Expert: Joe Zarnick - 11/10/2011

Question
I got my boy Bruno on the 30th October and since then he hasn't eaten. The night I picked him up he had a mouthful of Kale and that's been it apart from a mouthful every now and again, but this hasn't been daily, some days he's not even acknowledging the food, let alone eating it. He has shown no interest in Crickets or Morio Worms at all, I have tried to put Crickets in his Vivarium, but he just lets them climb all over him so I have to take them out, I've tried the same with his Morio Worms by putting them in his food dish, eventually they get out and I have to hunt around for them in the Viv. Needless to say he doesn't take any notice.
I know alot of people would say this is because of the move, but this is the 10th day, I'm starting to get more and more worried about it. He doesn't look to have lost any weight, he's quite chunky!

He was hatched in late May 2011, and has always been a strong feeder (I am friends with his previous owner), he was the dominant baby out of the clutch and is very large for his age (he is around the tip of my fingers to the end of my forearm). His previous owner says she has never had this sort of problem with him

He is in a 4ft X 2ft X 2ft Vivarium, I use Calci-Sand as a substrate but a 3rd of his tank is fitted with Vinyl and no sand- this is where I put his food to help reduce the risk of compaction. I use a 100w ceramic heat lamp and a Repti-Glo 10.0 UVB strip bulb that is the length of his Vivarium.

Temps:
Hot end: 93F (I know this should be higher, it gains during the day as I turn the thermostat down at night to try and create more of a realistic habitat for Bruno to live in, also I use a Mercury thermometer witch is as close to the basking spot as I can get it, but I cannot accurately say how hot his basking point is.)

Middle: 88F, this is almost always constant, also measured with a Mercury thermometer witch is stuck on the center of the back wall in the Viv.

Cool end: 76F, same thermometer is used, it is hung just above his food and water dish.

I also use a heat mat under the substrate at the hot end to try and help the Viv up to temp as it's so large, I keep a very close eye on this as I've heard many many bad stories, I've never seen my Dragon lie on it although he seems pretty intent on digging it up. (lol)

I feed him a mixture of Kale, mango, grated carrot, grated butternut squash and raw fig every morning at 10am, Monday-Friday it is dusted with Calcium and Multi-Vit powder, Saturday and Sunday it is just dusted with calcium. Before getting my Dragon I spent months reading up about them and all these foods are great staples according to the many books and articles I've read. I thought I had learnt everything I needed to successfully own my 1st Beardie, but nothing prepared me for him starving himself.

He pooed daily for 3 days after I got him, since then he has only pooed once, I have bathed him twice and rubbed his belly but it hasn't helped, I'm guessing this is because he isn't eating therefore his body is holding onto the little nutrients is has.

He does drink well in the bath..

I guess the most annoying thing about it is he's so lovely and wants nothing more then a cuddle, he spends about an hour a day out of his Vivarium socializing with me and my partner, he has definitely taken a special liking to me, witch is why I thought it was worth a shot to try hand feeding.

Around where I live there are vets for household animals (dogs, cats etc) but none for reptiles, and I cant afford to travel, nor would I want to travel with Bruno.

Is there any advice you could give me? My Dragon means an awful lot to me and I would hate to see him get ill.

Answer
Hello, I would normally agree that the moving is the problem but after ten days I'd expect him to be eating and being active. He may still be stressed out from the move but it has been a little long. Try hand feeding him, opening his mouth with your index finger and just putting food there. I did this when my 1st bearded dragon was really young to get him hooked on vegetables. Normal hand feeding can help get food in their belly and build a connection.