New beardie, trouble feeding crickets

I've only had my little guy about 5 days, and i am having soem issues with cricket feeding. He WILL eat them, but getting him to notice seems to be the main issue. He'll sit up on his basking spot, I'll let maybe 3 in at a time, but i find they crawl into his hide, under his basking branch and try to get under the substrate (i have the exo terra sand matting). Can i remove the hide and branch when feeding, or will that spike his stress?

I'm concerned hes not eating enough, maybe 10 a day max he'll eat. He ignores his salad (which I make every morning). I want him to be able to thrive,but i want to make sure everything is comfy for him.

Note: I have the reptusun 10.0 bar light, and a 75 watt heating light. Basking area temp seems to be 100 to 112 and cool side is 82F. He likes to sit there with his mouth open, but i don't think its too hot for him? He's my first so I'm really new to this, but definitely try to spoil him. Thanks for any advice!

You could try feeding him in another tank, something smaller and bare so the crickets can't hide. I used to use one of those critter keepers, small clear plastic carrier, to feed my girl when she was younger. I would put it in her tank and put her in it then add the crickets. I felt it was less stressful than moving her to a different tank and since it was clear she could still see her own tank. Once my girl got bigger I still used it but she no longer fit so I still put the cricket in it but turned it on its side so she could walk right in, for the most part the crickets were trapped since she'd eat them if they tried to walk past her and they couldn't run away either.

You have several options- you can feed a different staple like dubia roaches of which I recommend- feed in a separate container as suggested or you can change out the matting for some textured non adhesive shelf liner from Home Depot or Walmart - its cheap and easy to clean w/ vinegar/water 50/50 in a spray bottle - and the insects cant get underneath it ---
Karrie

I just took her rock hide out and started shaking the bag before i put crickets in. MAN, she ate 9 this morning, she's sooo fast!! I'm going to get a spray bottle to mist as i give her daily baths (she loves cuddle time with me after baths), but seems to be gaping a bit while basking.

Also, shes rubbing her head a bit on her branch so i think shes about to start shedding, so I need to make sure shes nice and hydrated. For a baby dragon she sure makes super poops haha. Thanks for all the advice, will post pics soon