Is my beardy ok?

[jakawak]

Hi guys I recently bought a 7-8 week old bearded dragon about 3-4 weeks ago that is sleeping a lot and digging burrows to sleep in and not eating or being very active at all, it comes out for a bit of uv for like 5 min then goes back to its little den and sleeps more... It hasn't done a poo and I am pretty sure it hasn't eatin very much, it is starting to look skinny is my beardy ok or is it trying to brument? I didn't think they done that so early in their life? Please help


Eye 4 an eye

 

[Bel03]

What temp is your basking spot?? What food are you trying to offer it?? Beardies should be going to the toilet daily, nothing in 3-4wks def isnt normal.

 

[Manda1032]

I agree... what is the temperature?

 

[jakawak]

I'm feeding small crickets with calcium, small bits of carrot ,bean sprouts, rocket and different leafy salad greens, no lettuce, basking spot thermo turns off at 31 and it dug its burrow down to the glass bottom to where the temp gets to about 32-33, the cold end of the enclosure is 27min I have the light set to be on 12 hours off 12 hours 6 in morning till 6 at night. I can't find any poo unless she is burying it like a cat lol I have 2 other beardies that are full of beans and yesterday I put a bigger beardy in a enclosure next to it and it is a little bit more lively and comes out to watch the bigger one then goes and hides again, so it went from coming out for 1 min for uv to 5 min, so I like that improvement.... Still worried something mite be wrong


Eye 4 an eye

 

[Bel03]

Your basking spot should be sitting at least at 40. Also, putting the bigger lizard in there will only make your problems worse, not better, your little guy will be scared & the chance of the bigger one hurting it are quite high.

 

[thepythonguy]

like what bel711 crank that basking spot beardies need the heat to digest their food mine all sit at 40+ and don't stick any bigger dragons in they intimidate the smaller dragons

 

[jakawak]

here is some pics, it poked its head out to see what I was doing, u can see basking temp tho it is probably 1-2 degrees warmer under the water bowl, the substrate is tuff so bowl won't fall on it either.


Eye 4 an eye

No bigger one in with it, it is next to it in completely different enclosure.


Eye 4 an eye

Also the bigger one is maybe 1 cm bigger not 2 much difference

3 beardies 3 separate tanks, 3 different sizes. I just cranked heat up, as I have a high powered heat mat you can see how quickly it gets hot

Eye 4 an eye

It is digging deeper and deeper under waterbowl, should I cave her den in and put the waterbowl against the glass so she cant dig under it?


Eye 4 an eye

Ok I moved the bowl and placed it flush with the ground, I also put a board between the 2 lizards and they can't see each other, now it is laying under the uv light, I cranked the heat up too.. So will hopefully eat something now


Eye 4 an eye

 

[Justdragons]

FROM WHAT I CAN SEE YOU USING A HEAT MAT FOR HEAT?? ALSO YOU DONT REALLY HAVE A GREAT HIDE FOR HIM? BEARDIES NEED A GOOD HIDE AND THIS IS EVEN MORE IMPORTANT IN GLASS TANKS AS IT MAKES THEM FEEL MORE SECURE. a BASKING LIGHT IS BETTER THAN A HEAT MAT FOR DRAGONS AS THEY NEED TO DEVELOP GOOD BASKING HABITS AS THEY WOULD IN THE WILD. HEAT MATS ARE GOOD SUPPLY OF NIGHT TIME HEAT( IF THATS WHAT YOUR IN TO). IF YOU CAN ORGANISE A GOOD LITTLE BASKING LIGHT WITH A ROCK UNDER IT( TO ABSORB SOME HEAT) THAT WILL SIT AROUND 40 ODD AND THEN A COOL END GRADIENT OF AROUND 26-29 YOU SHOULD START TO SEE MORE NORMAL BASKING BEHAVIOUR. WITH OUT THIS THEY CANNOT DIGEST THEIR FOOD AND WITH OUT THAT THEY GET LAZY, LAZY BEARDIES WONT EAT AND IN TURN HIDE. SEE THE CYCLE? ITS WORTH A SHOT. IF YOU HAVE A BASK LIGHT I CANNOT SEE THEN IM NOT TO SURE??

