enclosure/feeding concerns

[Geoff]

Hello everyone and first off, thank you for you're help :mrgreen:

I went out and bought my first beardie(Dusty) the other day from a local pet store. Dusty was the most active of 4 beardies in his tank. I decided he was the one and decided to take him home with me.

It was already dark after I got home so I put him in his new tank and he fell fast asleep. Over the next few days he ate a couple times but nothing significant...

The last couple days he has refused to eat most things... The only thing he will even get interested in is watermelon, and even then its only a small bite or two a day.

He spends most of his time during the day basking on his rock perch(~105f) with the occasional trip to the water bowl for a dip...
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Anyway, my questions:

Right now he is on a diet of mealworms/fruits/veggies/commercial food. I learned mealworms aren't good for him so what's the best alternative? (not a huge fan of crickets)

Is it normal for a young beardie to go a day or two without eating?

Do you think this is due to stress or is there something wrong with the cage? (UVB bulb etc)

I can bring him back to the petstore for a free look up anytime this week... do you think this would be a good move?

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Requested info:

How old is your dragon? unknown
How long have you had your dragon? Week
How long is your dragon? ~7 inches
What is the sex of your dragon? Unknown
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in? 40gal
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank? Terrarium Liner
Do you use UVB lights? Yes
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb? Coil
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)? Zilla 50UVB
How old is your UVB bulb? week
How close can your dragon get to the UVB? I had the bulb higher(2 feet above cage) but dropped it to a few inches above the cage tonight to see if that changes anything, he can get within about 18" of it
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? Is it a white or colored bulb? Zilla Blue 150W
What are the basking temps? ~105F
What is the cool side temp? ~80F
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun? Stick on, checked with digital and it seems to be consistent for the most part (+/- 5F)
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps? About 3" away from the rock
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad? No
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific. The pet store said they fed them veggies and mealworms twice a day. Since I have had him he has eaten a few mealworms(~5-7) and some watermelon. I have offered him some other plants Carrots, lettuce, bell peppers, grapes, and bananas but he does not seem interested.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)? When he was eating I fed him twice a day, once about an hour after I turned on the day/uv light an once right before I turned off the lights.
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc? No
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them? Not right now, I ordered some calcium+b3 supplements from rep-cal that should be here by the end of the week.
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)? Usually 1-2 times a day
Do you bath your dragon? How often? No, but he swims in his waterbowl sometimes.
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath? I mist him 2-4 times a day and offer him water whenever I notice he starts to lick/stick his tong out
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done? No
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon? No

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Here is the PDF for the kit that I bought for him: http://www.zilla-rules.com/assets/007/30827.pdf

If you have any questions for me or want pictures please let me know.

 

[randommonks]

If you don't like crickets, you can try dubia roaches, reptiworms (or other forms of black soldier fly larvae), or silkworms. Crickets might be the most available right now, and you might have to just suck it up for a while until you can get other feeders, mealworms aren't really good nutrition for beardies. I would recommend roaches, they are easy to keep and you can breed them in a tub to have a permanent source of food and are more filling than crickets.

Your dragon is going through relocation stress right now, so it's normal for him not to want to eat. Give him a couple of days to settle down, limit handling, and he should slowly pick up his eating within 2 weeks.

It would be best to try to get a tube bulb, and to return the coil bulb and fixture if you still can. Also, try to use a white basking light instead of the blue one. You'll want to measure your basking temps with a probe, but I saw you measured it digitally. What did you use? 105F is an ideal temp for babies for proper digestion. You'll want to feed an hour after lights on and about 2 hours BEFORE lights off. Feeding too soon before lights off will not allow the beardie to digest properly.

Babies usually don't eat veggies, but you should keep it in there so they can get used to the taste of it. If the petstore will take him to the vet, it would be a good idea to take him there. If he's going to be looked at by petstore employees, you might as well not waste your trip IMO.

