New leatherback for Xmas

Hes quite adorable, very small though so id guess around 1-2 months. Do you mind going over the setup please? Lights, substrate, food, how much your feeding him, etc. Most petstores have no idea what they say and just try to sell useless crap to new owners that then cause harm.

VenusAndSaturn":mtiopxlg said:

Hes quite adorable, very small though so id guess around 1-2 months. Do you mind going over the setup please? Lights, substrate, food, how much your feeding him, etc. Most petstores have no idea what they say and just try to sell useless crap to new owners that then cause harm.

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Definitely a cutey .... BUT VERY YOUNG , my guess is under 3 weeks old.

Definitely give us a very review of his lighting and the setup (temperatures, substrate etc) and your feeding schedule and what feeders you are offering .

Recommend you invest in a set of scales that can weigh to the 0.1g and you weight him once a week.

Hi, he is young we were told , about 5 weeks old. We have him in a small tank with a light on the side and a heat lamp hanging from the top. The floor has fake grass in one area , and newspaper in another area , as we were told not to put sand or the hay material, as they may eat it while feeding. We feed him small crickets in the morning , and put some in in the evening if he is still hungry. We are trying vegetables, but he doesn’t seem to be trying them at the moment.
We have looked after an older beardie before, but we would appreciate any help/ information to make the little fellas life as comfortable as possible. We are animal lovers and would hate for anything to happen to him.
Thanks

If you can start feeding him 3 times a day rather than two, you'll want to do that till hes 4 or so months. What i do for beardies around that age is feed them at 7, usually i throw in crickets once i turn the lights on so they can chase them around later. Then around 12, or 3 pm i clean out the other crickets and see how many they ate and put in some again, and then around 6 or so i do the same thing and then at 9 pm the lights go off. Make sure no crickets are inside by then or they could bite your baby.


If this helps
This is what i go by for feeding,

1-4 months 3 times a day 10-20 bugs each feeding,
4-12 months twice a day 10-20 bugs each feeding,
12-20 months once a day 10-20 bugs each feeding,
And then 20+ months every other day 10-20 bugs each feeding.

And of course daily salads in all age ranges, usually collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens daily and then the occasional blueberry, banana, or red raspberry once or twice a week in their salad.

As for the bug portion i usually feed crickets, calciworms, dubia roaches, and turkish roaches for staples.

As for dusting, ones below 20+ months usually 5 times a week for calcium and 2 times a week for multivitamins. And then for the 20+ month olds usually 3 times a week for calcium and once a week for multivitamins.

As for treats i occasionally will give them hornworms, superworms or mealworms. Usually 5-10 mealworms, and then for hornworms and superworms 2-4. For mealworms i offer those once or twice a week and then with superworms and hornworms usually once a week or twice every two weeks. Hornworms can be offered a bit more than superworms can since they do have less fat and are mostly just moisture which is good for hydration in some cases but can cause diarrhea if given too many. I dont recommend you giving him superworms or mealworms at the age he is.

Also how small is the tank and is the heat lamp the only light?

Thanks VenusandSaturn. I will up the feeding as you say and see how he goes. Hopefully we’re doing everything else ok.
I was reading about the stress marks they get on them if they are in a new environment?
He does seem to have some marks on his chest, where as I didn’t notice them on him when we were in the shop. Are these a concern , or will he eventually get use to being in a new home ?

The reason for asking about lighting is that so many times new owners will come on here asking why their dragons are lethargic or not eating and, most times it is due to bad lighting. So we always ask these questions to prevent problems.
Most pet stores want to sell and push hard those screw-in coil compact uvb bulbs. I can tell you from experience that they are very harmful to your dragons health. They cause eye irritation, eye infection and, blindness in some cases. Lack of proper uvb can lead to lethargy, appetite loss and MBD (metabolic bone disease).
This is why I always recommend either an Arcadia 12%D3 or a Reptisun 10.0 T5HO, at least 1/2 the length of the vivarium.
Proper heat gradients are also very important for good digestion and, body heat.
Basking spot 105° to 110°
Warm end (under basking spot) 95°
Cool end 75° to 80°

I am not saying this to be mean, please don't take it that way. I am only saying this to help you help your dragon grow up big and, healthy.

He is very tiny and really cute