Hi all! I know many of you will probably know so much more about beardie health/behavior than me, so I would love to hear your thoughts on what’s going on:
I’ve had my bearded dragon, Howard, for a little over a year now. I adopted him from a previous owner who could no longer care for him. He was a year old when I adopted him, making him 2 years old now. His previous owner had him in a 20 gallon tank (way too small of course!!!) with a very powerful mercury vapor bulb that made his tank way way way too hot. He didn’t have any hides in his tank, only a vertical basking branch and a hammock. Despite this, he didn’t seem to have any health problems. His previous owner seemed to love him a lot- she just wasn’t totally aware of proper beardie care. I was so excited to adopt him and give him an amazing set up!!!
I brought Howard home and put him in a 120 gallon equivalent zen habitat enclosure, with plenty of basking spots, hides, hammocks, etc. The hottest area of the warm side, at the very top of his highest basking spot, reaches about 110F. The cool side, inside of a hide, at the lowest will reach about 78F. At night, his temps don’t dip below 75-80F. Howard is offered Dubais, crickets, silk worms, or meal worms (varies), many different veggies, sometimes fruits, with an appropriate dusting of a multi vitamin or calcium. I soak Howard in warm water (around 90F) once a week for 10-15 mins to help with bowel movements. I feel like I am doing everything right with Howard!!! But….
ALL Howard wants to do is lay in his hide and refuse to eat. Like… that is ALL he wants to do. Since I got him! For over a year now. When he eats on his own without me really forcing him it’s like a miracle!!! This guy doesn’t want to bask, doesn’t want to eat- nothing. When I first got him I thought, okay, he’s super stressed from a change in environment? But he just never normalized. Then I thought, oh, he’s brumating! But he never came out of it. I have a really great exotic vet who tested for parasites and all sorts of things but we just couldn’t figure out what, if anything, was wrong. She sent me home with all sorts of meds that I had to force feed Howard and a shot (can’t remember what it was for at this point) to try to help him but nothing worked… and you can imagine how fun it was to syringe feed a beardie lol. Howard is mostly inactive, refuses to eat, and only wants to stay in his hide- no matter what. I feel like I have been fighting to keep him alive for the entire time that I’ve had him! This might sound nuts, but could it be possible that he so didn’t like changing his environment from his previous owner to me that he just became depressed? I’m not sure what to think at this point. I am super committed to this lizard and will do everything I can for him for as long as he is around! I just wish I could make things easier for him. Please please let me know any thoughts or suggestions that you might have! Thank you SOOOO much for taking the time to read this I am so grateful!!!
I’ve had my bearded dragon, Howard, for a little over a year now. I adopted him from a previous owner who could no longer care for him. He was a year old when I adopted him, making him 2 years old now. His previous owner had him in a 20 gallon tank (way too small of course!!!) with a very powerful mercury vapor bulb that made his tank way way way too hot. He didn’t have any hides in his tank, only a vertical basking branch and a hammock. Despite this, he didn’t seem to have any health problems. His previous owner seemed to love him a lot- she just wasn’t totally aware of proper beardie care. I was so excited to adopt him and give him an amazing set up!!!
I brought Howard home and put him in a 120 gallon equivalent zen habitat enclosure, with plenty of basking spots, hides, hammocks, etc. The hottest area of the warm side, at the very top of his highest basking spot, reaches about 110F. The cool side, inside of a hide, at the lowest will reach about 78F. At night, his temps don’t dip below 75-80F. Howard is offered Dubais, crickets, silk worms, or meal worms (varies), many different veggies, sometimes fruits, with an appropriate dusting of a multi vitamin or calcium. I soak Howard in warm water (around 90F) once a week for 10-15 mins to help with bowel movements. I feel like I am doing everything right with Howard!!! But….
ALL Howard wants to do is lay in his hide and refuse to eat. Like… that is ALL he wants to do. Since I got him! For over a year now. When he eats on his own without me really forcing him it’s like a miracle!!! This guy doesn’t want to bask, doesn’t want to eat- nothing. When I first got him I thought, okay, he’s super stressed from a change in environment? But he just never normalized. Then I thought, oh, he’s brumating! But he never came out of it. I have a really great exotic vet who tested for parasites and all sorts of things but we just couldn’t figure out what, if anything, was wrong. She sent me home with all sorts of meds that I had to force feed Howard and a shot (can’t remember what it was for at this point) to try to help him but nothing worked… and you can imagine how fun it was to syringe feed a beardie lol. Howard is mostly inactive, refuses to eat, and only wants to stay in his hide- no matter what. I feel like I have been fighting to keep him alive for the entire time that I’ve had him! This might sound nuts, but could it be possible that he so didn’t like changing his environment from his previous owner to me that he just became depressed? I’m not sure what to think at this point. I am super committed to this lizard and will do everything I can for him for as long as he is around! I just wish I could make things easier for him. Please please let me know any thoughts or suggestions that you might have! Thank you SOOOO much for taking the time to read this I am so grateful!!!