 

[Geoff]

If you don't like crickets, you can try dubia roaches, reptiworms (or other forms of black soldier fly larvae), or silkworms. Crickets might be the most available right now, and you might have to just suck it up for a while until you can get other feeders, mealworms aren't really good nutrition for beardies. I would recommend roaches, they are easy to keep and you can breed them in a tub to have a permanent source of food and are more filling than crickets.

Would reptiworms/roaches/silkworms be fine at his age? I am going to go pick up a few crickets today to see if he likes them... If he does won't have much of an option but go get them :roll:

I measured the temperature about midday with a digital thermometer we use to measure the temperature inside and outside the house. Has two sensors, I took the inside sensor+reader and put it on top of his basking spot for a while. seemed to chill around 103-5.

I haven't accurately read the cooler side of the tank by the thermometer always stays about 80.

He has been climbing and running around pretty frequently but, I was just concerned about his lack of food. So should I give him another week and see if his appetite will perk up?

I will let you know how he responds to the crickets, he ate another bite of watermelon this morning but wasn't interested in anything else. hopefully he likes the crickets.

 

[randommonks]

Would reptiworms/roaches/silkworms be fine at his age? I am going to go pick up a few crickets today to see if he likes them... If he does won't have much of an option but go get them :roll:

Reptiworms and silkworms are soft worms, so are great for babies. If you're going with roaches, you want to stick with the "no bigger than the space between the eyes" rule that you should also follow with crickets. If you're using a large enclosure, you might want to put up a barrier (I used a large piece of cardboard) to section off about 1/2 the tank so he doesn't have to go too far to chase his crickets. When I first got Darwin, he'd eat maybe 5 crickets a day, but after 2 weeks pick it up to about 20 a feeding, twice a day, but the progress was slow.

Be patient, and if he doesn't seem to like crickets, see if your petstore has calciworms (seen them at Petco and they're also the black soldier fly larvae) but make sure to open the tub to make sure they're still alive. They're notorious for selling dead worms.

 

[Geoff]

He really seems to enjoy crickets, ate them up as soon as I put them in

Where is the best place to buy them?

Is it possible to "breed" them or will I need to buy small amounts every so often?

Whats the best way to keep them?

 

[randommonks]

Best place for a baby is online and ordered in bulk. Mulberry farms I've heard is a good place. Check out the feeders section of this forum for some good advice. I didn't keep more than about 70 at a time, which I bought for 12 cents at the petstore (huge ripoff), but switched to Dubia roaches after a month. Glad he's finally eating for you!

 

[Geoff]

I was told roaches were a no :shock:

are there any other insect colonies that can sustain themselves easily?

 

[randommonks]

I was told roaches were a no :shock:

are there any other insect colonies that can sustain themselves easily?

Curious who told you that? You'll find that a lot of members on this board use Dubia roaches, which after you invest in a good sized colony will become self sustaining in a matter of months, and will overwhelm you in a year or so (you can sell the extras ). I tried crickets for a month, got extremely fed up with the smell and the escapees, and ordered about 1000 mixed (came with probably 30ish females and 20 something males totally guessing though) ordered a couple months ago, and I'm starting to see good sized baby nymphs. I ordered them from members on this site whose roach colony got too big and they shipped them out to me through USPS. Keep them in a large rubbermaid container with egg crates, roach chow (I use mainly ground cat food), and water crystals and you're pretty much set. Gut load with veggies a couple times a week.

However, the only thing is if you live in Canada or Florida, they won't let you keep dubias there. If you're in Florida, I've heard that there is a type of roach that you can breed though.

Other types of feeder insects you can breed are crickets (again the smell and the chirping), superworms (not until your beardie is about 16" long due to the hard shell), black soldier fly larvae (kinda hard to breed, most people just order), and other types of roaches. There are a lot of good guides on breeding these insects in the Feeders section, and the setups are a little complex for some, but you'll never have to pay for feeders again once you're set up.