Feedback/advice

[CAYGRAY]

Hello everyone,

New beardie owner here looking for some feedback or advice. Our new friend's appetite hasnt been the greatest since we brought him home. He eats about one or two insects a day even though we offer much more throughout thr day. He really seems to prefer mealworms but my understanding is that those should not be offered daily. Aside from his appetite, He seems to have plenty of energy. He seems to enjoy his bath time, which we provide daily or every other day. He seems to love water and will recognize the syringe and approaches it when he seems it. Food not so much but he is at least eating some. He willingly hops onto our hands and doesnt seem to mind being held. I hate to think something is wrong with him given that he seems pretty energetic and active throghout the day. I wanted to reach out to see if anyone had any advice or feedback about his enclosure and/or about what i can do to encourage him to eat. My wife seems to think that my son and i have too much going on in the enclosure. We know about relocation stress but it's been three weeks now and we haven't seen a significant increase in his appetite. Any and all advice is greatly appreciate. Thank you.

He is in a 40 gallon enclosure using reptisun T5 10.0
Cool side is consistently at 75 to 80
Basking spot is consistently at 110 to 115

 

[xp29]

Hello everyone,

New beardie owner here looking for some feedback or advice. Our new friend's appetite hasnt been the greatest since we brought him home. He eats about one or two insects a day even though we offer much more throughout thr day. He really seems to prefer mealworms but my understanding is that those should not be offered daily. Aside from his appetite, He seems to have plenty of energy. He seems to enjoy his bath time, which we provide daily or every other day. He seems to love water and will recognize the syringe and approaches it when he seems it. Food not so much but he is at least eating some. He willingly hops onto our hands and doesnt seem to mind being held. I hate to think something is wrong with him given that he seems pretty energetic and active throghout the day. I wanted to reach out to see if anyone had any advice or feedback about his enclosure and/or about what i can do to encourage him to eat. My wife seems to think that my son and i have too much going on in the enclosure. We know about relocation stress but it's been three weeks now and we haven't seen a significant increase in his appetite. Any and all advice is greatly appreciate. Thank you.

He is in a 40 gallon enclosure using reptisun T5 10.0
Cool side is consistently at 75 to 80
Basking spot is consistently at 110 to 115

Your basking is just a little warm maybe. Babies we recommend 105 to 110.
Try offering different types of feeders. Usually stuff that moves more will attract them to hunt. Don't leave crickets in the habitat over night though, they will bite him.

 

[CAYGRAY]

Your basking is just a little warm maybe. Babies we recommend 105 to 110.
Try offering different types of feeders. Usually stuff that moves more will attract them to hunt. Don't leave crickets in the habitat over night though, they will bite him.

We have tried all four or five of the main feeders. He doesn't seems to prefer one over the other much. Is it okay to leave any of the other feeders out throughout the day?

 

[xp29]

We have tried all four or five of the main feeders. He doesn't seems to prefer one over the other much. Is it okay to leave any of the other feeders out throughout the day?

Yes. Crickets are the only ones that really bite. And that will be mostly at night while he sleeps.

 

[ChileanTaco]

My wife seems to think that my son and i have too much going on in the enclosure.

I don't think there is too much in the enclosure. I think it's good for a dragon, especially a young one, having an enclosure that offers plenty of hiding space, as well as enables him to climb, and thus strengthen his muscles and developing good coordination.

Is it okay to leave any of the other feeders out throughout the day?

Yes. I'm also doing this - also did so when my dragon was little. In fact, when he was little he didn't dare to start eating when somebody (me or my husband) was around, and also stopped eating immediately when somebody approached. So I left his food in his bowl, and he ate it during the day. (Still, despite he has no issues anymore with being seen eating, my dragon only rarely eats right away when food is served.)
I have, in fact, never done the "feed three times a day" thing, but put in all food for the day right in the morning (before I left for work). I was able to see over camera that my dragon wasn't (and is not) wolfing down all of the food at once, but eats it gradually over the day.

The advice given by @xp29 regarding crickets is important. For this reason, I don't feed my dragon crickets: They cannot be contained in a bowl, will bite the dragon, annoying during night (and there is a higher risk of parasites). I feed mealworms, superworms (caution: might be too large for your dragon) and dubias (and I would feed other larvae or caterpillars, but they are not available here). For the size of "feeders" (= insects to be fed to a reptile), they should not be longer than what is the distance between your dragon's eyes.

So in general, my advice:
- leave the decor to give your dragon hiding spaces
- leave a bowl of insects in the enclosure throughout the day; I also add small pieces of vegetables to the insect bowl for two reasons, first reason is to continue "gut loading" (= feeder insects eat the veggies and then there is a bit of veggies in their guts so the dragon eats some veggies automatically this way), second reason is to encourage my dragon eating/ trying veggies

 

[CAYGRAY]

I don't think there is too much in the enclosure. I think it's good for a dragon, especially a young one, having an enclosure that offers plenty of hiding space, as well as enables him to climb, and thus strengthen his muscles and developing good coordination.


Yes. I'm also doing this - also did so when my dragon was little. In fact, when he was little he didn't dare to start eating when somebody (me or my husband) was around, and also stopped eating immediately when somebody approached. So I left his food in his bowl, and he ate it during the day. (Still, despite he has no issues anymore with being seen eating, my dragon only rarely eats right away when food is served.)
I have, in fact, never done the "feed three times a day" thing, but put in all food for the day right in the morning (before I left for work). I was able to see over camera that my dragon wasn't (and is not) wolfing down all of the food at once, but eats it gradually over the day.

