Take a deep breath, and welcome to the forum...and to Beardie ownership...they do make us nuts, don't they?
It's okay, they typically do not eat a lot when they first arrive to a new home, regardless of age. There is typically a "Relocation Stress" period that can last up to 2 weeks where they don't eat much and aren't very active or wanting to be touched, some dragons do fine, others take longer. But not eating on the first day isn't a big deal...However, what you're trying to feed a 4 month old is a big deal...
First of all, yes, they do need to have at least 2-3 LIVE INSECT feeding sessions every single day, 3 is better than 2 up to 8 months old, then scale back to 2, then after about a year to a year and a half old you can go to 1 LIVE INSECT feeding session per day. Each session should last between 10-15 minutes, and they need to be allowed to eat as many appropriate, healthy, live staple insects as they want to in that 10-15 minute period. Feed only 1-2 live insects at a time, let them eat them, then add another 1-2, until they stop eating and usually they go to the basking spot/platform within the Hot Side of their tank, which should be positioned directly under both their long UVB tube (not compact or coil, we'll get to that in a minute) and their bright-white colored basking bulb. Never leave ANY live insects inside their tank at any time, this specifically goes for crickets, they bite and cause bad infections, and actually can eat their eyeballs at night while they sleep, I've seen it many times. So you have to be sure to get every last cricket out of the tank when he's done eating, if you choose to feed crickets. Ordering your live insects online is your best bet, as if they are eating appropriately sized insects (ALWAYS smaller than the space between their eyes) then he'll be eating between 40-60 live insects a day, so ordering in bulk online will save you a fortune.
www.dubiaroaches.com is very well priced, and they sell roaches, BSFL/Phoenix Worms, and Crickets. There are many other places to order in bulk online, it's cheap, quick, and you can set-up repeat automatic shipments.
Bearded Dragons usually have no concept of standing water, as there is little to no standing water in the Australian Deserts that they are naturally from. As such, most Beardies will not drink standing water at all, not from a bowl or while in a
bath (and if your dragon doesn't drink standing water from the
bath through it's mouth, then there is no reason to give him a
bath at all unless he is dirty or stinks, as they do not absorb ANY
hydration through their skin or their vents, as the internet myth goes, even some "exotics' vets believe this, it's not true, they have to take all
hydration in through their mouths, and since baths usually stress them out, there is no reason to give him a
bath unless he's dirty, or if he's going through a shed, it can help with that, but only once or twice a week during that)...So, as such, Bearded Dragons get most all of their
hydration from the live insects that they eat and from the fresh greens/veggies that they eat. That's it. That's why it's important to be feeding him a ton of live staple insects every day along with a fresh salad of greens/veggies that are appropriate for Beardies...
That being said, most Beardies will not eat many, if any greens or veggies until they are at least a year old, so don't be alarmed if your dragon only nibbles on his daily fresh salad, or if he won't touch it at all. You do need to still offer him a FRESH salad of healthy, appropriate greens and veggies every single day (do not put it in his tank until after he has his first live insect feeding session each morning, as if your dragon is one who likes greens/veggies when he's young, you can't have him filling up on greens and veggies until he's at least a year old, as they do 90% of their growing and developing during their first year of life, and as such the most important thing for them is to eat a massive ton of live insects each day, and they know this, this is why they usually eat little vegetation until they are older than a year. But it's important to give them a fresh salad every day, so that they get used to it and know what it is, and they usually will at least nibble it and get some
hydration...Do not feed him any Kale or Spinach, as they both have extremely high levels of Oxalates, which will bind to any and all of the calcium he eats to form Calcium Oxalate, which he will just excrete out, and he'll end up with a Calcium Deficiency. Instead, please feed him ONLY FRESH, NEVER FREEZE-DRIED Collard Greens, Mustard Greens, Turnip Greens, Dandelion Greens, Endive, Escarole, Swiss Chard, Bok Choy, Pak Choy, Arugula/Rocket, or even some Cilantro or Basil, along with any color of Bell Peppers, any type of Squash, Green Beans, Peas and Pea Pods, and then sparingly give some Carrot and Broccoli...try cutting/shredding them up into very small pieces for him, sometimes that will help to entice them to eat them.
