Baby Bearded Dragon wont eat :(

Status
Not open for further replies.

MontisonJames

New member
I just got my baby bearded dragon, Monty, last Friday and he still is not eating solid food constantly. My husband and I purchased him from Petco and he appeared to be the same size as the others, alert, and healthy. However he refused to eat any solid food! He will eat usually one baby lettuce leaf a day (maybe two). He wont eat crickets, the special juvenile beardie food we bought him, more/other greens, or even meal worms, (I know they aren't ideal but it was what Petco appeared to be feeding him.) How do we get him to eat!? After a few days of him refusing all food, my husband and I bought Repti boost, which is a meal supplement powder that you mix with water and feed through a syringe. he seems very receptive to that and he is also drinking water but is that really enough?? We try regular food twice a day but once rejected we succumb to giving him the repti boost as a last resort... what do I do?
 

MontisonJames

New member
Original Poster
Let me go ahead and answer some of the common questions, his basking spot gets to about 95-110 degrees based on how high he's on his stick. The cool side is in the 80's, his UV light it 6-8'' away from him based on his height on his stick and he is bathed daily along with a mid-afternoon misting. he is in an 80 gallon enclosure with that reptile carpet stuff all on the bottom and a heat lamp for nighttime. he has plenty of hiding places and we've tried live food.
 
how big is he? 80 gallon might be to big if he is a small dragon, they usually wont chase food to much as babys...have you tried hand feeding the crickets? thats what i have to do right now with one of my babys...
 

MontisonJames

New member
Original Poster
He's about 6-7" inches including his tail. I asked for his exact age but petco didn't know.... We have tried hand feeding him the crickets or even dried crickets, he wont go for it. he will lick it, he will lick us, he will lick everything but he wont eat anything... I know he's ok with hand feeding and being handled because the few times he has eaten a leaf of lettuce it was mostly from our hands.
 

daner923

Gray-bearded Member
Hi there! Relocation stress can last up to two weeks, so don't worry too much yet. With that said, I would partition the tank for now. Just use something sturdy to make it smaller. He is probably overwhelmed. How does he react to your hand? What kind of UVB are you using (brand and intensity, and tube or coil)? I would turn off the night time heat lamp if it is colored. It will disturb sleep. What are you taking temps with (digital with probe, dial, strip, or temp gun)? I would also suggest taking out all hiding places for a while. You want to force him to bask and get used to his surroundings. Babies will often hide all the time if they're scared, which just makes them take longer to adjust.
 

MontisonJames

New member
Original Poster
Thanks for all the suggestions :) He seems to mostly stay on one side of his tank, which is where his basking light is, he does not hide at all during the day. he stays out in the light and relaxes on his log. The UVB light we're using came as a set with the light fixture. It's from Zilla and has a 18" 15 watt Desert 50 UVB tube light. He only occasionally scurries away from our hands but usual will allow us to pick him up easily and usually doesn't try to run away once we have him. He just looks around and licks us. He sleeps mostly on the side of the tank without the heat lamp, but when he does sleep on the heat lamp side he sleeps under his log in complete darkness so should we still turn it off? I'm afraid it may get to cold.
 

daner923

Gray-bearded Member
Yes, turn it off. If it drops below 65F get a ceramic heat emitter. You need to replace the UVB - the Zilla bulb just plain isn't good enough. You need the get the ReptiSun 10.0 tube instead, and it should be much more than 18 inches for that tank. It should probably be the 24 or 36 inch tube, and should be mounted inside the tank, 6-8 inches from the basking spot. What are the dimensions of the tank, by the way? Also, what is the cool side temp? Do you have any lighting for that side, at least for brightness if not heat?
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Members online

Latest resources

Latest posts

Latest profile posts

I miss you so much, Amaris 💔
What is a quick way to warm up a cold beardie? His heating element went out overnight and now he's very cold.
Pearl Girl wrote on moorelori1966's profile.
i feel so sad reading your about me 😢
Clapton is acclimating okay I think. He's quick as lightning so I'm not sure how much I should bring him out of his house yet. He's not at all interested in his salad though. I wonder if I should change what I'm giving him. Least he's eating his crickets.

Things to do:
Buy calcium powder
Material to raise surface for basking spot
Scenery decals for back of tank

Forum statistics

Threads
155,897
Messages
1,255,666
Members
75,965
Latest member
williamyoung
Top Bottom