Beardie Hatchlings no appetite?

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BeardieT

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hey y’all, about a week ago tomorrow our first clutch ever hatched. We have them in a pretty good set up with a basking spot on a rock of 100 degrees and on a stick that sits a little higher at 105. There’s 13 of them and they’re in a 45 gallon tank. I have a 100W basking bulb on top (temps are all good) and a ReptiSun T5 10.0 hovering them 6 inches away on the basking rock and about 10 inches away the rest of the tank. They’re on perfect cycles with a power strip timer. Anyways, the babies just do not seem hungry. They’re all pretty active and look nice and plump, but just aren’t interested in food. Won’t take crickets in a separate container at all, so when I feed them in their enclosure a handful of them will hunt down a few crickets and then act full the rest of the day. They won’t touch their baby food or mustard greens and I’m not really sure why. They’ll take water from a dropped occasionally, but for the most part I just mist them. Any reason on why this may be occurring? Thanks
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
They are probably all just on the verge of getting a real appetite. Best to feed them in their tank at first , shake the little crickets up in a jar so they are dizzy + slow when you toss them in and are easy pickings for the babies.

Can you post pics of the little buggers in their set up ? Here's how :

https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload them
 

BeardieT

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AHBD":13s54zgx said:
They are probably all just on the verge of getting a real appetite. Best to feed them in their tank at first , shake the little crickets up in a jar so they are dizzy + slow when you toss them in and are easy pickings for the babies.

Can you post pics of the little buggers in their set up ? Here's how :

https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload them
Everything I’ve read said that they should be eating well on like day three which makes me scared. And yeah I’ve seen that information and try to do that! also how would I upload an image to this thread? I uploaded one to that link to show. They have a 45 gallon tank, paper towel substrate, a very shallow deli cup lid water dish and another one of those that has greens and baby food on it. There’s a few rock like bricks (bought from Lowe’s) stacked up and some pieces of wood bought at a pet store on them as well. Has a basking bulb and a CHE on, as well as a ReptiSun T5 (maybe T8, I can’t remember and asked my girlfriend to send a picture of it tomorrow to make sure. As of now I have the 20” tube suspended about 6-8 inches above their basking spot in case it was a T8. (If it’s a T5, I’ll move it back to the top of the tank.) but just a few of them will eat crickets and none have touched the baby food/mustard greens (chopped up very very small). I used a dropper to “assist feed” some of them and only 2 or 3 actually licked a little of it off their nose. I do the same with water as well and only a few will actually drink it. Most are scared and as soon as the water hits their face they bolt away from it or shake their heads. I have not seen any poop or urates in their enclosure yet, but all seem active and look like plump little babies. If you PM and your email I can send a bunch of pictures (of the enclosure and close ups of the babies). I’m just worried because as of today (15 JUL), they still don’t really have an appetite.
 

BeardieT

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AHBD":3a5p5qor said:
They are probably all just on the verge of getting a real appetite. Best to feed them in their tank at first , shake the little crickets up in a jar so they are dizzy + slow when you toss them in and are easy pickings for the babies.

Can you post pics of the little buggers in their set up ? Here's how :

https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload them
105176-1518919096.jpg
105176-9263382051.jpg
105176-8995252475.jpg
105176-4116163426.jpg
105176-8764409818.jpg
105176-6954968460.jpg
105176-3735270454.jpg
I figured it out! (Also in a few of those pictures I only had the food plate up on the basking rock because I wanted to see if they’d eat if it was up there. A few hours later I put it back on the ground) ALSO I have moved the UVB around a bit so now it’s over top of their basking rock. That first picture was a few days ago when I had it more towards the center of the enclosure!
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
They look beautiful + healthy . :) Do I see leatherbacks among them ? Yes you'e right that they usually eat within 3-4 days but once in a while they can take longer. Your set up looks good but may be keeping the babies up too high from where they feel comfortable about jumping down for the crickets and they can even be distracted by the movements of each other. I raised a lot of babies and this is the best kind of set up. :

https://www.beardeddragon.org/media/29895/full

The long low branches make it easy for them to see everything crawling on the ground. BTW , you may need another basking lamp toward the middle of the tank to keep the temps. up enough as the babies spread out so they are not all in the same area.
 

BeardieT

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AHBD":35loj40i said:
They look beautiful + healthy . :) Do I see leatherbacks among them ? Yes you'e right that they usually eat within 3-4 days but once in a while they can take longer. Your set up looks good but may be keeping the babies up too high from where they feel comfortable about jumping down for the crickets and they can even be distracted by the movements of each other. I raised a lot of babies and this is the best kind of set up. :

https://www.beardeddragon.org/media/29895/full

The long low branches make it easy for them to see everything crawling on the ground. BTW , you may need another basking lamp toward the middle of the tank to keep the temps. up enough as the babies spread out so they are not all in the same area.
Thank you! And yes the dad was a Leatherback Sunburst! And the reason I have the rocks piled so high is so they can bask well. Those rocks from Lowe’s hold heat well so they get nice and warm. Our adult dragons LOVE them. Only reason I have them piled up so high is so they have proper temps for basking, or else I’d need a 150W+ light to get the ground temp for a basking spot to 100-105 degrees. I do have that CHE towards the middle of the tank though.
 

BeardieT

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Original Poster
KarrieRee":3gn1i4zz said:
They all look adorable----- here is some ideas for hanging the UVB
command Velcro fasteners- picture hanging wire – plastic zip ties
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Nylon-Cable-Tie-Ties-Black-2-5-3-5-4-8-7-6-9-X-100-150-200-300-370-530mm-UV-Good/332871964184?hash=item4d80b71618:m:m40KOkegiGiJeePUguhY5cQ&var=541991102297
Karrie
Thank you! Also thank you for the zip tie idea, this duct tape is very unappealing to the look of the tank, but so far it gets the job done haha.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Yeah, I can see the cute little L.B's. :) They should grow up to be good lookers ! But yes you would be better off with a higher watt bulb and the sticks positioned close to the floor for them to be more interested in eating.
 

BeardieT

Member
Original Poster
AHBD":ldjf50xb said:
Yeah, I can see the cute little L.B's. :) They should grow up to be good lookers ! But yes you would be better off with a higher watt bulb and the sticks positioned close to the floor for them to be more interested in eating.
I moved one of the rocks down and put a 150W bulb over the basking spot, the 100W next to it, and the CHE towards the right side. Basking temp is now 108.5 and cool end is 86. I like having their branches up there because they can climb up or down depending on how warm they want!
105176-3328711847.jpg
105176-910230750.jpg
 

BeardieT

Member
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AHBD":2h2fs1t0 said:
How are the babies, have they started chowing down yet ?
Yes their appetite slowly arose haha. Today especially. They absolutely LOVE dubia’s. However they still don’t seem to touch their greens unfortunately.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Yeah, it just took them a little while. They are just going for the good stuff . :) In a week or two, try offering very finely shredded bits of greens mixed in with the dubia. You can also try dropping the shredded greens near then slowly like confetti. All my babies started on greens using that method.
 

BeardieT

Member
Original Poster
AHBD":15j7g9vv said:
Yeah, it just took them a little while. They are just going for the good stuff . :) In a week or two, try offering very finely shredded bits of greens mixed in with the dubia. You can also try dropping the shredded greens near then slowly like confetti. All my babies started on greens using that method.
Will definitely have to try it! Thanks for the help
 
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