low blood sugar

[Pia]

What would cause low blood sugar in a reptile?

[eyespy]

Same as any other animal, really. Not enough food offered, or the animal is refusing food are the most common reasons. Juvenile beardies can get low blood sugar in as few as 5 hours without food, just because their bodies are so tiny and their metabolism relatively fast so they don't have any real nutrient reserves. Once you get a nice pear-shaped adult it can take days or even weeks for the blood sugar to drop under similar conditions.


In hatchlings, it's also a sign of poor nutrition in the egg, meaning the mother wasn't getting the nutrients she needs either. That's most common in young females, or those who have laid multiple clutches in a short time span.

Once in a rare while it's caused by temperatures being too low for a beardie to digest it's food properly, or an animal that is too dehydrated to break down its food but those are pretty rare. Most animals in those conditions refuse to eat at all rather than let food rot undigested inside of them.

[Pia]

That makes sense. Thanks :-)

[reptilez]

Originally posted by eyespy
Juvenile beardies can get low blood sugar in as few as 5 hours without food, just because their bodies are so tiny and their metabolism relatively fast so they don't have any real nutrient reserves.

So how ofen should you feed baby beardies?? I was feeding my hatchlings once a day, everyday, until they were about 2-3 weeks old then it would be crickets one day, veggies the next.
What i was doing, was it okay??
-Reptilez

[eyespy]

Not the best plan, baby beardies ideally should be fed 2-4 times a day to keep their blood sugar stable and their energy levels up. More frequent feedings also lowers the risk of impactions because they don't tend to gorge and so there's less chitin per meal to break down.