Every bearded dragon should be eating regularly to stay active and healthy. Eating or not eating is a big indicator of a bearded dragon’s health or state. But why is my bearded dragon not eating? In this post, we will discuss the reasons why a bearded dragon might stop eating, and why baby, juvenile or adult bearded dragons is not eating. We will also talk force feeding.
How often do bearded dragons eat?
Baby bearded dragons needs to eat more than adults – around 2-3 times a day. Older babies, juveniles and sub-adults from 4-12 months old need to eat 2 times a day, and adults of over 12 months old – once a day.
How long can bearded dragons go without food?
During brumation (winter shutdown), bearded dragons can go without food for up to 2-4 months. A baby bearded dragon would be able to go without food for 2-4 weeks. Healthy adults can go without food for 2-3 months.
During brumation, healthy adults shouldn’t lose any weight. Some owners stop feeding their bearded dragon for few weeks to a month if they are picky eaters.
Bearded dragons are hardy and usually don’t give up easily. So, it might take around few weeks to even a month or longer to make your bearded dragon eat certain foods. This often happens when you have to start introducing greens, but they refuse.
Why is my bearded dragon not eating? Reasons
- Bearded dragon is new and hasn’t acclimatized yet
- Stress
- Bullying and having cage mates
- Sickness
- Constipation or impaction
- Dehydration
- Being gravid
- Brumation
- Picky eating
- Setup change
- Mistakes or unnoticed changes in a setup
- Bearded dragons won’t eat type of bugs that bit it before
- It’s painful for your bearded dragon to eat
- Shedding
- Age
- Breeding season
Reason #1: Your bearded dragon is new
New bearded dragons tend to be very scared and stressed of new surroundings. This is why new bearded dragons tend to hide more, sleep a lot and be scared of any interaction.
Your new bearded dragon might even take up to a week to eat anything. Expect first 2 weeks (can take less or bit longer, up to 3 weeks) for your bearded dragon to start eating normally.
If a baby bearded dragon is weak and isn’t eating at all for more than 2 weeks, then might not survive for that long. In this case, force feeding might be necessary to save its life. Especially if a baby has lost a lot of weight.
Reason #2: Your bearded dragon is stressed
If your bearded dragon is stressed, it’s very likely to stop eating much or completely. This will depend on how much stress it’s experiencing and for how long it’s been going on. Stress might be caused by many internal or external factors which we will cover in the next points.
Prolonged stress will suppress your bearded dragon’s immunity – which can cause deficiencies and illnesses. Few signs of stress in bearded dragons include black body and beard, stress marks on the belly and limbs, hiding, lethargy and even aggression.
You can read a full post to learn if your bearded dragon is stressed and what causes stress.
Reason #3: Bullying and having cage mates
One of the stress reasons is bullying and other cage mates. While some owners tend to house their bearded dragons together, it’s not a good idea at all.
Bearded dragons are solitary lizards and become very competitive for food, basking and hiding spots and more. As a result, one bearded dragon won’t eat because others won’t let it, or just because it’s scared.
There will be an alpha and beta (main and submissive bearded dragons) in the group. A submissive dragon will also be slow and won’t try to get things that it needs.
The only variant that might work when housing two bearded dragons is to house 2 females. However, they can start disliking each other, even in ideal living conditions. At least a 130 gallon tank is necessary, separate basking spot and hides, eating spots etc.
At the end of the day, it’s not worth it to house 2 or more bearded dragons together, as there are too many risks. You won’t be able to watch them 24/7, so anything can happen. Even very subtle behavioral signs that can make one bearded dragon stressed might go unnoticed by you. Please keep your dragons separate.
You can read a full post on housing bearded dragons together in this post.
Reason #4: Sickness
If your bearded dragon is showing any signs of sickness, then it could be a reason why it stopped eating.
Is your bearded dragon laying around a lot and not being active? Does it have any back/tail kinks or soft bones? Is it shaking at all? It could be suffering from vitamin and mineral (calcium primarily) deficiency and MBD.
Is it pooping normally, having diarrhea or blood in the poop? Your bearded dragon could be constipated, impacted or have parasites.
Has your female bearded dragon been digging or acting anxious but didn’t lay eggs? She could be egg-bound.
Is your bearded dragon gaping, puffing up when breathing, forcefully exhaling and possibly having bubbles? Your bearded dragon could be suffering from a respiratory infection mainly caused by low temperatures and high humidity.
Is your bearded dragon tilting its head, losing balance? It could be suffering from a head trauma or an ear infection.
You can read a full post on bearded dragon illnesses here (opens in a new tab).
Reason #5: Constipation or impaction
If your bearded dragon is constipated or impacted for any reason, then there’s a high chance that it will refuse food.
