Baby Dragon hardly eats.

[GRIMWicked]

Hey guys and gals I would really appreciate some advice on feeding my new beardie. Ive had him for about almost 2 weeks. I turn on his lights at 6am and leave him some freshly rinsed dandelion greens before I head to work, I get back around 4 and he doesnt touch them. I try and feed him some calcium dusted crickets and he only eats about 3-5. And i try to feed him again a few hours later and maybe he'll have 1 or 2. Im getting a bit worried.

Ive been reading about pheonix worms and hornworms. Would those be a good replacement as a staple diet? I had given him some mealworms before I found out they shouldnt have them and he gobbled those up. Maybe he'll eat other types of worms just as good.

I would appreciate any advice, thanks!

 

[GRIMWicked]

Bump!

 

[diamc]

How old or what length is your beardie?

Can you fill us in on the type of UVB you have and also the type of thermometer you're using? Those 2 things totally affect their appetite, behavior and health.

 

[Mybabybeardies]

New here myself but I just got my 2 babies about 6 weeks ago and they are a little over 2 mos old. Mine took a good 2 weeks to start eating and just in the last week or so have begun to eat really well. Before I would put about 10 small dubia Roaches in their dishes (each are in their own enclosure) and they'd just graze all day on them. I like dubias or phoenix worms (also called black fly larvae) because I can put them in a straight side ceramic dish and they don't escape because mine didn't like to eat very many at a time but if left in the dish they more by coming back for more several times per day. I would shake the dish a few times per day to re-dust them since it'd settle to the bottom of the dish or add greens to get them active so my dragons would notice them. Now they are eating a lot more I put 10-15 in the dish and they usually eat them all but maybe 1-2 so I refill about 2-3 times per day. Mine don't eat greens very well which is normal for babies. I just keep offering them so they stay familiar with them. I did see one eat a piece of leaf the other day and I mix their bugs and greens in hopes they'll eat a few greens token while grabbing their bugs.

 

[SpacialCoogs]

Hornworms will probably be too big for your baby right now. I would get the Phoenix/Calci/beggar worms, their calcium/phosphorous ratio is fantastic and they are soft bodied so easy to chew/digest.

 

[BrightStar]

I tried hornworms with Rygel (he's 10"). To be honest, I kinda regret buying them. Most were very large and I don't feel comfortable feeding them to him. So now I have a dozen or so worms that I don't know what to do with. Rygel did eat two small ones yesterday, but today he would only eat his dubias.

 

[GRIMWicked]

I actually found a place around here that sells Black Soldier Fly Larvae but my beardi didnt touch them. 200 larvae gone to waste :/. I ended up buying some small dubias and he gobbled them up pretty fast, so now Im just feeding him those . He started growing a lot faster once I started feeding them too!

 

[Mybabybeardies]

Dubias are great. I mostly feed them and my babies love them and are growing like crazy. I suggest you start a colony though. I have 2 babies but went through 1000 in about a month. I'm ordering more and more adult females. I have 10 females now but my colony is slow going. It can't keep up with these little eating machines. Lol!!