Pygmy Bearded Dragon - Help??

[Alldone]

Hi there guys. My daughter has recently (early last week) got two Pygmy Bearded Dragons. They are 6 months old & we bought them off a young guy - they came with their original 4 foot glass enclosure with heating & lighting etc. He told us that they were eating crickets (about 4 each per day) and vegies.

My problem is that they don't seem to be eating. The female (who is much bigger) has eaten two crickets that I'm aware of so far and the male has only eaten a few little bits of carrot. There are crickets roaming around the tank but they don't seem interested in them - even if we put them right up near them they still don't seem to want to eat them.

I have put some food in their tank each day - broccoli, strawberries, apple, zucchini, carrot. I also put in the little lizard pellets softened with water but they don't seem interested?? :?

The ceramic heat lamp keeps the tank at about 30ish degrees & they have a rock up next to the tank where they can get warm. If I physically get them out & put them on the rock in the heat they seem to stay there, but don't actually make any attempt to get themselves up there.

I notice that they also seem to be sleeping in the cold end of the tank at night in a shoe box (their hide) - the female in particular seems to bury herself in the woody type substrate overnight & the male seems to sleep next to her but not buried.

I don't know a great deal about the bearded dragons - this is our first attempt at keeping lizards, so any help or tips would be most appreciated.

 

[J-A-X]

Hello again, you have taken to reptile keeping in a big way huh, we all knew it wouldn't take you long to expand from what to get as a 'first' to 'guess what i have now" LOL
firstly congrats on your purchase,

I have 2 pygmy beardeds, that i would have to say drove me nuts.... all the 'rules & expectations' that i read up on from the limited info out there, was a complete waste of time, my two obviously hadn't read the book LOL,

they should have a basking spot at one end (like your snakes) but a temp of 40 - 42c on the basking site is recommended.... and then just ambient room temp so they can cool off if needed.

Mine eat next to nothing but seem to thrive, and despite my best efforts they have brumated for the last 2 years, and before anyone jumps in and says they should be allowed to brumate, I AGREE, but last year they were only 6mths old and everyone said they were too young, well, they knew better and buried themselves, for 5 months..... scary few months for me. Mine literally buried themselves last year, this year they have just 'hidden' in the cool end, mine also eat very little, which stuns me when everyone says they cost so much to feed with live food.
Although i will give them the best of care, if anything happens to them i won't be replacing them,..

dont know if any of this is helpful or not, but thought i'd throw in my 2 cents worth,

 

[n1cky83]

I have to agree with jaxrtfm i have had a henrylawsoni for 18mths and it worries me sick they just dont seem to need much food mine has lost no weight and is wormed etc. has a basking point of 40c and is on his own. doesn't have substrate that can be ingested gets calcium and UVB so that rules those options out.
I really am starting to think that due to their very small size they eat jack all and are quite happy to chill out.

doesn't stop you worrying all the same its like having a fussy toddler.
I am taking mine for a general health check with a reptile vet for the first time just to put my mind at ease so I can hear it from an expert.

But the more people I speak to with pygmy's the more common this is sounding.

 

[jbowers]

Is there a uvb bulb?

Also, it's not uncommon for bearded dragons to be very fussy eaters after a relocation.

Seems like this species doesnt eat a whole heap?

 

[J-A-X]

i bought mine after being told they were quite little characters and watched everything and often moved around the tank, after 6 months i thought i must have 2 lazy ones, now i'm thinking i was misinformed, my snakes nocturnal) are more active than these pygmies are during the day, mine have UV, Calcium, vitamins, offered fresh F & V, dandelion leaves, woodies etc, but the killer for me is if i dont hand feed them then they dont seem to be bothered eating of their own accord,

 

[mozi]

I just recently brought a pair of these (about 3 months ago) and found them somewhat temperamental to start off. They did not eat much and I was fearful that one was going to die. After a period of 'settling in' they now eat like little pigs, bask and are fairly active. Good luck with them. I feed mine in a separate container to their enclosure.

 

[n1cky83]

mine ate a fair bit at the start but know that he is approaching 2yrs old, he has slowed right down with eating, but still has a nice thick tail base.

 

[bfg23]

I recieved a pygmy beardy for free that was not looked after properly.

After putting a new UV tube in and getting a 100watt basking lamp he perked up straight away. He is much much more active than my central beardy, and eats like a pig. Every time I walk in the reptile room he comes running up to the glass waiting for some woodies, so he gets fed almost every day, and craps every other day.

 

[Alldone]

Is there a difference between the white ceramic heat thing that is there and a basking lamp?? Maybe I have the wrong thing in there??

 

[jbowers]

Well the ceramic thing puts out no light, whereas a basking light should provide bright white light. Dragons love basking under a light source, so the light is more useful for daytime heat than the ceramic heater.

 

[n1cky83]

yes mine uses a basking light, he does pick up after basking under it, I found the ceramic heater did nothing to increase activity and was only usefull at night.

 

[Alldone]

Here is the little ones & a pic of their enclosure (taken by the previous owner):

The thing up the top is the lighting. Does this look ok?

And here is the ceramic heater:

Would I be better off replacing the ceramic heater with a basking light?

 

[J-A-X]

without a bright white light mine wuoldn't eat at all, even a red basking light was no good, tried a small fluro, nothing.. nice bright white UV basking light and bingo, feeding well, ... or as well as these little guys feed

 

[The_Dreaded_Pets]

mine ate like crazy especially whenever i put woodies in so try some of those or maby even some silkworms if u can get ur hands on them

 

[Alldone]

mine ate like crazy especially whenever i put woodies in so try some of those or maby even some silkworms if u can get ur hands on them

What's a woodie?

 

[The_Dreaded_Pets]

roaches u get them from petshops like crickets

 

[J-A-X]

and just to clarify MM, they aren't your household roaches... they are 'speckled feeder roaches' if you find your dragon takes a big liking to them it can get expensive, but it is possible to breed your own, if you want to give it a go there are heaps of threads on breeding woodies, or if you can't find them give me a PM and i'll point you in the right direction, in the right conditions they breed well. and when they get too big for the pygmies, you may have to buy a standard size dragon to eat the big ones, or in my case, hand them of to a relative or friend,

 

[jbowers]

Are you in melb? If so pm me for the name of a good woodie breeder. Even if you are interstate it's worth buying 500 or so and starting a colony.

 

[J-A-X]

500 for a colony ?? i bought 3 tubs, put 2 and the large ones from the 3rd tub into a sistema container and kept them warm and fed and by the time the 2pygmies had finished the third tub, the 'colony' was under way

 

[Alldone]

Ok - I'm pretty sure that they're brumating. They have both been in the shoe box all night last night & all day today without coming out at all. The female has partially buried herself in the woody stuff on the bottom of the enclosure. I checked them both earlier & they are sound asleep.

Is there anything I need to do or do I just leave them be?