Central Beardie hatcheling not eating/very skinny

[Shadowfoxpika2]

Hello there,
Im worried about one of my new baby bearded dragons. Its alot skinnier than the rest and I havent seen it eat,
I have got it to drink water and a one drop of juice but it wont eat crickets or veggies or anything =(
Is there someway I could get it to eat?
P.S its in a sperate tub to the rest of the group with its own hide water and food etc there is uv lighting over it and heating.
It moves but not very much at all
if you need pictures I can add them.

thanks for reading
~Pippa

 

[zerocool]

Im having the same problem with my one atm poor little gut wont move or eat anything

 

[Mace699]

Hey guys i would hit nagini baby up she has kept them for years and may have some pearls of wisdom

 

[nagini-baby]

Hey guys i would hit nagini baby up she has kept them for years and may have some pearls of wisdom

haha my ears must have been burning cos i just opened the thread.. pippa did you end up taking it to the vet?

 

[tazzy]

Hey guys try apple baby food in a syringe with out the needle, put a bit on their mouth and hopefully after a few minutes they will lick it up and you can give them some more. keep the water up to them aswell with misting but make sure they have enough time to warm up before the heating goes off at night. Im no expert but give it a go and I hope you can get the little guys going! good luck!

 

[GeckoJosh]

You can try assist feeding it freshly killed crickets, you do this by prying the mouth open gently with a thin object (plastic spoons work well) and placing the cricket in their mouth, they should swallow it in their own, do this with 2-3 crickets ,one at a time, once a day and work up from there, it isnt alot for them to eat but it will give it enough energy to start considering eating on its own.
It may also be scared of the food items, try feeding it other foods like woodies or freshly shed mealworms
Good luck,
Josh

 

[nagini-baby]

baby food is good. but i have found hills ad (dog/cat food you get from the vet) very very good but can be harder to get. it has so many vitamins and fats to help you little guys out its incredible stuff. also you can mix very diluted powerade up for them and syringe it into their mouths as it helps boost electrolytes and gives them a bit of a boost and helps with dehydration

 

[Shadowfoxpika2]

haha my ears must have been burning cos i just opened the thread.. pippa did you end up taking it to the vet?

I cant get to a vet that does reptiles in my area by myself and my mother is busy with my other 6 siblings to drive me to a place 1 hour away. But Im trying to convince her still.

baby food is good. but i have found hills ad (dog/cat food you get from the vet) very very good but can be harder to get. it has so many vitamins and fats to help you little guys out its incredible stuff. also you can mix very diluted powerade up for them and syringe it into their mouths as it helps boost electrolytes and gives them a bit of a boost and helps with dehydration

Sorry do you have the full name of that dog/cat food? And so I just crush it into a powder and add a little water then feed it?

You can try assist feeding it freshly killed crickets, you do this by prying the mouth open gently with a thin object (plastic spoons work well) and placing the cricket in their mouth, they should swallow it in their own, do this with 2-3 crickets ,one at a time, once a day and work up from there, it isnt alot for them to eat but it will give it enough energy to start considering eating on its own.
It may also be scared of the food items, try feeding it other foods like woodies or freshly shed mealworms
Good luck,
Josh

How do you open the mouth? I dont want to hurt it and I dont want to do it wrong how do I pry it open?

 

[GeckoJosh]

Hey,
The cat/dog food is called Hill's AD, its a prescription cat/dog food, your vet should stock it.
Get a small plastic spoon and with the beardie in one hand, spoon in the other gently wedge the spoon into its mouth, then twist the spoon and it will open the jaw, now if you are a legend like me you should be able to put the cricket in its mouth with your 3rd hand (only people who are legends have these) or get someone to do that aprt for you, once the cricket is in its mouth remove the spoon and put the beardie down, it should then swallow it on its own

Good luck,
Josh

 

[LizardLady]

Or, you could try Wombaroo Reptile Mix - your pet shop may have some, or you could order it in... Or, try Chicken and Veg baby food 0-3 months, in the syringe without needle, as previously explained...

Could you tell us how old the hatchling is exactly? And what substrate you have it on?

All is not lost, they generally come good all on their own!

Keep us posted!

Best,
Carolyn

 

[GeckoJosh]

Personally I think before you start trying supplements etc you should give ti a chance to chew down and swallow whole foods, but thats just me.
Wombaroo reptile mix is a crap product imo for syringe feeding, if anyone has ever tried it they will know what I mean, it clogs up the plunger making it almost impossible to push down, if your going to go down the syringe feeding path I would stick to Hills AD and maybe baby foods

 

[Grogshla]

may i ask what his basking temps and uvb tube are?
it's important to get baby dragon basking spots to 45 degrees c and to get their uvb tube between 6-8 inches from the dragon. Reptisun10 or arcadia12 tubes are the best. Alot of people have reported problems with reptiglo so be aware.

 

[Dipcdame]

how about a tiny bit of chicken mince? I was advised to try mine with that to get them going. eventually chop up some greens/fruit/veggies into it, and gradually increase. Inbetween times, offer small mealworms, they love the movement, that is what stimulates them to eat usually - good luck.

 

[Helikaon]

Just make sure you keep its fluids up. For little ones like that i give them little baths in about a cm of warm water with calcium and electrolytes if you have them every hr until they liven up and start eating. live insects are the way to go especially moths as the fluttering usually gets them to eat.

usually takes a few hrs before they liven up. do that every day until they are eating strongly

 

[nagini-baby]

the hills ad is a soft pet food. and is very easily put into a syringe. really it just depends on your dragons condition if it is strong enough to eat bugs.. give it bugs but if it wont even give bugs a second chance then syringe or putting the cricket into its mouth is ususally the best option. i usually find if its a syringe feed i just put it on their nose/lips and they lick it off or gently pull down the side of their jaw and squirt some in.

 

[snakelady-viper]

Can you get the Hills Ad from Petbarn? they have other hills varieties

 

[Shadowfoxpika2]

I GOT IT TO EAT A CRICKET! 4 infact Im so happy! I powdered the cricket like normal but it started licking it when I put it up to its mouth! and it ate it! Im so glad, I got it to eat 4 crickets <3 horray
thanks for you help all of you! if anything goes wrong I will keep this updated

 

[pythons73]

Gee i was starting to worry as you have a few reptiles currently not eating,im glad the Beardy has had a feed.Temperature is very "IMPORTANT" with keeping reptiles healthy-happy,they need it to digest there food,too cold and they wont eat..Please keep us updated with them.

 

[Shadowfoxpika2]

Yeah the heat is fine with the lizards but I gotta heat the snakes tank a few more C'
But yeah I think it was just the fact it was in a tank by itself for a while I think what did it oh well Im just happy the little guy has something in his tummy
thanks for your help <3

 

[nagini-baby]

unfortunately the hills ad you cant get from the pet stores. only vets get it. glad its eating