Light Eater in the AM

So I leave my house at 6:30am. I have Gobi's lights on a timer to turn on around 5:30am. I try to let him warm up for as long as possible before I put him into his feeding tub around 6:15. Right now I'm giving him dusted crickets in the morning. However, he is only eating maybe 7-10 crickets at a time. He's only mildly interested. I'm wondering if he isn't "awake" enough to be interested? When I get home and feed him he eats a lot more. One day he ate 20 crickets. I'm feeding him dubias in the afternoon and he will eat 6-10 of those. He's pooping regularly and eating some of his greens that I offer daily.

I've had him for almost 2 weeks now. His appetite is just fluctuating so much it's stressing me out. I keep reading that he should be eating 20+ crickets at a time or 15 dubias and he just isn't. Last week he was 10g 5.5". I'm going to weigh him again this Saturday. He appears alert and growing. Do you think it's too early to feed him?

Hi there,

All dragons are different and they all have their own little preferences it seems

It sounds like he is still eating quite a bit so that's good. I wouldn't worry about it. Especially if he is still growing.

You could always leave a bowl of worms too (or dubias) in his tank in the morning that way he can eat as he wants. This is what I usually end up doing in the mornings as I typically leave my house only half an hour or so after lights go on.
Leaving a salad in there in the morning too is a good idea.

But to put your mind at ease, it's normal
1 of my girls would probably eat an hour before lights go on if I let her. Another eats much later after warming up.

-Brandon

Thanks Brandon. That does make me feel better!

I'm looking into the ceramic escape proof bowls to leave some food in there. I just can't seem to find one that would be small enough that he wouldn't have to climb up and over to see. I'm going to try and pick up some Phoenix worms and more dubias at the WNY Reptile show this Saturday.

Sounds good!

I use small little ceramic plates for the worms I leave in. They are low profile enough that even my smaller girls can get at them easily, but they seem to be slick enough that the worms can't escape. It wouldn't work for dubias, but definitely for the BSFL and any other worms you want to use.

-Brandon

Well Gobi didn't gain any weight this past week. He's still 10g. He did grow 1/2". He certainly looks chubbier. I picked up some more dubias at the WNY Reptile Show and I really do think he prefers them over crickets, but I do have to get rid of the crickets I have. Again in the morning he really will only eat 8-10 crickets before losing interest. I let him sit in his feeding tub for 10 minutes just in case. It's been just over 2 weeks since we brought him home, any chance he is still having some relocation stress?

Hi there,

Yes at two weeks it's possible that his appetite isnt fully back yet. If he grew that's a good sign! And 10 crickets in the morning really isnt too bad. Just keep up on it and I'm sure things will get better

Tombo took almost a month I'd say before his appetite became the bottomless put that it is now. But it slowly increased every week.

-Brandon