New beardie owner

Good day all,

I just became the owner of a new life friend. I don't know what sex he/she is yet as he'a only a little over a month old, but I have lots of questions.

I have a Exo Terra 38x16 (low), Reptisun UVB 10.0 (34"), and a proper heat lamp. His basking area is 104-110F and cool area is 85F (which he never ventures over to).

Issues:

1) Feeding: I try to give him crickets, I dust them..but need to find a better way to feed him. Putting 1 at a time and waiting until he finally decides to eat it just isn't working, and he NEVER touches his fresh greens / blueberries / strawberries I cut up every day. I'm just worried he's not getting enough intake.

2) Behavior: Likes to bask, and just sit there all day, sometimes hangs from branch or stretches out. Recently he's been super skiddish and hiding in his log. I gave him a warm bath this morning and it was a freakout when he waded in his little tub I got. Right now he's hiding from me and when I move around in the apt, I got him from Pet Smart (I know...not the ideal place), but he was kept separate from beardies as the employee of that store actually had one herself .

I just want to make sure he's getting what he needs to thrive, I am sure he's stressed to hell, but it's concerning that he'll eat maybe 8 crickets a day max, no greens. If anyone has any suggestions with feeding it would be appreciated. I work 7am until about like 5pm so I get up early and try to feed him before work. Also there is a water bowl that he never even looks at. Thanks for any suggestions.

Welcome hes going thru location stress--- may take him a few days to come around eating--- and since hes young its not uncommon for them to not eat their greens--- just just haft to keep offering him them to him/her -- the UVB I am assuming its in the tank ? and its approx 10-11 inches from his basking area? If you have a wide hole screen you can have it on top but if its a fine mesh I would have it in the tank-- you can also try some dubia roaches for him -- those could be left in the tank during the day - the crickets not so much they have a tendency to bite -- others might have some ideas on here for feeding as well --- you can always get some BSFl too --- they are small and you could leave them in the tank but you would need a certain bowl so they cant crawl out of -
Karrie

KarrieRee":32e9gzhy said:

Welcome hes going thru location stress--- may take him a few days to come around eating--- and since hes young its not uncommon for them to not eat their greens--- just just haft to keep offering him them to him/her -- the UVB I am assuming its in the tank ? and its approx 10-11 inches from his basking area? If you have a wide hole screen you can have it on top but if its a fine mesh I would have it in the tank-- you can also try some dubia roaches for him -- those could be left in the tank during the day - the crickets not so much they have a tendency to bite -- others might have some ideas on here for feeding as well --- you can always get some BSFl too --- they are small and you could leave them in the tank but you would need a certain bowl so they cant crawl out of -
Karrie

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Thanks for the update. Yeah I am a new Dad so I want to make sure my little guy is happy and healthy. I managed to get 2 crickets into him earlier, but that was it. I definitely don't want to force him to eat, but I hope he'll be ok. I just keep my eye on him and when he watches and stares at me I will pop over and he'll eat a cricket or two, then bask. Here are some pictures for you, I hope his enclosure is good. Also, I have a Infra-red thermometer so I can keep tabs on his spots. Here's an enclosure pic (waiting on my desert background prints to be completed), and some close ups of my little guy (yes I love to spoil him)

Tank looks great but from what I understand UVB lengths should only be only 2/3 of the tank -- he has really no way of getting away from the UVB unless he hides from it --- it seems having it run the whole length of the tank is over UVBing him-- I could be wrong and I will see what others on here think as well
Karrie

If the UVB is too long I have a metal plate I can slide over some of it, I was told initially (not here, but by store). So much to learn