Young bearded dragon not eating

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Jatherv

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Hi I’m new to bearded dragons I’ve only really had turtles before but anyway i got this young beardie and had him or her about a week now I have it in a 20 gallon tank one of those starter kits it’s by thrive the uvb light is a 13 watt bulb and the basking light is 75 watt with 5.5 in dome lamps , his basking spot stats at around 100 or above and the cool side a usually always at 80 ish he has a carpet floor and 2 hides he can go in as well as a small water dish he sits in from time to time . His humidity on the hot side is usually around 20 and the cool side is around 30 to 40 now that that’s through yeah I’ve had him about a week the first day of set up he was skittish and I got him to eat a mealworm he started to warm Up the next few days and would eat about 4 mealworms that I would give to him this went on until day 4 I got him some wax worms I was looking for crickets or roaches but most of the crickets were dead and no roaches so I went with wax worms he gobbled up about 2 of these and a few meal worms , he did that fro about 2 days and then on Thursday he ate a few and I gave him 2 wax worms around 6 ish pm and he didn’t want anymore , Friday I turn on his lights and I didn’t see him for a while so I got him out from under his hide and he stayed then went inside again so I let him be about 2 hours later he came out and was basking for about 40 mins or so then I tried to show him some wax worms he didn’t even nip at them I thought it was weird because he’s vacuumed them up until then so I Leave him alone a while and then try again later with mealworms nothing I tried picking him up and placing him closer to the worms and nothing so I left some wet type of food for young bear dies dragons I bought at petco and a few worms and he didn’t touch them all day I tried feeding him a t night but nothing so I left him alone and let him rest then today I turn on his lights and give him a few hours to get warmed up try to feed him meal worms and wax worms and nothing and hasn’t touched the wet food , so I put him in a. Separate box and try to feed him like that I ripped a wax worm and rubbed it on his snout to see if he would recognize it’s food and he licked it up but wouldn’t eat the worm he looks a bit afraid and is a bit skittish I think from me trying to get him to eat but I’m not sure , he is active and basks and moves about normally I’ve seen him poo every day also including Friday the day he first wouldn’t eat , if anyone has advice please help me out I’m going to go buy crickets and some other feeders later today when I can but it’s about 11:30 and he still hasn’t tried to touch his food . Also about how much to feed a juvenile ? He’s about 5 inches and I got him from petsmart now I’ve heard some people say I should feed them anywhere from 30 to 80 crickets A DAY ! Now to me that just seems like a ludicrous amount that would surely kill such a small guy if I fed him that many right I mean that just makes 0 sense to me to feed them that much but anyways please I need all the help I can get I want this guy to be healthy I would upload a pic but I’m on a smart phone and I’m not sure how to do it on here quite yet but thank you and I’m all ears Also he did shed about the third day I got him edit he just ate a wax worm 20 mins after posting but got very skittish when I tried feeding him another
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KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Hes going thru relocation stress-- so hes eating may slow but he should be eating some-- the 20 gallon tank is not going to last long I suggest you start looking for a tank w/ front doors and is 75-120 gallon tank -- wax worms are not a good feeder along w/ meal worms -- you need to be feeding crickets or dubia roaches and or BSFL -- I will post some websites for you but first we need to talk about the Thrive UVB - they are no good - since your going to need to upgrade I recommend you get this first-- the bulb that comes w/ this fixture w/ be perfect for the 20 gallon tank -- and will go right into your bigger tank
https://www.reptilesupplyco.com/wholesale-reptile-hoods-domes-fixtures/1884-reptisun-terrarium-hood-t5-24-zoo-med.html use the bulb that comes w/ the fixture it will need to have the proper distance set so when you get it let us know and we can help I want you to order this bulb its going to be for your bigger tank when you get it
https://www.reptilesupplyco.com/t5-uvb-bulbs/1878-reptisun-100-uvb-t5-ho-fluorescent-bulb-22-zoo-med.html if you order from them please call and find out shipping times 916-226-4089 they are out of CA and I dont know how long its taking them to get orders out
You can look around your stores to get the UVB fixture and bulb but most of the stores do not carry the length
The UVB and the basking temps in that tank are the most crucial things so its important to get them correctly or he wont eat
Basking temps should be 105-110 for a baby and taken w/ a digital probe thermometer -- NO stick ons they are inaccurate --
Websites
nutrition http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html ignore the kale thing its a good staple feeder salads need to be fed every morning
Insects / worms
your going to need a glass or ceramic bowl like this
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
I would get him some BSFL also known as calci worms nutri grubs or phoenix worms they are a great staple feeder and you do not need to dust them feed as many as you want on top of his salads the movement will draw him to the bowl
www.dubiaroaches.com great place for roaches and worms and BSFL (nutri grubs)
if they have them also get some small super worms - horn worms are good and you would need to order mediums they usually ship smalls and only order small amounts as they are a fast growing worm - feed like two on top of his salads - super worms 1-3 --
www.symptonbsf.com they have just gotten dubias in but are out of smalls -
www.reptilainarts.com - good place for silk worms they are out of smalls
www.aafeeder.com/feeder-worms/superworms/
www.mulberryfams.com good place for silk worms when in stock they also have butterworms and BSFL and small super worms --- they are spendy on shipping --
Your need to be dusting the insects once per feeding 5 x per week w/ Calcium D3 and once per feeding 2 x per week Vitamins w/ beta carotene --
When he does start eating its common for them to eat 20-30 crickets / day dubias they will not eat that many -- usually around 10-15 make sure you get smalls -- w/ everything else being fed he may not eat that many - between all the worms and salad -- you keep the roaches in a 10 gallon aquarium and feed them dubia food along w/ carrots and squash for hydration -- do not feed the dragon carrots too to much Vit A --
Please do not feed any more meal worms as a staple feeder --
If you have anymore questions please ask
Karrie
 
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