Bearded Dragon help please!

[patrick_vieira4]

Hi guys!

My niece got a 4-5month old female Eastern Bearded Dragon last week as an xmas present.

Anyway, she's moved into her new enclosure with the whole setup right, and we're trying to feed her every day but as far as we know she hasn't eaten anything yet. We've tried mealworms, chopped up salads, live crickets of varying sizes, and she doesn't seem interested.

Any ideas what we can try?

Thanks in advance!

 

[mad_at_arms]

she's moved into her new enclosure with the whole setup right,

You need to elaborate on this; such as basking temp, cool end temp enclosure size, etc.

What was it eating with it previous owner? and how often?
Have you tried offering it a drink, whether via misting or water bowl?

 

[graffix]

What size enclosure is she in now and what did she come out of ?
What are the temperatures at each end ?
What was she fed before your niece got her and what times ?
Where is the enclosure located in the house in regards to people traffic ?

 

[patrick_vieira4]

Previous owner exactly the same foods. Not sure of times but we've tried in the morning, during the day, in the afternoon, everything.

We have a water bowl in it which is full of water.

The enclosure is in one of the main rooms in the house, seeing a lot of people. The seller said it would love lots of attention.

Same size enclosure as it used to be in. From memory 18" x 18" x 18" but it could be 20" or 22". Not sure, am at work.

Not sure of temps, am at work. We have a heat pad in one corner. We got one of those ExoTerra [is it Exoterra?] kit things.

 

[black_headed_mon]

enclosure is way to small!!u won't be able to produce a thermal gradient in that size.hot end 32 cool end 26 and u need a basking spot of 40-43(which can be done by using a flood light,60watt)scrap the heat mat and get light fitting as beardys associate heat with light.also uv is needed to replicate the sun (10.0 uv the one to look for)only feed him cricks,woodies which are no bigger than the space between his eyes,otherise chance if impaction.offer vegies everyday too chopped up nice and small(bok choy,celery tops,endive,squash,parsley etc etc etc.full list just google bearded dragon diet)dust with calcium powder 2-3 times a week and once a week for vitimin powder his food. hope this helps.
need anymore help just holla

 

[Dragons_Lair]

That enclosure might be just big enough at the moment but she is gonna keep growing and as an adult you should be looking at a 3 foot x 1 ½ foot as an absolute minimum with 4 foot x 2 foot x 2 foot being ideal. As far as her not eating goes the first thing I would do is make sure she is hydrated by getting her to drink some water from a dropper or giving her a warm bath. If you have been taking her out of the tank to feed her try feeding her in the tank and offer live food one at a time rather than throwing a handfull in there. Perhaps sticky tape some newspaper to the front of the tank for a few days to give her some privacy also. As far as food goes they usually find silkworms or woodies pretty hard to resist. Hope this helps…

 

[patrick_vieira4]

thanks for the feedback guys! Have sent on the info to my sister. She is now going out to buy a 4'x2'x2' tank, and getting a heat light. Already have the UV light. They gave her a warm bath just then.

Will post back if nothing eventually changes! Thanks!

 

[Matt74]

G'day Patrick

I had the same problem with a frill neck hatchy I got earlier in the year. It went two weeks without a feed so don't panic just yet and keep listening to the advise you are given here. First thing you should do is move the enclosure out of the high 'traffic' area you said it is situated in as the little fella may be stressed out in its new surroundings. Also, for the same reason, try not to handle the animal too much.

I just kept putting disabled roaches/crickets into a plastic container (ie Chinese takeaway fixed to the enclosure floor) in the enclosure. Make sure they are disabled enough so they can't escape the container but not dead so they still twitch and attract a feeding response. Don't worry, once you've disabled a few you'll know what I mean. Eventually one day I went to the enclosure and the roaches were all eaten and the frilly has been a great eater ever since. One of my friends who is a beardy breeder gave me some advise when I was struggling to get my frilly to feed that went along the lines of 'don't offer food for one whole day and see what happens', I guess he was suggesting changing tactics might generate a feeding response.

Buy a water spray bottle and lightly spray the lizard regularly to ensure he doesn't dehydrate.

Temperature gradients are extremely important but others have discussed this so I won't go into it.

I don't know, these are just some of my experiences from a difficult feeder, I hope you have some success soon

Matt

 

[Chris1]

there is always the option of syringe feeding watery baby food if worst comes to worst,...keep trying the right foods for now, but if she goes for more than 5 or so days, try that.

 

[ajandj]

could try offering things like dandelion greens and flowers, endive a little mango and sweeten the deal with a little baby apple puree.