brumation? baby issues!

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Im concerned about my baby bearded dragon. Since I've got him a month an 2 days ago he has barely eaten. Could he be confused on the time of year?

40g breeder tank
Reptisun 10.0 18" uvb light
106.4 f in his basking area, secondary basking is 100.2 f, cool side stays around 78 - 85 f.

He's maybe 2 months old? 3 tops. Head to tail he measures around 5 1/2 inches. I'm feeding him small/medium crickets lightly dusted. He might eat one or two a day, I offer him infinity. He is pretty quick to eat small portions of Collard greens and turnip greens 3 times daily. I lightly dust them once every other day since he hasn't been eating much live. I spray him a few times daily with room temp water.

His poop is completely normal, he is very agile and quick when he wants to be but 80% of the day he basks an naps all day. He's on a 14 on 10 off cycle from 9am to 11pm is his day. I bath him in baby warm water twice sometimes 3 times a week.

I am using a probe thermometer to meaure his temps I know it isn't accurate but its best I can do until next month. I leave the thermometer under his main basking area 24/7 for best results. Any helpful input please! Thanks in advance.

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ShannyBeard

Extreme Poster
He should be eating quite a bit more than that, so you are correct that something may be wrong.

One thing I can quickly see from your photos is that you have a basking area on each side of the tank. He should really only need one basking area, and the side of the tank that doesn't have a basking light should be left to be the 'cool' side, with temps on the cool side not being above 80*F. Put the basking light all the way over as close as you can to the UVB bulb, all the way on the left of the tank, and have the right side of the tank be the cool side. I know you said your cool side has optimal temps, but I am not sure how with that other basking bulb on the cool side. How many watts are your bulbs?

Good that he is eating his greens - but where did you get this beardie? Was it from a breeder? Is it possible that he was not fed crickets as a staple and perhaps he doesn't care for them or is not accustomed to eating them? We do get babies every so often from breeders who fed mainly roaches, and those babies are not big cricket eaters. What other feeders have you tried other than crickets?

Your lighting cycle sounds good - 14 hour days in the summer is perfect.

Baby beardies to dehydrate quite easily, but you say you are misting him...does he drink when you mist him? Does he drink in the bath? You could bathe him more often, even every day to every other day.

On your UVB - I see you have it in one of those under-the-counter fixtures. Did you remove the plastic protector from in front of the bulb? They need unfiltered UVB and sometimes people forget and leave the plastic cover on and it blocks the UV.

Other than the suggestions I have given, not sure why he isn't eating, really.
 

beardedmik3

Member
Original Poster
90w unfiltered flood light with a dimmer to get the right wattage and temps, the other is only a 40w thus why the tree comes
2" under it so he Is very close but he never uses it. He stays on the main basking side under the flood light. His temp on the cool side is 79.4 right now, but he never leaves the warm side. I got him at petsmart an they feed crickets as staples. I know there not a prestige breeder. His uvb is 6 1/2 inches from his basking area any closer is unsafe. I have other herps I'm decently knowledgeable but I'm out of ideas.

He sheaded 2 weeks ago full throttle. Maybe 2 1/2.
 

ShannyBeard

Extreme Poster
beardedmik3":2hg30tlo said:
90w unfiltered flood light with a dimmer to get the right wattage and temps, the other is only a 40w thus why the tree comes
2" under it so he Is very close but he never uses it. He stays on the main basking side under the flood light. His temp on the cool side is 79.4 right now, but he never leaves the warm side. I got him at petsmart an they feed crickets as staples. I know there not a prestige breeder. His uvb is 6 1/2 inches from his basking area any closer is unsafe. I have other herps I'm decently knowledgeable but I'm out of ideas.

He sheaded 2 weeks ago full throttle. Maybe 2 1/2.

Yeah, I feel your pain because right off I am out of ideas as well. I can't see anything you are doing wrong, although I nit-picked at you the best I could. :lol:

You've had him for a month and that should be plenty of time to settle in and get rid of any relocation stress.

How do you feed him? I mean, do you put a certain number of crickets in his home and leave him to eat them? When you feed him, is he up on his branch...? Do you pick him up and put him down on the floor of the tank and then give him the crickets?

If you feed him inside his home, have you considered feeding him in a separate tub and see if he will eat more? Or what other feeders can you get for him? Can you order some small dubia roaches and see if he will eat them instead? I would be trying other feeders at this point - what else is available to you in your area, perhaps at a real reptile shop? His tail base does look a bit thin.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Hi Mik...that's a very cute baby, and you've done a nice job with the set up. Just be careful if those are rocks stacked up, be sure that they can't fall over if the tank is bumped. It's good that your'e spraying for hydration, that's fine in an open top enclosure, it doesn't get too humid because it dries quickly as long as you don't soak the tank. If you have reptile carpet, be careful not to get it too wet, it will hold the moisture. As far as kicking in his appetite, you might try Phoenix worms, some babies just love any type of worm [ but avoid mealworms ] and this can get the appetite back on track. Also, if you stun the crickets by shaking them up so they are wobbly and slow , some babies will be more prone to eat them. One more thing....don't feed him the medium sized crickets...they are too large and a 5-6" baby can easily become impacted, which can lead to paralysis, neurological problems and death.
 

beardedmik3

Member
Original Poster
I said small/medium as in in between. I've never fed him anything larger then the space on between his eyes. He's on slate tile if you look at the pictures.. :p

An I have tried feeding him in 10g with nothing in it an slate tile as flooring. I've also tried placing him in the floor of his tank an removing the crickets rear legs so they cannot move quickly. Usually I place around 10 crickets with there rear legs removed in a dish or on the floor in front of him an he will eat one, occasionally 2 an be done with it an show no other interest in any crickets for the rest of the day.

The only foods myly local shops carry are mealworms an he is too small to digest their hard shells for now. I can't order because I took all my credit cards away from myself. Like I said beforehand I'm not a novice, I've tried basically everything I can to my knowledge.

On the nutrition guide it states I can feed them phoenix worms and silk worms as staples but is this okay for a baby his size?
 

Amy2

Hatchling Member
Pheonix worms make an excellent staple feeder, especially for babies. They have lots of calcium in them, which babies (and adults) need, plus then you don't have to dust them.
I am not too sure about silk worms...I know they are harder to keep and more expensive, I don't feed em.
 

beardedmik3

Member
Original Poster
So I would never have to dust them at all? Anyone know a legit website so I can see what pricing should be an compare to my local pet stores.
 

ShannyBeard

Extreme Poster
Silkworms would be too big for him at this point, unless you could contact a supplier and specifically ask for some that are about 1/2" long. I have a silk feeder company but it is too hot in the summer for live arrivals so we are closed right now, or I would help you out.

You can order ReptiWorms (BSFL) from http://reptiworms.com/ and use the code HUNGRY20 for a 20% discount. They need to be kept at around 54*F as in a wine fridge in order to keep them more than a few weeks. They eventually go from a light color to black in a few weeks unrefrigerated and then turn into flies. They are still okay to feed when they turn black and are supposed to be even higher in calcium the darker they are, but they also get harder and some of my dragons won't eat them black.

I don't feed any of my little babies the ReptiWorms, at least not any as young and small as yours. I think you would be better off with very small roaches, to be honest. I know, everyone has their own opinions, and I am just giving you mine, no biggie. :D I just feel that the ReptiWorms are not quite as easy to digest and often they are not fully chewed and I have seen them come out whole and still wriggling in poop. I'll feed them to juvenile beardeds but I am not a fan of them for little babies. It is true that you do not have to dust them with calcium powder, but you will still need to do the once a week multivitamins.
 
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