Your bearded dragon can become impacted due to several reasons. One of the main reasons for impaction in bearded dragons is loose substrate. Please don’t use sand, small rocks, wood chips or any other loose substrate for your dragon’s tank.
Another reason would be feeding bugs that are bigger than the width between your dragon’s eyes. Feeding bugs that are too large can even cause paralysis of back legs and tears in the guts, causing blood to leak in the poop.
Constipation can happen if your bearded dragon is dehydrated, for example. It can also happen when tank temperatures are low, and the food can’t be digested properly. Even feeding too much can cause constipation.
With constipation or impaction, your bearded dragon will also poop less frequently. Your dragon’s belly can look bloated or round, too. If your dragon doesn’t poop in 7-10 days, it could be impacted.
You can find a full post on possible reasons why a bearded dragon is not pooping here.
Reason #6: Dehydration
A dehydrated bearded dragon won’t have a healthy appetite. This is because water is very important for digestion and moving of fecal masses through the digestive system. A dehydrated bearded dragon will have loose skin, sunken eyes and even slimy saliva.
Your bearded dragon can become dehydrated if the temperatures in the tank are too high, for example. Please note that bearded dragons mostly rely on food to get all the water they need.
So it’s very important to gut-load their feeder insects (offer bugs water crystals or fruits/veggies for water) and offer fresh veggies/fruits. Bearded dragons don’t really drink freestanding water, and tend to lick moving water or water sprayed on the nose.
To help hydrate your bearded dragon, you can spray some water on your dragon’s nose and let it lick it. If your dragon isn’t interested in water, you can also offer diluted fruit juice (3 parts water: 1 part juice). You can offer diluted grape, apple and other allowed fruit juices.
Reason #7: Being gravid
If your bearded dragon is gravid, she is likely to refuse food at some point. Gravid bearded dragons tend to eat less if at all towards the end, before they lay the eggs.
Your bearded dragon might become gravid even without mating with a male. In that case, eggs will be infertile. Most females can start laying eggs at around 12-24 months of age.
Sometimes owners mistaken male bearded dragons for females and other way round. This can happen if the owner thinks that their dragon is a male, and won’t expect it to lay eggs at all. Your bearded dragon can become egg-bound if you don’t provide a laying site for her.
You can properly determine your bearded dragon’s sex at the age of around 6-8 months old.
If you need help with sexing your bearded dragon, please see this post.
Reason #8: Brumation
Brumation is one of the main reasons why a healthy bearded dragon might stop eating. Bearded dragons can start brumating from the age of 12-18 months old.
Brumation often occurs through the winter season, when the temperatures get slightly lower and days shorter. Bearded dragons can feel these changes and decide to go into brumation.
Brumation is completely normal – some bearded dragons might not brumate at all, some will wake up during brumation. But some bearded dragons will be mostly inactive during brumation. It can take from few weeks to up to 2-3 months!
During brumation, your bearded dragon won’t eat much if at all. If your bearded dragon still basks and eats sometimes, then you can offer just little bit of food.
But most bearded dragons don’t need to eat at all. You will have to keep the lights on, but for only around 8 hours a day and lower the tank temperatures too.
Healthy bearded dragons should lose little to no weight at all during brumation. Don’t force your dragon to eat or the food inside of it will rot due to lack of heat. Please note that it can take up to few weeks for your bearded dragon to start eating regularly after the brumation ends.
You can read a full post on brumation in bearded dragons here.
Reason #9: Picky eating
Believe it or not, bearded dragons can definitely be picky eaters!
For example, bearded dragons that were not offered any salad when babies and juveniles are likely to refuse salad when they grow up. Make sure to offer salad to your baby bearded dragon – just a little bit every day. You can even leave some in the tank, just that your dragon can familiarize with greens and fruits.
Babies of up to 4 months should eat mostly feeder insects (60-80%) and juveniles of up to 7 months old around 50% bugs. However, adults of 18 months old and over should eat mainly veggies – around 70-85%! This is a huge difference.
Please note that your bearded dragon can have its own food preferences and dislike specific foods. Experiment with different bugs and veggies to see what your dragon likes the most. Also, make sure to offer a varied diet because offering the same things will bore your dragon.
Reason #10: Setup change
Bearded dragons mostly react negatively to major changes in their tank or even around the tank. If you have recently upgraded the tank or added a lot of new accessories, it will take your dragon some time to get used to everything again.
Your bearded dragon can even react to new additions outside its tank. Some bearded dragons dislike specific colors, pieces of clothing (hats etc.) or even facial hair! So this can also cause negative reactions.
It can take from a week to two to become comfortable with new surroundings. During this time, your dragon might not eat regularly and hide more than usual.
Please be patient around this time – you can even cover the sides of the tank with a cloth to help your bearded dragon relax. This is especially true if your dragon is acting aggressive. Start gradually removing covering cloths on each side one by one after 1-2 weeks.
