Baby bearded dragon barely eating!

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Matt729

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I bought him 11 days ago, he is maybe 6” long to tip of tail. And he is set up in a 40g breeder, 2 hides, 1 fake plant, repticarpet, 24” reptisun 10.0 T8 8-10” from basking spot, basking spot temp ranges from 100°-110° he stays in the area that usually reads 107°. My issue with him is his eating habits. In the 11 days he has eaten 0 veggies, 15- 1/4” dubias, 5- small crickets, 3- wax worms, and 2- meal worms( I know they are bad but I tried everything) and that is it.From what I have read that should be eaten in one day not over the course of 11 days. Poops every day and only had 2 poos that were not great looking but not awful but they STUNK, but back to a normal poo the next day. Any suggestions? I don’t want my little guy to starve!
 
When they are little it is difficult to get them to eat their greens. When they are little they mostly eat bugs anyways, when it gets a little older it might eat more greens. With my bearded dragon we just had to wave some greens in his face until he decided to bite it. I think it could be because they are used to live food, and since greens dont run around like bugs you kinda have to move it around to make it look alive. You could also try to just put some greens in its bowl until it decides to try it or something.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Your baby is not starving and its good hes eating - hes going thru relocation stress --
The T 8 needs to be changed out every 6 months and it MUST be inside the tank w/ NO cover over the fixture and approx 6-8 inches directly over the basking decor -- -- you are taking basking temps w/ a digital probe thermometer ? Keep an eye on the poop if it goes back to being real runny and horrible stink he may have parasites - but w the one time thing you described could be just stress-- hes doing good that hes eating as he acclimates and gets used to his surroundings his appetite will increase -- w/ the good basking temps and properly placed UVB he should thrive -- here is a website for nutrition
ignore the kale thing its a good staple feeder http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html
Get some BSFL from here http://www.dubiaroaches.com also known as nutri grubs on this site and get some small super worms add them to the salad in front of him -- 1-3 supers -- as many as you want nutri grubs - they are calcium enriched do not dust them -- you can also hand feed these to hand tame him -- they are a great staple feeder especially for babies - use these as a compliment to your main insect staple feeder -- they make great salad toppers -- feed these first thing in the morning w/ your salad- then later feed your main staple feeder - make sure your dusting the insects once per day 5 x per week - calcium D3 -- vitamins w/ beta carotene once per day 2 x per week
Karrie
 

Matt729

Member
Original Poster
Boss dragon, I’m really not concerned much about him eating his veggies yet just the amount of bugs he is eating, very little each day.
Kerri rae, taking temps which a temperature gun, I tried calciworms but they didn’t seem to move enough to get him interested. Yes his uvb is inside the enclosure. And within 8” of his basking area spot. It almost seems as he will only eat while my hand is in there idk like today I put some tiny roaches and crickets in there and no interest, pick him up and sit him in the dish with them in it and he eats one then climbs back on my hand, and I take him to his basking spot and he will climb off. Weird animal, I’ve caught many wild reptiles when I was a kid living in Florida and never had this much of a pain getting them to eat a healthy normal amount.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Ok so it sounds good for your lighting-- like I said it may take awhile for his appetite to pick up - he needs to acclimate to his surroundings-- it's good he's eating we've had many on here not eating at all!!
Karrie
 

Matt729

Member
Original Poster
The 1st 5 days he wouldn’t touch anything! I have spent over $100 in feeders just to try and find something he would eat. I was really worried, I read a lot on this page, and most things I read say the first week or two is always rough, just really wanted to hear someone with experience say what he is doing is okay. I also have another that is a little larger(8”) and from day one it has eaten pretty well, still with the stress marks but it eats good and I caught it eating it’s veggies yesterday! But it has no where near the personality of the little one though! Thank you so much for the relief!
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Believe me they all have different personalities- I have a 3 yr old next week that is a doll and the other is about 16 months and is fiesty grumpy and all around different- could be his age but he's nothing like my older one at this point- he's eating basking pooping and active that is what you want-
Karrie
 

Matt729

Member
Original Poster
Bossdragon, yea probably, but I figured that would be over by now, I thought once they started eating it was over and they would eat like a champ, but ohh how I was wrong, either it’s the relocation stress, or a super picky eater. He gets distracted with my movements sometimes while he is hunting if my hand/arm isn’t in there with him, he doesn’t like my g/f so she has to stay out of the room or there is no chance he will eat anything, never would have imagined it would be like this.
 

