Frustrated...

[DoughtyDragon]

We have had our very young bearded dragon for almost a month now. When we bought him, he was shedding, and still seems to be shedding.

He had been being fed crickets at the pet store. When we brought him home, he continued to eat crickets, and a lot of them. Everything was going well until.. he just stopped eating crickets. He will take greens, but barely any at all. I understand that young beardies are supposed to be eating lots of live feeders/protein due to their rapid growth at this age. I'm concerned because it seems that he has become generally disinterested in the crickets. Tried the roaches- he could care less about those too. I was thinking that he wasn't eating due to shedding, but he will eat mealworms, but those are supposedly bad for him, so I've stopped feeding him those as well.

I've brought this up before on the forum, and others here have suggested we feed him the reptiworms/soldier fly larvae. Honestly- I am worried about getting him started on those for fear that he will continue to only take these as they are similar to the mealworms which he now prefers. The reason why I'm worried about this is that these worms are expensive. Sure, now he'll probably eat 10 or so per day, which is roughly $10/month which is not bad, but when he gets older and begins eating much more of these (I'm guessing 50-60 worms per day), I'm looking at feeding him 1500 or so of these pricey grubs per month, and I just don't want to spend that kind of money on feeding him. I'd like to raise feeders (crickets or roaches) because I honestly think the money spent on insects to feed reptiles from retail suppliers is just ridiculous.

We've tried squeezing cricket guts onto his lips to get him to lick his lips and trick him into eating the cricket, which worked for about 2 days, but he's keen to this now and is no longer cooperating.

Does anyone have any suggestions here? I'm worried he is not getting the amount of food he needs at such a young age, but I don't want to be stuck spending so much money on grubs.

Thanks Everyone :wave:

 

[beardie parents]

Can you answer a couple of questions for us? The answer to these questions may help us solve the problem you are currently having with your beardie's appetite.

First, what uvb are you using on him and how old is it? For instance, a reptisun 10 tube we had on our Goldie (2+ years ago) had been in use for approximately 4.5 months when her appetite diminished, she would eat almost nothing. As soon as we got a new reptisun 10 tube her appetite increased.

Second, what are the temps in your tank and what do you take them with? such as a round stick on thermometer, or a digital thermometer with probe, or a temp gun?

 

[DoughtyDragon]

Can you answer a couple of questions for us? The answer to these questions may help us solve the problem you are currently having with your beardie's appetite.

First, what uvb are you using on him and how old is it? For instance, a reptisun 10 tube we had on our Goldie (2+ years ago) had been in use for approximately 4.5 months when her appetite diminished, she would eat almost nothing. As soon as we got a new reptisun 10 tube her appetite increased.

Second, what are the temps in your tank and what do you take them with? such as a round stick on thermometer, or a digital thermometer with probe, or a temp gun?

Thanks for the Reply.

The UVB I'm using is a bulb type, 5. This was recommended to us by PetSmart when we were buying everything for his ViV. The bulb is less than a month old. I've been told this is not enough for him and to get a 10. There might be some weight to this as to why he's not eating- he most likely had more UV exposure in his tank at the store. I will pick up a 10 tonight and set it up. Question - Will it be ok to continue running the 5 along with the 10 UVB? He is in a 55gal aquarium, so I would set up the 5 on the "cool" side of the tank.

His temps are as follows: Cool side - 80-85 degrees. Warm side/Basking area- 110/115degrees depending on the time of day. Cool side temp is being measure by the strip style thermometer sold at the petstore, Warm side temp is being measured by a Mercury outdoor thermometer. I'd like to pick up a digital thermometer, but Walmart is continuously out of the style I want.

Thanks for your help

 

[beardie parents]

I suggest getting the reptisun 10 tube, the only place I know of to get it is various online places. Local pet stores only carry the reptiglo tubes and they aren't as good as the reptisun's. Please don't get the reptiglo 10 or any zilla bulb, including the tubes as they can harm your beardie's eyes, making him unable or unwilling to eat as it can hurt their eyes so they won't, or can't open them.

About the thermometer you have, the stick on's only measure the ambient temps. I use the accurite digital thermometer with probe, the one we have you can find at Walmart or Lowe's. It gives you 2 temp readings, on where the probe is sitting, the other temps is where the thermometer is. It also gives you a humidity reading. The other option is found online, a temp gun. With these, all you need to do is point it at the basking spot and it gives you an immediate reading of where you pointed it at. I don't have one of those but I would like one as the "basking temp" reading you get from the accurite digital is only where the probe is and my girls have a few places they usually are in the basking range. That's why it's a good idea to get the uvb tube (reptisun 10 is the only one I recommend) and this can be found at www.petmountain.com.

 

[DoughtyDragon]

I suggest getting the reptisun 10 tube, the only place I know of to get it is various online places. Local pet stores only carry the reptiglo tubes and they aren't as good as the reptisun's. Please don't get the reptiglo 10 or any zilla bulb, including the tubes as they can harm your beardie's eyes, making him unable or unwilling to eat as it can hurt their eyes so they won't, or can't open them.

About the thermometer you have, the stick on's only measure the ambient temps. I use the accurite digital thermometer with probe, the one we have you can find at Walmart or Lowe's. It gives you 2 temp readings, on where the probe is sitting, the other temps is where the thermometer is. It also gives you a humidity reading. The other option is found online, a temp gun. With these, all you need to do is point it at the basking spot and it gives you an immediate reading of where you pointed it at. I don't have one of those but I would like one as the "basking temp" reading you get from the accurite digital is only where the probe is and my girls have a few places they usually are in the basking range. That's why it's a good idea to get the uvb tube (reptisun 10 is the only one I recommend) and this can be found at http://www.petmountain.com.

Thanks again.

Looking at what type bulb I have, it is in fact a ExoTerra ReptiGlo. After reading this, I'm worried about this bulb. I ordered the 24" ReptiSun 10 from PetMountain earlier today, but it will probably be up to a week before I get it. Should I keep using the ReptiGlo until it arrives? You're right about the bulb selection at the Pet Stores- seems they are all bad bulbs... :roll:

As far as a fixture to use for the ReptiSun- there are some cheap fixtures available at Walmart. Would it be ok to use these?

I picked up a digital thermometer with a single probe from the petstore today and set it on his basking spot - temp is 108 degrees. The cool side of his viv (by the way, what does "viv" stand for..? :lol: ) is around 80 degrees.

Thanks for your help. Been doing some reading on the effects of UV on the beardies, both positive and negative, and it seems that a bad bulb may be in fact what is causing his unwillingness to eat... I sure hope the new bulb fixes this because we have grown very fond of him.. I actually called a local exotic pet dealer and explained his behavior; the dealer said that he might just not make it because many young bearded dragons have a high mortality rate, explaining most don't make it past the first or second month of life. I sure hope he's wrong...

 

[Slave2Scarlett]

I was in the same boat as you and I had the zilla slimline and was told when I ordered my reptisun to just turn off the zilla until the new one came in... I also bought the fixture from walmart and it works just fine...

 

[Hotnickles96]

Viv is short for Vivarium which is just a name for an enclosed space that is keeping life.

 

[beardie parents]

Is is warm enough where you are (65 to 75 f) for you to take your beardie out in the sun? This does help, the real sun is better uvb than any uvb bulb (tube or mercury vapor bulb) gives them. I would take the reptiglo tube out, he should be fine for awhile. You could go to a grocery store and get some baby food, sugar free like chicken or something, they are supposed to like that.