ab
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« on: July 05, 2009, 05:10:47 PM » |
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Hi, I'm new to bearded dragons and this site, I have to baby bearded dragons and one of them stopped eating for the last two days, and is looking very thin and is less active, I allways feed them one at the time outside the Viv in a plastic box,so i can make sure they will eat, they are eating medium crickets 3/4 crickets per day( how many should they have per day?) one looks very happy, and active and goes straight for them(food) and the other one doesn't but allways end up eating 3 cricket, but yesterday refused food and today again so i force fed him 2 crickets... any help will be very welcome, I' afraid it will die if i do nothing!
Many Thank in advance...
AB
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Bearded-Dragons.com Community
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« on: July 05, 2009, 05:10:47 PM » |
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Michalla720
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« Reply #1 on: July 05, 2009, 06:13:23 PM » |
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Hello and Welcome to the forum. Glad you are seeking out advice, sounds like you could use some!  Ok first of all you need to seperate these dragons. They each need their own enclosure. No matter what the pairing (m/f, m/m, f/f) there is always a risk of injury and death. Not only that but you might have one sick dragon. Most likely if they are sharing the same enclosure they are both sick, but one isnt showing symptoms yet. How long have you had them? One might be stressing out the other, or showing more signs of relocation stress. You said you were new to dragons, so if you bought from a pet store the pet store probably told you it was ok to house them together. Its not. Seperate them immediately. What are they housed in now? Substrate? lighting, brand and rating? Basking temps? Coolside temp? What are you measuring the temps with? They might have given you bad husbandry advice as well. I hope you take a look at our care sheet. It has good quality info on there that needs to be followed in order for you to help your dragon thrive and grow. Here is a link>>> http://bearded-dragons.com/boards/index.php/topic,8.0.htmlAlso, to address your feeding question. How old are they? Prey should be no bigger than the space between the eyes. If they are not adults yet they need to be offered live prey 2-3 times a day, as many as they want for 15 mins or so. You can go through ALOT of prey food in one day. Don't be surprised if they both eat 100 a day. The prey should be dusted with calcium 6 days a week for one feeding and multi vitamin 1 dy out of the week for one feeding. You should also be offering them fresh greens every day. Here is a lin k to appropriate food staples and treats they can have as well as food they cannot have. They are color coded to make it easier for you to decipher. >>> http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.htmlIf you have any more questions do not be afraid to ask |
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ab
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« Reply #2 on: July 05, 2009, 06:28:26 PM » |
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Hi and thanks, they are baby not sure how old, about 8/10 weeks old i gess, the pet shop did say it was ok to get two together, they are only eating about 4 crickets a day that i see i allways put more inside the viv but not sure how many they have i also have allways kale in the viv too but only the crickets seem to have it!, tcrickets look tobe about the size between they're eyes, that's the one the pet shop told me to get... i have a 3 ft long viv and they have never fight, I have them for about 2 weeks and they seemed fine till yesterday... one was always more active than the other one, but they wore both active and feeding well... am i underfeeding them? I did force fed him 3 crickets today did i do good or bad? and sprayed water over his head, i have bath them every 3 days for 15 mins... and have fresh water in the viv at all times
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ab
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« Reply #3 on: July 05, 2009, 06:34:53 PM » |
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I have a 30watts red bulb hot side that gets direct under the light 55c around it 45c and cold side of 25c, and at night i turn that light of and turn on the heat matt set to go up to 30c max hot side. and have a desert UV light that i turn on in the morning and turn of around 11pm.
do you think its still possible to save it?
it's still moving but not very active at all not interested in food at all, just looks very sleepy... if it refuses food again tomorow should i force feed him again or just live it alone? i do have a 6 year old daughter that picked them quite a bit in the first week but i did cut down on that after and this last week she only picked them up for a few mins every evening...
