not eating, running away...very worried!!

Hi, I'm new to this forum but have lurked before while getting ready for my new beardie. I'm posting this is in a slight panic, so sorry for grammar/formatting/etc.

The first few days:
I got my fancy beardie from petsmart (I know, I know...) a week and a half ago. They said he was 2 months old. He was alert, had all of his claws, etc. when I looked at him. He was obviously stressed for the first few days, and I slowly got him used to me by being around the tank, putting my hand in for a few minutes, trying to hand feed, etc. He warmed up to me a bit and I was able to hold him without much struggle. He didn't eat much, but he did eat some dandelion greens and dead, cut up crickets when I hand fed him (dusted in vitamins). He also ate a few small live crickets when I was able to get them, but only 10 max per day.

The past 5 ish days:
He (doesn't have a name still!!!) has been extremely skittish around me now - runs away, tail up, hates being held. He's never puffed his beard or tried to bite me, but he runs like his life depends on it. I try to persist a bit since I don't want to teach him that he can always run away from me and I'll stop trying to handle him. Of course, I didn't want to stress him out and would just grab him, hold him for a few min, and put him back. He also doesn't eat at all!! At first, I chalked this (and the running away) up to his first shed which he started about 5 days ago, but he's done now and I'm really worried. In 5 days he's eaten maybe 10 crickets and a few pieces of dandelion greens. He'll accept hand feeding for a minute but then just stare at me and/or run away. If I let the crickets loose in his tank he ignores them 80% of the time. I make him a salad of dandelion, escarole, and radicchio (and vitamins), which he ignores. He also doesn't touch the pellet food that I sometimes try. I leave these in his tank all day because I am a college student and I don't have time to sit there for an hour and wait for him to make up his mind.

His conditions:
He is in a 20 gallon tank with a mesh top and cardboard as the substrate. I am working on getting tiles. He has a 10.0 reptisun uvb light on top of the mesh, as well as a second uvb bulb because the long light only reaches about 3/4 of the tank. He also has a basking light (forget the brand but it was zoomed or something). The temp in his tank is around 85F on the hot side and I don't have a temp gun but his perch's surface definitely gets to 100F. He has a water dish and a food dish, a log thing that has a perch and tunnels to hide in, and a little plant thing to hide behind. I am hesitant to get more things for the tank because I don't want to crowd it, and I'll be upgrading to a larger tank soon when he gets bigger anyway - I'll get hammocks etc then.

Does anyone have any idea what could be the issue? I know it's vague but I was hoping maybe someone has had a similar experience with their beardie. I am going to try to mount the uv light inside the tank to see if that helps, but I can't imagine the mesh is blocking *that* much light...

I would personally limit the stuff he has to hide away from you, that way he gets to see you more and gets used to you being around. I usually get my baby out whilst I watch tv, when I'm doing chores or just on the computer doing work! With his food, I'd suggest putting the bugs in with his greens, that way it might spark his interest, also maybe using a different variety? My boy seems to like crickets more than locusts and is refusing to eat greens :lol: Just like my older boy, Cato :shock:

The more time you spend with them the better, I get mine out 2-3 times a day and for about 15 minutes or more

Here is Sonny's tank
As you can see he is very visible and can always see us in the living room, where we spend most of our time. It takes time for them to get used to you, and just getting him out for a second won't be enough time, but he'll get there eventually. If he's only small, that can also be why, they're just scared of predators. Hopefully he'll perk up again soon!

Thanks for the reply! I think I just have to keep taking him out and holding him and stuff. In regards to food, the crickets jump out of the dish so idk what to do about that. guess i just have to keep trying...I'm just worried he's being malnourished

It can be a pain with crickets and live food! Try a different variety like locusts Maybe he just has a preference. Also what is his set up like, lighting, size? Does he have stress marks on his belly (black lines)? All these can stop them from eating, or reduce their appetite. If you're super worried you can always blend up some veggies and bugs, then see if he'll eat that from his dish.

Also if the bugs are too big that will put him off, so they should be no bigger than the space between his eyes! I'm sure once he's feeling happier with you, he'll get back to normal Just keep persisting!

He seems fine with the crickets when he's actually hungry. The past 2 days he's had *very* dark lines, I think due to temp change (it's transitioning to autumn weather here, and I didn't realize the temp dropped overnight below 65 in the house. I attached a heating pad for last night, woke up to dark stress lines still but he definitely had warmth so I think it's just the adjustment). Overall though, he typically has *some* degree of stress marks, they come and go and are usually light or very light.

In terms of lighting:
I have a reptisun 10.0 uvb (I think that's the brand), a second uvb bulb for an area that isn't covered by the reptisun, and a basking light. The uvb's are above a mesh screen, I am wondering if that's an issue, i.e. his appetite isn't stimulated.

I have a mush of pellets and veggies in his bowl now that I put out last night, of course he didn't touch it. I rehydrate them frequently with a spray bottle, and try to hand feed, which he now ignores.

He actually tried to bite me last night idk if I should keep trying to handle him or leave him alone for a while since he's stressed, I don't want to make him afraid of me!!!

Okay, well obviously babies need higher temps than adults 100-110 in the basking area! Do you have thermostats in the tank to keep an eye on temps? Also pellet food isn't worth the money in my opinion, they hate the stuff! Is the heat pad directly under him? As they cannot feel heat from underneath their bodies, so he could burn his stomach.

How far away from him are the UVB's because it could well be that, obviously temps being too low is also an issue. It might be good for you to post pictures of your setup, so we can address what is causing his stress.

Do you have any other pets in the house? Cats especially can cause a lot of anxiety and stress.

What I did with my baby is for the first two days I left him alone, then the 3rd day in the night about an hour before his lights go off I get him out and he tends to just fall asleep on us, so it builds trust with him. Then start getting him out two-three times a day Please keep trying with him, but if we can address what's causing the stress I'm sure he'll be fine!