Sorry for caps lock.. Lol the forum used to change it for me lol

 

[jakawak]

Lol ok I can go and build a cage for a bask light and set it up in their aswell, I mite empty out the waterbowl and turn it upside down for a heat rock sorta thing under the lamp, my other beardies are fine without heat lamps but will see how we go ok


Eye 4 an eye

Lol ok I can go and build a cage for a bask light and set it up in their aswell, I mite empty out the waterbowl and turn it upside down for a heat rock sorta thing under the lamp, my other beardies are fine without heat lamps but will see how we go ok




Eye 4 an eye

 

[Justdragons]

Not saying your wrong at all, beardies are hardy animals.. i have one who is still quite young but the only way she will eat is if i pick her up and put small crickets in her mouth.. she is very scared. i had to make a hide with a lot of holes in the top and put it very close to the uv light because she just wants to hide al the time. she is growing very very slow. but she is still healthy but if you didnt know you would have no idea there is a beardie even in the tank. good luck.

 

[Renenet]

Your baby beardie looks very cute. A few more suggestions. I'd chop up those greens into fine strips so that she can eat them more easily. If she doesn't eat vegies right away at this age, it's not a huge problem. She will hopefully begin to develop more of a taste for them. Keep offering them, but the first priority is to get her eating reliably and her poop regular.

Just on food, there's a list somewhere on the net of beardie foods that a lot of keepers find very handy. I'm typing this very quickly because I have to get back to an assignment, but someone might be able to point you in the right direction or perhaps you can Google it.

Another suggestion - have you seen her drinking water? Some young beardies seem to have trouble finding still water. If you're not already, you might need to mist her daily to make sure she's properly hydrated. Give her a light all-over spray and let some drops trickle onto her nose. If she's thirsty she'll lick them off.

I can't quite tell from the photos - what kind of UV light have you got and what strength is it? How close can your beardie get to the basking light?

 

[Manda1032]

I'd say it's terrified of the larger one living next to it

stick something between the tanks like a pillowcase so they can't see each other and see how you go

 

[jakawak]

I have a 10uv Fluro tube light is can get about 15 cm away from it, I put the other beardie up their to hopefully get it to come out, sorta worked but I have put something between them now so they can't see each other, I find her standing in her water bowl every now and again so she knows where to find it, I mist my other 2 every now and again cause they don't find it as easy, I mite put a branch in their so it can climb closer still to the light, I'll even replace the bulb. It comes out just doesn't like to eat crickets and doesn't poo or stay out very long, I have temp up to 38 now so is warm enough to poo...I don't know, I guess I cant do much


Eye 4 an eye

 

[bowdnboy]

Sorry if Ive repeated anything, anyone has said already but Ive skipped through the thread.

Seems pretty simple to me. I'd say your little beardy may be trying to go into brumation already. If your using a heat mat in a glass sided enclosure, your ambient temps may be quite cool, even though the probes on the thermometer are reading higher temps. Are the probes on the ground over where the heat mat is??

Beardies luv over head heat ie: high wattage white globe. They are diurnal, ie they wake up in the morning seeking warmth from the sun. I have depending on enc size high wattage normal white globes that are on during the day getting the spot temp up to about 40, with the immediate ambient temp at the hot end to about 32-35. Lights completely off at night. Once the temps start dropping into autumn/winter, they'l hide under things/dig holes etc to wait it out (brumate). A couple of mine are starting to do the same now, and it doesnt have to be a big temp decrease to trigger them into. I in the past have tried not to allow my small juvenile animals to brumate, ive kept the temps up for the first yr. Others have however let them sleep, as long as they have good condition.
Keep them seperate as your doing. try putting a divide so they cant see others, not sure if this is the problem though because at that size I find you can keep them together anyway till they get bigger.

Anyway, my two - bits worth. all the best

 

[Grogshla]

For baby dragon get basking temp to 45 degrees. They like shelter and security especially if they are young and new.

 

[Manda1032]

I suggested the partition cause My beardies would spend all day either trying to get to each other to kill or trying to convince the other beardie they mean no harm.