keennneeth":19dx9xc3 said:
i've had my bearded dragon for about a month now, i haven't seen him shed/grow at all. he's not lazy at all and he's very energetic when he's awake, he barley eats as well, i offer him food but he just doesn't eat it. i put wax worms in his tank sprinkled with calcium and he sometimes eats 2 if he's really hungry. for the month that i've had him he's been using a coil
uvb light but yesterday i bought the "Reptisun terrarium hood" and it included the reptisun 5.0 T5 HO 24' light. so i been thinking that because i've been using the coil uvb i may have stunted his growth or if it's the reason why he doesn't eat. i don't know what i'm doing wrong . please help
If you had been giving a good diet , and provided sufficient light and UV (A+B) , he should have more than doubled in weight in his first month with you.
Are you weighing him regularly - I recommend a weekly weighin.
The problem is with his diet :
wax worms are terrible staple feeder choice for beardie, even worse for a very young hatchling.
You need to get him high quality feeder insects such as :
>>BSF maggot (phoenix worms if you are in the USA) = EXCELLENT feeders and high calcium content
>>Silkworms (another excellent feeder insect and suitable to be used as a staple feeder insect) , a very young beardie hatchling can easily handle small sized (1.5 inch long) and medium sized (2 inch long) silkworms - rarely met a lizard who simply cant resist silkworms
>> small (NOT PINHEAD) crickets who have been gutloaded with calcium rich greens and are dusted lightly with calcium powder
or small roaches who have been gutloaded with calcium rich greens and are dusted lightly with calcium powder.
NO waxworms
NO mealworms
NO superworms for a beardie younger than 12 months old , and only used as treats.
You need to check your tank temperatures , is the basking spot about 40 degrees Celsius ? the warm zone about 30 degrees Celsius ? how are you measuring the surface and air temperatures ?
If the hatchling is too cold it wont have a high enough metabolic rate which means it'll not eat, it'll not be able to process the food it eats (this food should be predominantly live insect protein) and it should be getting offered live feeders at least two times a day (three times a day is better but this might be difficult to manage if you are not home at lunchtime), unless you are prepared to leave enough insects in the tank for the hatching to catch and eat as it needs during the day.
You mentioned that you had a compact coil style UVB globe. I use compacts (26W UVB200 globes mounted in NanoHoods) and have raised 2 pairs of beardies over the last 4 years and both pairs thrived (in their own tanks under 26W UVB200s).
A T5 10-14% UVB tube is of cause a better option.
What wattage and UVB rating was the compact you used ?
How far from the basking spot was the UV light ?
Was it ontop of a screen / mesh top (BAD!!!) ?
Essentially you want NO obstructions or screens between the UVB source and the lizard,as they will either block the UVA and UVB produced entirely or greatly reduce the UVA and UVB the lizard is exposed to, for a bearded dragon the bare minimum UVB rating suitable is 10% UVB (and 30% UVA).
Insufficient UVA will result in low activity levels and a poor appetite.
Insufficient UVB will result in insufficient production of VitD from dietary calcium consumed.
Essentially you need to check the temperatures and make any necessary adjustments including changing the temperature gradient, the day cycle (I recommend 16 hrs ON per day), relocation of UV sources who are ontop of barriers to under these barriers, and of cause change it's diet (no wax worms (or lizard junk food)).