freddyshouse
Member
Brand new beardie owner here! I bought a baby beardie (Freddy) just a week and a half ago. His poops look healthy and he is active in his tank, but he is only eating a few crickets per day. From what I understand, he should be eating much more than this. At first, I thought it was just the relocation stress, but now I'm not sure because he is eating... just not enough.
I've been letting him eat as many crickets as he can in a 10-15 minute span, about 3x a day. The problem is that he'll excitedly eat about one (maybe two) when they first go in the tank and then he ignores the rest. One day he ate four crickets in a row, but I've never seen him eat more than that. This worries me because I'm reading that other baby beardies eat 10-30 in one feeding! I tried giving him wax worms (because they are high in fat and I was worried that he was starving) and he'll eat them - but again, he'll maybe eat one and then ignore the other. I've tried backing away from the tank thinking that maybe he just wants to hunt crickets in privacy, but that has only worked about once or twice. He does not touch his veggies. I've been misting him a few times a day (he does not enjoy it) and bathed him twice to make sure he's staying hydrated.
I sure hope I am doing everything right. I did research before buying him to make sure he had a good setup, but maybe something is off. His basking bulb is a 50W ExoTerra bulb and it's about 6-7 inches from his basking spot. His other bulb is a 13W Zilla Tropical Flourescent UVB/UVA bulb - this was recommended by the pet shop and I worry that this might be the problem. It looks like it's for reptiles with lower UVB needs than beardies? It's about 8-10 inches from his basking spot. The basking area fluctuates between 95-105F. Nighttime temp is around 75-80F, but I'll double check tonight. I just got a second thermometer to put in there, just to be sure.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!
I've been letting him eat as many crickets as he can in a 10-15 minute span, about 3x a day. The problem is that he'll excitedly eat about one (maybe two) when they first go in the tank and then he ignores the rest. One day he ate four crickets in a row, but I've never seen him eat more than that. This worries me because I'm reading that other baby beardies eat 10-30 in one feeding! I tried giving him wax worms (because they are high in fat and I was worried that he was starving) and he'll eat them - but again, he'll maybe eat one and then ignore the other. I've tried backing away from the tank thinking that maybe he just wants to hunt crickets in privacy, but that has only worked about once or twice. He does not touch his veggies. I've been misting him a few times a day (he does not enjoy it) and bathed him twice to make sure he's staying hydrated.
I sure hope I am doing everything right. I did research before buying him to make sure he had a good setup, but maybe something is off. His basking bulb is a 50W ExoTerra bulb and it's about 6-7 inches from his basking spot. His other bulb is a 13W Zilla Tropical Flourescent UVB/UVA bulb - this was recommended by the pet shop and I worry that this might be the problem. It looks like it's for reptiles with lower UVB needs than beardies? It's about 8-10 inches from his basking spot. The basking area fluctuates between 95-105F. Nighttime temp is around 75-80F, but I'll double check tonight. I just got a second thermometer to put in there, just to be sure.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!