Have questions-not eating well/change in environment

[britsmom2000]

Hello Group,

This is my first post here, but I have been reading posts for a while. I have a few questions regarding our beardie.

We got him from the pet store in February and he was around 5 inches and appeared to be a few months old. He is now around 15+ inches and has done pretty well until now.

A few weeks ago, he was eating around 5-20 crickets about three times a day as well as greens, veggies, fruits, pellets, etc.

We decided to take him on a trip with us to see my mom (the 2nd time he has made this trip). The drive was only about 1.5 hrs, he did well but when we got there, he really did not eat much over the next few days. He was still eating some, so we just passed it off to the change in enviromment. We returned home and really since then he has not been back to his normal self. This was a few weeks ago, some days he eats really good, other days not so good. Some days it seemed as though he would eat if we put the crickets, or food, right up to his face (like he was too lazy to go get it). He still walked around a lot and acted okay out side of the cage. That brings me to another issue.

He seemed to be getting too big for the cage we had, so we bought a 40gallon and after talking with the guy from Petco (who has 2 beardies) we switched from a newspaper substrate to sand. We just put him in this the other night. I know it probably wasn't the best of timing since he had not been eating normal, but we were ready to get him into a bigger cage. Now, all he does is dig, dig, dig. He will sit on his stick also, but is pretty much just digging a lot. He appears to be happy that he is in there though.

Sorry so long, but do beardies usually go through a period of not eating well like this? How long should we go before we need to see someone (which I live in the boonies so not sure how easy that will be??)

Should we continue with the sand?

Thanks for your help!

KRystal

[perfectly_flawed]

Please don't pay much attention to what petstores tell you. I can't even keep track of how many times I've heard them say they have whatever animal you're buying for. It's a trick they use to get you to buy more products that you really don't need - after all, who's better to trust than someone selling those items that also has that animal? Usually, they don't have those animals and/or don't provide the very best of care. That sand is a perfect example. The size your baby was when you bought him indicates a few weeks old, not months - another common lie that petstores tell.
Petstore sands clump when they're wet. That happens inside the dragon as well, causing intestinal blockages. Those blockages can kill your dragon. It's also very unsanitary. Unless you change out the sand each and every time the dragon poops, he's living in that bacteria. Sand is also not natural to these guys. Desert doesn't always mean sand. In the wild, they live mostly on hard packed clay soil. For all of those reasons, it's best to stick with non particle substrates. Great choices are textured ceramic tiles, nonadhesive shelf liner, reptile carpet, paper towels, or newspaper.
First thing to do for your little one is to remove that sand. Then double check his temps using a digital thermometer with a probe or a temp gun for accuracy. The stick on thermometers are not accurate and don't give you a surface temp. The temp directly on his basking surface, under his heat light, needs to be between 110* and 120*f.
Next, double check that he's getting adequate UVB rays to keep him healthy. What brand and rating is your UVB light? How close to the light can your dragon get while basking? Is the UVB light a florescent tube, mvb, or a coil/compact? How old is the UVB light?
Next is hydration. Do you soak him? How often and for how long each time?

[herpgirl2510]

^^Agreed. I am wondering could it be possible that you have a female that may need to lay eggs? They can do this even if they are not fertile. Justthought that could be a possibility with all the extra digging he is doing now.

[zebrajanie]

Yes, this is indeed a possibility.  Though at her age, I'm not really sure this is an issue.. I'm thinking she might be close to a year old. 
Just keep an eye on her, if she starts digging with a serious passion, ignoring all else, then yes you may have a gravid female on your hands..
If you lift her up by placing your hands just below her forefeet, and letting her back feet still touch ground, you may be able to see prominent bumps that could be eggs.  If this is what you see, increase her calcium intake and make her an external nesting area.. You can use washed, sifted play sand, with some non fertilizer potting soil, slightly dampened.. Put this into a sterylite or rubbermaid container, around 18 quarts.
Fix a shop lamp on one side, and angle the light towards the other side.  Move the mixture of sand/soil to that side, and let her at it..

Hope this helps.