Another worried newbie

First, thank you to those of you who field some variation of these questions daily. I have read through them, but am still worried about my set-up.

We bought Alby/Cinnamon/Loki (I have an indecisive 8 year-old) 2 weeks ago. She is about 8 inches nose-tail, thus we are guessing 4-ish months. She is currently shedding a bit.

Set-up:
Right now in a 20 gallon tall. Will move to 55 or larger in the next few months.
Substrate is a mix of papertowel, reptile carpet and tile.

I have an 18” Zilla aquarium hood, but I took the 50 bulb out a replaced with the recommended 10.0 reptisun, and removed the acrylic cover. The hood sits on top of the mesh lid. Next to the hood is the basking light. We bought a fancy reptile basking bulb, which is a whopping 150 watts, but I also bought a probe thermometer and it reads 105 on top of the rock under the basking light. Based on info I’ve read here that is the low end for juvies….but goshdarn it’s hot in my son’s room! She sometimes sits on the rock and basks and opens her mouth, but mostly she seems to hide under a log in the shade.

Food is second concern - she doesn't seem to be eating as much as I was led to believe. She eats about 6-10 crickets in the morning (dusting with calcium powder about 80% of the time). and then sometimes she'll eat another 6 or so in the afternoon. I am gutloading the crickets in a 10 gallon tank in the garage.That's pretty much all she's eating. I put fresh salad mixtures in her tank twice a day - escarole, dandelion greens, celery leaves, tiny pieces of apple, mango, carrot, green bean....the only thing she has tried is the escarole and the celery leaves, maybe 2 or 3 pieces. In 2 weeks. I also bought some TRex Beardie food and hydrated it (it had mealworms in it), and she wasn't even slightly tempted.

She HATES baths...so we mist her a few times a day, which she doesn't seem to care about. I have never seen her drink from her water bowl, or from her bath, or from the spray bottle, or from the rock when I spray it a little, or from her salad greens, which I also spray. I try dropping tiny droplets onto her nose and mouth but she won't open her mouth to lick them. I'm worried she is dehydrated. We’re in Denver, Colorado, USA, where it is DRY and HOT.

Thank you, so much, for your friendly advice and expertise.

Hi there,
I'm also working through some beardie issues in Denver as a 1st timer, and hydration was one of them. My little guy Otto "Ot" never seemed to drink from his dish and was reluctant to lap up water when I dripped it on his snout. He also hated baths. I would mist his greens, which he'd eat reluctantly (and still does), but I still wasn't sure it was enough. What ended up doing the trick was running a warm (not hot) bath for him in our guest bathroom and setting him on tiles piled up to form a walking path into the water. I kept the water at about chest deep at the deepest but let it run slightly while he was in there so he heard the sound of moving water. He would bend down and lap at the water at the edge of his "safe zone", but eventually moved toward the dripping water sound and swam! It's still not his fav. activity, but he isn't afraid anymore & does drink. I think the key is running water--I believe I read somewhere that they either don't drink from standing water or can't see it to know its there (can't remember which).
Just be aware that your beardie might also use the occasion to poop. In fact, if Ot's a little sluggish, this is how we get things moving along. If that happens, I immediately move him from the mess, remove as much of it as possible with a tissue, drain the tub, and rinse. I'll then disinfect with Lysol and rinse again thoroughly before the little guy is allowed another swim. Hope this helps!

-Dan

If she's hiding in the shade and gaping when she basks, I wouldn't worry too much about the temperature being on the cold side.

About the dehydration: what does her poop look like, particularly the white part (urate)? How are her eyes? Is she lethargic? Those are signs of dehydration. So is wrinkly skin, but that might be difficult to tell with the shed. Can you post a current pic of her?

If she's shedding, that can lower their appetites. If you want to boost her appetite, though, you could try Acidophiliz+ from beautifuldragons.com.

Babies are picky about when/if they eat their greens. And that doesn't sound like enough insects - but that could be because she's shedding. If it continues after her shed finishes, you might try having a fecal test done. Where did you get her? If you got her from a breeder, they might be able to give you insights into her eating habits before you got her. If you got her from a pet store, I don't think they'd be able to give the same information.