Another beardie eating disorder...

[babysweet]

Ok, so Chomp is our first beardie. Chomp gets mixed green salad every day first thing in the morning, a bath every week, *occasional* fruit (mango, kiwi, banana), herp-cal on just about everything, has a 105 basking spot on a big rock with a 78-85 cool side (depending on the time of day and temp of the room itself).

When Chomp does decide she wants to eat, she goes to town on the crickets we give her. However, she's not very active, preferring the warm side of her cage, and waits for crickets to come to her. She eats, but doesn't eat with "GUSTO" like most beardies do.

She doesn't seem to eat much of her greens, although she will eat one out of my hand if I offer it to her and coax her a bit. She's about 10" including tail, not sure of her age.

She's pooping fine, very regular bowel movements... normal colour, consistancy... but she doesnt' seem to eat as much as she should. We picked up 1000 1/4" crickets on Thursday, and we've only used about 200. Seems she should be eating double that...

Any ideas? She seems fine (although she's not very active unless she's disturbed) and I'm not panicking at all, but I want to nip this in the bud if I can.

Oh, and also... I'm worried about her sleeping habits. She sleeps like a dead animal. The first time she slept, I thought she WAS a dead animal. I opened her tank and poked her and prodded her and picked her up before she finally woke up. Last night she got in her water dish (she's never done that before) and closed her eyes and went under. She was under for a few minutes before I panicked and pulled her out! Her dish is only like an inch deep, but her whole head was under the water!

Now I've read everything I can get my hands on about Beardies... and both of these things seem strange to me. I'm hoping that someone can shed some light on the situation...

Kim

[peterm15]

sleeping wierd.. thats VERY normal... i find mine holding onto the wall about a foot in the air not even close to a ledge.... but your beardie seems to be fine to me... 200 since thursday is a good chunk... thats 40 a day... but if you are worried try feeding at 2 different times during the day... at 10" including tail your beardie is still quite young and i find with mine will just munch on veggies... as they get older theyll get more into them...

but imo i dont see a prob... maybe someone else can offer more insite

[babysweet]

Personally, I feel, volume-wise, that she's getting enough food. But I've been told again and again that Beardies are bottomless pits, and that it's perfectly normal for a beardie to polish off 100+ crickets in a sitting.

Knowing what 100 1/4" crickets looks like... I find that to be a large amount of food, but I just figured... well... what do *I* know about Beardies? Zip. So, I thought I'd get some clarification.

I had read in several places as well that weird sleeping positions is normal... but underwater!? She scared the crap out of me... lol

Also, does yours sleep so soundly? She was asleep... a ragdoll in my hands for a good 15-20 seconds after I picked her up. This is AFTER a minute or two of yelling for my hubby and nudging and poking her. She honestly looked quite dead!!

I just wondered if all of this is normal. I will add as well... I can't believe how much fun she is. I always wondered why people kept beardies instead of some of the rarer lizards... but they're hilarious!!

Off to watch chomp some more...

Kim

[peterm15]

ya espically if its about 1/2 hour after lights out...as for food.. you dont want to power feed so what your feeding sounds fine.. as for waiting for them to come to her.. thats normal.. but try dumping in just a few at a time.. then a few more farther away from her.. ect ect ect..

i cought mine under water once to.. it looks alot like there right under but there prob not..

at that size they shouldnt be eating 100 crix per siting so.. but like i said.. all seems fine to me.. from what you explained no red flags went up so.. imo.. your just a worried mother... i was like that at first to.. if there growing eating basking ect ect.. theres not much to worry about..

[babysweet]

lol... yes, I am guilty of the "worried mother" tag. I'm like this every time we branch into a new species. You should have seen me with our first snake! :p

Thanks for the input... as for her water-sleeping... she really is 100% submerged. I'll get pics as soon as I can. It's quite wild to see it.

Thanks again, much appreciated. :)

Kim

[peterm15]

cool thanks

[new_ICULIZARD]

Sounds like you are for sure one of the "worried mothers", but aren't we all at the begining.

I wouldn't be too worried about her sleeping like a rock, most of mine don't move until the lights are turned back on, and sometimes quite a while after the lights turn on. But you should really remove the water dish at night, they only need water for a few hours a day and end up just making a mess out of it the longer its in.

Just a few little questions for ya, have you weighed her at all? and do you know the approx. age? Just wondering to see if she is still doing good as far as growing goes.

Travis & Kerry

[Depatie****]

Hi, I found your thread interesting. We just got our first 2 beardies on May 1 / 05 they are only 2 weeks old and omg are they great! I had wondered why everyone liked them too and then my son wanted some so we got them. (we have a zoo) They are awsome to watch!
Ours do the water thing too and they seem to love it! especially when its a fresh dish on the cooler side. Acctually, one of them finds that swimming in the blended veggie dish is just the most fantastic thing ever! It jumps into the vegies and back onto the rock and it'll do it like a dozen times (until I get the camera for a video clip that is) then he's done (we don't know if they are male or female yet)
The sleeping thing is normal too. We opened our cage several times in the last week just because they looked dead too and they don't have any qualms with being handled while they sleep. They continue snoozing lol.
We have one that chases the crickets and one that waits for them to come to it. But they are a real blast. I love them totally and hope to get more at the fall show.
Good luck with your babies we're hoping for continued excellence with ours too. (We're new with these little guys too) :-)

[babysweet]

Yes, I do have a scale, and no, I haven't been keeping a weight log on her.

DUH, I'll start today. Thanks for the reminder.

As far as her age, no idea... I assumed a few months given her size, but she was abandoned at the reptile store in Hamilton because her previous owner didn't want her. Not sure what the care conditions were like previously.

Funny, Depatie, that you should mention the cold water... Chomp only submerges when his dish is cold. He loves his scheduled warm bath (last night he was swimming in circles like a little gator... lol) but he LOVES his cool water dish. Go figure.

Kim

[new_ICULIZARD]

Well, at least you are starting up the weight now...better late than never. Its sad to know she was abandoned but at least she is in a good home now, I can tell you are taking good care of her. Good luck with everything.

Travis & Kerry