my bearded dragon wont eat please help!!!!!
 

Hi everyone, I am very concerned about my baby bearded dragon. He is 8 3/4 inches long, I'm guessing around 10 weeks old. He used to eat regularly twice a day, about 12 large crickets a day but lately, for almost two weeks now, he hasn't eaten anything. All crickets have been gutloaded and sprinkled with ReptoCal. I have been offering him romaine lettuce but he won't budge with that either. I have resorted to feeding him chicken baby food twice daily, starting two days ago (about 3-4 mouthfuls each feeding) through a dropper to ensure that he is getting some type of nourishment. I have also administered T-Rex Hydrolife and ESU Jump-Start daily for 5 days now and there are no signs of improvement with his appetite. He seems to have lost weight since I first got him and his loss of appetite is worrying me. He is very lively though and moves around the tank all the time. His poop is also runny but I believe that is due to the supplements I have been giving him. Just a note: he was shedding about a week ago, with his tail requiring a little more to go. I mist him twice daily and I've been bathing him in warm water daily to ease the shedding and help him pass bowels as well.

The tank specs are as follows:

Size: 55 Gallon
Temperatures: basking-103°F, elsewhere- 80°F, night- 75°F
Humidity: 52%
Lighting: Day- ExoTerra Sun Glo 150W Tight beam and ESU Reptile Desert 7% UVB, Nighttime- ExoTerra Night Glo 75W Moonlight
Substrate: ZooMed Vita-Sand (it's extremely fine grained)

If there is anything else needed, let me know. Please help, I'm very worriedhttp://photobucket.com/albums/v363/d...x/beardie5.jpghttp://photobucket.com/albums/v363/d...x/beardie2.jpg http://photobucket.com/albums/v363/d...x/beardie2.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...x/beardie3.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...x/beardie1.jpg like he ate fine for about a week then he just stoped i dont know what to do. i tried a vet but its like they were clueless. so if anyone can help please i am all ears.

It looks like your setup for him is pretty good, other than I would try to raise the basking temp just a bit. I keep babies with a basking temp of about 110. The main concerns I can see are that you are feeding him large crickets....he is probably much too little for large crickets. Go with something smaller.

Second, get rid of the "Vita-Sand". If you insist on using some sort of particulate substrate, the only thing I will use is sifted play sand, and then only with my adults. Babies are much safer with paper towel or some such substrate so you know that they will not be ingesting it.

And third, have you tried offering a variety? Try some silkworms or such for bugs, and romaine lettuce is not the best choice for greens either. Offer him a finely cut salad each day of good greens like collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, arugula, parsley. Add some finely diced squash, red or yellow peppers, or fruits like strawberry or melon. Sometimes it is just as simple as finding what they really like. Babies often won't eat a lot of "salad", but it should be made available to them every day. Eventually their diet will consist of more and more greens, and less bugs.

The only other thing I can think of is to try moving him to a samller tank until he's a bit larger, to make sure he feels secure, and to make it a bit easier to "hunt" his prey.

Hello
 

Hello,

Did you get your baby off of the sand? That can cause impactions. I would use paper towels or non adhesive shelf liner.
As for your temps, they look good. What are you measuring them with a digital probe or temp gun? Or a stick on type? If you are using a stick on type, it will not be accurate.
The UVB light, sorry, it is not a good one. I hate to say you are going to have to get another one. The ESU or Zilla brands of UVB lights are horrible. I recommend getting either a reptisun 10, or a reptiglo 8 & those are the only 2 flourescent tube bulbs that I will recommend getting.
If you get a new UVB & your baskinglight is nice & bright, you should see some improvement in his behaviour.
What type & brand of supplementation are you using?

Tracie

I like everyones suggestions...
Wonder if he has parasites. It's about $20. to get a fecal done.