The Babies!

I was thinking that I should move my two lone BD babies to the cage with the other 4 babies so that I can just have to worry about one cage and not run the electric bill so high

My questions are:

A: If I were to do this would the babies get into fights, being introduced to a new group? They've already been together once I split them all up once four to a cage, two just died due to impaction. So then the cage will have 6 babies, it's a 55 gallon tank, 4 feet long, 1 foot wide and 2 feet tall.

B: Because of a couple reasons I cannot feed the babies crickets, one is because the small ones for them aren't sold at the local pet shop and shipping cannot be done in the winter. I am trying out some dry foods but they're not taking to them too well. I have sprinkled the calcium powder on the pellets to hopefully attract their attention, failed. I put some water on the pellets thinking they'd eat them wet/soggy, failed. I, just today put lettuce on the food trying to see in they'd eat it maybe by mistake and learn that it's food, failed. I have two different types of dry foods for them, I stopped using one because I got a better reaction from them with the other type of food. So, my question is how do I get them to eat the dry food, or what are some foods that will get the babies to grow? They are 4 months old and still, the largest one being, about 3-4 inches which I know is small for the age.

AleinBEEN":524a3 said:

I was thinking that I should move my two lone BD babies to the cage with the other 4 babies so that I can just have to worry about one cage and not run the electric bill so high

My questions are:

A: If I were to do this would the babies get into fights, being introduced to a new group? They've already been together once I split them all up once four to a cage, two just died due to impaction. So then the cage will have 6 babies, it's a 55 gallon tank, 4 feet long, 1 foot wide and 2 feet tall.

B: Because of a couple reasons I cannot feed the babies crickets, one is because the small ones for them aren't sold at the local pet shop and shipping cannot be done in the winter. I am trying out some dry foods but they're not taking to them too well. I have sprinkled the calcium powder on the pellets to hopefully attract their attention, failed. I put some water on the pellets thinking they'd eat them wet/soggy, failed. I, just today put lettuce on the food trying to see in they'd eat it maybe by mistake and learn that it's food, failed. I have two different types of dry foods for them, I stopped using one because I got a better reaction from them with the other type of food. So, my question is how do I get them to eat the dry food, or what are some foods that will get the babies to grow? They are 4 months old and still, the largest one being, about 3-4 inches which I know is small for the age.

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A: All babies should be separated because you will have less problems, examples: fighting, infection, injuries... you can divide the cage with cardboard or plexiglass for each separate baby with an enclosure that size.

B: places will ship crickets with heat packs during the winter. I would search around feederfinder.net and find a place that has that option. My other concern is that two have died from impaction...what was the cause of the impactions??? What kind of substrate are they currently on now??? Paper towels or shelf liner are ideal and easy to clean especially with the amount of babies you have... as for getting them to eat something other than crickets, roaches are another option because they breed quickly and are healthy for baby dragons. They are more hardy especially during winter temperatures as well. I have done well feeding roaches when i had my 3 clutches. I guess i got a bit of luck to because they all ate the greens almost right out of the egg. Do not get discouraged, keep offering small bits of dandelion,collard, and maybe some squash... any questions feel free to pm me

Do you mean they're only 3-4 inches from nose to the tip of his tail? If so, there's something seriously wrong either with the feeding or enclosures, that's hatchling size. By 2 months old they should be at least 6-7 inches long from nose to tail tip.

No, I wouldn't combine your babies in one tank - you're quickly coming up to the six month point at which your males and females should be separated anyway. This is because at six months dragons start going into puberty/sexual maturity, and problems can arise between males (males will eventually fight and even kill each other and should never be housed together), and there can be premature mating (its not safe for females to mate until they're full grown) that you definitely want to prevent. No point in moving your babies around multiple times, you'll just stress them out further and unneccessarily. A 55g tank will only hold one adult dragon, and at that its a bit small (too narrow), you'll definitely need more enclosures, not fewer.

Live food is a must for young dragons in order for them to grow properly - pellet foods are okay to help supplement a diet, but they don't replace either live bugs or fresh greens. You'll need to either do a major order of crickets and breed them yourself, or do the same thing with roaches. To be brutally honest, if you can't afford to properly feed six growing dragons that bugs they need (and they should be getting offered somewhere between 50-100 crickets a day each) then you should look at finding new homes for at least some of them.

Here's a questionnaire to see if we can help you out with the rest of your care and husbandry:

How old are your dragon?
How large are they?
How long have you had them?
Where did you get them from?

What size tank is he in?
What substrate are you using?
What do you use to heat the tank?
What temperature is the tank (basking spot and cool side)?
What do you use to measure the temperatures?
What UVB light are you using?
Is it a compact/coil, an MVB, or a flourescent tube?
How old is it?
How close can your dragon get to it?

What do you feed your dragon?
How often?
What supplements do you use?
How often?

Do you bath or mist your dragon?
How often?

I am in a rush so I can say this really quick. Both parents are some what smaller, 13-18 inches. I'll post the questions when I am back.