So I recently just got a new baby dragon he is about 5 inches.i got him Thursday and it's now Sunday. I tried hand feeding even though I know the controversy against it and I put non dusted and dusted cricket/mealworms.
<<< handfeeding is perfectly OK , and it's a great way of ensuring a sick lizard gets food and to bond with it.
here is a link that shows some good ways to handfeed a lizard - viewtopic.php?f=18&t=235583
Cut right back on the mealworms (ok a couple as a bribe or treats (pick the just molted white worms - they are have a softer exoskeleton , the pupae are good as treats too).
Your best options for feeder insects for a very young hatchling like yours are
>> white soft bodied very wriggly BSFL
>> blowfly gents
>> housefly gents
>> small (10mm) silkworms ( like this maybe )
My 5 and 6 week old hatchlings (7g to 15g) were started off on 20day old crickets and 15mm -20mm long silkworms.
>> 15 to 20 day old crickets or equivalent sized locusts or roaches ( so long as the insect is no longer than the space between his eyes , bigger can cause impaction and nerve damage when swallowed).
the smallest crickets shown are PinHeads, the gents at the bottom are blowfly and housefly gents (both excellent feeders for a small hatchling , and quite high in protein and Ca, the flies are great treats too , my hatchlings go nuts leaping into the air to catch them as they fly by and crawl up the sides of their rearing tubs.
Regarding using crickets, roaches, and locusts, please dust all very lightly with calcium powder, and gut load them for at least 1 day using high calcium leafy greens (will increase the nutrition in the eaten insects) and only drop a few insects into the tank/tub at a time, this way the hatchling will not be overwhelmed / confused by lots of fast moving insects hopping and crawling all over the place and it can keep track of all the feeders and has a better chance of catching all of them and eating them
Regarding gents, maggots, pupae and silkworms , all are slow moving and can be leaf in a suitable feeding dish (needs to be escape proof for maggots/gents/lavae as they are little hoodinees !!!) ,the hatchling will eat these quite happily at it's own leisure , so count the worms/maggot/gents/lavae in and after so you will know how many have been eaten.
Refer to this to help select best quality (lowest fat , highest protein, highest Ca/P feeders
viewtopic.php?f=76&t=234999&p=1807834#p1807834
To see which he preferred and he just isnt eating well. Once in a while he will eat a mealworms but only if I wiggle them in front of his face and put it down.My parents said if he doesn't eat anything tomorrow we are taking him to the vet.Any suggestions??
Sidenote: I dont know if the baby beardie is a boy/girl I have to wait till he is at least 7 in.
