DungeonMan
Member
Hello, longtime lurker here. Finally decided to make an account because my new beardie Neil is stressing me out a bit.
He’s not my first beardie; I had one for about two years named Zelda. Much of her care was down to guesswork on my part, but for the most part she was always happy. Sadly, we had to give her away when we moved to an apartment that did not even allow lizards or fish. They make make such a mess, you know.
Anyways, now we’re living somewhere with more lenient landlords, and so for Christmas my wife and I decided to forgo getting eachother presents and pool that money into getting a new beardie and all that goes with it. This time I decided I wanted to really study their needs so I can give him the best living situation I can. I’m not certain of Neil’s age, but he is definitely a bit younger than Zelda was when we got her; she could never perch on my finger like that. I’m not sure if it is his age or just a different personality, but this guy does not behave at all like Zelda did, and some of his tendencies are a bit concerning to my untrained eye.
For one thing, his eating tendencies are incredibly erratic. I feed him twice a day: twelve crickets in the morning, and twelve in the late afternoon when I get home from work. On a “good” day he’ll eat eight to ten crickets right away in the morning, and then eat the remaining ones within the next half hour, but he almost never eats any crickets in afternoon. Other days, he’s so apathetic he’ll just sit there while crickets crawl on his head, and not eat all day. On more than one occasion, he’ll go two or three days barely eating. I’d like to vary his diet some, as I wonder if maybe that’s the problem, but my local pet stores don’t sell any other good staple feeders, or at least none that are small enough for a little guy like Neil. I do occasionally (meaning once every two or three days) offer him a small waxworm as a treat, which he usually eats, but not always. I also gave him a few small mealworms, but stopped that after researching it further. Still, he is pooping regularly, usually once per day, and his poop looks good.
We’ve had him for roughly three weeks, so I’m sure part of it is adjusting to his new home, and I’m making a point of not handling him too much while he settles in. I just worry about him. I’ve heard that baby beardies usually devour everything in sight, and that couldn’t be further from the truth with this guy.
Any advice?
He’s not my first beardie; I had one for about two years named Zelda. Much of her care was down to guesswork on my part, but for the most part she was always happy. Sadly, we had to give her away when we moved to an apartment that did not even allow lizards or fish. They make make such a mess, you know.
Anyways, now we’re living somewhere with more lenient landlords, and so for Christmas my wife and I decided to forgo getting eachother presents and pool that money into getting a new beardie and all that goes with it. This time I decided I wanted to really study their needs so I can give him the best living situation I can. I’m not certain of Neil’s age, but he is definitely a bit younger than Zelda was when we got her; she could never perch on my finger like that. I’m not sure if it is his age or just a different personality, but this guy does not behave at all like Zelda did, and some of his tendencies are a bit concerning to my untrained eye.
For one thing, his eating tendencies are incredibly erratic. I feed him twice a day: twelve crickets in the morning, and twelve in the late afternoon when I get home from work. On a “good” day he’ll eat eight to ten crickets right away in the morning, and then eat the remaining ones within the next half hour, but he almost never eats any crickets in afternoon. Other days, he’s so apathetic he’ll just sit there while crickets crawl on his head, and not eat all day. On more than one occasion, he’ll go two or three days barely eating. I’d like to vary his diet some, as I wonder if maybe that’s the problem, but my local pet stores don’t sell any other good staple feeders, or at least none that are small enough for a little guy like Neil. I do occasionally (meaning once every two or three days) offer him a small waxworm as a treat, which he usually eats, but not always. I also gave him a few small mealworms, but stopped that after researching it further. Still, he is pooping regularly, usually once per day, and his poop looks good.
We’ve had him for roughly three weeks, so I’m sure part of it is adjusting to his new home, and I’m making a point of not handling him too much while he settles in. I just worry about him. I’ve heard that baby beardies usually devour everything in sight, and that couldn’t be further from the truth with this guy.
Any advice?