As far as "water", if you are lucky enough to get a Dragon who will drink standing water from a bowl or a
bath, you can keep a bowl of water in his tank if you want to, but if he doesn't drink actively through his mouth then there is no reason to keep a bowl of water in his tank. It only takes of space, and they have a horrible and sometimes fatal habit of falling asleep in a water dish, and are known to drown in even just a tiny amount of water, or more often will become very chilled overnight when their lights are off while laying/sleeping in the water dish, and you wake up to a dead dragon. The bottom line is that he should get all the
hydration he needs from his live insects and his fresh greens/veggies. The other thing to do is to only feed his live insects with the same fresh greens and veggies that you offer him, just throw some pieces of fresh greens/veggies in with his live insects every morning, they'll gobble them up, and if you keep bulk crickets, roaches, BSFL/Phoenix Worms, or Superworms, you can peel a couple potatoes or apples and throw the slices in with them, and they'll get all the
hydration they need from those, along with the fresh greens/veggies. This is called "Gut-Loading" the insects, and always do it this way, never, every buy any products that are meant to be food or
hydration for your feeder insects, such as "Cricket Quenchers" or "Water Pillows" or any type of "Roach Food" or the like, it's unnecessary, expensive, and lethal to dragons in large quantities, as most all of the "Quenchers' and
hydration products are made of the same gel that the beads you buy to put in your potted plants to keep them watered are, and they are toxic...Never feed his insects anything you wouldn't feed him, that's a good rule...
Now, as far as the commercial products you've already bought to feed him, I hate to tell you this, but the best place for them is either in with his live insects to feed them (they usually will eat the pellets) or in the trash can in the case of the freeze-dried insects! Please, do not EVER feed your Dragon any insects that are not alive, as #1) Freeze-Dried insects that come in those pellet mixes and dried veggie mixes contain ZERO MOISTURE, and since your Dragon gets most all of his
hydration from his food, this is counterproductive and very unhealthy, and #2) They are known to cause severe bowel impactions and obstructions. So please, separate the pellets from the dead crickets and mealworms (you shouldn't even feed him any live mealworms because they cause impactions, imagine what freeze-dried mealworms do to them) if you want to keep the pellets to feed his live insects, but they aren't going to do your Dragon any good. Even the pellets are not a great idea, first of all most Dragons won't touch them, especially if they are under a year old, they don't need pellets, they need live, gut-loaded insects. And again, they contain ZERO Moisture, so they are just a total waste of money. The only time I ever have used any "Bearded Dragon Pellets" is when I've had a sick dragon that was on medication and stopped eating on his own, and I had to force-feed him nutrition slurries, then I'll buy a bottle of RepCal brand Juvenile Pellets or Mazuri brand Pellets, both very nutritious, and I'll put them into the blender along with fresh greens to make sure they're getting protein while they aren't eating. Other than that, they never touch them and I don't waste my money on them, as I need to buy lots of live insects in bulk.
Now, onto his lighting and temperatures....It's good to get your husbandry worked out now while he's still young, so that no permanent damage is done by inadequate UVB/UVA lighting or improper temperature zones. The most important piece of equipment you'll ever buy your Bearded Dragon, being a Desert Reptile that needs at least 13-14 hours of strong, intense
UVB light every day is a proper UVB tube that is replaced regularly based on what strength you buy. If your Reptisun 10.0 UVB "light" is either the compact or the coil version that fits into a regular dome or clamp lamp (like a regular lightbulb) rather than a long fluorescent tube (at least 18" long) in a long tube fixture with a metal reflector behind the tube, then you absolutely must take it back and return it, along with the fixture you bought for it, and either buy or order online a proper, adequate long UVB tube. The compact and coil UVB bulbs are very, very weak, only 13 watts at most, and even unobstructed do not deliver anywhere near adequate UVB or UVA light for a Bearded Dragon, and always end up causing severe calcium deficiency and MBD. The if you have a tank with a mesh lid, it's blocking the already far too weak
UVB bulb by another 40%, ensuring that he is getting zero
UVB light, which will quickly result in a total lack of appetite, lethargy, and eventually back-end paralysis and trouble moving around at all. He must have a long UVB tube and fixture for it, and it must be set-up correctly based on which one you buy.
There are 2 different strength of UVB tube, the much weaker T8 (what you commonly see in pet shops like Petco and Petsmart) and the much stronger and more appropriate for a Bearded Dragon T5 strength. I highly recommend skipping over the T8 strength UVB tube and going straight to the T5 tube, they need it and it's the only way to really ensure no calcium deficiency issues right off the bat. The cheapest place by far to buy a T5 strength UVb tube and fixture is on Amazon.com.
Differences between a weak T8 tube and a strong T5 tube: The T8 tube cannot sit on top of a mesh tank lid and must be strapped to the underside of the mesh using zip ties or wire through holes you poke in the mesh, while a T5 tube is strong enough to sit on top of the mesh. A T8 tube must be within at least 6" of his basking spot/platform within the Hot Side of his tank, while a T5 tube must be at least within 11" of the basking spot/platform. And finally the T8 tubes must be replaced once every 6 months at the max, as they stop emitting any and all
UVB light at 6 months old (average of being on for at least 13 hours every single day, which is required for a dragon), while the T5 tubes need replaced once every 12 months...so they save you money too.
Please avoid any "house-brands" of T8 UVB tubes, they all are now made in China in the same factory, and ALL of them are causing severe eye damage, blindness, and neurological issues like seizure activity. These brands include Zilla (Petco's brand), All Living Things (Petsmart's brand), and Reptile One, these are the most common you'll see in the US.
