Juvenile beardie refuses to eat, getting skinny. please help

O>K., he's definitely getting no uvb at all. Is it a Zilla fixture ? If so be sure there is no plastic shield over the bulb but even without the shield a t8 will not be giving him any uvb. A taller basking spot will not help, he may be too weak or just not realize that he needs to be up higher. The Plastic tote that I pictured costs about $6 at Walmart or a Dollar store. It's not a huge one, it's smallish to medium size. I believe it's the 60 quart size, very easy to find. Please get one ASAP or your baby will get worse every day + develop MBD.

AHBD":ex9fxwse said:

O>K., he's definitely getting no uvb at all. Is it a Zilla fixture ? If so be sure there is no plastic shield over the bulb but even without the shield a t8 will not be giving him any uvb. A taller basking spot will not help, he may be too weak or just not realize that he needs to be up higher. The Plastic tote that I pictured costs about $6 at Walmart or a Dollar store. It's not a huge one, it's smallish to medium size. I believe it's the 60 quart size, very easy to find. Please get one ASAP or your baby will get worse every day + develop MBD.

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I took off the plastic off the Zilla fixture as I read it could be bad. I’ll get the plastic tote. Does he need to be in there all day? How should I feed him crickets? I don’t want them jumping out.

Yes, that bin will be his home for a while until you get a stronger uvb. You will need a Reptisun 10.0 t5 or Arcadia D3 14 % [ that's the best ] for the 75 gallon . Your baby will not need to go back in there for a while, the smaller bin is all he needs for now. The crickets can't jump out at all, no worries. To make them easier for your baby to catch, just put them in a jar with a pinch of calcium powder and shake them until they are dizzy + weak. Use only 3-4 at a time in case your baby is not hungry. If he eats those then repeat the process.

AHBD":ipatm3o7 said:

Yes, that bin will be his home for a while until you get a stronger uvb. You will need a Reptisun 10.0 t5 or Arcadia D3 14 % [ that's the best ] for the 75 gallon . Your baby will not need to go back in there for a while, the smaller bin is all he needs for now. The crickets can't jump out at all, no worries. To make them easier for your baby to catch, just put them in a jar with a pinch of calcium powder and shake them until they are dizzy + weak. Use only 3-4 at a time in case your baby is not hungry. If he eats those then repeat the process.

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I tried looking for the bin online at Walmart. It’s saying it’s $30? ? can you give me the dimensions of the bin, maybe I can find it that way.

Thank you!

There's no way they are $30, I guarantee it. You might have seen a specific type with a fancy lid or something. Just go on in + they will have them. Same with Lowe's, Home Depot, Dollar store. Or they are showing you the price for 4=5 of them.

So I looked at the Walmart sites + what you're seeing for $30 -$50 is the 4-5 pack of them, I don't know why they advertise them like that. The single ones are $7-$8 , but like I said you can find these at any of the stores that I mentioned.

AHBD":29fgt36f said:

So I looked at the Walmart sites + what you're seeing for $30 -$50 is the 4-5 pack of them, I don't know why they advertise them like that. The single ones are $7-$8 , but like I said you can find these at any of the stores that I mentioned.

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Ah thank you! I’ll update once I get everything.

O.K, sounds good ! All you need is the tub it's about 24-26" long, 18" high + similar width [ 15 " or so ] That's all you need and just set your lights over top and put his little basking cave/rock in there. You can use a piece of egg crating or a stick for extra climbing like I have in the picture.

I suggest handfeeding him suitable sized crickets and bsfl.
Methods.
viewtopic.php?f=18&t=235583

If he wont take a whole live BSFL, snip the head off (1mm from the pointy end), squeeze out some of the meat, and give him a taste.

kingofnobbys":vddba1ya said:

I suggest handfeeding him suitable sized crickets and bsfl.
Methods.
viewtopic.php?f=18&t=235583

If he wont take a whole live BSFL, snip the head off (1mm from the pointy end), squeeze out some of the meat, and give him a taste.

Click to expand...

I’ve tried feeding him crickets with the wood tongs. I can’t bring myself to touch a cricket. I live in Florida, not sure where I can get black soldier fly larva.

Bsfl are AKA calci worms or Phoenix worms. Just Google those + see the companies that sell them. A few places are Phoenix worms, Symtom, Rainbow mealworms. If I recall correctly, a lot of people recommend this company.

https://symtonbsf.com/

Other posters may have recommendations as well.

PathfinderMom91":1tlw08xp said:

kingofnobbys":1tlw08xp said:

I suggest handfeeding him suitable sized crickets and bsfl.
Methods.
viewtopic.php?f=18&t=235583

If he wont take a whole live BSFL, snip the head off (1mm from the pointy end), squeeze out some of the meat, and give him a taste.

Click to expand...

I’ve tried feeding him crickets with the wood tongs. I can’t bring myself to touch a cricket. I live in Florida, not sure where I can get black soldier fly larva.

Click to expand...

I used to be like that with roaches, having pet lizards who liked to eat them soon fixed that.

I think maybe you need to work on this aversion to touching crickets , and you'll soon become be fine with them.

kingofnobbys":34898aqp said:

PathfinderMom91":34898aqp said:

kingofnobbys":34898aqp said:

I suggest handfeeding him suitable sized crickets and bsfl.
Methods.
viewtopic.php?f=18&t=235583

If he wont take a whole live BSFL, snip the head off (1mm from the pointy end), squeeze out some of the meat, and give him a taste.

Click to expand...

I’ve tried feeding him crickets with the wood tongs. I can’t bring myself to touch a cricket. I live in Florida, not sure where I can get black soldier fly larva.

Click to expand...

I used to be like that with roaches, having pet lizards who liked to eat them soon fixed that.

I think maybe you need to work on this aversion to touching crickets , and you'll soon become be fine with them.

Click to expand...

Thank you for the reassurance. I’m taking it one step at a time. I didn’t even want them in my house at first and now I’m the one who prepares them for his meal. I use the cricket keeper with the tubes. ?

Be sure to get him set up in the plastic tote , remember right now hes getting no uvb and that is critical. Soon he may develop serious signs of calcium deficiency or MBD because dragons need uvb to absorb the calcium in to their bodies. Sometimes it starts with just the toes twitching, other times they just become extremely lethargic and then may lose their ability to walk and/or develop swellings in their limbs or lumps in their back were small fractures are happening as the bones become weak. For feeding, putting a few crickets in a small jar, shaking them until they can barely crawl and then dropping them near the dragon will often work because they are seen as weak enticing prey.

PathfinderMom91":3m95ry3o said:

Markspez1974":3m95ry3o said:

Hi I'm in a similar position at the moment would interested to hear some things to try.

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Sorry you’re going through this too. It’s heartbreaking and frustrating because he’ll zone in on a cricket and then completely ignore it. Is your beardie basking all day? Mine is. His basking temp is at 115 and he still won’t move from there much.

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I strongly suggest dropping the basking spot temperature by at least 10 degF.
115 degF IS WAY TOO HOT for any bearded dragon.

What size crickets are you offering your little hatchling ?
If they are too small, the hatchling will simply ignore them as it's not worth it's physical effort to catch and eat them. This is a common mistake.
Try to keep the crickets sized just under the length = the distance between the hatchling's eyes. This way the dragon will more easily see the crickets and they wont as easily evade it.

Maybe look at 20 day old ( 1/4 size ) crickets for your hatchling who looks like about 2 months old to me.
Offer only 2 or 3 at a time, let him catch and eat them , repeat, and repeat until he is not longer interested ( full ), do this at least twice per day. ( 3x is better ) He'll likely eat 6 - 8 1/4 size crickets per feed .