PLEASE HELP Juvenile Beardie might be sick?

So I bought my bearded dragon, Larry from pet smart 3 days ago along with the Zoo Med 20 gallon kit. (I am buying a 40 gallon soon)

BEHAVIOR: Larry is people friendly and clings on to me when I hold him and isn't scared of other people.

Day 1: On the first day I got Larry I fed him around 6 small crickets and a couple of small worms and I put some peas and juvenile BD pellets in his bowl. He ate normally and I later turned on his nightlight and he slept fine. (He pooped about 2-3 times)

Day 2: I woke Larry up like normal and later on put a couple crickets and worms in his bowl. He didn't seem interested and it got to the point to where a crickets was sitting on his head! He later threw up a half-eaten worm so I then called pet smart and they said he might be dehydrated and I learned I need some de-chlorinator. I went and bought some and he wouldn't drink even after showing him the water. So I used a syringe (no needle) and gave him some water, still wouldn't eat so I put him to bed. (1 poop)

Day 3: Larry still isn't eating or drinking so I syringed him some water and bathed him. Still no poop. I am not sure if he is constipated, sick, or what is wrong. Please help, thanks

Hi there, sorry that Larry is sick. He's probably not used to that much food and if you gave him mealworms and if the crickets were too big then that would make him sick. It could also be that he was out too soon after eating [ they need to be in the heat of the tank for 2-3 hours after eating to digest their food ] They usually recover after a day or 2 but you'll have to skip the mealworms and be SURE that the crickets are the right size. Keep offerig drips of water on his snout, also a bit of baby food squash , green bean or sweet potato can get him interested in food again

Can you post pics of him, his set up and the size of crickets next to a dime ? Here's how to post pics
. https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload them

BTW, colored night lights actually disrupt their sleep so are not recommended, you only need night time heat if it drops below 67 for a baby, if you need heat at night get a CHE [ ceramic heat emitter ] that produces heat without light.

Setup:
Crickets (this is one of the larger ones)
Larry:

Do you think baby food like this would be okay?

That's a nice set up, and Larry is a beautiful little leatherback. What type of uvb do you have ? If it's coil or compact you'll be best off to upgrade to a long tube Reptisun 10.0 or Arcadia D3 12%.

The baby food should be more veggie than sweet fruit, too much sugar is not good for beardies but you can mix something like that with the squash baby food..

Thanks for the compliment, I do plan to get a new UV bulb along with some more fake plants and a bigger tank. Update:I gave him a bath and he just ate 5 crickets but that is all I have because the pet store ran out ( and the new ones Dont come until Tuesday) :/ ... Do you think I can give him some mealworms in the meantime?

Oh that's good, see they usually bounce back after a couple of days. You can skip the baths, he might get chilled and baths are not necessary. For hydration, just drip a bit of water on his snout once a day.

The mealworms are probably ewhat made him vomit, so skip those unless you absolutely can't get any crickets anywhere ....are there other stores around that you can call ? But you'll need the smallest crickets again, so be specific. A baby beardie can not eat large crickets although pet store employess may say that they can.


If you can't get any cricks, use just 1-2 mealworms cut in half unless they are very tiny. Can you post pics of them next to the dime ? If they're baby mealworms you can give him 2 twice a day along with the baby food.

I might be able to go to one but it is about 30 minutes away. Here is a pic of the mealworms
I hope he would like the baby food because I have tried raisins, peas, carrots, and bd pellets but he isn't interested

Those are too big. If you cut it in 3 pieces you can give him one twice a day ,a freshly shed [ they look soft + white ] one cut in half twice a day would also be fine . But you are better off to drive the 30 minutes to the other store, just be sure to call first so you don't fo for nothing. Also ask if they carry Phoenix worms or calci worms [ not waxworms ]


You'll need to start oredering in bulk from companies like Ghann's or Milbrook. Millbrook can send them overnight so if you order 500 on Tuesday morning [ don't wait until later in the day ] you'll have them Wednesday but you need to order them priority to come in the morning rather than afternoon. The price is very reasonable.

I think I am just going to bite the bullet and go to the store tomorrow and pick up a 100 and later on buy the Millbrook (1/8 crickets)...

Question 1: Is the shipping free on that I couldn't really tell?

Question 2: Are there other live food options that I could give him? He seems like he doesn't enjoy the mealworms. I heard roaches but not sure if he is too young.

Thanks for all your help Larry is looking happy and active

No, the shipping is not included....if you place an order it will show you how much the shipping will be. But it's reasonable for overnight delivery that you will have by 10:30 the next morning. You can order the 1/4" rather than the 1/8.

Oh and I meant to tell to offer finely shredded greens like turnip, mustard, dandelion, collard, arrugula, endive. Some of these can be bought in mixed bags at Walmart for a few $$. Skip the raisins, apples carrots, esp. the latter 2....they are too tough for a baby to chew.

Okay I'll look into the finely shredded veggies. What about other live insects?