How long do lights need to be on before we feed?

[Viper04]

My son (and I) just got a new bearded dragon. He is about 5 inches long and we've had him about a week. We are about to get him all set up (thanks to the posts on this website). Have ordered Reptisun 10 and it should arrive today. The basking spot is 105-109 and cool side is around 80-83. I have lights on a timer so they will come on before my son wakes up so we can feed before school. How long does heat need to be on before we can expect him to eat? Just trying to figure out what time to set the timer for. We had the lights on for about 15 mins before we fed today and he didn't really eat much (only 2 crickets). We do leave collard greens in there all the time and he actually seems to be eating at least some of them. Should we take the greens out at night so his first chance to eat is crickets when we feed? (We also have some reptiworms coming in a couple of days. Thanks for all your help!

 

[CooperDragon]

I set the lights to come on about 1/2hr before breakfast/bath time. That usually provides enough time to warm up and wake up a bit. You could even go 45 min or so if you want. They can be kind of grumpy and groggy first thing in the morning just like we can. I leave the salads in overnight (sometimes I'll dump the leftovers into the roach bin at night) and refresh the salad every morning.

 

[Viper04]

Thanks for the reply! I will back up the time a little to give him a little more wake up time. I've been leaving greens in bin. They dry out during the day and overnight, but he seems to eat them anyway so I will just stick with it. Thanks again.