? Sugguestion on things to give him to get him to eat. take a baby dropper and give him Apple juice or try stage one Baby food. Mine love it. They are bigger now both being over a year old they don't even eat crickets anymore. but they still want me to fee them veggies and applesauce. You can also try hand feeding him the crickets. just use a pair of tweezers. Good luck

 

[Brett]

Any particulate substrate can cause impaction the chances increase at a younger age. Tell us more about your Viv what are your basking temps and temps on the cool side of the tank. Has he had bowl moment in the last cpl days. When was the last time you soaked him to rehydrate him. These questions will better help us help you.

 

[Spikeithard]

hey thanks.. I havent noticed any poop since yesterday. When i woke up today it was glass dancing along the front then scooted back up the branch. as you can see in the picture I have the plateau in the middle the the crickets wont get up onto unless they jump. The heat lamp is on the right and UVB on the left. The heat is about 5 inches from the top of the branch. the thermometer at the back left, about 12-13 inches from basking area says its just above 80 degrees

See i have left a space at the back under the rock wall so they cant climb to it and get to the top or behind the wall. put some clear packing tape in the corners too. there is fake rock wall fish tank paper lining around the plateau area too. so basically the crickets walk around the outside mainly.

So since it was at the bottom front against the glass trying to get out means to me its not sluggish and not moving. it seems to have the energy but just doesnt want to eat now. I was able about 3 days ago to hand feed it just a bit but now it wont budge its mouth to let anything at all. its visually getting skinnier. I noticed it still arm waves slowly once in a while but not as much as it did the first 5-6 days of having it. isnt too much black on the bottom stomach. just a bit of black dots kind of.

 

[Spikeithard]

well sort of good news.. while making breakfast, I saw it went to the bottom and cruised around a bit.. straddled its water dish in the bottom front corner. took a peak at a cricket then went back up on the branch.. hasnt done anything like that in days.. so thats kind of good news lol

 

[Dragonsx6]

Hey Chris welcome to the site. Your little guy may not be eating due to the upset with all the changes to his viv so quickly, also 80degrees for your basking area is too low, it should be 95/110 with a cool area of 80/85 what sort and size of uvb are you using also as I cant see one in your pic. Please Please Please DO NOT leave crickets in the viv beside your dragon. If you read this link you will see why http://www.beardeddragonforum.com/index.php?threads/cricket-bites.4429/#axzz1XkWuufow With the size of your little guy if he got a bite it could be fatal, it nearly was for my girl and she's an adult.

 

[Spikeithard]

Hey Chris welcome to the site. Your little guy may not be eating due to the upset with all the changes to his viv so quickly, also 80degrees for your basking area is too low, it should be 95/110 with a cool area of 80/85 what sort and size of uvb are you using also as I cant see one in your pic. Please Please Please DO NOT leave crickets in the viv beside your dragon. If you read this link you will see why http://www.beardeddragonforum.com/index.php?threads/cricket-bites.4429/#axzz1XkWuufow With the size of your little guy if he got a bite it could be fatal, it nearly was for my girl and she's an adult.

no basking area would be closer to 100.. about a foot away in the corner is about 82.

ill take any extras out at night before bed.

 

[tdrost]

i pretty much agree with everything being said. the crickets are evil little things when left alone at night!
Have you tried bathing him yet ~ mine loves a nice warm bath. Pretty much quarantees a good poop!

 

[Spikeithard]

just fed her two medium crickets.. took some convincing but finally gobbled them up

 

[Spikeithard]

Im so happy. she just went after two crickets on her own.. and just tried to track down another one. its hunting again! Then I do think it was only stress like dragonss6 said a few posts back..

keep you posted but its looking promising again like she has her killer instinct back because trying to force feed sucks haha

 

[Dragonsx6]

Im so happy. she just went after two crickets on her own.. and just tried to track down another one. its hunting again! Then I do think it was only stress like dragonss6 said a few posts back..

keep you posted but its looking promising again like she has her killer instinct back because trying to force feed sucks haha

Glad your little guy is feeling better

 

[Brett]

Thats cool relocation couldve very well stressed it for a bit.

 

[Spikeithard]

yes as of later last night it was a success. it went for crickets on a hunt for about 10 minutes or so. got a few then got frustrated it couldnt get more. they are fast those little buggers! SO this morning I am putting 5 -6 in the fridge for about 10 min or so to help slow them down. make it easier on my dragon.

anyone else have success with the fridge method? whats the best time to leave them in there to slow em right down?

 

[Dragonsx6]

yes as of later last night it was a success. it went for crickets on a hunt for about 10 minutes or so. got a few then got frustrated it couldnt get more. they are fast those little buggers! SO this morning I am putting 5 -6 in the fridge for about 10 min or so to help slow them down. make it easier on my dragon.

anyone else have success with the fridge method? whats the best time to leave them in there to slow em right down?

From the pic your dragon looks very young? It should be eating more than 5/6 crix per 10 min. What size of crix are you feeding him? by the looks of his sise he should be on the small live foods and they can go thru anything up to 40/50 at a sitting in a 10 min period. Rule of thumb is you dont feed anything larger than the width of the space between the dragons eyes.
Putting them in the fridge for a little while will slow them down, but you dont want them to slow down too much as that will just make your dragon lazy as he wont have to hunt them.

 

[Spikeithard]

from what I know its about 8 weeks old. Im getting it the 3/8 size. I put about 5 in 30 minutes ago and just looks at them walk around from her perching basking area. not going to get them like she wanted to last night. but she did have a good poop 10 min ago lol

 

[Spikeithard]

i dont get it. It hasnt went after or showed any interest in a cricket since a ten minute hunting flurry last night about 8pm. then nothing today but now I just watched 5 minutes ago my dragon take a 10 inch dive off a basking branch to swoop in on a cricket that I tried to hand feed her unseccesfully ten minutes ago. It seems her eating is sporadic now. its like it wants to eat but only at certain times and on her own conditions. most likely stress you think? Pooped today which is a good sign.

ok 20 min later while it was on the sand a cricket went slowly right past her. Didnt even flinch her. I dont get it. jumps from almost a foot to get a cricket but wont get an easy one right infront of her then almost crawls on her. all she is concerned with now is wall dancing again

 

[Brett]

Lol they are triggered into a feeding response by motion. They are more likely to go after a fast moving cricket then a slow moveing cricket.

 

[Spikeithard]

Lol they are triggered into a feeding response by motion. They are more likely to go after a fast moving cricket then a slow moveing cricket.

funny thing is.. the one it jumped off the branch for was a legless cricket lol I yanked the legs off of it accidently while trying to hand feed her. This lizard is driving me up the wall. haha

 

[Brett]

Lol well i wouldnt let it get to you

 

[Spikeithard]

god no dont let it stress you out haha! they are funny little critters hes just needs to find his feet as they say and you need to try n work out a way to get him to feed maybe at certain times. He will eat when he is hungrey but as long as he is eating dont panic to much. may take a longer time for him to settle than others.

thanks, ya I am trying not to stress out. I put some crickets in this morning and it went for them almost right away. This batch of crickets is LIVELY! I have never seen a group bounce around so much before.

It got two within about 3 minutes then gave up and went back on the branch. So all looks good. just was some stress. Might not have its full appetite back thats why its eating in installments?