wont drink

i have a baby berded and he hates 2 be sprayed and i havnt seen him drink out of his bowel but he eats regulary and also eats his vegies he loves 2 be held 2 im juz confused on wut to do about the hole drinking thing can any1 gimme some advice thx

In the wild Bearded dragons live in a vary arid land, they may go days, months or longer without drinking!
when you feed your dragon insects and vegies, he may be getting all the moisture he needs. But keep water for him anyway, as you can't always tell if there thirsty.

Originally posted by riverjop
In the wild Bearded dragons live in a vary arid land, they may go days, months or longer without drinking!
when you feed your dragon insects and vegies, he may be getting all the moisture he needs. But keep water for him anyway, as you can't always tell if there thirsty.

I 2nd what riverjop said!

Also, you may want to try giving him daily baths and dribbling water on his nose. If you are really worried than offer extra veggies with a high water content like cucumbers finely chopped or shredded (discard seeds), cantaloupe finely chopped (discard seeds and rind), watermelon finely chopped (discard seeds and rind), grapes chopped or crushed (seedless). Although these fruits and veggies are a great source of water they should not be used as the sole source of fruit/vegetable for your beardie. They all have little to no nutritional value. Offer them every 3-5 days.

Get him into a vet for a check up if he starts to look/act/eat abnormal!

How old is he? How long have you had him? How big is he? Has he had his first check up with a vet?

ive had him 4 a week or 2 hes not 2 old about 6 to 7 inches(with tail) i do spray him an stuff

Just my opinion on the matter, that is if you are asking about the Inland Bearded Dragon (Pogona vitticeps). If so, then I must say sorry to disagree with the others but you certainly do not want to subject a Bearded Dragon to daily baths or to a bowl of water being constantly in their enclosure. The latter would possibly have the effect of raising the humidity in their enclosure which could possibly lead to respiratory ailments down the road. These are arid land creatures not rain forest animals. If you do leave a water bowl in the enclosure, remember you can only assume it has taken a drink from the bowl if you don't actually see it do so while you watch. If you mist it you will see it drink when you mist it. Furthermore inland bearded dragons do not instinctually drink from bowls. Again I caution leaving a bowl of water in a IBD enclosure for any long period of time due to humidity issues.

Rather, about every day or every other day, mist it. Of course once it has grown to about 12 inches, the mistings should be reduced to about twice weekly and as a fll grown adult to once weekly.This is the preferred method of giving a Bearded Dragon all the water it needs besides what it gets from its food. They can also be soaked, but I would not recommend soaking more than on a twice weekly basis. They often will drink while soaking, but not always, and may still need to have water doused over their heads to get them to drink while they are soaking. Soaking is also best accomplished outside of their normal enclosure.

What makes you think it hates to be misted? It probably is frightened a bit when you begin, but should soon get used to it.

Of course, you can also mist their vegetables and greens before feeding them. Do this daily for babies or twice weekly for adults, but this is not the greatest method for baby bearded dragons as a large part of their diet will be crickets and some may not even attempt to eat greens until older. Besides making certain that those crickets have been well fed also make sure they have been well hydrated before feeding them to the BDs; that will help.

Best regards,
Glenn B

the reason i dont think he enjoys being misted is wen i do it he runs and doesnt want me 2 pic him up right aftr wen i mist him wile holding he doesnt seem 2 mind he juz closes his eyes and relaxes but sometimes in cage he doesnt care but ive only seen him 1 time lick it off his face

Glenn B ~ thanks for catching the mistake about the water bowl comment!

I meant to disagree with that portion of what riverjop said but got carried away with the rest of my post.
I am strongly against leaving water bowls unattended in cages with bearded dragons especially babies. Not only is humidity a problem but so is the possibility of drowning and possible bacteria issues (poop, dead crix, rotting vegetable matter left in water).

Let me rephrase my comment about the daily baths… Daily baths are good for constipation, dirty dragons, water therapy, getting beardies to drink when they won’t and so on. I am saying to use daily baths as a tool to teach. I taught my babies how to drink by first putting them in lukewarm water up to their elbows, and then splash the water around with my fingers until they realized they could play and drink the water. Try it for a week to see if it works just make sure you dry him off well and put him under his basking lamp to continue drying and so he doesn’t catch a chill. Whether it works or not continue giving him baths 1-2 times a week or sooner if he dirties himself.

Since he likes being held, you might want to try holding him in the palm of your hand and dribble water on his nose. Maybe you are just freaking him out when you spray him the cage.

Lastly, since he is new to you, you might want to start keeping a journal on his daily habits. That way you will have a lifelong journal on him and you will be prepared just incase he needs to go to a vet.

Glen Im sorry I have to agree with you! LOL
I should have added that leaving water would only be a temp thing, and that daily baths were definataly not recomended as a normal procedure.
I had a male Pogona vitticeps for about ten years, I rarely left water in his enclosure (maybe when he was young). He was fed an exclusive diet of veggies dusted about twice a week. I rarely gave him crickets or worms and in the summer (when I could catch them) I would give him Morman Crickets every once in a while, but not with any consistancy. I raised him from a baby, and like i said he lived with me for at least ten years! He was and still is in perfect health, I felt sorry for him not having a mate so I gave him to my sister who raises bearded's and Chameleons. He is still going strong and I understand he has sired a few little freds!

If the baby BD runs when you spray it, that is probably just shock , fright at being unexpectedly sprayed. It will get used to regular mistings. Try misting the sides of the enclosure first so the water only hits the beardie a little bit before turning the mist full force on him. Also try using luke warm water. Also note that BDs don't always lick to drink water off of themselves. They open their mouths just a tny bit and sort of suck it in, watch closely you may notice a slight heaving movement as they do so.

As for the water bowl thing, well I still agree with myself (LOL) but you guys got me curious and I must say I did some internet searching. I was surprised to see that many people's care sheets recommend leaving water in a bowl for young beardies. I just think it too much of a potential problem.

While babies are probably easier to desicate, I find misting the best way to give them water and am a bit leery of daily soaking but it maybe ok especially to get them clean if dirty or started on drinking. The thing is if they are dirty, you don't necessarily want them to drink the water in which they are soaking, and it may be better to mist them before soaking, so they drink their fill first. The soaking thing is probably ok to get them used to misting and to drinking, and it sure helps wash off the poop. Adults don't really as much water as the babies (I sometimes wonder if the babies need it). Heck sometimes my adults don't get misted for a month or more with no ill effecs.

I gotta tell you if I fed my BDs only veggies they would probably die of starvation (LOL). Even as adults they still love their crickets and Superworms. Sometimes they don't get them more than once a week when supplies are low, but they show much more gusto going for them than for greens or other veggies.

All the best,
Glenn B

I know it sounds cuel and unusual punishment!....not really!
But at the time I was "in between" keeping reps up here in this wasteland of no herps, North Idaho! LOL
I brought him from the reptile rich lands of Southern California (where I used to live)
And I got tired of paying $1.00 for 10 1/4 crickets (at our then only pet store within 40 miles) He (Fred) my BD was almost a foot long and could eat probably a hundred of these tiny crickets. And he was thriving on the diet I was feeding him so thats what worked for me. I would definataly recomend insect protien for diet and mental health!
It's funny cause now that Im "back" into my life long love of rep's Im raising crickets, supers, mealies and mice! And my wife and friends think Im nuts! (now im looking into Roaches!!!) There really gonna think I've truly lost my mind!