Is this normal for a juvenile Beardie?

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To start out, I'm sorry if this is in the wrong category and should be moved over to 'feeding', but I'm just concerned that Dinraal isn't eating enough bugs and getting enough protein for how old he is/how old I think he is and is therefore unhealthy.

Dinraal is a male, approximately 7 inches long, which on other sites I've looked at puts him around 2 months old (can someone on here clarify if that's correct?)
We have had our dragon for a little over 2 weeks now. He is in a 40 gallon breeder tank with a mesh screen, a reptisun 10.0 t5 tube light is mounted inside his tank just underneath the mesh (mounted on command hooks) with a reflector. His basking perch fluctuates between 100-113 degrees while the cooler side usually stays in the low 80s. He has a small skull that he likes to perch on that sits underneath the uvb tube light and a bigger perch that he basks on underneath his basking bulb.

My main concern, like I stated before, is that Dinraal isn't eating enough. I know that all beardies are different and just because one eats 20 bugs in a 10 minute period doesn't mean mine will. Dinraal usually scarfs down 5-7 medium sized dubia roaches in the morning, and he's been munching on his salads more lately (collard greens, butternut squash and a small bit of raspberry and strawberry) along with some of the small BSFL I bought from Symton. Around 5 pm he gets more dubias and bsfl.

Today I was told by my husband that he only ate 3 dubias this morning, but he was munching on salad. I fed him at 5 and he did eat 5-6 roaches and a couple of the larvae. I tried offering him a few more roaches just now but he wasn't interested, and just continued to bask in his rock.

From what he ate today, is that enough for him? He doesn't seem very interested in eating much in the mornings (lights come on at 6:30 a.m, I try to feed him at 8 so he has ample time to warm up) but will always eat more in the evenings.

Dinraal, to the best of my observations, has buckets of energy. Sometimes I catch him zipping around his tank like my cat does when he's got the zoomies (I swear Dinraal sometimes will zoom around only when my cat does which is entertaining)

He looks very bright eyed and will follow my movements with his head when I walk past his tank, as well as give me those adorable head tilts when I look in his direction so I don't notice any sluggishness or anything to suggest he's Ill. His poops have all looked normal and with no trace of parasites that I could see. And since I mounted his new light in his tank he's been getting plenty of nice uvb rays. I'm fairly sure my lights and tank set up is good just because a lot of people on here helped me out with it (thank you guys again!) But if he's not really eating much because of something still not quite right I'd love to know so I can fix it asap!

I'm curious to know if he's not eating a lot of bugs because the roaches he gets are a little on the big side? Not huge adults obviously, but the ones I buy from my local pet store (Pet Supplies Plus) are considered "medium" sized dubias (they're about the size of a nickel). Maybe he's just getting full on the bigger roaches and is therefore not going to want to eat more than the ones he eats?

Maybe this is all normal and I'm blowing this way out of proportion with my worrying haha. I'd love any feedback or opinions though!
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
So the feeding part sounds good - hes filling up --- if your concerned weigh him and keep track of his weight ---- but now I have a question about the UVB -- you said its a T5 and on the inside of tank -- how far from the basking area is the T 5? Anything closer than 12 inches is too close for a T 5
Karrie
 

arcadia1216

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Original Poster
I think I will start keeping track; just gotta buy a food scale. So the amount of food he's eating looks normal? Or at least it looks to be enough to sustain him? He is getting longer and a little bigger in the belly and head so he's growing, and he is full of energy.

The top of the skull he likes to sit on is about 10 inches from his light, so I'll definitely move it if it's the problem.
 

Claudiusx

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hi there,

I agree, everything sounds fine! Definitely keep track of his weight weekly if you're worried about it. It sounds like he is eating just the amount that he wants to. And that is fine! :)

All of my dragons (besides Tombo... LOL) have days where they don't want to eat much, and other days where they eat what I consider a normal amount. It's very normal for the appetite to fluctuate a bit.
Anyways, it sounds like he is doing just fine and is eating a good healthy diet!

-Brandon
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Light meaning the UVB? If its 10 inches its too close for a T5 I would get it up to at least 12 inches ---
but yes hes eating enough I just started feeding my 3 month old 5/8 inch dubias and hes eating less of those -- around 5 or so but I am also feeding him BSFL as well which is another staple feeder --- and hes eating his vegies and I am feeding 3 medium super worms per day as well - so hes eating alot-- I leave the bowl in the tank till afternoon and then take it out - and check to see what he has eaten - they will stop when they are full --- they recommend two feeding per day or 3 but Blaze eats when he wants and sometimes I will add more bugs in afternoon to see if he eats more - sometimes he does sometimes he doesnt --
Karrie
 

arcadia1216

Member
Original Poster
Yeah, sorry! I meant the distance between his uvb light and the top of the skull is ~10 inches, but I have moved it out of the path of the light. Thankfully the distance between the floor and his uvb light is ~14 inches so hopefully he'll just be content to sit on his carpet under the lights until I find a perch that is the correct distance away from his light haha

I feel so much better about the food situation, thanks Karrie and Brandon! I'll continue to feed him his larvae and roaches and just let him decide when he's had enough.
 
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