Canned vs live food??? Baby not eating???

[B4hand]

Ok so I just got a new baby beardie yesterday. I've done all my research, I know I have the temperatures right in tank etc. and I've even looked into some reasons why he may not be eating normally right away. However I haven't been able to find any mention of canned insects versus live ones. It's been a stretch for me just getting my grandma to let me keep a lizard in the house, but I know she'd put her foot down at live roaches or crickets, so I've purchased a few of the zoo med and flukers can-of-crickets and have tried holding them in front of his snout/face. He acts like he might be interested but never goes for them.

Could the non-living insects be a cause of his lack of appetite?

Also, I do currently have him in a 40 gallon tank and I've read where people say this can cause higher levels of stress due to such a large environment, but is this something he'll adjust to? Or will this continue to cause problems?

 

[destiny1998]

Hi. Those canned crickets are not good for babies. They need live feeders. Maybe your grandma will let you order some Phoenix worms and silk worms. Also he probably has relocation stress and that can last a week or two. As for a bigger home all of mine started in a 40 gallon and they were babies. Never had a problem.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Definitely DO NOT give canned insects, bites, mealworms, waxworms, superworms to a hatchling.

Your best feeder staples for a hatchling (older than 4 weeks old) are :
BSF maggots (aka phoenix worms)
small (mealworm sized) silkworms
small (1/4-1/3 size) gutloaded and calcium dusted crickets or similar sized gutloaded and calcium dusted roaches.

Minimum two live insect meals per day (as many as he wants to eat) , three live insect meals per day is better.

If you only just brought him home and set him up in a new tank, he will likely take a few days to a week to adjust to his new situation. This is known as relocation stress and is commonly experienced.

You can offer greens and grated vegs each day as well, I recommend with the last insect meal of the day (so the hatchling wont fill up on greens and veg instead of insects he REALLY NEEDS). If he eats the greens and veg , that's a bonus if it's a very young hatchling , if he doesn't eat them, ignores them, no drama, he'll eventually come around.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Ok so I just got a new baby beardie yesterday. I've done all my research, I know I have the temperatures right in tank etc. and I've even looked into some reasons why he may not be eating normally right away. However I haven't been able to find any mention of canned insects versus live ones. It's been a stretch for me just getting my grandma to let me keep a lizard in the house, but I know she'd put her foot down at live roaches or crickets, so I've purchased a few of the zoo med and flukers can-of-crickets and have tried holding them in front of his snout/face. He acts like he might be interested but never goes for them.

Could the non-living insects be a cause of his lack of appetite? Yep, even adult beardies wont touch them !!! nor will skinks.
More likely he's stressed by the new tank, new people, new routine, new surroundings, new sounds, new foods = relocation stress.

Also, I do currently have him in a 40 gallon tank and I've read where people say this can cause higher levels of stress due to such a large environment, but is this something he'll adjust to? Or will this continue to cause problems? <<< my practice is to start off my hatchling dragons and baby skinks in 100L modified tubs (makes it easier for them to hunt down the bugs that initially get away) , at about 12-13 months old they are upgraded to their adult size enclosures - for a bearded dragon the standard adult tank is 4ft Long x 2ft Wide x 2ft High.

 

[kornel351]

Get the baby live insects they won't eat the canned ones because the movement of the insects is what attracts them and they probably aren't as nutritious as live insects.Try worms like others suggested .

 

[AHBD]

Actually many lizards will eat these and although you shouldn't use them as the staple food item they are fine to feed to your beardie. We humans eat canned tuna and our dogs + cats eat canned food. But if you use them, you MUST be sure that the insects are smaller than the space between the eyes of your beardie, that's VERY important , otherwise the baby can become impacted and even paralyzed. Can you post pics of your baby as well as the size of the crickets ? Here's how to post pics:

https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then hit XIMG


It is best to get live insects though, the ones mentioned [ phoenix or calci worms AKA black soldier fly larva ] or silkworms . Those are expensive but very nutritious.

 

[B4hand]

Ok guys I decided to go out and get some live food. Went to a local reptile store and got some small baby Dubai roaches, the largest ones were smaller than my pinky nail, so I know they weren't too big for him. I dusted about 7-8 with a calcium powder for beardies and put them and Rhae in a small container (about a 9X9), but Rhae showed no interest at all! All he did was try to get out of the container. The roaches where even crawling on his head and face and nothing! Didn't even try to go after them. Oh and I put a fresh salad with mustard greens, finely shredded carrots and squash, a few dusted crickets from the can, and crushed and softened baby beardie pellets in his cage this morning and he hasn't touched any of that either. I wouldn't be as concerned if he was taking in just a little here and there, but he hasn't eaten a single thing in 2 days! I'm just worrying myself to death here because I know how important it is for babies to get the correct nutrients for proper growth and development.

