Baby beardie not eating.

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I've been feeding Ragnar small crickets since I've brought him home last Saturday. His appetite has been up and down all week. He did not eat anything all day yesterday, and refused them again this morning. 2 days ago he had eight crickets with no problems. He alert, basking, and exploring his cage per usual. His lighting is fine, I got that all situated when I got my temp gun this past Friday. He'll even drink from the kitchen faucet if i run it real slow. He refused that today as well. I just don't understand WHY he won't eat.

I measured him Sunday evening and he was 6 inches ling, so he has grown half an inch this past week. I have no idea how old he is or what he weighs (forgot to grab a scale)

I've been getting my crickets from Petsmart and keep them in a little cricket keeper. I feed them greens and apples (whatevers left over from ragnar's salads really). I also give them those orange cubes (the pet store eecommended). I never leave any in the enclosure after 15 minutes.

I got 50 crickets Friday night, but by Sunday half of them were dead?!? I picked all of them out and cleaned the keeper out for the ones I have left. Are they bad crickets? Did I make ragnar sick by feeding them to him? I do not have much experience at all with crickets. They are a nightmare for me anyways. I freak out anytime I feed them to the beardie.

I'm at a loss. I just wish he would eat something :( Any ideas or tips to get him to eat again? He tolerates handling ok, but won't do hand feeding. He still too skittish for that.

Jess
 

Claudiusx

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hi jess,

I don't think you're doing anything wrong. You say you got your dragon on Saturday, which means you've had him for less than a week. A lot of times dragons will go through relocation stress and their appetite will be effected by this. The funny thing is, the lack of appetite usually doesn't show up until the third day or around there. From there it can take a week or more sometimes for the appetite to come back full force. Just keep offering him food and he will eventually come around. A change of environment is a very scary and stressful thing for a baby.

As far as the crickets dying, it could be your source for crickets, or it could be how you are housing your crickets.
But its extremely unlikely that they would make your baby sick.

-Brandon
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
Might be the dragon is not used to crickets as the staple feeder, try BSFL (phoenix worms) or suitable sized roaches or locusts, or small (maybe 3/4" long hornworms or even better same size silkworms).
If the feeders you are offering are too small , they will ignore them too.
How heavy is the hatchling ?
What size crickets are you currently buying ?
I'd recommend 1/4 size crickets for a hatchling 5 weeks to 4 months old.

My 3 month olds Cleo and Caesar are taking the following as individual meals
>> 10-12 x 1/4 size crickets
or
>> 16 x large BSFL
or
>> 1 medium to medium-large (1.5" to 2" long) silkworm or 3-4 small (1" long) silkworms


Could be relocation stress - I have to say I've never had this issue with of the new baby lizards (skinks or dragons) I've had, they've always arrived home with from the breeder ready to eat and taken food insects as soon as I deposited them in their rearing tub.

If any of the crickets you have are looking in anyway sick or sluggish , don't use them (let the birds outside have these) , don't give any crickets that are already dead unless you killed them .

Could also be the hatchling is being overwhelmed / stressed by a heap of insects being dumped in the tank or tub all at one time , try dropping one or two insects into the tank , letting it eat them, then drop another couple of insects in, repeat til the hatchling looses interest.

If you are buying the insects from a petshop, find out when they take their weekly delivery of feeder insects and make sure you are there shortly after , insist on only the freshest live insects and ask some be set aside for you prior to your arrival (they usually will do this for someone who is likely to become a regular customer).
 

Jessluvsdragons

Member
Original Poster
claudiusx":1box26tx said:
Hi jess,

I don't think you're doing anything wrong. You say you got your dragon on Saturday, which means you've had him for less than a week. A lot of times dragons will go through relocation stress and their appetite will be effected by this. The funny thing is, the lack of appetite usually doesn't show up until the third day or around there. From there it can take a week or more sometimes for the appetite to come back full force. Just keep offering him food and he will eventually come around. A change of environment is a very scary and stressful thing for a baby.

As far as the crickets dying, it could be your source for crickets, or it could be how you are housing your crickets.
But its extremely unlikely that they would make your baby sick.

-Brandon

I've had him for since 4/13. So more than a week. I should have put a date in there, my fault. You've seen pics. He's the little orange one from Petsmart. I put some new pics up of him in my intro thread "Meet Baby Ragnar." Sorry I don't know how to link threads yet.

Is it possible he still has relocation stress still? Have you heard of it lasting more than a week? He still gets stress marks from time to time. Unfamiliar noises makes him jump. He is still skittish but not as bad.

Jess
 

Jessluvsdragons

Member
Original Poster
kingofnobbys":musm3trt said:
Might be the dragon is not used to crickets as the staple feeder, try BSFL (phoenix worms) or suitable sized roaches or locusts, or small (maybe 3/4" long hornworms or even better same size silkworms).
If the feeders you are offering are too small , they will ignore them too.
How heavy is the hatchling ?
What size crickets are you currently buying ?
I'd recommend 1/4 size crickets for a hatchling 5 weeks to 4 months old.

My 3 month olds Cleo and Caesar are taking the following as individual meals
>> 10-12 x 1/4 size crickets
or
>> 16 x large BSFL
or
>> 1 medium to medium-large (1.5" to 2" long) silkworm or 3-4 small (1" long) silkworms


Could be relocation stress - I have to say I've never had this issue with of the new baby lizards (skinks or dragons) I've had, they've always arrived home with from the breeder ready to eat and taken food insects as soon as I deposited them in their rearing tub.

If any of the crickets you have are looking in anyway sick or sluggish , don't use them (let the birds outside have these) , don't give any crickets that are already dead unless you killed them .

Could also be the hatchling is being overwhelmed / stressed by a heap of insects being dumped in the tank or tub all at one time , try dropping one or two insects into the tank , letting it eat them, then drop another couple of insects in, repeat til the hatchling looses interest.

If you are buying the insects from a petshop, find out when they take their weekly delivery of feeder insects and make sure you are there shortly after , insist on only the freshest live insects and ask some be set aside for you prior to your arrival (they usually will do this for someone who is likely to become a regular customer).

I am unsure of his weight. I'm getting a scale for him Friday to keep track of his weight.

As far as the size goes, when I asked how big their small crickets were typically, you'd of think I asked them to solve for pi. So, im just feeding him the smallest ones out of the batch and make sure they are no bigger than the space between his eyes as best i can.

He ate really well his first few feedings, then his appetite waned a bit. Some days he'd eat only two. Others seven. But for him to outright refused has me paranoid. I will definately try to feed him a couple at a time and see if that helps. Maybe he's overwhelmed.

I have learned when they make deliveries (Tuesday's and Thursdays), so I'm heading up there this afternoon to grab some fresh ones.

I am thinking of switching to BSFLs though. I've read a lot of people use them. Plus they don't jump. And the smell can't be any worse than crickets. I found a supplier about an hour from here on Craigslist. Seems knowledgeable. Posted a ton of info on each feeder in his ad. I'm gonna call tomorrow and ask some wyestions. May just start buying from him and cut out the pet shop all together. I hope he'll be interested in those. I'm gonna hafta suck it up with the roaches and order some too.

Your babies sound like they're doing great. Hope my little one eats consistently like that and soon.

Jess
 

Jessluvsdragons

Member
Original Poster
He's eating! He's working on his fifth one now! Omg. I was starting to really worry. Thanks for the tip kingofnobbys. He goes after them better when it's two at a time. Thank you both for your advice here. I appreciate it. Maybe now I can start to relax with this little guy for a bit!

Jess
 
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