2 week old Beardie will not eat

[mikek6508]

Hello everyone. I a fairly new to this forum and the beardie world. I have a 5 month old female leather back and I just got a 1 week old silk back.
I have 2 questions.
1) Is if okay for a breeder to sell 1 week old bearded dragon ?
2) I have had my silk back beardie for one week now and I can not get him to eat. I have tried pinhead crickets, romaine lettuce, kale, Zilla jump start caloric supplement and Nature Zone Baby Bites for Juvenile Bearded Dragons. Nothing has seemed to work. His basking temprature is right around 96-98 degrees. Any suggestions would be appreciated

 

[diamc]

Hi Mike, welcome to the forum.

To answer your first question, yes, a wk old beardie is way too young to be sold. Was it shipped to you or did you buy it from a pet store?

Your baby may be going through relocation stress but a baby that small can't go without protein for very long. I would highly recommend that you pick up some chicken (or turkey) baby food as well as some squash baby food, use a plastic medicine dropper and put drops on his nose that he will hopefully lick off. Squash is very good for them and the meat baby food will help give him some protein.

You mentioned that the basking temp is 96 to 98 degrees, can you fill us in what type of thermometer you're using, is it a digital strip, round gauge (dial), digital thermometer with a long wire & probe end or a temperature gun? Where exactly are you taking the temp? What size tank is he in and what wattage basking bulb(s) are you using?

What brand & type of UVB do you have and what is the distance of this particular bulb?

How often are you dusting with calcium & vitamins? How many feeders are you offering him daily and how many did he eat? Here's a site that shows the best greens to feed in green print: http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html Romaine lettuce is mostly water and doesn't really have any nutritional value and kale really isn't a good daily staple for him. He may nibble on the greens a little but what he needs most of at his young age is protein.

What substrate is on the bottom of the tank?

Babies can get dehydrated VERY quickly that can cause them to go downhill very quickly so a nice warm bath (temp tested by the inside of your wrist), be sure to put a cloth in the bottom to keep him from sliding around so he feels more secure. Watch him very closely and you could even let him sit in or on your hand in the water. A 15 to 20 min bath is very beneficial.

Sorry for all the questions but we want to make sure everything is perfect for your little baby.

 

[mikek6508]

I picked up my silk back from a "backyard breeder" from craigs list.
I am using a digital thermometer with a long wire and probe.
I am using a Zilla Desert 50 UVB fluorescent buld. the distance is about 1.5 feet from him. ( He is in a 10 gallon)
I feed him roughly 10 pinheads 3 x per day and I dust with calcium everytime I feed him.
I must add that he is very active. Also, I dont know weather or not he is eating the pinheads cause they are very tiny and hide everywhere

 

[diamc]

Oh, a breeder from craigslist. Hard to believe that someone posted a baby that young for sale.

Good that you're using a digital with probe. Make sure the probe end is resting on (actually touching) the basking log or rock, then wait at least 45 min to an hr for the temp to stop rising before getting the final reading. Once you are sure you are doing that and if the basking temp is still only 96 to 98 degrees, you will need to use a higher wattage bulb. It's very hard to get a good basking and cool side gradient with a 10 gallon tank. For a young baby, the basking temp (tested like mentioned above) should be at least 102 and up to 110 (but no higher.) Adults need a basking temp of at least 95 in order to be able to digest properly but they don't eat as many feeders as babies do so you need to get a higher basking temp to help him out.

Unfortunately, there have been lots of health issues associated with using the Zilla bulbs. They put out a LOT (too much) UV rays in the beginning and then decline very rapidly and can cause eye issues, lethargy, loss of appetite, etc. I highly recommend that you get either a Repti-SUN 10.0 strip fluorescent tube or an Arcadia bulb as soon as possible. If you want links for those bulbs, let me know. At a distance of 1.5 feet, it's not doing him any good at all but since it's dangerous to use it, I wouldn't recommend it being any closer either. Do you notice your baby avoiding that light at all or does he have his eyes closed often?

Pinheads are very hard to keep alive, hard to handle and hard for the beardies to catch. Perhaps you could go to the smalls as long as they are no longer than the space between his eyes. Do you see him catching the crickets? Be sure to remove any uneaten ones as they will chew on your baby when he is sleeping which can cause nasty sores to develop. Are you feeding him all the crickets he wants to eat 3x a day in a 10 to 15 minute timeframe? When did he last eat and what exactly did he eat?

For a baby and up to a yr old, you should dust the feeders with calcium with D3 5 days a wk but only 1 feeding a day and with vitamins the other 2 days a wk but only 1 feeding a day.

Have you given him a bath yet?

I'm glad he is very active, be sure to keep a close eye on him to watch for problems with the UVB. Getting the temps a little higher should help. Keep us updated on his appetite and how he is doing.

 

[mudskipper]

Definitely fix your set up as suggested above first. It's critical to get the temperatures and the UVB right to get them to eat. You should also cover ALL 4 sides of the tank with white paper so she can't see out. I use white shelf liner.

If your baby still doesn't eat, maybe you could try what I did on my new baby.

Get a clear or white plastic box that's big enough that your beardie can't get out but small enough to fit in the tank. Mine is about 6" tall and 12" long. It is high enough to prevent crickets from jumping out. Put the dusted tiny crickets in there maybe like 10 at a time along with your baby. Leave your baby in there with the crickets under the lights and leave the room. I position the tub so that it's partially under the heat lamp and most of it is under the UVB. Come back after 15 minutes, if she ate all, put in some more.

This way you never put crickets in the tank itself so you don't have to worry about them escaping. Think of it as a feeding tank within her tank. I also use the same plastic box for bathing. I have had mine for 3 days now. She has been pooping in her bath everyday. Works great!

Good luck!

 

[diamc]

How is your beardie doing?

 

[mikek6508]

Today, my 2 week old beardie (Clyde) started eating small crickets. Until today, he has not eaten anything and I have had him for a week. Though he only ate 3-4 small crickets. Its a start.
I dust the crickets with Rep-Cal Calcium. I was wondering if I should also give him and my other beardie (Bonnie) who is 5 months old a multivitimin such as Herpativite along with the Rep-Cal. If so, how often should I give them the multivitimin and can I mix the multivitimin and the Rep-Cal together.

 

[diamc]

I wrote this in response to your pm.

Hi, that's a good sign that he is starting to eat. Did you get the temperatures all straightened out?

For both of them, since they are under a yr old, you dust with the calcium 5 days a wk but only 1 feeding a day and with the vitamins, the other 2 days a wk but only one feeding a day. Actually, you SHOULDN'T mix the 2 supplements together because they need more calcium than vitamins and too many vitamins isn't a good thing. Hope that helps.

 

[JangoMom]

I give Jango calcuim on crickets 1 time a day Monday through friday.. then Saturday and Sunday he gets the multivitamin on crickets 1 time a day

 

[diamc]

Have you been able to get the Repti-Sun 10.0 fluorescent tube yet instead of the Zilla Desert 50 UVB? A good UVB light has a LOT to do with their appetite and growth rate.

 

[tf2185]

Quick question for the experts on here. I have always heard that for silkbacks, you should use the 5.0 instead of the 10.0. The reasoning is because the 10.0 provides to much UVB for a silkbacks since they are different from regular dragons. Is this information still correct?