Is there anything else I can do? Or should I just credit it to new environment stress and give him a few days?

 

[kingofnobbys]

Ok guys I decided to go out and get some live food. Went to a local reptile store and got some small baby Dubai roaches, the largest ones were smaller than my pinky nail, so I know they weren't too big for him. I dusted about 7-8 with a calcium powder for beardies and put them and Rhae in a small container (about a 9X9), but Rhae showed no interest at all! All he did was try to get out of the container. The roaches where even crawling on his head and face and nothing! Didn't even try to go after them. Oh and I put a fresh salad with mustard greens, finely shredded carrots and squash, a few dusted crickets from the can, and crushed and softened baby beardie pellets in his cage this morning and he hasn't touched any of that either. I wouldn't be as concerned if he was taking in just a little here and there, but he hasn't eaten a single thing in 2 days! I'm just worrying myself to death here because I know how important it is for babies to get the correct nutrients for proper growth and development.

Is there anything else I can do? Or should I just credit it to new environment stress and give him a few days?

I've never been successful at getting a young lizard to eat in small feeder tub, they've always been more interested in getting out to explore or being picked up.

Drop a few bugs at a time in to him IN HIS TANK. More than 3 or 4 at a time will overwhelm him.
Keep dropping them in as he catches and eats the ones he has until he showns no more interest (ie is full).

 

[kornel351]

Feed him in his tank so times too much bugs at once can scare them a little bit.

 

[B4hand]

Yayyy I tried putting the roaches in one at a time right in front of him in his tank and he ate about 4-5! I know that's not as much as a baby usually eats but I'm just glad he has something in his stomach! This is the first thing he's eaten since I brought him home! Thanks for all the help guys! I'm sure he'll start to eat more as he settles in but at least now I know he's taken in a little of protein.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Yayyy I tried putting the roaches in one at a time right in front of him in his tank and he ate about 4-5! I know that's not as much as a baby usually eats but I'm just glad he has something in his stomach! This is the first thing he's eaten since I brought him home! Thanks for all the help guys! I'm sure he'll start to eat more as he settles in but at least now I know he's taken in a little of protein.

wont be long and you'll be posting complaints about your baby beardie who is a bottomless pit for live insects eating you out of house and home and costing you small fortune buying bugs ever week or so .... LOL

 

[kornel351]

Great to here as a matter of fact my baby beardie that I named Zeus ate his first dubia roach today as a test too.They key is to really not add to many all at once or completely relocate them for feeding .

 

[B4hand]

Ok guys here's an update. After I was so happy about Rhae eating those 5 roaches, he hasn't touched but one since, nor is he eating any veggies despite the fact that I keep them available throughout the day. I was told at a locate pet store that they dudia roaches are higher in protein so eating 5 of those is about equivalent to like 15 crickets. Does anybody know if this is true or not?

Also today I went out and bought a smaller tank (after Christmas sales ya know lol) so I'm going to put him in there with most of the same stuff he has in his tank now, so maybe that will help. That's the only thing I haven't tried yet...

 

[kingofnobbys]

Ok guys here's an update. After I was so happy about Rhae eating those 5 roaches, he hasn't touched but one since, nor is he eating any veggies despite the fact that I keep them available throughout the day. I was told at a locate pet store that they dudia roaches are higher in protein so eating 5 of those is about equivalent to like 15 crickets. Does anybody know if this is true or not? <<< probably mean the dubias are 3x heavier per insect than a cricket (of similar length), so 3x the protein approximately ONLY.

Also today I went out and bought a smaller tank (after Christmas sales ya know lol) so I'm going to put him in there with most of the same stuff he has in his tank now, so maybe that will help. That's the only thing I haven't tried yet...

what is the size ( capacity in litres ) of the new tank and it's dimensions L x W x H ?

 

[B4hand]

Well the original tank is a 40 gallon (36x18x18) and today I got a 10 gallon tank (20x10x12). Rhae is probably only about 7 maybe 8 inches including his tail, so I figured the 10 gallon would be ok until he gets a little bigger, and in that case I'll always have the back get one thing put him in.

Really, putting him in a smaller tank is the only thing I hadn't tried so far to encourage him to eat, so I figured it couldn't hurt.