The advice given by @xp29 regarding crickets is important. For this reason, I don't feed my dragon crickets: They cannot be contained in a bowl, will bite the dragon, annoying during night (and there is a higher risk of parasites). I feed mealworms, superworms (caution: might be too large for your dragon) and dubias (and I would feed other larvae or caterpillars, but they are not available here). For the size of "feeders" (= insects to be fed to a reptile), they should not be longer than what is the distance between your dragon's eyes.

So in general, my advice:
- leave the decor to give your dragon hiding spaces
- leave a bowl of insects in the enclosure throughout the day; I also add small pieces of vegetables to the insect bowl for two reasons, first reason is to continue "gut loading" (= feeder insects eat the veggies and then there is a bit of veggies in their guts so the dragon eats some veggies automatically this way), second reason is to encourage my dragon eating/ trying veggies

I tried crickets when we first brought him home but he wasn't eating them and seemed to be attracted to dubias more so I stopped feeding him crickets. I came back around to the crickets today shortly after posting this thread and he ate 3 of them back to back immediately. It's been a game of trial and error with him. He also refuses to pay attention to anything that is in a bowl for some reason. I've tried every kind of bowl you can think of and he is only attracted to insects if he has to hunt them down from what i have noticed so far.

 

[CAYGRAY]

He also seems totally disintrested in larvae. I've tried both small amd medium size ones. He pokes at them but wont eat them.

 

[ChileanTaco]

He also seems totally disintrested in larvae. I've tried both small amd medium size ones. He pokes at them but wont eat them.

As you know he's poking at them but won't eat them, I assume you were watching? (In person or with a camera?)
Have to tried leaving the food in a bowl in your dragon's enclosure, and not entering the room all day long if possible? In the beginning, I counted the insects to easier check in case he's taking some but not much.

 

[AHBD]

I revisited your first thread on the forum, couldn't remember if he was from a pet store and see that he was. I was hoping he would do well, and he still can possibly . Hoping he's not an inbred baby that some stores carry. Did they tell you what morphs he is ? I'm thinking he's a trans [ transluscent ] and sometimes they are not well bred. Someimes a beardie that is struggling does better in a "hospital" set up. That would be a smaller , less cluttered enclosure like this. The food is easier to find if you do use crickets, which are much better than mealworms. If you use a piece of eggcrating any leftover crickets can be found hiding there. The floor of the plastic tote can be left bare so no insect hides anywhere else.

 

[CAYGRAY]

As you know he's poking at them but won't eat them, I assume you were watching? (In person or with a camera?)
Have to tried leaving the food in a bowl in your dragon's enclosure, and not entering the room all day long if possible? In the beginning, I counted the insects to easier check in case he's taking some but not much.

I have tried that. He didn't touch them throughout the day. I counted them. He doesn't seem too shy about eating while we are around. Maybe he would eat more if we weren't. I will give it a try. At first I was hesitant to leave anything in his enclosure for long. We will be setting up a camera to watch him throughout the day.

 

[AHBD]

No, that's not ever a problem with a healthy baby. There is something else going on here. I have raised 1,000's. They eat when hungry unless something is going on. What you CAN try is to use a pin to pop one end of the larva open so the bit of guts seep out and rub that slightly on your baby's snout. This is not just shyness, he is not doing very well. Please see my other comment as well.

 

[CAYGRAY]

I revisited your first thread on the forum, couldn't remember if he was from a pet store and see that he was. I was hoping he would do well, and he still can possibly . Hoping he's not an inbred baby that some stores carry. Did they tell you what morphs he is ? I'm thinking he's a trans [ transluscent ] and sometimes they are not well bred. Someimes a beardie that is struggling does better in a "hospital" set up. That would be a smaller , less cluttered enclosure like this. The food is easier to find if you do use crickets, which are much better than mealworms. If you use a piece of eggcrating any leftover crickets can be found hiding there. The floor of the plastic tote can be left bare so no insect hides anywhere or as his primary enclosure?

I revisited your first thread on the forum, couldn't remember if he was from a pet store and see that he was. I was hoping he would do well, and he still can possibly . Hoping he's not an inbred baby that some stores carry. Did they tell you what morphs he is ? I'm thinking he's a trans [ transluscent ] and sometimes they are not well bred. Someimes a beardie that is struggling does better in a "hospital" set up. That would be a smaller , less cluttered enclosure like this. The food is easier to find if you do use crickets, which are much better than mealworms. If you use a piece of eggcrating any leftover crickets can be found hiding there. The floor of the plastic tote can be left bare so no insect hides anywhere else.


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I will definitely give this a try if you believe there is more to this situation. The pet store did say he is trans.

 

[AHBD]

O.K, I also wondered if the uvb bulb was too far away in the 40 gallon tank.
Yes a badly bred trans dragon may already have a strike against him. Can you ask the store who their supplier is ? He can still thrive if you get everything just right and he gets the heat, uvb nutrients and hydration he needs.

 

[AHBD]

Another question, does he bask close up to the uvb light ? If you do keep him in the 40 gal, take the majority of decor out but leave the basking log where he can get both heat and uvb. Many babies will bask perched on a stick or log but they usually avoid a flat piece of hot slate. In the wild they perch on trees, logs and branches almost all the time. You can even collect one more stick outside to prop up so he can get closer to the light. You can sanitize it either by popping it in a 250F oven for an our [ careful ot doesnt't touch the heat elements ] or soaking it in hot water with 1/4 cup bleach, then rinsing the stick very thoroughly so there's no smell left at all and drying it for a day. See how babies love branches, this is more natural than a flat slate area.

 

[CAYGRAY]

I was worried that the uvb was too close. I brought the tree in so he could get as close to the uvb as he wanted to. We bathe him and provide him with water throughout the day. Which he does seem to like. The heat seems to be pretty consistent with what i have read their needs require at this stage.