Cocoa :)

Hi, y'all, I've been lurking on here for...well, a lot of months now, and I finally brought home my baby, Cocoa, a few days ago. He's been getting settled really well and I swear even though it's been less than a week he already seems bigger! I'm so happy that I finally have a lil buddy who can keep me company in my college apartment, they only allow tank pets and I've been missing the animal connection I get from living on a farm.

(picture of him in the store, he's not from a chain, but the store I got him from claimed he's like three months old, which, nah, no way at all, he's <5.5" nose to tail. he was glass surfing like mad when I saw him, and he looked so healthy compared to the others I'd seen there before)

He doesn't eat as much as I'd like to see, but his appetite has been growing as he's been home, and he's active and pooping alright, so as long as he keeps up the progress I'll let him take his sweet time lol. He's not remotely afraid of my hand, and walks right up onto me and pancakes which I was surprised by this early.

Some pictures from yesterday I think, none of them really do justice to how bright orange the diamonds on his back are. He looks like a he's got a lil caramel drizzle.

He was raised on crickets exclusively but I'm currently switching him over to bsfl. He seems to want to eat more when I'm not looking (I don't blame him, I wouldn't want a giant watching me eat either) is there any good way to keep bugs from escaping the food bowl/to the underside of the carpet until he decides he wants to eat? I know dubias can't climb smooth surfaces but bsfl is the compromise while he's living at my parents house for the next couple weeks, until we head back to my apartment.

Welcome to the forum and beardie world
What size tank is he in? The two MOST IMPORTANT thing in the tank is UVB and basking temps--
NO coils for UVB and temps need to be taken w/ a digital probe thermometer--- No stick ons they are inaccurate -- temps need to be 105-110 for him I would say hes around 2 months but that is a guess
You need a glass / ceramic bowl for insects and salad- he needs to be fed salad every morning w/ your BSFL add them to the top of the salad here is a link for the type of bowl you need https://www.amazon.com/MACGOAL-Reptile-Ceramic-Leopard-Bearded/dp/B084VJJWTV?pf_rd_r=R0HNPKXJ2ZARWAT5MPAH&pf_rd_p=c5b6893a-24f2-4a59-9d4b-aff5065c90ec&pd_rd_r=0173f98f-f39b-4d44-9f76-6ae4d88c419b&pd_rd_w=AuGQB&pd_rd_wg=tLkwE&ref_=pd_gw_ci_mcx_mr_hp_d
Here is a nutrition website http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html ignore the kale thing its a good staple feeder
Use the BSFL to lure him to the salad bowl - I would also look at getting him some dubia roaches to back up the BSFL -- they will need to be dusted w/ calcium D3 5 x per week once per feeding and vitamins w/ beta carotene 2 x per week once per feeding -- he will go thru relocation stress so hes eating will be off but it should not stop all together if it does there is a issue
Karrie

Thanks, currently he's in a 50 gal (36 * 18 exo terra), which is part of why I switched off crickets, he doesn't seem to want or be able to chase them down hopping all over the tank. Eventually down the line when he's an adult my parents are going to help me build a larger custom tank but that's quite a bit away.

He definitely eats some greens when they're offered to him, the reptile department guy at the exotics store suggested I give him some apple as soon as he got home for the first day to get him accustomed to the food bowl and eating in a new environment, so I did that and have been feeding mostly a mix of shredded squash collards since then, I've been dusting those with supplements because I do see him eat quite a bit of those vs bugs which honestly he seems a bit scared of, I'm kind of suspicious that the store was feeding too large of crickets or something because some of the ones they sold me seemed pretty enormous.

I'm planning on adding dubias when I get back to my apartment in a couple weeks, I have my own space there where I can have more bugs on the down low.

Insects should not be bigger than the space between his eye length wise --- pet stores give bad advice -- no more apples please -- please look at the nutrition website its good hes eating his salads -- but his main diet is insects 80% and salads 20% -- please dust the insects
Karrie