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Michalla720
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« Reply #4 on: July 05, 2009, 06:49:44 PM » |
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ok 8/10 weeks are still considered babies. They need to be fed 2-3 times a day all they want for 15 mins. So yes you are underfeeding them. I wont recommend force feeding live prey at such a young age. They are so fragile still. When you first get a bearded dragon, they go through relocation stress and often go off food for a week or so. If you didnt look at that nutrition link i gave you, you should. Kale isnt a very good staple. Collard greens, turnip greens, escarole, dandilion greens, squash, those are all good staple food, meaning they should be offered daily because they have the best nutrition content. Most of the time, inexperienced owners wont see them fight, or wont notice the warning signs or the dominance order. (handwaving, head bobbing, laying on top of eachother, chasing or"playing") Plus if you have a m/f or a m/m pairing it will get agressive once they grow a little older. The male will probably try to mate the female before her time. Mating can be pretty violent. Unless you have done your research on the subject and have tons of money and time this isnt the way to go. I would hate to have you wake up and find one severley injured or dead. It might not happen for at first but can develop overnight. I've heard of breaders keeping groups of three females together... but idk I wouldnt keep my pets like that knowing there was any risk at all. There are a few members on here who im sure will share their stories with you on this subject.
Also like i said before, could have something to do with your husbandry. Can you give us a little more info on it.? Lighting brand and rating, substrate, temps (basking and cool side) what your measuring them with?
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Michalla720
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« Reply #5 on: July 05, 2009, 06:56:09 PM » |
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I dont think its too late for the little one. uum.. im in the states for i had to convert the temps to F. 55 degrees C is a little hot for a basking spot. You need to measure with a temp gun ot digital thermometer with a probe to get acurate temps. Temps in the basking spot should be between 43 and 49 Degrees C. Cool side should be between 25 and 30. Separate them and see what happens. If this continues take them both in for a fecal at a herp vet.
Also, a simple floodlight will work for the basking spot, they need bright white light as well as a uvb light, we recommend a reptisun10.0 or an MVB both on a 14/10 schedule. Please read our caresheet and match your husbandry to it.
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eileithia
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« Reply #6 on: July 05, 2009, 10:34:07 PM » |
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Hey, just adding in my two cents. All this advice is going to help your little guy a lot! In Canada, 43-49 degrees is good for babies. Ours liked to bask at about 48 until they were 4 months, then, suddenly, they started moving to cooler spots and not basking as much. We lowered the temps to 45 and now they seem happier. But when they were little..48 was perfect. Also, they ate 15-30 crickets at a time. The little 1/4 inch ones..and then later, the 1/2 inch ones. It is much easier for them to digest and they also learn to catch them. Good luck!
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eileithia
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« Reply #7 on: July 05, 2009, 10:38:28 PM » |
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By the way, the pet store told us the same thing, and we housed ours together for a few weeks because we didn't know better. Very soon, one got bigger than the other and started sitting on top of the other one. They got a lot healthier once we separated them. I recommend you separate them as soon as possible. It will be fun to see their individual personalities come out! |
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Thewolfmantom
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« Reply #8 on: July 05, 2009, 10:50:35 PM » |
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This is all great advice. My babys eat around 50 to 100 crickets a day at 8 to 10 weeks old. Plus greens. Please dont feel the forum is ganging up on you. Its just that as a group we have had alot of experience in dragon husbandry.
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ab
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« Reply #9 on: July 06, 2009, 12:23:20 PM » |
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Hi and thanks for all the advise, my little baby dragon was dead this morning :'( , the other one seems fine, i was just doing what the pet shop told me to do...  , i will be able to look after the other onw better now so many thanks for all your advise. the hot side is at 46c and the cold side is at 25c, i do have a digital thermometer, I normaly live the UV light on from 7.30 am till 11 pm is this ok? i just want to make sure the other one doesn't have the same fate, so all the advise is very welcome,... I was giving kale because that's what the pet shop advised me to give them, i i was mixing dandelions and other greens aswell, dandelions do you give just the green leaves or do you give the flower aswell? he dont eat any greens any way, but i always give the fresh every day. I 'am offering food more times a day ( 3 ), and I'm going to drop down the size of the crickets to small ones from tomorow ( pet shop was closed today) My pet shop told me they should have about 4/5 a day! and to be carefull not o over feed them... many thanks again. AB |
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