beardie doesn't seem to want to eat

[SgtSparkles]

I have two bearded dragon babies and at first my little male was an extremely excited eater. he would chase down food of all kinda and even at his veggies. now he seems uninterested in eating at all. at first he would still eat roaches but not much else and now he just doesn't want to eat. my other beardie that was super skinny and wouldn't eat when i got her is now a garbage disposal and is fat and happy.

he still runs around and looks healthy and is very inquisitive and excitable but he just wont eat

 

[RS4guy]

Give it a little time, sometimes dragons will brumate (hibernate during colder months and when food is scarce), so perhaps it is getting ready for that, purging its body of any leftover food etc... If not, just offer food til it starts eating again. Maybe get a fecal sample for analysis.

 

[SgtSparkles]

i upped his calcium and got a stronger uvb bulb in hopes that it would help we'll see tomorrow

 

[Furret]

Dust all the food with calcium powder and offer a little bit less than usual. I had the same problem with my first beardie and he eventually just started to eat again. Good luck!

 

[Arianji]

Juveniles of reptiles of any sort can always be weird about feeding. You are very wise to observe your herps behavior closely, reptiles and amphibians are terrible about letting you know there is something wrong with them until it is far too late if you do not observe them well. But your baby might be getting close to shed, with as voracious as his appetite was and now he just stopped eating yet still remains active I would bet he is about to start shedding. Once he is done he will go right back to his vacuum cleaner mode. Just keep an eye on him and keep offering food, he should come around. It was also smart to get a new bulb, a cold reptile is a complacent reptile, if you heat him up, he will be hungry. Though if he continues to eat, yet seems to be losing weight I would definitely get a fecal float, reptiles almost always come with worms. Regardless watch him a few more days, I bet he will shed and then be back to his old self.

 

[SgtSparkles]

he shed somewhat recently, he is eating though not like he was before. i up'd the uvb bulb to help with the calcium thing as one of the early concerns is that their jaws can get soft. i am also playing with where i place their bulbs but they never seem to want to chill under the heat lamp too much so i wonder if 75w on my 20L is to hot of a bulb?

 

[Porp]

What are the temps on the warm and cool side of the tank, and what is the temperature of the surface of the basking area? what substrate are you using? Which UVB bulb and is it screw in or fluorescent? How much and what type of greens is it eating? Having this info will help people start to be able to help you find an answer.

 

[SgtSparkles]

upping it to a 10.0 florescent uvb bulb seemed to do it, slate tile substrate so no substrate concerns. He seems to be very happy now

 

[Porp]

Glad to hear that! It's amazing what lighting can do for lizzards.