my beardie actually wont eat

[neven]

hey guys n girls my male beardie wont eat much. he will eat a max of 2 crickets per feeding n wont eat woodies at all. i think it might be because of the taste of the calcium and vitamin powder as it takes him a few licks to get the cricket. my female beardy is eating heaps n is starting to look a lot bigger. i feed them separately n am running out of idea of wat to do. got ny ideas???? maybe there is a better tasting powder ir some thing... thanks
Nev

 

[python_guy44]

I dont have beardies but i have an idea. You can get those supplements for reptiles that arent eating which you just add to the drinking water<so that they are getting the vitamins,minerals etc. that they need. Have you tried to feed without dusting the crickets. i hope this helps

goodluck neven

jeremy

 

[neven]

yeh i will try the water supplements although i hvnt heard very good things about them.... but its come to the point where i gues ill hv to ay... thanks alot python guy ill try that.... do u no how much they cost... im guessing the same price as the powder???
ta
Nev

 

[python_guy44]

go to www.reptilemart.com.au
from what i remember it is $12 for like 200ml or something
cant remember

 

[ad]

Hi Neven,
It is EXTREMELY DOUBTFUL that he doesnt like the taste of the additives.
If the beardies are housed together, then seperate them
it is more likely to be a dominance problem

If they are already housed seperately then I would check his heat.

A healthy, happy beardie will gulp down crickets and woodies even if they are stark white with powder.

Jeremy, i know you are trying to be helpful but it is probably best to give advice on animals that you do have experience with. One day you may unknowingly (and un-intentionally) advise somebody into harming their animal.

 

[python_guy44]

just wondering how administering the supplements can harm his reptile. I work in a pet shop so i have to know these things. But yeah if it was on something different i didnt know about i wouldnt say anything. Its good your looking out for people ad.

cheers, jeremy

 

[neven]

so ur advising not to use the liquid supplements.... it couldnt hurt could it... as i wouldnt rely on only that its just for while he isnt eating.. and until i get him chowen down some food...
ta nev

 

[olivaceus71]

Hey Neven, sounds like the smaller is being dominated. Even if you separate them for feeding it is still probably wary, so you would be better off separating until they get a bit bigger.

My beardies also eat alot of veges, bok choy, sweet potato, endive, carrot, brocolli, baby corn. I put all into a blender until it is about the consistency of tabouli and leave in the frigde in an airtight container, lasts pretty well.

In Jeremy's defence, he was trying to help and after working as a vet nurse and managing a reptile shop, giving electrolytes/gatorade to a dragon that isn't feeding has helped me out a number of time.

cheers
meg

 

[ad]

Neven,
Im not advising against the supplements, they may be a wonderful thing
It is not the answer to your problem though
The time and money you spend trying to fix the problem with the supplements is better spent on getting your beardy back on track.
Jeremy, i did not mean to be harsh. If Neven had self-diagnosed his problem correctly then your advice would have been valid, but he didn't, and if you were experienced in beardys you would have recognized this. no offence meant.

 

[neven]

huh... how did i not self-diagnose myself properly

 

[olivaceus71]

Neven,
Im not advising against the supplements, they may be a wonderful thing
It is not the answer to your problem though
The time and money you spend trying to fix the problem with the supplements is better spent on getting your beardy back on track.
Jeremy, i did not mean to be harsh. If Neven had self-diagnosed his problem correctly then your advice would have been valid, but he didn't, and if you were experienced in beardys you would have recognized this. no offence meant.

I didn't clarify that with the electrolytes I give them orally, I don't add them to their water bowl and they cannot always be relyed on to drink enough.
cheers
meg

 

[neven]

ta yeh im thinking of doin that
ill try to separate them although can be difficult when u only hv one enclosure... got any ideas?
ta nev

 

[ad]

Neven,
You have a problem with your beardy, you thought it was because he doesnt like the taste of the additives, this is not what his problem is.

Seperate your beardies into 2 tanks so that they cannot see each other.
Make sure your temperatures and UV are ok.
Try him on every food source you can -see megs list above, also all the different insects
Dont handle him and spray mist him with water every second day.
These steps will help if it is a dominance thing.

