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Stimpy only eats if he's hand fed

FLZooMom

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
19
Location
SW Florida
I rescued Stimpy about three months ago from a pretty bad situation. His original owner was tired of taking care of him so he was going to release Stimpy outside to die. I got wind of it through his neighbor and made arrangements to bring him into my rescue. Normally I rescue dogs but since I already have a bearded dragon and I can't stand to see any animal suffer I brought him home.

He has a terrible case of MBD and was in such bad shape when I got him here. Extremely emaciated, he could barely get around at first and we honestly thought we were just going to be giving hospice care. I started feeding him good stuff, fruits, and veggies, and greens, along with crickets, super worms, and wax worms, and now Phoenix worms. He's liked pretty much everything I've introduced him to, which is nice. Anyway, when he first got here he would eat out of his bowl when I would put things in there, but he can't catch bugs so I've always hand fed them to him, except wax worms. He just doesn't have very good aim. Also, some things he isn't able to pick up well from his bowl so I'd hand feed him them, as well. On days that he wasn't interested in what's in his bowl I'd feed him baby food or a slurry through a syringe and he usually had no problem with that.

Now, he won't even look at his bowl anymore if it has a salad in it. If I do feed him something in his bowl that he doesn't have to chase, like Phoenix worms or wax worms, he just gives up after trying a couple times to get one. He knows that I'm not going to let him starve, and honestly, I can't because he can't really afford to skip days of eating. He gets very excited when he sees the syringe or the tongs because it means good stuff, but he just eyes his bowl with the same food in it.

Let me say that I'll hand feed him as long as he needs, but I know he can eat out of his bowl, he just chooses not to. So, does anyone have any tips on how to get him to eat out of his bowl again?
 

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Ben Rivera

Hatchling Dragon
Messages
79
First let me commend you on what you did. That was thoughtful and I'm glad that you intervened. I'm not an expert and I hope that others here will reply to you on this. If it were me I would continue to feed him until he finally comes around. I'm wondering if it has to do with the MBD which keeps him from pursuing anything for a period of time. Best of luck to you and the original owner is lucky to not have me as his neighbor.
 

Ben Rivera

Hatchling Dragon
Messages
79
I'd also wouldn't skip a day with the calcium and if possible take him to a reptile veterinarian specialist.
 

FLZooMom

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
19
Location
SW Florida
Thanks, Ben. I don't think the MBD is the reason because before he got used to being hand fed he'd actually chase crickets and he'd go through his viv after wax worms until they were all gone. Now he's just a lazy beardie and living the good life.

Our good reptile specialist in this area recently retired and no one has been able to recommend a good replacement until just this past week. Once the finances are a little better I'll be taking him in to make sure I'm not missing anything. However, he gets liquid calcium every day, along with some probiotics and bee pollen.

He's pretty active and has learned how to cope with the fact that his arms don't work as well as they should. His tank is set up with the proper lighting and heat, nothing is too high so he can't hurt himself if he falls, he always has fresh water available, but in the last month or so he doesn't drink from there anymore or in his bath. He was terrible dehydrated when he got here and one time drank so much that he threw up. That was scary because we thought we were going to lose him that day. He's putting weight on even if it isn't terribly obvious. He now has fat pads on the top of his head where he didn't have them before, and his bottom half is more filled out than it used to be. He doesn't look as terribly FLAT as he used to look and you can look at his eyes and see that he doesn't feel bad, or as bad, as he used to. He's 16" long and he weighs 167 grams, which is far too little but he is gaining weight, albeit very slowly.

All of that being said, he's never going to be a "normal" beardie but I can see the progress he's making every day and it makes me pretty happy.
 

PatsyB

Super Moderator
Staff member
1,000+ Post Club
Beardie Club
Messages
9,390
Location
Chicago
You are a saint for taking him in! What a precious little guy. I would hand feed him as long as he wants to eat out of your hand. Once he gets a little more stable he might start eating on his own but I wouldn't push him to do it at this point. I would also keep giving him calcium daily. In fact I would switch it up and give him calcium w/D3 a couple times a week along with a multivitamin once a week. This little guy needs all the help he can get!
 

