Beardie feeding problem

[pinefamily]

Have you tried not offering anything for a day or two? That sometimes gets them eating.

 

[mjcarpentry]

No joy with the attachments mate

 

[Star_Cameron]

I attached again towards the top of this paged which looked like it worked, but maybe it didn't. I'll try again with links.

Yeah I might ease off on offering the live food for a day or two, it's probably stressing him out more than anything if he doesn't want to eat at the moment.

Did that work?

 

[pinefamily]

It worked higher up this page for me, but yes it worked this time.
Your beardie looks a little on the thin side, but nothing to worry too much about. Our female is looking similar at the moment, as she isn't eating much either.
Have you tried different fruit and/or vegies? And mealworms? Diced banana, or grated apple or pear seems to get ours eating, as do mealworms.

 

[Star_Cameron]

Yeah I put some raspberries and apple in there today, and will do for the next few days as well. Just for a bit of variety. The usual greens are endive, kale and bok choy. I'm not sure if I can get mealworms from my local pet shop, but I will have a look. Thanks for the advice.

 

[pinefamily]

Ours will fish everything else out and leave any endive or kale, so we don't put that in very often. Rocket, baby spinach, bok and pak choy, zucchini, snowpeas, green peas and beans, carrot are the most common vegies we feed ours, along with fruits like banana, apple (too much gives them the runs), pear, strawberries, and rockmelon.
Avoid sweet potato! A lot of sites with beardie diets will mention grated sweet potato, but I have read elsewhere that raw sweet potato contains traces of cyanide. How much, I don't know, but I don't want to find out too late that it was harmful.

 

[Star_Cameron]

Yeah, endive never keeps very well either which is a pain. I'll try to get a bit more of a rotation happening a try a bit of a variety. I've also tried squash and carrot. Mine has always been really bad at eating his fruit/veggies though, so it's hard to know what he likes.

 

[pinefamily]

If he's a poor vegie eater, try the mealworms. Put a few in his vegie dish. Usually they end up eating some vegies trying to get the mealworms.

 

[ReptileMad_98]

Not having a go at ya...but is that what the packaging says? Is that word from the shop you bought it from or have you tested it yourself?

no, i know your not having a go, the guys at my local reptile shop say the one i buy lasts up to 18 months

 

[Cypher69]

no, i know your not having a go, the guys at my local reptile shop say the one i buy lasts up to 18 months

That's kinda the point though...the sales rep has probably said 18 months as a spiel & that's what the shop guys end up repeating to clients...without testing themselves.
18 months sounds like a great sales pitch however it doesn't take into consideration how many hours a days you have it on compared to someone else who may run it longer/shorter than you.

Also, maybe a vitamin boost injection from the vet may give it its appetite back.

 

[baseballfanatic]

Have you tried a variety of insects. Some beardies become very bored with their food if its the same thing over and over.

 

[Beans]

Pretty sure there is no UVB that lasts 18 freaking months that sounds like total bs unfortunately.

Lights NEED to be changed EVERY 6 - 7 months to make sure your animals are getting the full amount of uv they need to aid the digestion of calcium and vitimins

 

[pinefamily]

Pretty sure there is no UVB that lasts 18 freaking months that sounds like total bs unfortunately.

Lights NEED to be changed EVERY 6 - 7 months to make sure your animals are getting the full amount of uv they need to aid the digestion of calcium and vitimins

We have UV fluoro tubes in our beardie enclosures, and change them every 12 months. No-one has shown that the tubes don't last. Everything I have read says the globes only last 6-8 months.

 

[Bushman]

Variety is the spice of life, so try varying the diet as suggested.
That specimen looks like it has adequate fat reserves to me, so there's no need to worry. Temps are cooling across the country now and daylight hours reducing, so males as a rule tend to go off feed, regardless of the captive conditions.

 

[pinefamily]

That's interesting you say that about males going off their feed, Bushman. Our female has gone off her feed a lot more than the males.

 

[Beans]

We have UV fluoro tubes in our beardie enclosures, and change them every 12 months. No-one has shown that the tubes don't last. Everything I have read says the globes only last 6-8 months.

Ah globes I haven't used before because of the stigma they have.

 

[pinefamily]

Ah globes I haven't used before because of the stigma they have.

UV globes or tubes have a stigma?

 

[Beans]

Globes. The spirally ones

 

[pinefamily]

Apparently you have to be careful of what brand you use with the spirals.

- - - Updated - - -

Star_Cameron, so have your beardies started eating better?