The 2 brands of UVB tubes that you need to stick with for a Dragon are either Reptisun 10.0 (not Reptisun 5.0, they are for Tropical Reptiles) or Arcadia. Arcadia are made in Europe and hard to find in the US unless you have a reptile-specialty shop local to you, but you can order them on Amazon.com, along with the Reptisun 10.0 tubes. Most of us use the Reptisun 10.0 T5HO UVB tubes, at least the 22" long or longer, or the Arcadia 12% T5 UVB tube. Arcadia will be a bit more expensive, but I just looked yesterday on Amazon.com to order myself a new tube and post a link for someone who PM'd me about it, and a 22" Reptisun 10.0 T5HO UVB tube is now going for around $25 on Amazon, and they also have a pretty well-priced T5-rated fixture that includes a metal reflector with it (very important) for $29. So for around $50 you can order one of the best UVB tubes for a Dragon there is. That's definitely the cheapest I've seen.
Just an FYI, if you go to a Pet Shop and see a package "Set" that is sold by Reptisun that includes a 24" T5 rated hood fixture and a 22" T5HO UVB tube for $59.99, DO NOT BUY IT, IT'S NOT A REPTISUN 10.0 TUBE THAT IT COMES WITH, IT'S ONLY A REPTISUN 5.0 UVB TUBE, AND IS NOT ADEQUATE FOR A DRAGON!!! I'm only pointing this out because this just happened to a new member here yesterday, lol. She had to return the entire thing and then ordered both the tube and the fixture from Amazon.com last night...
If you already do have an 18" Reptisun 10.0 T8 UVB tube and fixture (I don't know which 10.0
UVB light you bought, so I'm covering my bases), then that's fine, it will work for your dragon, BUT IT MUST BE MOUNTED/STRAPPED TO THE UNDERSIDE OF THE MESH LID TO THE TANK, AND HIS BASKING SPOT/PLATFORM MUST BE WITHIN AT LEAST 6" OF THE UNOBSTRUCTED TUBE, AND NO FURTHER AWAY. Also, it must be replaced every 6 months on the dot.
The other thing I noticed is that you only listed 2 temperatures, a "Hot" and a "Cool", so does this mean that you are only using some type of stick-on thermometers? Like the round, gauge type of thermometers? If so, you need to spend $10 on a Digital Probe Thermometer at any Petco or PetSmart (or you can buy one on Amazon.com for around $5), because you cannot measure your Dragon's Basking Spot Temperature with a stick-on thermometer, as they only measure Ambient (air) Temperatures, and his Basking Spot/Platform Temperature is extremely important. It must be between 105-110 degrees F and no higher (110 degrees F is the absolute maximum temperature that should exist anywhere inside a Dragon's tank, anything higher than that is definitely dehydrating and can also be lethal). Without a Basking Spot Surface Temperature between 105-110 degrees, he cannot properly digest anything he eats, and this can result in nutritional deficiencies and bowel impactions...
BASKING SPOT SURFACE TEMP: Between 105-110 for a baby/juvenile up to a year or so old; adults tend to like it between 100-105 degrees F.
HOT SIDE AMBIENT (air) TEMP: Between 88-93 degrees F maximum (your's is a bit high at 99 degrees, which also indicates that his Basking Spot Surface Temp is probably over 110 degrees F as well)...
COOL SIDE AMBIENT (air) TEMP: Between 75-80 degrees F maximum (this is good)
I'd get a Digital Probe Thermometer ASAP and take all 3 temperatures, starting with the Basking Spot Surface Temp first. Put the Probe right on his Basking Platform/Spot, ALLOW THE PROBE TO SIT FOR AT LEAST 20-30 MINUTES, THEN READ THE TEMP...The measure the Hot Side Ambient Temp by using the suction cup that comes with the Digital Probe Thermometer. Put the suction cup on the wire of the thermometer, right below the Probe, then stick the suction cup to either the front or the side glass of the tank on the Hot Side, about 2" up from the floor of the tank. Wait 20-30 minutes, then read the temperature. Then do the same to measure the Cool Side Ambient Temp on the opposite Cool Side of the tank, sticking the suction cup to either the front or the side glass of the tank on the Cool Side, about 2" above the floor. Wait 20-30 minutes, then read the temp...
You may need to raise only the bright-white Basking Bulb up and away from the tank a few inches, wait about 45 minutes, then measure the temps again, in order to bring the Hot Side Ambient down about 6-7 degrees (depending on what the Basking Spot Surface Temp turns out to be, most all stick-on thermometers are also very, very inaccurate, often off by between 10-20 degrees when tested by a Digital or Infrared Thermometer, so the 109 degrees you're reading may be low, which is another reason this is dangerous for him...
