Bearded Dragon 3 inches long.

[WesOzzy]

Okay so I've had my newest bearded dragon Biffy for nearly two weeks now and I have a few concerns about him.
He really doesn't eat much, at all. Since I've had him I've seen him eat one cricket and a couple small black worms that fell out of the cricket tub. That is it. He doesn't touch his veggies either.
Biffy also spends all the time he can hiding away from the light. He wont bask unless I put him under the light. Even then he'll run over to his fake tree and climb to the top, out of range of both the UVB and heat lamp.
He is missing half his tail, but still that would only put him at maybe five inches long. This is ridiculously small considering he is near enough on seven months old. His arms and legs are like twigs, and he's almost always stressed.
I'd really like to know what could be causing such slow development in my dragon, and why he refuses crickets but practically inhales the small black worms (which cant be bought anywhere).
I know this guy needs to buff up, and the only way to do that is get some protein, and fat into him, but if he wont eat there's nothing much I can do.
Please give me some advice, I've posted a similar thread before, but I didn't really get the answers I was looking for.

Additional info.
20 gallon tank.
UVB Reptisun 10.0 tube bulb.
40 watt basking bulb.
temps sit between 100-110 under the light. 70-90 everywhere else.
I've been attempting to feed him twice a day, calcium 5 times a week, multi-vit 2 times.
He was kept with many other dragons in the pet-store all are the same age and size.
My substrate is reptile carpet, with ceramic tile.

 

[Rukii]

I would try giving him some other feeders. Reptiworms.com, calciworms.com, phoenixworms.com, mulberryfarms.com, all have good feeders. Thhe phoenix/calci/reptiworms are all very healthy (healthier than crickets) and he might like them since he seems to like the 'cleaner worms' that are with the crickets. I am not sure why he would be so small at this age. Hopefully someone else can give an opinion. =]

 

[WesOzzy]

I have actually got 100 calci worms on the way, problem is I live in Ireland, and finding a website that delivers them to me has proven to be very difficult. The ones I have ordered aren't here yet, and they were ordered on Sunday.
I just don't know whats going on. The little one refuses to bask today again, and now he's sitting in the shade in his tank.
My older one isn't eating as much as she should be either. I just dropped crickets in and she ate one and ignored the rest.

 

[mickeysmomma]

When you say your older dragon.....are they housed together?

 

[WesOzzy]

Nope, I actually found this website before I got my first dragon so I knew not to house two together.
Ozzy, the older one, is in a 66" x 25" x 20" viv (If I remember exactly.. it was about 80+ gallons when I used a gallon calculator)
Biffy is in a 20 gallon tank due to his small size, and my being unable to upgrade him just yet.
I also heard that being able to see each other can stress them out so I've made sure they cant do that.

 

[WesOzzy]

Okay so the Calci-worms I ordered should be on their way, but in the mean time I went out and bought a tub of waxworms.
I know these grubs are really fatty, but would they be okay to give to Biffy till the Calci-worms arrive, He is really skinny, so maybe the extra fat wont hurt him too much. Also, they look similar to the Calci-worms so if he gets into the habit of eating these I'm hoping the transition to Calci-worms will be easier.

 

[Rukii]

The waxies should be ok for a short period of time. I hope he likes the calciworms! I'd still keep trying to offer him some vegetation daily, you never know when he might want a taste. Also, when you get him liking the calciworms, lets say you feed him in the afternoon. After a good while of feeding him his worms at that time, don't feed them right away to him one day. Instead, wait a little bit, and then offer him some greens/veg/fruits since he will be hungry. If he doesn't take them, then just offer the worms. Or you could try topping his salad with worms. Then he might just take a big bite and see that he likes the salad after all.

 

[WesOzzy]

Okay, so today I discovered that Biffy will eat mealworms... now I know they're bad for him so I've been picking out the recently shed mealies, the white ones and giving him those. He also ate his first 'veggie', a raspberry that I dropped in his tank.
So while I know mealies aren't great I'm still chuffed that Biffy is at least eating something. He'll also eat a waxworm from time to time.
Those calci-worms still haven't arrived a week later so I'm stuck between mealies and waxworms. He wont even look at crickets.

Anyway, it's an improvement!

 

[wckdbtch]

Hi there, my opinion might be frowned on, but I also think anything is better than nothing. We went through a phase where Angie also wouldn't even as much as look at anything else, so we supplemented her feedings with apple and blueberry or prune baby food as a precaution. Have you tried butternut squash yet? I've found that even my picky eater likes it, but only if I grate it as fine as possible. I also chop up a little bit of either mint or basil in the salad - the smell seems to be quite appetizing. Mine also love mangoes, litchi and prickly pears... Sometimes the way you serve it makes a difference as well: some veggies and fruits they like chopped, some grated and some sliced... All a matter of trial and error, I suppose

PS: And I thought I'm a picky eater, until we got beardies!

 

[WesOzzy]

Haha! It's amazing because my first beardie Ozzy (who I've had for just about 2 months now) has been eating like a champ since the day I got her.
She eats loads of crickets, she loves waxworms from time to time as well, but even at her young age she eats any veggie I put in for her.
Carrots, Kale, Lettuce, Raspberry, apple, cucumber, green beans... she eats it all!
I think I will try some squash!
I'm desperate to get the little guy eating, he's so small!
If he is seven months old like the store claims then he has about 5 months to do a years worth of growing!
Which means I need to get as much calcium and protein into him as possible. Not something he's willing to help me with lol!

 

[diamc]

Sorry that your little beardie is not eating or growing. Would it be possible to post a picture of him and his setup in case something needs to be twinked a little? Have you tried offering him chicken or turkey baby food mixed with some squash baby food and putting it on his nose for him to lick off?

What type of thermometer are you using and what are the temps? What is the distance of the Repti-Sun tube to him while in the basking spot?

 

[WesOzzy]

Okay, so incredibly there has been a massive improvement with Biffy in the last few days. I received the calci-worms I ordered online and tried Biffy on a few of them. He ate them, sparingly, at first, but then his appetite just spiked! All of a sudden he'll eat crickets, cacli-worms, and veggies. It's incredible, he's basking much more, pooping regularly and eating a LOT more.
Just in the past few days I've noticed that Biffy's stomach, arms and legs have all grown thicker, he looks much healthier and has started running about his viv like a lunatic!
Also all stress marks are gone, unless you catch him in the early morning, he doesn't like to be disturbed.
So that's good right?
As for your questions, I have a couple pics posted up already in a thread title 'Ozzy and Biffy'.
His strip bulb is about 6-8 inches away when he's basking, and about 15 when he's on the floor of the tank.