FLZooMom

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
19
Location
SW Florida
Definitely not a saint, Patsy, but thank you. :) My rescue is an "animal" rescue, even though we specialize in dogs. Stimpy is our first beardie, but I saw a need and no one was stepping up to save him so I did. Honestly, even without the rescue I still would have taken him had I known about him. Anyway, taking care of two beardies isn't any harder than taking care of one, even if one needs specialized care. It is much more expensive though. It's also very gratifying to see the progress that he makes over time. Today was a really good day for him and he was really active and had a great time out of his tank. I put him away because the dogs were out and I didn't want him to get hurt and he stomped at me!

He does get a multivitamin dusted on his crickets once to twice a week, but he gets his liquid calcium every day. I'm giving him Calci-Blast from bug-de-lite.com. And! Can you believe this?! Today when I was giving him crickets he decided he wanted to chase them and didn't want me to feed them to him. What? Goof ball! He's not a good hunter but he did manage to get two of the six that I put in his tank. I had to catch the rest and put them back at bed time so we'll try again in a couple days.

I'm trying to figure out the best bugs/worms to breed or at least buy in large quantities. Dubias are out because I'm in FL, and discoids don't seem to be a good option because their shell is harder, and Stimpy has no teeth so he can't crunch through them. I'm looking into breeding BSFL and I'm also looking for a wine cooler so even if I don't breed something I can at least order in larger quantities so the cost comes down. I'll figure it out one of these days.

If anyone is interested in checking out my rescue we're on the web at www.pbandjrescue.org and you can find us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/pbjanimalrescue.
 

PatsyB

Super Moderator
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9,390
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Chicago
Glad to hear he is coming around with hunting his food. He sounds like he needs a soft worm diet. Hornworms, silkworms, butter worms are all nutritious. Phoenix worms are good too. I know people use them but I've always had problems with them not getting digested. I just bought some and gave them to my smallest frog and the next night I found two in his tank that he either threw up or pooped out and one was still moving! Last summer I raised my own hornworms and that was fun. I've been trying this year but I haven't been able to get the worms big enough to cocoon before they get eaten.

I just "liked" you on FB :)
 

FLZooMom

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
19
Location
SW Florida
OK, I'm glad I'm not the only one that's had that problem with Phoenix worms. Stimpy, especially, seems to have a really hard time digesting them and they usually come out whole. NOT still moving, thank goodness.

Thanks for the like!
 

Ben Rivera

Hatchling Dragon
Messages
79
That's interesting. I have not purchased Phoenix Worms but by all reports that I've read they're supposed to be great. I've never heard that they're hard to digest so thank you for the information.
 

FLZooMom

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
19
Location
SW Florida
Ben,

In all the times I've fed them to York he's only had a problem once or twice. I just attributed it to just random weirdness. However, almost every time I've fed them to Stimpy they've come out whole. I thought it was maybe because he doesn't have teeth, but I'd still expect his stomach acid to take care of them.

I don't know.
 

PatsyB

Super Moderator
Staff member
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Beardie Club
Messages
9,390
Location
Chicago
I have fed them in the past to my beardies and gotten the same thing, they come out whole. Would be nice if there was an easy way to fatten them up and get them bigger.
 

FLZooMom

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
19
Location
SW Florida
No kidding. I've tried the baby food, bread thing and that was a disaster. Messy and they kept trying to escape.

Way
too much trouble
 

PatsyB

Super Moderator
Staff member
1,000+ Post Club
Beardie Club
Messages
9,390
Location
Chicago
I tried that too! I put them in, turned around for a second and when I went back to them they were all coming out the top! After that I tried putting them in a hornworm cup but they just got moldy real fast.
 

Candybugs

Bearded Dragon Veteran
3 Year Member
Messages
733
I have a real little guy and I put him in a clear shoebox with a piece of astro turf for traction and I put his crickets in there and then Minion and I hold the basking light over it and it's like a go button and he goes to the corner where the crickets congragate and he gets them and he doesn't have to chase them at all. I had a chameleon with MBD and her arms looked like your guys do. It's heartbreaking. You are a seriously good person and doing everything you can. Try the shoebox and light. Good luck.
 
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