Reason #11: Mistakes or accidental changes in the setup
High temperatures, UVB lighting and moderate humidity are all important for your bearded dragon to stay healthy. Also important are light positioning, substrate, distance between the light and your dragon and more.
Make sure there is UVB tube light that runs the enclosure and covers around 50-80% of the tank’s length. The UVB tube should emit 10% or 12% UVB, less is not enough. By the UVB light, place the basking bulb that will emit heat. Your dragon will be basking and getting UVB at the same time.
UVB light should be around 6-13 inches away from the basking spot depending on strength. If using 10.0-12.0 UVB, it can be above the mesh top. Basking bulb can be further away depending on wattage – please experiment to get the right temperatures.
HO 10.0 UVB hung inside should be 12-13 inches (30.5-33cm) away from the dragon, if hung on top of screen cover – around 10 inches (25.5 cm). T8 hung inside should be 6-8 inches (15-20cm) away from your dragon.
The basking spot should be between 92-110 degrees Fahrenheit (33-43 Celsius), and the cool spot – 75-85 F (23.8-29 C). If temperatures drop below 65 F at night, then use a low wattage ceramic heat emitting bulb like this to raise the temperatures slightly.
There are a lot of small things that might go wrong in the setup, causing big changes for your bearded dragon. Please don’t use small coiled bulbs or hot rocks, make sure to change UVB bulbs every 5-6 months, always position lights from top.
Make sure to measure temperatures with a thermometer that has a probe (digital is better). Leave the probe on the spot for 45-50 minutes to get readings. And also use a handheld thermometer like this to get accurate temperatures of a specific spot.
Use a handheld thermometer 1.5-2 inches (around 4-5 cm) to get readings. Using only stick-on thermometers especially without a probe can leave you with completely inaccurate readings.
Small changes in temperatures, light distance, high humidity (30-40% is optimal) can all trigger digestive issues, and therefore, poor appetite. Incorrect lighting can also cause problems with vitamin absorption, eyes and more.
Reason #12: Bearded dragon won’t eat bugs that bit it before
Believe it or not, bearded dragons can become scared of bugs that bit it. As you probably know, crickets especially, can hide in the cage and come out when hungry. When crickets are hungry, they will start biting on a bearded dragon’s toes, tail and limbs and can cause injuries.
If your bearded dragon has been bitten before by crickets, it’s likely to stop eating them at all. So if your bearded dragon has stopped eating crickets, being bitten by them before could be a reason. It might take some time for your bearded dragon to overcome this fear – some dragons never do.
Reason #13: It’s painful for you bearded dragon to eat
Your bearded dragon might be refusing food because it physically hurts to eat. This could be if your bearded dragon is suffering from an early stage or advanced stomatitis.
Stomatitis is an infection of the mouth that will have symptoms of mouth swelling, a lot of saliva, mouth secretions and even pus. This infection requires increasing tank temperatures, reviewing supplements and administering antibiotics.
Please take your bearded dragon to the vet if you suspect stomatitis and in the meanwhile, wash its mouth with diluted Betadine solution (1:10) in water.
Reason #14: Shedding
Bearded dragons might become moody few days before and during shedding. This can also make them eat less or at least not as much as they do normally. This should pass few days after shedding has finished.
Young bearded dragons will shed more often than adults. Babies shed every 1-2 weeks, young adults – every 2-4 weeks, and adults – 2-3 times a year.
Shedding bearded dragon will have pale skin, will be rubbing against various objects, refusing food and being more lethargic in general. Some bearded dragons even become slightly aggressive or easily irritated during shedding.
Reason #15: Age
Bearded dragons need to eat less with age. As we have discussed above, babies will eat few times a day, while adult only once a day or even once in two days.
These more drastic changes can occur at around the age of 4 months, then 7, 12 and 18 months. As your dragon grows, you will notice the changes in food consumption. And this is normal – older bearded dragons need to eat less than young ones that are actively growing.
Reason #16: Breeding season
During the breeding season, often with start of spring in March, your bearded dragon can become more anxious.
Some male bearded dragons stop eating regularly during the breeding period, while looking for a potential mate. Females tend to refuse food at some point when becoming gravid.
Baby or juvenile bearded dragon not eating?
Baby bearded dragons are more sensitive to any changes. If your baby bearded dragon is new, make sure to let it get comfortable in the tank for 2-3 weeks without any handling.
Create a schedule – feed your dragon 2-3 times a day with appropriately sized food. Give your dragon 15-20 minutes to eat as much as it can. Make sure to gut-load bugs and have some salad in the tank too. Spray some water on your dragon’s nose two times a day.
Baby bearded dragons need even higher basking temperatures – make sure a basking spot is 100-110 F (37.7-43.3 Celsius). Start using UVB light straight away.
