Not a good eater

Setup :

- Basking spot temp 103f (using digital probe thermometer), hot side ambient temp 94f, cool side ambient temp 80f

- Tank is a National Geographic 40 gallon breeder tank.

- Lighting is a 34" reptisun 10.0 uvb I bought online and a 100w basking bulb that came with my National geographic starter

- Substrate is reptile carpet which I switch out with another reptile carpet for cleaning cycles.

My Problem:
My dragon (Fred) is very hit or miss when it comes to feeding time. He will occasionally go a few days eating everything I give him until he is full, but then the next few days he will barely eat anything and will walk away and hide in his house when I try. It seems more often than not, he is distracted by everything and anything and completely ignores the food. When I first got him I was feeding him primarily gut loaded banded crickets. I am currently feeding him mostly Phoenix worms and occasionally silkworms when I can get them delivered. According to http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html, phoenix worms are fine as a staple diet.

I have owned him now for about a month and he still seems skittish when anyone is near his terrarium but seems alright when I take him out for play time. When he's out he will lick everything in his path and go for small runs around the room.

Whenever I see videos on anything feeding related for beardies, they seem to love any food offered to them but I have only seen Fred dart across his terrarium for treat worms such as butterworms.

Any help would be appreciated. It is very stressful not being able to feed him consistently.

Can you post some photos of him? How is his weight? If he is active and his weight is stable he is probably OK and just not hungry. Their appetites increase and decrease at times so it's hard to say when they'll go nuts for food. Your T5 is a good UVB light and your temps are good.

CooperDragon":8lmgx3c3 said:

Can you post some photos of him? How is his weight? If he is active and his weight is stable he is probably OK and just not hungry. Their appetites increase and decrease at times so it's hard to say when they'll go nuts for food. Your T5 is a good UVB light and your temps are good.

Click to expand...

Pics of Fred - https://imgur.com/a/Ryx7R (Excuse the mess, he finished shedding recently)

He currently weighs 54g and will be 4 months on October 17th.

It seems like it's impossible to feed him when anyone else is in the room. He generally LOVES silkworms but just now I was only able to feed him one while my girlfriend was in the room and was uninterested in the others even after she left.

Shedding is a good sign too (growth). He looks nice and healthy in that photo. I'd just let him take what he wants on his terms if he continues to be nice and active. I would keep a chart of his weight just so you can track it over time. It's a good way to get a jump on any problems and just generally watch his progress.

Might be the how you've got the UVB tube setup. If you can tell us :
>> is it new ? / how old is it ?
>> colour of it's end caps ?
>> in a reflector hood ?
>> mounted under or ontop a fine mesh lid ?
>> how far from the basking spot ?

How large are the silkworms he is getting ( excellent feeder insects BTW ) ?

kingofnobbys":36ej73wh said:

Might be the how you've got the UVB tube setup. If you can tell us :
>> is it new ? / how old is it ?
>> colour of it's end caps ?
>> in a reflector hood ?
>> mounted under or ontop a fine mesh lid ?
>> how far from the basking spot ?

How large are the silkworms he is getting ( excellent feeder insects BTW ) ?

Click to expand...

The reptisun 10.0 t5 was purchased about a month ago (I have a spare coming in the next few days as well)

The hood is the Zoo Med Reptisun T5-Ho Terrarium Hood, 36" which does have a reflector.

I could not find anything to mount the bulb inside the terrarium so it is currently on top of the mesh top. Generally Fred loves to climb his foam background right to the top directly under the UVB bulb so he should be getting plenty of UVB from it. Example - https://imgur.com/a/NpFaf.

One BIG concern I have is that he is currently housed in a 40 gallon breeder and I have had a VERY HARD time finding decor that can get him close enough to the basking light. Currently in order to get ideal temps, he again has to climb the background where it reaches around 103-104f. That being said, I went out and purchased some plywood yesterday which I will be cutting into a platform/ramp and covering in reptile carpet with a basking spot, similar to this image. https://imgur.com/a/43OKl

Silkworms vary in size but never thicker than the space between his eyes. The main problem with silkies is that they seem to die in 2-3 days and I can only get them delivered once a week resulting in them being impossible as a main feeder. Because of this, I will feed him dusted silkies when I can but the main feeder I have is phoenix worms/calci worms/black soldier fly larvae (whatever you'd like to call them).