Matt729

Member
Original Poster
Karrie,
I was wondering about the D3, is it needed? Some places say yes and other places say no? There’s a lot of conflicting/bad information out there about bearded dragons. Like calcium w/D3 or w/o D3, the whole bath thing, some swear by it but others swear it’s not best? Kale. Lifespan. Basking temps. Tank size for babies. ETC.

And do you prefer the T5 or the T8 bulb? It’s a 24” mounted inside the Vivarium. The chart in the zoo med catalog suggests if more than 6”-8” I should have the T5. My bearded dragons get taken care of with no expense spared, but I would like to spend $ wisely rather than keep throwing it away!
Thank you,
Matt
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Babies need the D3 5 x per week once per feeding up until around a year old then they can go on calcium w/ out D3 NO phosphorus alternating between the 2 of them --- since your using the T 5 that is a good strong bulb - distance for a T 5 should be 12-15 inches inside the tank --
Kale is a great staple feeder it actaully has better nutrients than the collards mustard and turnip greens -- you want your basking temps 105-110 for a baby as they get older they dont like it quite so hot then I would set up a gradient heat that the dragon can pick a spot to where he want the heat a good piece of decor that offers different places to sit stand lay on or lay against is good -- A 20 gallon tank is good for babies but sometimes hard to get the temps right in the tank sometimes its a struggle to do that I know I had Blaze in a 20 gallon and had a time getting his temps right but finally got it -- I had his T 8 set up width wise across the tank w/ NO screen so that wasnt the hard part it was the temps- you can keep them in a 40 gallon tank at first as well I guess it just depends on the dragon -- if they are struggling and need the smaller tank then that should be used to get them to good health - baths are here and there - most of the time we dont recommend it cuz it tends to stress them out more - if they are of good hydration like eating their salads and being fed gut loaded insects they will get hydration from them -- its good to rinse the salads before serving they will get lots of moisture from that -- you can always drop water on their noses as well - their poop will tell you if they are hydrated - you want dark moist and firm the urate you want white formed and moist - if there is extra liquid water coming out they are good and hydrated -- not sure about the Lifespan thing
Karrie
 

Matt729

Member
Original Poster
Karrie,
I have the T8 bulb and was considering getting the T5 HO is why I was asking about the lamps, I may have said it wrong seeming I had the stronger of the 2 but I don’t I have the T8 which is weaker than the T5. I really just want to make sure they are as happy and healthy as can be, to live long healthy lives!
Thanks,
Matt
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
The T 5 is the better bulb -- depending on the screen you have on the tank it can be placed on top BUT the screen needs to be a wider hole type no fine mesh like a screen door - it will block 30% of the rays - the T 5 also needs to be replaced once a year I recommend a month prior to where as the T 8 every 6 months w/ a month prior to as well -- I have used both bulbs the 24" hood Zoo Med comes w/ a 5.0 bulb that can be used its similar to a T 8 basically - I am currently using the one that came w/ my hood I got a dud Reptisun about a year ago and when I went to replace it it blew so I put the 5.0 in as a back up and adjusted the distance accordingly -- I have two Arcadias now that I will use to replace the 5.0 here in June -- I have two tanks --
Karrie
 

Matt729

Member
Original Poster
So I’ll replace the T8 with a T5 in about 5-6 months, will it be okay in the same location? (inside enclosure, about 6”-8” away from basking spot) Or is there a better alternative to the T5 bulb available in 24”?
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
As far as I know the T 5's start at 24" so you would need a different hood and it would or could go into the tank - depends on screen - distance will be different for each placement- inside 12-15 inches directly above the basking decor and it is optimal to have it next to the basking bulb but can go else where if necessary and 8-10 inches if its on top of the screen directly above--
Karrie
 
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Clapton is acclimating okay I think. He's quick as lightning so I'm not sure how much I should bring him out of his house yet. He's not at all interested in his salad though. I wonder if I should change what I'm giving him. Least he's eating his crickets.

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