Why is my Bearded Dragon Not Eating?
Like 3 Dislike 0 Published on 11 May 2018
If you think that there is something wrong with your pet, always bring it to a trusted vet for a checkup!
There are many reasons why dragons may go off food. These are the ones I covered in the video:
Lighting problems
Parasites
Brumation
Lack of Variety
Old Age
Lighting:
You always want to make sure your dragon’s basking temperature is 104-110F, on a dimming thermostat, measured with a digital thermometer, NOT temp gun. You want the air temp to me 104-110F as that is what your dragon will be underneath the bulb.
UVB should be replaced every 6-12 months and should be a LINEAR UVB tube, NOT a coil UVB bulb. Coil UVB bulbs DO NOT give out enough UVB to keep your pet healthy. Please invest a bit of money into an actually good and beneficial product. I recommend Arcadia 12% or Reptisun T5/T8 for a vivarium UNDER 2ft tall, and a 14% Arcadia for vivs over 2ft. Make sure the UVB is UNDER the mesh or lid so no UVB is blocked out by a material. The bulb should also be 2/3 of the tanks length.
Parasites:
Dragons may get parasites from their feeder insects. Always make sure to keep your feeders in healthy environments:
Clean food,
Fresh water,
Etc.
A clean environment will insure the feeders stay healthy. A good thing to do is to bring your dragon to the vet for a fecal or checkup at least every 6 months or so to insure your dragon is healthy. A healthy dragon may have parasites in their stomach or intestines but won’t need treatment as they can keep the parasite amount down naturally.
Brumation:
If your dragon is slowing down/sleeping more it could be a sign of brumation. Always bring your pet to the vet before they brumate to make sure they are actually trying to brumate and aren’t sick. A fecal should be done as well to insure the animal is parasite free.
Old Age:
Not much you can do about old dragons unfortunately. If they’re not feeling well, they won’t eat. Just make sure husbandry is perfect and the animal is healthy and not sick.
Variety:
Your dragon may be simply bored of their food. Switch it up by feeding different bugs and vegetables! Some good insects are:
Crickets (different species)
Roaches (different species)
Silkworms
Locust/grasshoppers
Arcadia Omnigold/Insectigold
Repashy Grub Pie
Isopods (Woodlice and such)
BSFL (nutrigrub, calciworms, phoenix worms, etc)
Good treats include:
Mealworms
Superworms
Hornworms
Waxworms
Butterworms
Earthworms/nightcrawlers
Treats should only be fed once a week in a small amount.
Good vegetables include:
Collard greens
Lambs lettuce
Mustard greens
Bok choy
Pak choy
Watercress
Arugula/rocket
Dandelion greens/flower
And a lot more! Variety is ALWAYS good. A little bit of everything doesn’t hurt! Throw in a bit of spinach or kale once in awhile as a treat as well. Just make sure whatever you feed is safe for the animal and is washed properly.
Something I didn’t mention is that stress may also cause them to stop eating! If you recently moved their tank around or even just simply switched their decor around, they may go on hungry strikes. Keeping more than one together can also cause them to stop eating as it is quite stressful so I never advise anyone to. They’re naturally territorial and the stress of seeing another can cause them to eat less