There still may be a number of reasons yet as to why he is off his food.
Small beardys get gut impaction and other problems that are serious so act immediately!

 

[neven]

thanks ad... apreciate it... looks like im gonna hv to buy another tank then ay
ta
Nev

 

[ad]

Hi Neven,
Yeah, I'm afraid so. You will be able to monitor them better while they are apart.
You should be able to put them back together once they are a decent size
but this competition to grow means they can be cruel to each other. At least he hasnt lost his toes, legs, or tail.
My friend had 2 that were about 300mm long and they were going along ok - he bought them this size - for 2 months they were fine. then he came home and found a tail been bitten off. (still in its mouth) He then had to re-amputate the tail into a neat job - best avoided! lol
And with the extra tank, you can expand your collection down the track!
Let me know how he goes.

 

[Simo]

How are they doing nev?

 

[NCHERPS]

Very good advice there from Ad, I would follow it, and as I am sure you are already, take note of all the temps, hours of UV, food eaten etc.., incase you do have to take him to the vets on the quick, then you will be able to give all the times /dates etc...
Don't want to worry you, but they can go down hill fast if your not careful.
ALso, another note regarding UV, make sure your lizard can sunbath 12 inch's from the light, further away and the lights not going to be of much use to the lizards health. Make sure the light has a UV factor of 5.0 to, the standard tubes used for aquariums have proved to be Useless!

Hope all is well soon, and he's back on track.

Cheers,
Neil

 

[Already_Gone]

Hi Nev,
I have had a similar problem with my vitticeps. They are about 6-7 months old and one of them appeared to be not eating. She is very small for her size (8.5 cm nose to vent) and not hugely active but she doesn?t look skinny. I had to separate them about 4 months ago but she hasn?t seemed to make a huge improvement. I spoke to a couple of friends who breed beardies and I was given the following advice:
- Make sure that they are separated and they can not see each other at all (I put up another barrier just to be on the safe side)
- It is winter, individual habits may differ over the cooler months, some may eat more than others
- Check the enclosure temps i.e. Is the basking temp right?
- It may be a gender thing, on average males tend to grow faster than females
- She may not eat while I am there
- To give her a kick start, mix the required calcium and vitamins with baby food (I use corn, carrot and pumpkin) and feed with a syringe. Just hold it to his mouth and he should start licking at it. Vitamins once a week and calcium every second day.
- Force feed her with small, dusted crickets. After doing this for about 3 days I noticed her catching them in her enclosure and taking them from my hand (she didn?t do this previously)
- Find her favourite food and give her heaps of it (I wasn?t sure about this because she didn?t eat much, I think its yellow squash)
- Cat food with gravy (casserole with NO fishy stuff), the gravy gives her moisture but she didn?t seem too impressed with this little stunt
I started this about 1-2 weeks ago and she has already made a marked improvement!! She is more active and eats at least 10 crickets a day (compared to 1-2 previously). Just incase it is impaction, you could try giving him a warm bath (around basking temp).
Good Luck and I hope I can be of help!!
Liana

 

[neven]

thanx alot for ur help guys... soz i hvnt replied in a while.... my little lizzie is now on his way n is eating about 7 raoches a feeding.... and is quite energetic.... i ended up not separating them as he kept escaping n being wif her... so i felt bad... n after that he just began to eat more each day.... i used the liquid calcium/vitamin and sprayed him once dayly wif that mixed wif water.... so im guessing it worked quite well.... now he is still a fair amount smaller than the girl but is catching up....
ta for all ur help guys
ta nev

 

[marc]

with vitties water addatives are usess as they dont drink very often I agree with ad seperate them if there not and boost up your heat, make a hot spot at one end of the cage, for sub-ads to adults it may sound extreme but have it a 40-45 degrees C and the other end you will want it about 15, juv at about 30 degrees C in the hot spot.....another good it lighty spray them every third day as these dragon in the wild will drink the dew in the mornings...with the correct heat these animals can not resist moving food