4-5 month old refusing food

[Pward]

Hello! New beardie mama here. We got our little one 3 days ago. It is 4-5 months old. When we brought it home it ate about 10 dubia roaches (total for the day). The second day it ate about 15 (5 per meal) and had a few nibbles of kale. Yesterday it only ate 3 dubias in the morning and refused all other meals. We have a 40 gallon tank, 150w basking bulb, reptisun T5 5.0 HO UVB. Hot side is 95-110, cool side 75-85, temp at night 65-70.
I figure it’s probably relocation stress and possibly overhandling, but I just wanted to see if anyone has any advice on techniques to get it to eat more. The first two days it was pretty active and let us hold it quite a bit but yesterday pretty skittish and seemed scared, pretty much stayed in the same spot all day. It has had 2 normal bowel movements since it’s been home.
It did take a few drops of water from my finger two days ago and went into its water bowl and had a drink. I also misted it one time yesterday.
Any help or advice would be appreciated!
Thanks!

 

[KarrieRee]

Hello! New beardie mama here. We got our little one 3 days ago. It is 4-5 months old. When we brought it home it ate about 10 dubia roaches (total for the day). The second day it ate about 15 (5 per meal) and had a few nibbles of kale. Yesterday it only ate 3 dubias in the morning and refused all other meals. We have a 40 gallon tank, 150w basking bulb, reptisun T5 5.0 HO UVB. Hot side is 95-110, cool side 75-85, temp at night 65-70.
I figure it’s probably relocation stress and possibly overhandling, but I just wanted to see if anyone has any advice on techniques to get it to eat more. The first two days it was pretty active and let us hold it quite a bit but yesterday pretty skittish and seemed scared, pretty much stayed in the same spot all day. It has had 2 normal bowel movements since it’s been home.
It did take a few drops of water from my finger two days ago and went into its water bowl and had a drink. I also misted it one time yesterday.
Any help or advice would be appreciated!
Thanks!

Its great hes drinking from his water bowl most dont --- yes its relocation stress and its good he ate as much as he has -- to keep him eating where is your UVB? The 5.0 bulb should be changed out for the 10.0 please better stronger bulb and more for reptiles -- the 5.0 is more for aquariums they can be used as a back up but distance and placement is different from the 10.0 - and the 5.0 expires in 6 months the 10.0 approx one year -- depending the your screen will depend on placement and distance as well -- is your screen a fine mesh like a screen door or a wide hole type ?

 

[Pward]

Its great hes drinking from his water bowl most dont --- yes its relocation stress and its good he ate as much as he has -- to keep him eating where is your UVB? The 5.0 bulb should be changed out for the 10.0 please better stronger bulb and more for reptiles -- the 5.0 is more for aquariums they can be used as a back up but distance and placement is different from the 10.0 - and the 5.0 expires in 6 months the 10.0 approx one year -- depending the your screen will depend on placement and distance as well -- is your screen a fine mesh like a screen door or a wide hole type ?

Yes it’s like a screen door, I have attached some pictures of our set up. The uvb is pretty hard to get it to stay where I want it because of the way the top is made. Any suggestions there? I have read that you should mount it on the inside, not quite sure how I would do that with the type of hood I have.

 

[KarrieRee]

Yes it’s like a screen door, I have attached some pictures of our set up. The uvb is pretty hard to get it to stay where I want it because of the way the top is made. Any suggestions there? I have read that you should mount it on the inside, not quite sure how I would do that with the type of hood I have.

Try leaving it on top of the screen for now but you need the 10.0 bulb right now the 5.0 is NOT getting thru your screen --- get a piece of decor directly under it 8-10 inches --- watch the behavior his eating we want it to increase if it does not here in the next week or so then I want you to move it to the inside of the tank - use this stuff to hang w/ its like a Velcro strap cut into strips then wrap around your fixture GE 15 ft. Cable Ties, Hook and Loop Spool, Black-10375 - The Home Depot
this stuff works really good -- I also noticed the stick on gauge --- that is good for ambient temps ONLY -- please get two digital probe thermometers you can get them from your pet store and place one on the spot where he sits to bask you want surface basking temps - try 105-110 see what he does as they get older they dont like as hot as temps if hes not sitting there for very long then go to a temp of 95-100 usually around 6 months they start w/ the not so hot as temps- you dont need to leave the probe there long enough to get your surface temp place the other probe on your cool side of the tank 80's during the day -- also please get a digital probe hygrometer place on the back center wall of your tank it will read your whole tank you want humidity level optimal 40-50% nothing under 20 and nothing over 70% -- Exo Terra Digital Hygrometer | Dubia.com this is an example --
Your UVB correctly placed and distanced w/ the correct basking temps are the MAIN thing that is going to keep your dragon eating and healthy they control the overall health and behavior of the dragon

 

[Pward]

Its great hes drinking from his water bowl most dont --- yes its relocation stress and its good he ate as much as he has -- to keep him eating where is your UVB? The 5.0 bulb should be changed out for the 10.0 please better stronger bulb and more for reptiles -- the 5.0 is more for aquariums they can be used as a back up but distance and placement is different from the 10.0 - and the 5.0 expires in 6 months the 10.0 approx one year -- depending the your screen will depend on placement and distance as well -- is your screen a fine mesh like a screen door or a wide hole type

Try leaving it on top of the screen for now but you need the 10.0 bulb right now the 5.0 is NOT getting thru your screen --- get a piece of decor directly under it 8-10 inches --- watch the behavior his eating we want it to increase if it does not here in the next week or so then I want you to move it to the inside of the tank - use this stuff to hang w/ its like a Velcro strap cut into strips then wrap around your fixture GE 15 ft. Cable Ties, Hook and Loop Spool, Black-10375 - The Home Depot
this stuff works really good -- I also noticed the stick on gauge --- that is good for ambient temps ONLY -- please get two digital probe thermometers you can get them from your pet store and place one on the spot where he sits to bask you want surface basking temps - try 105-110 see what he does as they get older they dont like as hot as temps if hes not sitting there for very long then go to a temp of 95-100 usually around 6 months they start w/ the not so hot as temps- you dont need to leave the probe there long enough to get your surface temp place the other probe on your cool side of the tank 80's during the day -- also please get a digital probe hygrometer place on the back center wall of your tank it will read your whole tank you want humidity level optimal 40-50% nothing under 20 and nothing over 70% -- Exo Terra Digital Hygrometer | Dubia.com this is an example --
Your UVB correctly placed and distanced w/ the correct basking temps are the MAIN thing that is going to keep your dragon eating and healthy they control the overall health and behavior of the dragon

Thank you so much for your reply! I appreciate your advice so much. I will replace the 5.0 with 10.0. Should I move him directly into a piece of decor under the uvb? He is hunkering down in the corner of the tank on the floor and I can’t seem to get the uvb light to reach him there.
We do have that stick on for ambient temp, but we use a digital infrared thermometer gun to check the temps. Is that ok?
Again, thank you for the advice!

 

[KarrieRee]

Thank you so much for your reply! I appreciate your advice so much. I will replace the 5.0 with 10.0. Should I move him directly into a piece of decor under the uvb? He is hunkering down in the corner of the tank on the floor and I can’t seem to get the uvb light to reach him there.
We do have that stick on for ambient temp, but we use a digital infrared thermometer gun to check the temps. Is that ok?
Again, thank you for the advice!

I recommend the digital probes as well --- get your distance and bulb fixed then watch and see what he does