Meet Sherbert! Advice?

Meet our new bearded dragon, Sherbert! We got him from a local breeder, and he's already so curious and energetic! He's so cute!!! He's currently shedding right now, but here are some pics of him! (Warning: Image heavy)


He's only 2 months old, but already a foot long. He's currently shedding right now, so he won't eat anything at all. I gave him a bath today so he can shed faster. I think he watches movies with us at the edge of his cage, but I don't know lol.

Anyways, I need advice because I'm really nervous about raising this dragon. I have dubia roaches that I've prepared for him in his bowl, but he never eats them because of his shedding. I dust the roaches with calcium, but do I need to dust them with vitamin supplements as well? how do I make sure he doesn't starve because of relocation stress + shedding??

Setup:
50 Gallon Tank
Heat lamp: bright white 70 watt flood light (heats up surface 100-110 degrees Fahrenheit)
UVB: Reptisun 10.0 T5 florescent tube
Substrate: non-adhesive shelf liner
Shoebox with blanket for hide, cardboard tube as a ramp, two bowls for food/water, and bricks for basking. Thermometers are AcuRite.

Seriously though, I am really new to this so advice is greatly appreciated! Thank you!! :study: :study:

He looks nice and healthy and your setup sounds good. Just keep offering bugs on a regular basis and he'll probably dig in once his shed is done. Dust the bugs with calcium powder at each feeding (just a thin, even coat) and you can switch that with multivitamin once or twice a week if you want to.

I really like the name Sherbert! Cute!!!

Thanks you guys! I also have a major concern right now; how do I get him to drink water? I tried giving him water in his bowl and giving him a bath, but he's not drinking. I'm scared of him getting dehydrated so how can I make sure that he drinks water?

He'll get most of the hydration he needs from live bugs and fresh veges. You can offer extra water by dripping it on his nose. If he's thirsty, he'll lick it up. You can check for dehydration by looking at his poop. If the urate is dry and chalky it may indicate dehydration. If the poop looks well hydrated or if there is extra water coming through then he's getting plenty of water.

His poop is chalky, so I really want him to drink water right now. I tried dripping water on his nose, but he only licked it once or twice. The problem is that he's not eating anything at all because he's shedding, so he's not getting any hydration from his veggies or roaches. I'll have to try a second bath tonight to see if he'll drink it in there.

I really wouldn't worry too much. They can absorb water during baths and they really don't need much water at all. I have had my beardie for almost 4 months and I have seen him drink water once and hes perfectly healthy. if you just got him, he may be stressed out and not eating because of the new environment. I really wouldn't worry much tho

Thanks, I'll try not to lol, I just get so anxious about him. He ate one dandelion leaf yesterday, so I'm hoping that he'll eat more. He's not eating his dubias right now which worries me... I've placed them in his tank today but he only licks his environment and never licks the roaches... Is it possible that he doesn't even like them? Will he eat them eventually if he's hungry enough?

Good news! Yesterday, Sherbert ate a lot of greens and I think 2 roaches! I got him to eat one by squishing it and sticking it onto his nose, so he had to lick it off and he munched away. I'm going to see if he'll eat more today, but there's progress.

That's encouraging to hear!

YES YES YES!!! Thank you! Today is exactly one week after I got Sherbert, so I got some prongs in hope for him to eat his roaches. All week he would only eat his veggies, so I would have to secretly hide the roaches in his salad. No matter how much I tried, he wouldn't eat the roaches on his own. Today though, I used the prongs to feed him the roaches, and he ate ALL OF THEM!!! I think it was like 20!!! I'm so happy for him!!! DDDDDDDDD

Yay! Sherbert finished shedding this weekend, I just love the way he looks! He eats like a monster so we're ordering 1000 roaches for him right now.

I'm sure he'll enjoy that. You could separate the order so you can leave some to grow and start a colony perhaps.

Haha, the thing is that I already have a colony but he just ate all of the roaches appropriate for his size lol. He eats a lot