One of the main reasons why babies don’t eat is that they are sick or stressed. Make sure to eliminate any stress – house it alone. Babies compete for food and stress each other out.
Make sure to weigh your baby bearded dragon at least once a week with jewelry or kitchen scales like this (that weigh to the nearest 0.1 grams). If your bearded dragon is losing weight, then it could be sick and needs to be seen by the vet.
Once you bring your baby bearded dragon home, take its fresh poop to the vet for a full fecal examination. If your baby dragon is infected with parasites, it can quickly kill it.
Bearded dragon not eating or moving?
If your bearded dragon is not eating or moving, it is possibly sick. Lethargy can indicate that your bearded dragon doesn’t have energy, is sick, stressed or cold.
Please consider reviewing your bearded dragon’s diet and lighting & heating in the tank. Have you had your dragon’s poop checked for parasites? Are you supplementing your bearded dragon’s food? Please take your dragon to the vet if it looks sick and is losing weight.
You can read this post to help you find answers to why your bearded dragon is not moving or eating.
How to feed a bearded dragon that won’t eat?
If your bearded dragon is not eating because it’s brumating, then you shouldn’t feed it. Only give it a bath once or twice a week for hydration and spray some drops of water on the nose.
If your bearded dragon is being a picky eater, don’t give up, because your bearded dragon can go up to 2 months or even more refusing certain foods. This can commonly happen when your dragon doesn’t eat veggies and you start introducing them. But if your dragon starts looking sick and is losing weight, then don’t keep it hungry.
If you haven’t introduced veggies before, there is a big change that it won’t eat them. Be patient and keep offering veggies until your dragon eats them. And only then, you can start offering some feeder bugs again.
You can even start with hiding some moving bugs under the salad. Or you could try putting a bug near your dragon’s mouth, and once it opens its mouth to eat, put a veggie in its mouth instead.
Should I force feed my bearded dragon?
Don’t force your bearded dragon unless it’s sick and is losing weight. If your bearded dragon is not eating because of brumation or because it’s a picky eater, then you must not force feed! As we have discussed, bearded dragons might go off food for 2-3 months without losing much weight at all.
But if your bearded dragon is sick and seems to be getting weak and skinny, you can start force feeding.
- To force feed your bearded dragon, it’s better to have 2 people to help you.
- One person can hold a bearded dragon’s mouth open. Gently pull the bottom beard skin to open the lower lip.
- Hold your bearded dragon gently, but firmly, because it will be trying to run away.
- You can also use a tongue depressor to hold its tongue down gently.
- Fill a syringe with a slurry. You can use something homemade or a nutritionally balanced food such as Repashy Veggie Burger or Crested Gecko food.
- Use a cropped needle like this to administer the food. You will need a syringe to put the cropped needle on. Recommended size for a cropped needle would be 12 or 14 gauge (less the gauge, bigger the hole).
- Fill the syringe with around 2ml of food per 100 grams of your dragon’s weight.
- You will need to hold your bearded dragon vertically straight and start slowly putting the tube down the dragon’s mouth. Put your finger on its belly to feel the tube going down the stomach.
- Push on the syringe to administer the food.
Bearded dragon can’t swallow?
If your bearded dragon can’t swallow food, it will get lodged in its throat. In this case, your bearded dragon’s beard will look big and puffed.
If your dragon’s beard look puffed up and saggy, there is big chance that there’s stuck food in there.
Make sure that you are not feeding your dragon any insects that are larger than the width between its eyes. This can cause choking, impaction and even paralysis. Also, make sure there is no loose substrate in the tank at all. Chop veggies into small pieces or even use a grater.
You can try opening your dragon’s mouth wide open to see if you can find any lodged food in there. Use a tongue depressor and use a flash look in the mouth. It is definitely better for 2 people to do it – one to hold a dragon, and another one to take out food.
If you can see anything there, use tweezers (with soft tip only), long forceps or a long soft cotton bud or q-tip to get the food out. Don’t push the food down!
If possible, let an expert vet do it instead of doing it yourself. Don’t risk it if you are not sure, and don’t push the food down if you can see it – that could choke your dragon. If not sure, take your dragon to the vet who will clear it.
However, if your bearded dragon’s beard got big – it could be a tumor or a cyst. A cyst or tumor would feel harder to touch. Another thing that could cause a big beard would be a swelling from a fall.
Summary on a bearded dragon not eating:
If your bearded dragon is not eating, please review its setup and don’t worry if a new dragon hasn’t eaten for few days. Make sure to supplement dragon’s food, give it a warm bath few times a week, have UVB and heat lights on. Offer hides and other accessories for comfort.
If your dragon looks sick, take it to the vet for an examination.
Thank you for reading this post! Please read the full guide to a bearded dragon’s diet here to learn more about best foods, supplements, eating schedules and more.