New and Concerned

Hi new to this site and new to the wonder of owning a beardy,

I got my bearded dragon, Larry, 3 days ago. I got him from Petco.(I know not the best place but i figured might as well save one from Petco.) He is a baby probably about 5 inches long. I am getting a little nervous because he will not eat. I have a fresh bowl of chopped up celery and carrots in his cage everyday. Also I put dusted crickets in his cage. The crickets can literally crawl on him and he won't even be bothered by it. I take the crickets out at night. Is there any tricks I can do to get him to eat? He has pooped twice since I got him. Also what color is the urine part of his poop suppose to be?

Here is my tank setup
-tank: 40 gallons
-substrate: Brown Reptile Carpet
-heat: exoterra daytime heat lamp 100W
-uvb/uva: Reptisun 10.0 uvb 13 watt (I also have a 5.0 from my chameleon, figured a little extra couldn't hurt)
-thermometer: heat gun, small circle gauges, and hygrotherm
-Nightbulb: HeatEmitter 100W
-Other: hammock, tree branch, small plant, Mayan rock hideaway, food bowl, and water bowl.
I have posted a picture of my set up on my page.(I think that's what it is called on here??)


His basking spot on the hammock is 85 degrees Fahrenheit (is that to cold?) The cool side is 76 degrees Fahrenheit. At night it is usually 80 degrees depending on where he chooses to sleep.


Thank you,
Makenna

Larrythebeardy":ge6n8f0w said:

Hi new to this site and new to the wonder of owning a beardy,

I got my bearded dragon, Larry, 3 days ago. I got him from Petco.(I know not the best place but i figured might as well save one from Petco.) He is a baby probably about 5 inches long. I am getting a little nervous because he will not eat. I have a fresh bowl of chopped up celery and carrots in his cage everyday. Also I put dusted crickets in his cage. The crickets can literally crawl on him and he won't even be bothered by it. I take the crickets out at night. Is there any tricks I can do to get him to eat? He has pooped twice since I got him. Also what color is the urine part of his poop suppose to be?

Here is my tank setup
-tank: 40 gallons
-substrate: Brown Reptile Carpet
-heat: exoterra daytime heat lamp 100W
-uvb/uva: Reptisun 10.0 uvb 13 watt (I also have a 5.0 from my chameleon, figured a little extra couldn't hurt)
-thermometer: heat gun, small circle gauges, and hygrotherm
-Nightbulb: HeatEmitter 100W
-Other: hammock, tree branch, small plant, Mayan rock hideaway, food bowl, and water bowl.
I have posted a picture of my set up on my page.(I think that's what it is called on here??)


His basking spot on the hammock is 85 degrees Fahrenheit (is that to cold?) The cool side is 76 degrees Fahrenheit. At night it is usually 80 degrees depending on where he chooses to sleep.


Thank you,
Makenna

Click to expand...

Hi there!

Congratulations on your new beardie! If he isn’t eating, this shouldn’t be a concern only because he’s new and scared. It’s called relocation stress and he’s still getting used to his surroundings. He’ll eat eventually... probably in a week or so He also probably won’t eat a lot of veggies since baby’s can be picky and they mostly need as much bugs as they can eat between a 10-15 minute period 3 times a day, but still offer them and change to leafy greens such as collard, dandelion, or mustard greens. Your setup seems fine, other than the lighting and heating. You need a stronger uvb, I’m guessing you have a compact? (Sorry if I’m wrong). Your beardie needs a t5 HO reptisun TUBE uvb or an Arcadia 12%, especially if you have a mesh top for your enclosure.

As for the heating, I would say it’s too hot at night. If it doesn’t get below 65 degrees Fahrenheit at night, you don’t need to provide any extra heating during the night. Also, do you measure your temperatures with a temperature gun? The hot side is way too cold! Since he is a baby, the basking temperature should be 105-110 degrees Fahrenheit. That could be part of the reason for him not eating is that he’s too cold.

I would recommend to take the water bowl out because it increases humidity (what’s your humidity at by the way?) and could lead to him drowning or getting a respiratory infection if he sleeps in it.

Okay, sorry for the long reply! Keep us posted!

Thank you so much that makes me a little less stressful on the non eating. I just went to the store and purchase 150watt bulb and the temperature is in the high 90s and still rising. I do have a mesh top so i will be looking into a UVB bulb. And yes i use the heat gun for measuring the temperature along with the circle gauges and hydrotherm. The humidity in his tank according to all the gauges is 10-15%. Also i moved the night heat lamp far away from him when i turned out his lights and he ended up moving over to it and sleeping under it so I'm not sure if I should turn that off or not.